”THE SINISTER PLAN
The murmurs were silently growing louder amongst the Phayade brothers. The plan was being hatched with aplomb intensity.
Charan declared “Bro, we should participate in this year’s 2022 edition of Malnad Ultramarathon.”
Dreading the answer already, I asked “OK, fair enough. What category should we participate in?”
Charan, ever the optimistic enthusiast, replied ‘Of course, nothing less than 100KM will do for the Ultra run.”
With unabashed horror, I exclaimed “Are you serious? We are not even ready for 50K yet, and here you are talking of 100KM. Khancho confidence re tuka?”
“Are dude, jatle re. You just do the registration and devise the training schedule. We still got about 4 months. Practice karya and let us see where are on 26th November. Karna hai toh bas 100KM karna, nahi toh no Malnad.”
Resigned to the fate, I finally relented “Hmmm. Sarkoch chitun sang. No tracking back once registered.”
Without a blink, swiftly came the rhetoric, “100KM or nothing”.
And there it was, locked stocked and barreled. It was decided, Phayade brothers would be participating in the 100KM Malnad Ultramarathon.
THE CHALLENGE
The Malnad Ultra marathon (www.malnadultra.com) is like no other. Situated in Chickmagaluru district in Karnataka, about 3 hours’ drive from Bangalore, beside the Bhadra wildlife sanctuary, nestled amongst the magnificent peaks – the highest peaks in Karnataka – Mullanyangiri and Doddabeta peaks, cutting across the deep reserve forests, the course snakes its way through the innumerable and magical coffee plantations. It is one of India’s toughest Ultras and a siege on the conquest of 100KM is considered as the holy grail in the running circuits.
There are practically no roads to run. They are running pathways inundated with stones, pebbles, loose gravels, slush, in plenty of places, you need to cross streams of rivulets and irrigation channels. Oh, and lest we forget, the course is anything but flat route. The mountains need to be scaled as high as nearly 2,000ft while maintaining the speed and control as one climbs and descends these slopes.
There are cut-off points at various junctures. In the race towards 100KM, the first cut-off point is at 30KM, which needs to be covered in 6 hours. The next is at 50KM – which needs to be covered in 9:30 hours. The third cut-off is at 80KM – which is to be covered in 16 hours. After you have crossed all the above cut-offs within the stipulated time, you must ensure that you complete the 100KM in 20 hours. Even a second late, at any of the juncture, and you are automatically disqualified from the race. There are in total 14 aid stations along the route (spaced out at 7-8km distances), which offers you with hydration – water and electrolyte and other food items such as Biscuits, Bread-Jam, Oranges, Bananas, Lemon, Sugar and Salt for one to gain energy during the challenging course.
There are no secrets to this conquest, you basically need to stay strong, focused, massively determined, nurse your body, hope for no injuries during the race and importantly inculcate a never give up attitude. The tiniest doubt, and the course will crush your soul and bury you into the ground. Although the time might seem enough, once on the course, you must keep yourself moving, any time wasting for needless breaks at aid stations and along the route, and you will be left with plenty of legwork at the back-end of the race.
The 100KM race category starts at 8:00am and the entire course needs to be completed by next day early morning at 4:00am. You basically need to run the entire day and the whole night as well. The mind and body must work in complete sync with each other. A blip in communication between the two entities and your chances of failure increases proportionately.
This is next big challenge of the race is to run at night. Almost half of the course needs to be run during the night. Night time is an inordinate problem to run the race alone. If you do not have a running partner, you not only feel all alone, but chances of you getting lost within the meandering tracks increases tremendously. The course is not at all lit at night. It is only the head lamp or torch that you carry along, which will help you guide through the course. If you miss even a single turn, you will end up losing significant amount of time and energy which would be impossible to overcome during the race. A wrong turn at any of the countless junctures and your race will be compromised. Although directions are there along such junctures, but running so long at continuous stretch muddles the decision-making capacity of the mind and the track looks singularly similar at all points. Having a running partner, not only eases the nerves of running in such circumstances, but the decision making gets split which makes it that much easier. The feeling of being lonely amongst the wilderness in the dead of the night is also arrested. The race is so alone at night that you would see a speck of light in the distance that you could almost be forgiven for seeing stars among the dauting tropical trees.
THE RACE
On the D-day, 26th November 2022, we woke up at 3:00 am, as our pick up from the hotel was at 4:00 am. The distance to the course was a 2 hours travel. Other participants of 50KM race started early at 7:30am. Our race start was at 8:00 am.
Seasoned pros who had competed in various Ultras across the country made their presence felt. There were plenty of running groups who were giving themselves the high-fives even before the race began. In exasperation or celebration is a matter of discussion. Numerous runners checked into their Stravas and Garmins for their own live race updates. Me and bro, we felt infinitesimal amongst such groups. But it was also amazing to understand the kind of preparation and training regimes that some follow, the running gears they carry along, the apps that they use and the years of knowledge they carry along before competing in such Ultras. Could we complete this course? We had done Ultras before of 50K and 80K, but this was a totally new route and the 100k was a different ball game. It was a case of You vs You, nothing else mattered.
Our strategy was two pronged. Even before the start and at various times during our trainings, Charan was far more confident in my capability to take on the course than himself. His training was at best pedestrian, blame it on lack of time to train due to his hectic schedule and as well as himself carrying a foot injury. Inspite of all, he would still support me during my trainings. Bro would always say, if it is possible for him, he would accompany me during the race. If he felt he was slowing down then I would need to carry on with my pace. I always told him that we need to start and finish the race together. We always enjoy each other’s company and have been running buddies for the past 6 years. In pretty much every race that we have participated, we have almost always started and finished together. This year’s Malnad edition, we hoped would be no different. Specially during night time, it would be imperative to run together.
Before the start of the race, we ate 1 piece each of Bread-Jam and 1 cup of coffee to help us sustain energy and prepare the body for the long haul throughout the day. It indeed was going to be a long day and night.
AND THE RACE BEGINS…
With all such thoughts going in the mind, and jangling nerves, the race finally began. We wished each other with our traditional hand shake and off we began. The seasoned runners all started to pace up and quickly overtook us within the first kilometer. We kept our own race pace, there are no prizes for coming first, but sure there is major satisfaction and guaranteed finishers medal for completing the race within the stipulated time.
At the 2 KM point, It was clear that Charan was slowing down and I needed to carry on. I would frequently look over my shoulder to check on him, however, he seemed to be further behind every time I made the check on him. I decided to continue and wait for him at the first aid station of 8 KMS. My race strategy was simple; push myself very hard to achieve 6 – 7 kms per hour pace. Complete the first 50 KMS in the fastest time possible and have enough time at the backend of the race, as it would seem impossible to run during the night time period. And all this, hoping the legs do not give in and stay strong throughout the journey. The mindset was never going to be a problem, the body needed the to support the mind.
At the first hour I raced through to 7 KMS, not a bad start. The hydration bag (Charan’s fantastic idea), was doing a brilliant job keeping me hydrated and ensured there was no need to carry any bottles in the hand. The first Aid station came up at 8KMS. On the menu were oranges, bananas, Bread with Jam, Lemon, Sugar, Salt, Electrolyte and Water. I drank a glass of water and ate couple of orange pieces. I decided to wait for about 5 minutes to see if Charan could join me going forward, however, there was no sight of him. Aware of the timing requirement on the course, I decided to proceed ahead.
The winding nature of the track, the cobbled mud path and the daunting climbs were some of the challenges we had overcome. At the end of the 2nd hour, I had covered 13 KMS. It was a decent start. Thoughts went back to Charan, hopefully he doing well and moving on. I was certain he would keep moving.
The view overlooking the mountains was just stupendous. The cloud kissed mountains egged us to carry on, while mesmerized us equivocally. Alas, with the task on hand or literally with the task at legs, we had to move on from the beholding sight and focus back on the muddy gravels. The strategy was to run on the relatively flat routes and the downward slopes and walk briskly on the upslopes. This way, one could compensate the time spent walking with the intermittent runs.
The runners passed through slushy mud, crossing tiny rivulets and made our way left and right as the course grinned at us, while we sweated it out. By the 5th hour, I had comfortably passed 30KMS and thereby passed through the first cut-off time. By the time, it was already 1:00 pm and the next thing we knew, we would be encountering the toughest part of the course with the unrelenting Sun now ready to test our mettle. As the Sun bore down on our backs, the heat tore into our skin. The pace of most of the runners slowed down as the heat coupled with tackling the highest altitude points on the course, started taking a toll on the runners.
At about 32 KMS, fatigue threatened to pierce my body. My diaphragm started having cramps. They felt taut. Breathing was getting difficult. Sensing trouble and considering I still had another 2 quarters of the race the go, I immediately slowed down and my pace trickled to a trifle. I decided to walk for some time, to let the body take a breather from the punishing passage. I also increased my intake of electrolytes to help ease the cramps. The upslope with the incredible radiating heat was almost unbearable.
With the drop in pace, my time to cover the distance increased significantly. In the next 1 hour I could cover only 4 KMS. With the cut-off looming and knowing I needed to save time to ease pressure at the back end of the race, I started to run again. Almost immediately the diaphragm screamed with pain. Clutching it tightly knowing there is no other way out, I threw caution to the wind and started running. It was going to be now or never. Either I would need to quit soon or continue. Fortunately, after sometime the pain reduced, but only just enough to allow me to continue my movement forward on the race course.
The route between 42 and 45 KMS were the most brutal. The uphill climb seemed to go on for ages. The pathway was inundated with stones and pebbles. The twisty and bumpy nature of the track was also not helping the feet and toes, who were taking all sorts of punches to keep the body in movable condition. We crossed a massive stream at the end of 48 KMS and finally, I huffed and puffed and reached my way to the halfway point, 50 KMS. Time taken so far, 8 hours and 15 mins. Comfortably inside the cutoff point.
HALFWAY POINT
The first part of the race was done and dusted. I took a brief breather. Helped myself with a piece of Bread-Jam and drank few sips of water. I sat down to change my socks and started thinking about the race so far. Brutal was just the word that escaped the throat and got caught in the mouth. Now I was faced with a dilemma. The dreaded decision time. The next 50KM would be the exact repeat of the first 50KM. Should I continue with the second half of the course knowing the perils involved coupled with the night time effect? The body was already tired, sapped of energy. Would it make sense to beat it down even more? Just then a seasoned runner, who has completed more than 30 full marathons, crossed me, and said he is thinking to quit as the body was already a spent force. It only took me a moment to decide, I would go through this race, let me push the limits of the body and mind. There was no injury infused pain in the body, apart from the diaphragm cramps, so it made perfect sense to continue.
So, at about 4:35 pm, exactly 8 hours 35 minutes after the race began, I trudged myself back again on the same path that I began in the morning. With all the water and electrolyte, my stomach was bloating. I forced vomit myself to take the fluids out. This helped ease the stomach. Anything to get myself over the line today. Thoughts once again went out to Charan. Where would he be right now? How many KMS has he finished? I had waited for sometime, but there was no sign of him. Hope he is alright and continuing with the race. I would have desperately loved for him to be running with me together. Alas, it was not meant to be.
As I was running head long into the sunset, the calculations were running amok in the mind. Now, it was all about maintaining a strong race pace and to keep moving on. The plan was to cover maximum distance before darkness impeded the skies. Once twilight set in, it would be difficult to run at full pace, as the visibility would reduce to a miniscule. By 6:00 pm, dusk would turn into night. I planned to be near about 60KMS by then. That would mean I would need to cover 40KMS in the next 10 hours, a reasonable enough time to complete the course even in the dead of the night.
The legs were now truly fatigued. The hamstrings were complaining, the calf was crying while the feet were trying to do everything to not move forward. Only the mind was not willing to give in. By 6:00 pm, I had completed 58KMS. That left me to cover 42KMS – A full marathon distance in the next 10 hours. I reminded myself that the race gets over at 4:00 am and I cannot be a second later than the final cut-off time. And darkness descended.
THE NIGHT
It was time for the torches to come it play. The dreaded night had finally crossed the mountains and spread across the jungles and coffee estates of Malnad. And almost immediately the place seemed eerie.
The runners who started together at the start of the race had now drifted apart so much so that one could barely see the silhouette of other runners with only their headlights visible at a considerable distance.
The deathly silence was only broken by the rustling of the leaves and the hum of the insects. With the task now becoming monotonous and body more fatigued than ever before as I was on the road for more than 14 hours, it was starting to tire out excessively. The eyes also started to feel heavy, sleep was slowly trying to encompass the mind and body. It was extremely important to keep focus on the road as a single mistake in direction and you could end up taking the wrong turn, which would cost you time, energy and demoralize you to no end.
As the feet landed on dry twigs in near darkness, they broke and made weird noises. Numerous rocks thudded into feet, extracting ohhs and aahs yelps from me. And with a herculean effort, I managed to complete 80KMS. The time was now 11:00 pm. That meant I had 5 hours to complete the last 20KMS, while tackling the most difficult part of the course. It looked sufficient, but any slowdown in pace would mean undue pressure at the back end. I needed to keep moving. The legs were by now screaming at their loudest to stop, but the mind would not listen one bit.
At the 80KM Aid station, I saw a lady was resting with her head down. As I was taking a water break, she looked up. She instantly enquired if I was planning to complete the 100 KMS. Upon affirmative from my side, she inquired is she could join me as she wanted a partner to pace her to the finish line and together, we sat out to complete the next 20KMS.
At the end of 90 KMS, the clock had ticked past 1:00 AM. We needed to cover the last 10KMS in the next 2 hours and 45 mins. We did not slow down, on the contrary, we kept picking up speed and sped past number of runners who were completely sapped out and had decided to walk till the finish line. We had no such plans.
As per my earlier strategy, any downward slope or Flat, we ran amok and the moment we encountered any upslope, we walked briskly. The excitement was palpable between us as we neared the finish line. 96KMS…97KMS…98KMS…
The dream would soon be turning into a reality. It would seem an incredible feat considering the long battle. After crossing 99th KM, we decided to sprint even faster. The adrenaline was now pumping. Nothing could stop us. And within the next 5 mins, we crossed the improbable finish line. The 100th KM line. We had done it. Incredible.
At the finish line, the race organizers and number of other participants applauded our effort. We congratulated each other. It was a momentous effort, far beyond my imagination.
I had successfully completed the 100KMS at Malnad Ultramarathon in a mind-boggling time of 19 hours and 20 minutes. While receiving the medal, it seemed surreal. The feat accomplished was yet to sink in. It was dawn by the time I reached back to hotel. Met Charan and we gave each other high fives. Understood from Charan, that he had to stop at 50KMS, as he realized that he was slowing down and it would be tough for him to complete the race within the stipulated time.
Charan was genuinely happy and proud of me and pretty much declared to the entire hotel that I had completed the 100K race.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude and zillion thanks to my brother, Charan who has been a wonderful training partner, my co-conspirator, immeasurable amount of time we spent strategizing about the race, he was the one who egged me to participate in the race, when I was not sure myself. He registered himself for 100KM, just to give me company. The running gears were also bought at his behest.
Charan and I joked that in the time that I took to complete the race, people would have woken up one morning, freshened up, took bath, had breakfast, went to office, had lunch, came home from office, took their spouses out for shopping, kids for playing, had dinner, and slept and were almost on the verge of waking up the next morning.
Phew! Does sound like a lot of time spent on running, but believe me, it is all worth the effort!
