Iwoke up with a startle, sweating heavily, breathing deeply. For a moment disorientated, in the darkness the silence resonated. But, a few seconds on, a cursory glance at the clock and panic engulfed. Immediately, woke up my brother, sleeping in the neighboring bed. We were in Malnad and we were late, very late! We looked at each other with horror and utter bewilderment.
I have been an avid marathon runner. This gives me the opportunity to experience different places, marathons with its unique set of challenges and preparedness. I have been fortunate to participate in such marathons along with my brother, who is a feisty runner himself and a rock-solid partner-in-crime for me.
One of the Ultra marathons annually takes place in a remote terrain called Malnad, place nestled among the coffee plantations within the picturesque western ghats near Bengaluru, Karnataka. This Ultra marathon is a challenging trail run through some of the most enchanting and exciting terrains that one can experience. The trail shares its border with Bhadra wildlife sanctuary. Hence it is not uncommon to spot few of the wild animals during the course of the marathon.
To reach the place, we board the train from Margao and deboard at Birur junction. From there on we were shifted to our abode, which is 30 mins away from the starting line. On pre-race day, the excitement was palpable with fellow runners seemingly anxious to start the race. Although there are various categories, we were participating in 80 km ultra-marathon, which needs to be completed in a stipulated time of 16 hours with cut-off points set up at various distances along the way.
The marathon commences at 6.00 a.m. We woke up only at 5.45 a.m. The reality dawned upon us. We would be late to start the race, this was a bad start already. Within the next quarter of an hour, we blitz through the morning chores and waltzed out of the hotel. Found a yawning rickshaw driver and after bit of squabbling, egged him to drive as fast as the tottering 3 tyre vehicle could. By the time we reached the starting line, it was past 6.30 a.m. The other category runners gawked at us, with some even sniggering at our expense. No time for pre-race warm up rituals. The omens did not seem good and we still had 80 kms to cover, before we could breathe a sigh of relief again. We had our backs against the wall.
With stiff muscles, we pushed through the start line, trying to ramp up the pace from the get-go in order to limit damages and cover more area. This was not ideal and we would pay dearly for this at a later stage. To make matters worse, it rained heavily since the past week and the race path was muddled with sloshy mud, loose gravels and rumbling stones. We could not set the rhythm for a continuous run. The elevations at regular intervals also slowed us a down. The first target was to cover 30 kms in 6 hours. We would be automatically disqualified if we did not meet this deadline. This was going to be a nail-biting finish. We huffed, puffed and motored through at brisk pace, with brother setting the pace. The morning hews and chilliness did help out in keeping the temperatures down.
We were skimming right at the edge of the cliffs, such that a miss or a slip and we were sure to tumble 5000 ft, into deep ravine. It was precarious, but equally alluring. Just as the clock was nearing 6 hours from the start, we reached the 30 kms cut-off point, which was also the summit point, situated on top of the highest peak of the route with an elevation of 3700 mtrs. We only just waited for couple of minutes to click photographs and enjoyed the scenic moment a tad. We had lots of work to do.
Along the way, we did overtake a few runners, but the race was about to get even tougher. With fatigue setting in and legs screaming out for rest, it was a matter of putting the head down and getting over the line in one piece. At full marathon distance of 42 kms, we had reached the half way point only. Little did we know the race had only just begun.
At 50kms and after being on the run continuously for 8 and half hours, we allowed ourselves a bit of breather. We gulped down few biscuits, had some snack and changed our socks, which were already soaking wet. Darkness had begun to set in. Right after the short break, while we were running up the slope on one of the infinite hills, I suffered severe cramps in the calf muscles. My brother suggested we walk for some time to let the legs have some rest. After walking for about half hour, we decided to continue running as walking hardly covered any distance and we were racing against time.
By now darkness had completely engulfed the area, and we had to switch on our head lamps to get a sighter of the path we were traversing. In some areas, the path was hardly visible, which was laden with slick, slimy mud and we literally had to hang on to the branches to avoid from sliding downhill. At some places, due to the nightfall and poor visibility, we missed our paths and even had to return back to get on track. It was also getting dangerous to run as we could hardly see where we were stamping our feet. The agony was written all over our faces.
Aided by the few water stations along the way, we managed to hydrate ourselves at sufficient intervals, but these were barely enough to quench our thirsts. The legs had pretty much balked under the constant barrage of running for ungodly hours. When we reached 65 kms, we still had another 15 kms to be covered in 3 hours. But these would be the toughest times of our short marathon career so far. Hunger set in like vultures hounding their preys, while stomach grumbled with obscenities. The claustrophobic silence around the jungle, gave an eerie feeling that made civilization seem light years away. We were struggling with fatigue and every part of the body was now blaring to stop this madness.
Me and my brother were drawing upon each other’s strength and seemingly wished for the kilometers to go by faster. Alas, we were moving at a snail’s pace, no matter how fast we wanted to get this over with. The trail seemed to get even tougher. There would be no hydration point from here on in till the finish point. We were practically clinging on to dear life and managing our hydration with mathematical precision. During the struggle, we decided to never come back to Malnad again. Was it worth all to this, to risk our lives in such sheer insanity!
After a long time in the darkness of the jungles for over 2 and half hours, we witnessed a few lights in the distance. That meant civilization. That meant, we were close to our finish. The mind was now carrying the legs. With beaming smile, we pushed ourselves towards the finish line and finally managed to cross over. We were on the road for over 15 hours and 45 mins. This was our mightiest achievement so far in our marathon career. We were bestowed with a finisher’s medals and a few clicks. With the clock striking past midnight, we managed to find a vehicle to help us reach back to our hotel. We could barely wait to hear ourselves snoring and floating into oblivion.
After our Malnad escapade, the obviously overjoyed brothers were willing to share our tales with whomsoever we could find an ear to listen to. We religiously followed the post-race activities, while giving plenty of rest to the overworked legs and body. One evening as we were casually hanging out, my brother spoke, “we need to participate in 110 kms Ultra marathon next year”. I looked at him with bafflement. This is lunacy. But, heart in heart, we both knew we would go for the jugular come what may
5 Comments
Well penned 👍👍
Thank You
Awesome to read your Malnad story. Although Charan had told me few things about it but this was something nice to read in details. Felt as if I was running with you’ll.
Thank You for your wonderful comments.