The Bangalore Ultra 2013: An event that taught me patience and the beauty in quiet strength

If one thought that the 42.2 (marathon) distance is “not enough” then you have just met the first criterion for an “Ultra” event.

The “Bangalore Ultra” is one of the most sought after events that long distance runners look forward to. It is a tough trail; mind you, that these distances do not play so much on the legs as they play on the mind. With multiple loops which tend to test the strength of spirit of each participant. The event is not your regular run off the mill running event; it is held over an entire weekend (48 running hours). The second Day is for the newbies who have enrolled to test their running abilities and would like to try their hand at a tough trail run while doing their longest distance i.e. 12.5k and 25k. But the actual Ultra distances happen on Day 1 – it starts with the baby Ultra of 50k then the tricky 75K followed by the grand 100K. The most grueling of them all is the time based 24hr event which starts at 5 am and finishes at 5am the next day.

My original plan had been to push for my own furthest distance yet at 50Km and in the heat of the moment; I had registered for the event as well. With sights set on SCMM 2014, I then went onto rethink doing an unnecessary long run which could affect my speed training, so changed my entry to that of the 25K distance. As details of events that runners close to me were doing started surfacing, it was easy to see that I would add more value as crew than I would by running yet another distance I have done before. So after careful consideration, I decided that this time around I would forego participation and instead be a smaller part of a bigger achievement.

The day started off with hurriedly making plans with Henna (mad monster runner) to go to the venue. He wanted to go and check out how our runners were progressing as well as see the venue since the 12.5K was to be his race the next day. So off we went the two of us to check on the runners. It was late morning by the time we reached the venue. As we rode in on the motorbike, we could see all the ultra runners trudging along at their own pace. We decided to start walking up the trail as our warm up, cheering people along the way and then pacing anyone who looks like they need someone to run along with them and cheer them on until the finish line.

As we walked together, we started passing the runners, it was easy to see who the strong ones were, bouncing away like gazelles on the trail and looking freakishly strong even after having covered a distance of 50Kms or so.  Continuing our brisk walk, we started seeing some familiar faces – as I saw the warm smile across Gajju’s face ( bib name: Still Smiling) while he was on the second loop ( one more to go for his 75K) I knew there was no other place I would rather be. He stopped and we had a chat. He was looking strong and was making this trail look like a piece of cake. As we spoke, he informed us that his wife was in the hospital and expecting their first child anytime now. He said he was not at peace mentally and was only thinking about his wife and the baby so he will be completing this loop and will then be on his way to the hospital. We all unanimously agreed that it would be the best decision at this time. The next person we saw was Dharma, the 24Hr contender. He was ambling along at his ultra pace with his head tucked in and efficient stride, we screamed out and automatically he got into his photo pose with his hands up in the air. I had a banana which I handed over to him as we crossed each other – he was looking strong. As we continued, we crossed Brojen, Shuveshek, Hari Menon, Pani sir and a whole array of strong runners chopping away the trail at a blistering pace. Around the 4k mark, we saw Shreyas (100k contender) jogging at a slow pace looking tired and ready to give up. I told Henna I would pace him moving forward. He said it made sense and that he would continue up the trail to find Sudhir and pace him back to the finish line.

And then started my first leg of pacing for the Bangalore Ultra. Shreyas and me picked up the pace and ran the four kilometres back to the U-turn point. He seemed to have been broken. After all the preparation, nutrition, reading and strategy, he was bonking and bonking bad. He was cramping and seemed to be in a lot of pain, but as always his spirit seemed to prevail and he perked up once he had some company. 2K into the run, Shreyas was ready to call it quits. As we got close to the U-turn, he asked me if I would accompany him for another loop. “But off course! that’s what I am here for”.  200mts from the U-turn point, we saw Anil and Swetha. They were here to try out the trail and pace Shreyas as well. He was turning into quite the celebrity. With most runners completing the entire ultra distance on their own, Shreyas had the luxury of 3 pacers all for him. A part of me wanted to help some other needy runner since it was obvious that Shreyas was well looked after at this time but since I had only just promised him that I would stay for the next loop, it seemed to be the decent thing to do. At the turn off, I met Shuveshek who updated me with the podium finishes for the 50K. He then went onto hand me a nutrition bar which he had not used during the run so that I could give it to someone who needed it as I ran the loop. The wonderful Hari Menon, helpful as always, shared some of his gels along with a few pearls of wisdom with us.

As Swetha and Shreyas started running together, Anil and me picked up our pace a bit so that we could enjoy the trail – off course 2:30pm in the afternoon is actually no time to enjoy any run but ask a runner and he will tell you that we make the best of what we can. As we talked and ran together, we came across all the other runners and cheered them on – screaming and shouting, giving out high fives and generally flashing smiles out at everyone. A lot of people stopped, said hello, exchanged greetings and then carried on. As we got close to the 12.5K U-turn mark, we ran into Sayuri and Indira. Sayuri was attempting her longest distance yet at 50Kms and had been really unwell for a few weeks now. She had not been able to put in her training miles and had been nervous about the distance. I ran straight into her arms and gave her the biggest hug. She looked like she could do with one. She had decided to walk-run the remainder of the trail to ensure a finish. She was still coughing and seemed like the nutrition bar had been sent for her. I handed it over and after a quick chat we all carried on in our respective directions. As we started our way back, 1.5K into the loop , saw Swetha struggling with Shreyas. We all turned around and ran to the u-turn point with him. As we ran back together, it was easy to see that Shreyas was cramping up really bad. Made more sense that just one person stay with him. So about 3K into the trail, we asked Swetha and Anil to carry on at their pace. The next few K was a test of patience and persistence at getting Shreyas to the end of the loop. I have to give him credit that he kept going – as bad as he was cramping up, he wanted to reach that 75K mark. With 3K left, Henna came looking for us on his bike. And this was it, Shreyas and me on foot, Henna trailing behind us on his bike. Shortly after, I jumped on the bike and the two of us trailed Shreyas until the 75K mark.

This marked the end of the first leg of the Ultra for me. The second leg was to begin at 10pm, when Nagaraj, Geeta and myself reached the venue to pace and crew Dharma for the remainder of the race. For those interested, sometime now is when I got a call from Gajju dear that he is now the proud papa of a beautiful baby girl ( still pushing for her to be named TimTim, but it doesn’t seem likely in the least bit! )

As we drove in, we saw the 24-Hr runners going at their own pace. The route had now been reduced to a 2K loop, 1K in and 1K back. Some runners were doing a run-walk while a few like Dharma had chosen to take it easy during the afternoon ( walk through the afternoon in Jandals) so that they could optimally utilize the cool weather of the night to increase pace and cover greater distance. And there he was, at the same patient pace of his, wearing his black shorts and bright orange jacket chopping away at the loop. As we saw him and screamed out, suddenly there was a surge in his pace and he upped it. The three of us decided to go to the start point of the loop and wait for Dharma to return. As we were settling down and awaiting Dharma’s return, we started cheering for all the runners/ walkers who were passing by. As Dharma returned, we got ready, much like the F1 crew, to refresh the man.

As he came in, we took him straight to the medical tent to get his hourly medical done. As the medical was underway, Geeta started massaging his back, Nagaraj took responsibility of one leg and I worked on the other leg. We gave him a back stretch and within about 8 minutes, Dharma was good as new. All refreshed, Dharma increased his pace and with Nagaraj as his pacer, did the next 5 loops within an hour to do a relatively quick 10k at that point. He now felt that he had pushed his pace in the excitement of having his crew on board and getting a brilliant massage. At this point, we tried giving him some energy in the form of dates and cashews but his body did not seem to accept it. I ran to the car and bought back a pack of Real grape juice to see whether his body would accept that as nutrition. Geeta and me, joined him for this loop. On the second loop, he realised that none of our alternatives were working. He was in desperate need of energy and so, after the second loop we moved to the food station for some good ole dal-chawal. And this time around, what the dry fruits couldn’t do, the simple dal-chawal did. Dharma was revived. He was all set to restart the rest of his journey that night.

With my shins in pain, I was done with running for the rest of the event and decided to stay at the U-turn point and cheer the runners on. This phase was super fun for me because I got to see all the ultra runners fighting their own battle in their own manner. For eg. Uday kept running like a monster, although tired, his mental make-up was at a different level and I could see just how strong he was, not just mentally, but also physically. Then off course, there was the Legendary Randeep running his second ultra in less than 2 weeks – his support crew was his wife and daughters (amazing!) It was touching to see a huge crew from Runners High braving the cold and cheering each of their runners on. In fact, the support provided was phenomenal – at one point, Chandra (who completed her 100K ultra – kudos to you superwoman) had not only a pacer but also her son pacing her while feeding her spoonful’s of Curd rice. As I was sitting and massaging the legs of needy runners, I met this 21-year-old boy who had taken up the task of running 100K without any preparations as a challenge which had been meted out by a friend in exchange for a couple of bean bags and a boxing reflex bag (not a wise exchange in my opinion). My favorite was the lady doing 75K who would finish a loop and get a 5 minute hug in exchange for the loop after which she would merrily be back on her way to finish the next 2k loop while the hug-giver would retire back to his chair, friends and beer.  And so the drama continued. Shortly after, Geeta came over and gave me company for a while. She was tired and so was I. We decided to get some shut-eye for an hour or so.

We both cuddled up in the tents pitched by the organizers for the 24Hr runners. Before we knew it, the time was 4:45am and close to the finish time. We woke up to witness the end of the race. There was Udaya, entirely spent and cramped, finishing his last loop and his PB at 161K ( 100miles), soon after came our darling Dharma clocking in 151K with the machine that is Nagaraj Harsha, one man army of pacer, masseuse, athlete and everything else required, followed by Manikedan Seran. These were the podium finishers, but in my eyes, each one that covered the distance and time has exhibited phenomenal spiritual and mental prowess. THAT in itself has earned my undiluted and utmost respect. We had the prize distribution soon after and were just winding down when the runners for the 25K and 12.5K events started trickling in. After a bout of good mornings and high energy cheering, the four of us finally ended our Ultra experience only to get back home and crash out for the next few hours to replenish all the energy spent.

All in all, a completely WOW experience, a new-found respect to have seen these Ultra runners in action – completed humbled and blown away. Am I tempted to do the Ultra? – Not anytime soon, but I am more than willing to crew again – it’s an indescribable feeling to be part of another person’s struggle against his mind and body. To see that person emerge triumphant provides one with a satisfaction like no other.