Although you’ve said it a thousand times… ok maybe not a thousand times, or even anything that close. But you have said it several times… you’ll never put yourself through it all again… and by that I mean running an Ultra. Yet here you are, standing at yet another start line after putting yourself through the wringer for the past two months (that too peak summer months), courtesy Coach Dan’s training plan!
You have never considered yourself an ultra runner (you still never will) but here you are getting to ready run your 4th ultra, the second one of the year. Yet you refuse to term yourself an ultra runner.
So there you are, at the start of yet another start line, doing what you trained for.
You are way behind everyone cause your hydration belt refuses to stay on your waist and keeps riding down. You have this beautiful South Korean runner for company and a guy desperately trying to get his friend to capture his run for social media.
You try your best not let it get to you and keep pulling it up wondering if all this training made you loose your arse, or did it make an arse out of you. You try not to get flustered or hit the panic button and find a way to cope with the situation.
You desperately keep trying to pull your belt up, and doing so you keep pulling your already short shorts up almost up scandalising those behind you with a very cheeky view.
Somehow you manage to balance the gel and everything feels fine and less annoying. You manage to catch Vijay and Ketak and Natty and Adi, almost mooning poor Adi until Natty tells you that you need pull you pants and make an ass of yourself by exposing your arse.
So there you are running in the dark on a route that’s concealed by the fog. The rains didn’t want to grace us with its presence and sent the fog in its place.
The fog in a way was kind of blessing as it was an hindrance. It concealed so many things, along with the dark. But then what you couldn’t see had no chance of scaring you, so that way the fog was beneficial.
Finally you make it to the first turnaround point at the 5K mark. It’s pitch darkness all around and the fog makes it even more darker and errier. Your visibility is kind of hampered and all you can hear is the gurgling of a stream nearby, or maybe it was just water flowing through a gulley. But somehow this doesn’t bother you. You continue going on your way, trudging along slowly and steadily at a decent pace. You make it a point stopping at the water station, siping water and taking pinch of salt and then a cube of jaggery.
You pass the start line, where you hear music blaring music with the 35k already flagged off and the runners are on their way.
You pass Cloud 9 and make your way to Tiger Point.
You trudge carefully trying not to place your feet wrongly. One wrong placement could mean the end of your race and could push you back by weeks, if not days.
So you run carefully but steadily, and as you have done during your training run keep warning Vijay and Ketak and Ani of any potential holes or cracks in the road, as they do the same for you.
You begin to see runners passing by on the other side of the road making you marvel at the speed they are running in (cause you assumed that they were 50k runners). But then you realise that these are the 35k runners.
You continue on your way with Vijay and Ketak and Ani for company, keeping you in check and ensuring you that you don’t doze off, as only yours truly can do.
So for most part you are having a good strong run. You know you are running comfortably as you are chit chatting like only you can do, trying to keep the morale up (as if it was needed) and in doing so you were doing the same for you.
By and by you reach the turnaround point for the full marathoner. It’s time to part ways with Ketak and Ani who are running their FM. So, you wish them the best and Vijay and you continue onward and forward towards your turnaround near the Airforce base.
As you near Tiger Point you find the road lined with cars, revellers out on a drive, out to have a good time, families with kids, youth leaning out of their cars, men in drunken stupor. You wonder what these morons could see in the pitch darkness? What thrill do they get from behaving like desperate, horny asses.
You make your way through the cars, trying not to get hit by the ones who decide it would be fun to speed and come close and frighten runners and even tease them. You worry for Natty and Adi cause these were type that were forever horny and hormonal and anything with two legs and a breast would excite them. You wished there were more security on the route, especially for female runners. Even reflectors would make quite a difference here.
You pass these spots, finally reaching the airforce base and your second turnaround point. From there it’s now on to Amby Valley.
As you make your way you spot Natty and Adi. You are happy to see them running strongly and steadily. You cheer them and tell to be cautious of the route ahead, and you continue on your way.
You are glad that you have Vijay for company cause otherwise it would be lonely and scary and the possibility of you sleeping off on your feet. As you’ve trained together, you are totally in sync with each other keeping each other moving onwards and forward, walking up the slopes and running steadily otherwise.
You once again pass by Cloud 9 as you make your way towards Amby Valley. You both have been running strongly and steadily, motivating each other, supporting each other with a pee break being the only time you pause, other than the brief moments you spend at the water station.
You kind of agree with Vijay when he says the route should have been lit, especially in the forest areas where the tree cover adds to the already darkened and kind of treacherous route, as it was done for TUM. Although you agree with this you still end up stating that TUM was a big ticket race and this wasn’t so you would give it the benefit of doubt even though you know that the route would be safer if it was lit up especially in these dark patches.
As you near Amby you meet the front pack of the 50k on their way back. You cheer as you spot your friends Urmi and Swapnil, who are blazing away making the route feel like a piece of cake. You spot Rashmi and Latish and Mehz and Payal and Dheval, all who are going strongly. You also have the 42k and 35k runners making their way.
You chat with another runner friend Kunal, who’s running a 35k. You cheer Ketak and Ani as they make their way back, even clicking them as they go by. You even give your friends a friendly finger salute as they pass you.
As you enter Amby Valley you quip that if you take another pee break here you would be in a way helping the bio diversity of the place, chuckling at your on silly RJ.
By the time you reach your third turnaround point daylight has finally made its way through the gloomy, foggy weather. But there’s still no sign of rains, apart from some brief showers. Looks like no one was singing Showers of Blessings.
You spot Natty and Adi running strongly and surely with a spring in their step and joy in their heart that radiates into a smile. You wouldn’t be able to tell that they were running a 50k.
You cheer them loudly and capture their shenanigans. Their joy is infectious and it makes its way to you. But then you have this joy of your own that keeps you calm and chugging on.
As you exit Amby, you spot your fellow RBs Amogh, Amit, Rishi and Amit who are running the 21k. You begin to cross other Half Marathoners, who are making their way to Amby Valley. You are filled with Joy when you spot your dear friends Mitali, the ever smiling and youthful Bimalji, your very own Benjamin Button, Anil sir, Vandy ma’am, Rupal, Srini sir, Manisha, Vimol, Jogesh, Anand, as they pass by you. You cheer loudly your for friends from the BNP Green Runners, MRR, Stride with GB, along with your fellow RBs. In fact, you are cheering everyone on the route, especially the ones who need it the most.
By now you are running comfortably. The route doesn’t seem so daunting, and thanks to your familiarity with it. You are running much stronger and better than what you had done at TUM.
A glance at your watch indicates that you just have a little over 11 km to go and one hour to have spent 6 hours on your feet. May be, just may be, if you push a little more you could go under 6 hours. No matter what you knew you would better the time you took to complete TUM.
Reaching the water station just before you take the road towards Mulshi, once again, you take your gel, sip water and try to pick your pace. You hand your cap and head lamp to Swapnil who has finished his run and is comfortably walking around as if he just went out for a short run and was done.
By now you begin to pass runners who are doing smaller distances. You spot Prerna and give her a cheer as she passes by. And then you see coach Girish and this sight fills you so much joy. You are so happy to see him running strongly and proudly, blazing the road the way only he’s capable of. Seeing him go is such an inspiring sight. You let out a loud cheer as you pass by him.
Now it’s your turn to push through to the final turnaround point and onwards to the finish line. Just when you thought you had everything under control you feel your calves tightening up. Damn, you ran 44 kms without any niggle and now when you are so close to the finish cramps decide to set in. Any chance of finishing within or around the 6 hour mark have now vanished just like the rains that didn’t happen.
Fortunately they aren’t too bad but they do slow you down requiring you to walk every now and then. You fall behind but try not worry. As if the cramping were not enough your watch runs out of battery (something that you knew would happen). But there’s no hitting the panic button. You keep chugging along.
The final loop, which was hidden in the dark and fog feels daunting as there a lot more inclines than you thought were there, and this slows you down as you have to walk up them and also because every time you try to speed up your calves begin to tighten and then you have to hobble up the slope.
Somehow the final turnaround feels like a distant memory that only feels farther than you thought it was. But you are determined and nothing gonna keep you down.
Finally you reach the turnaround point and you are just glad to get there. You wonder if this could be the finish line and you didn’t have to go any further!!!
You meet this cute doggie with a dent in its head. You give it a couple pats before you take off to the finish line, chatting with other runners who are as troubled as you with this last part of the run.
You smirk and flex your muscles as you pass by a few photographers.
As you near the finish line you see Mitali who cheers you on and you are so glad for it. You give one final push that carries you across the finish line.
And just like that you’ve got another 50k in the bag (run and not money, if that confused you). You hobble to the holding area cause your legs are all sore. You are glad to have completed the race but then there’s this nagging, dull disappointment at the back of your head. But then you tell yourself that in ultras timing don’t matter, it’s the distance and the time on your feet (just as coach Dan said).
So with that you have another 50k under your belt and some good memories to cherish and lesson learned and things to implement. You collect your medal, pose for pics and go to the finish line just in time to cheer Rups and Srini Sir as they finish, as well cheering all the other runners. You patiently wait for Adi and Natty to finish who are still making the most of their 50k and having fun on the run.
