Running Ultramarathons

The first time I met Anirudh, a fellow resident at our residential community, was during a casual run inside our compound. He was running with another gentleman, who was running barefoot. The duo seemed to be running forever, with a poise of long-distance runners! Only when I interacted with Anirudh, I found he was an Ultramarathoner. At the time, I had just started running, and I was in awe with anybody who could even run half-marathon and of course the full version of it. Now imagine my plight when this chap said that he ran ultra marathon – till that point I didn’t even know what it meant – He clarified saying it was beyond a full marathon. He ran several ultras in different places including 100 miles in Jaisalmer. This was honestly tough to comprehend and beyond inspirational!

Anirudh mentioned about Hennur Bamboo Ultra, happening in the October of 2024 – a trail run, amidst a beautiful bamboo forest in Bangalore. I signed up for 20K, a decent push for me, almost a half marathon. I wouldn’t say it was ultra ultra, but it was a great step up for me to join the leagues of these Ultra marathoners. We met senior gentlemen and ladies running 50K and above, and that was truly motivational. It rained the previous night, so the trail was wet, slippery and at some points simply un-runnable – we had to slowly walk around the muddy puddle and then make our move.

For me, the timing wasn’t important – the goal was to complete the 20K trail, one that I achieved quite well I thought. The trail takes you around the beautiful bamboo forest at Hennur, it was simply a pleasure to run here, the shoes though requiring a dry wash!

The breakfast was amazing (as they say it’s not what you eat that matters – its more about when you eat, with whom you eat, the environment and the level of hunger you have, everything contributes to this “heartful” content).

Fast forward few months, Anirudh mentioned about Ooty Ultramarathon – this time a run on the beautiful Nilgiri hills. Mountains have always fascinated me – their might and scale simply humbles you down to the core. Here we go again – I registered for a 15K run this time – this wasn’t a regular trail run on a flat surface like Hennur. This was running up and down the mighty Dodda Betta – the highest mountain in the Nilgiri Mountain range at 2,637 meters. Anirudh registered for a 75k run, which had a strict cut off time of 12 hours. First of all, running such long distances was crazy, and then they had cut-offs for 30k/60k/75k runs. The 90k also had a cut off of 12 hours as well, same as 75k. It was a true manifestation of absolute grit and determination. Interestingly, I realized that I had never been to Ooty – a very popular tourist destination from Bangalore, so I truly hoped it to be a completely different experience. Registration cost was a steep Rs.2700 (including GST it comes to Rs.3300). Considering they had to manage this on the hills and the impact this run had on the local society, it felt worth it – the fund from this run goes to building schools and play parks apparently. Running for multiple causes then.

I just completed reading a book “The comfort crisis” by Michael Easter (I will do a detailed book review later – watch out for this), he brings up an interesting point that our species, the homo sapiens were “Born to Run“. Daniel Lieberman, paleoanthropologist at Harvard University, in his paper “Nature“, argues that homo sapiens have evolved to be endurance runners. There is a nice video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSQl5wZ4g6I, where Daniel Lieberman talks about his theory. Sure, Cheetahs, horses and the rabbits, or any quadruped for that matter, could beat us easily in short sprints. However, on a long run, we humans can out-perform all of the other species – this has an evolutionary angle to it, where we had to chase down a prey for longer durations, until the prey got tired. As Michael writes: Over millions of years, the human body adapted to this endurance running – springy arches in our feet, long tendons in our legs, big butt muscles, sweat glands across our body, no fur, complicated noses that humidify air before it hits our lungs – the list goes on. These help us run great distances and stay cool, other mammals gallop quickly for a few minutes, then need to stop and pant to release heat and cool down.

The basic gist of this book, as I figured out, was that our minds are just fooling us, our bodies were destined to do much more than what we think we can. This is in line with what Anirudh keeps mentioning about developing a mentality for long running discipline. Endurance was our killer app, and now thanks to modern day comforts, this has been quietly tucked aside. I don’t know if it’s pure timing or I am picking these kinds of books recently, in summary, all of them are preaching to step out of your comfort zone, in a physical sense. Leave the decision making to the body, not the mind. Always remember that “The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master”. I am still trying to contemplate how this whole listening to the body works, but probably running long distance could be a great start point.

I have been doing lots of runs recently. In the month of February 2025, I ran over 89kms, the most in any month. This month, before the big event at Ooty, its already 103kms. Mostly doing a 5k consistently, with 10+k peppered in between. Anirudh did all the logistical planning about transport and stay, and I am just going to participate in one of the biggest long distance racing events of my life – quite excited and nervous at the same time. He also kept recommending on how many kms I should be running during the course of training for the race – helping me with a nice training plan. Based on one of the Q&A sessions I attended from the race director, there is one respite: You can, and probably you should walk from time to time – not run continuously. I hope to do a mix of both running and brisk walking to reach that 15-kilometer milestone.

Abhishek, another long-distance running buddy of Anirudh tagged along us in our long drive to Ooty, he had registered for 75k himself. I already started feeling inspired having got the chance to spend time with seasoned endurance athletes! We started at around 4am from Bangalore, the drive was all nice, and we reached Ooty by 10:30am. The KSTDC Mayura Royal Heritage hotel seemed quite nice – quietly tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the town, easy check-in and decent rooms for the price we paid – INR 5500 for 2 nights, amidst a truly serene environment. We first had lunch and then met other runners at the BIB collection center, TTDC hotel TamilNadu. Rain, however, did manage to dampen the otherwise festival spirits at the place. A goodie bag containing our T-shirt, tea and condiments, and our BIB was handed out to us. I casually talked to people who were running 30k’s and 60k’s, it was quite motivating.

We met some other fellow long-distance runners, friends of Anirudh. One lady who is into both running and mountaineering, was running 60k. Another young man, just 23 years of age, told he had been running for 6-7 years – simply amazing. When I asked him what his end game was, he just loved running but kept on upgrading on it. Having completed the full marathons and now ultramarathons, he was now considering doing something called Hyrox – It’s a mix of running plus strength exercises, all need to be done in strict cut off time. He wants to build up muscles and this was his next exciting adventure. Wow, I thought, so amazing for a 23-year-old man, and so much to learn and explore in the running fraternity itself. In the evening, Anirudh brought up the concept of Shakeout run – a short 10-15 mins run done on the day before to get the mind and the muscles in shape for the run next day. We did some stretching before and after the run, had a nice dal rice at our hotel and retired for the day.

On the Raceday, we took an auto from our hotel to the Ooty boat house – the starting point of the race. We reached by 5:20am, a lot of runners were already there, and the mood was simply electric. Folks doing their warm-up routines, talking in groups, both large and small, wishing each other a pleasurable run. All this amidst the backdrop of a beautiful morning sky, with birds chirping, fogs encircling a beautiful lake. There were buses that would take our baggage and later return it at the finishing point. Anirudh introduced me to more of his running gang. One interesting personality stood out for me – Anil Gupta, a fit gentleman sporting a 60K BIB. I started casually chatting with him, he pointed me to another man and told “See, he is 73-years old“. “Nice“, I said and curiously asked, “and how old are you?“. “71” came the reply. Wow!

He then narrated his endurance running story – he was diagnosed with a knee problem and the doctor advised him to undergo knee replacement surgery when was around 61 years. He somehow bought some time and started walking short and then longer distances. Seeing him walk a lot, youngsters that he knew suggested him to enroll for 5k/10k races. When he told them he could not run much, they asked him to walk. He enrolled for these races, and then slowly upgraded from walking to running. Later, he started running longer distances, with half and full marathons. Between all this, his knee completely recovered, without even having to undergo any surgery – this was a living testament of listening to body (and let it recover gradually) and quieting the mind by not getting influenced by the doctor and agreeing to rhetoric diagnosis and treatments. The man is a total inspiration and I just found his story via google: https://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/anil-gupta-physical-fitness-is-a-must/20220706.htm. If this doesn’t inspire people to take up running or any other physical workouts, I wonder what else will.

The 90k/75k/60k category got flagged off at 6am sharp. At 6:05am it was the 30K. Finally, the 15k – the biggest contingent, got invited to start running at 6:30am. Weather was perfect to run, it was such a pleasure to be running here. The initial route takes you around some local town and after a while it starts the elevation towards DoddaBetta. I met a barefoot runner along the way, ran with him for few minutes, and then it was casual nudge and appreciation for fellow runners- both ways. The climb up the mountain was both tiring and beautiful. Only thing I didn’t like was these buses and other vehicles letting out heavy exhaust from time to time, thus polluting the otherwise clean air.

Along the way, I met another lady, who hailed from Hassan, but was now working in Hyderabad. It was nice conversing with her in Kannada. It turned out she had been practicing running only in the past 2 months and this was her first-ever 15k race – first-ever – unbelievable! After the race finish later, I met her again and had some good discussions. She is a single parent, having lost her husband during the lethal second wave of the Covid epidemic. She had joined her friend from community, her son was alone in the hotel in Ooty. Her passion for running, and the determination to use this as tool against all negativity and challenges was simply amazing. It was getting more and more evident on how running could change lives!

The run on the mountain was simply beautiful – with the fog covering some parts of the runway, it was amazing. I ended up walking for quite some distances when the going got difficult. I also kept monitoring my heart rate, and I switched from running to walking when it hit above 180 range. Usually, they recommend going only till 220 minus your age as the max heartbeat during workouts, which in my case stands at 177.

The walk/run uphill was challenging, but the downhill was an even scarier proposition – completely taxing the knees, at the mercy of insane pull of gravity. I had just tried (for the first time) the redbull energy drink at the top of Doddabetta, and while running downhill, just one thought went through my mind “Redbull gives you wings” – with pretty much the same tone as their advertisement, and I was going downhill at breakneck speed (I would definitely have broken something if I misplaced my foot anywhere!).

The inspiration was galore. People of all ages and shapes running along. I met a 14-year-old young boy, a local from Ooty, running the Ultra for the first time.

I asked him if he did run on this hill before. He just told he came with family on a car, and I asked how it is different from running. “That is easy, this is not easy” he said. But I saw him running quite well for most of the time. I also saw another much younger boy enthusiastically running uphill. The overall vibe and energy was simply amazing.

I thought the Ultra marathon event was managed quite well, right from the registration, timely information, BIB distribution and the raceday readiness. The aid stations were decently stocked (I could vouch for 15k run, not sure if people had similar thoughts for their longer runs) – water, electrolyte, snacks like chikki, oranges, dates, bananas, etc. I finished the race at the Tea Park area, taking overall 1 hour 55 minutes. The landscape at the finishing line was stunning. Nice green hilly terrain, a well-maintained play area for kids, and lots of space to relax after the long run.

I collected the finisher’s medal (a beautiful customized one with our names carved out).

With the medal secured, I went to pick up breakfast. It was quite good, with typical South Indian buffet, Idly, Vada, vermicelli, halwa, sambar and chutney. We could buy lemon tea at nearby stall for 20 bucks. Ek photo tho bantha hai – One for the camera!

That was it! A great experience indeed. Would I do it again? Hell yeah! For all the time I spent with Anirudh and Abhishek during this trip, it was mostly about this run and that experience – Running around the forts near Pune, on the chillier tracks near Shimla, around the desert areas of Jaisalmer, or the oxygen depleted regions of Ladakh. These are much higher stakes for me at the moment, but I would definitely like to register for a 30K run next at the 2025 Malnad Ultra (https://malnadultra.com/), hosted at the hilly trails of Chikkamagalur, nestled in the beautiful western ghat region. It’s scheduled for Nov.23rd and I have 8 months to train for this next big thing – a good training plan and inspiration from local buddies like Anirudh should do the trick. During the whole trip, Anirudh kept iterating a quote from the greatest marathoner the world has ever seen, Eliud Kipchoge– “No human is limited” – Though one needs to train with utmost discipline to become this unlimited edition. Keep running, keep enjoying!