Prathima's Miles & Milestones

/home to /Nandi Hills

As a proud Bangalorean, Nandi Hills is dearest to us. If you take a Bangalorean out of the city, she will either land in Nandi Hills or Chanmundi Hills.

From Indiranagar to Nandi Hills is approximately 60 kms. This is the usual ultra run but via road, manoeuvring the traffic. Headlights front & back for safety, reflective jacks in the wee hours of the morning, pairing cyclists for safety, self-made hydration pitstops, having an eye on the time as well as the roadmap planned series of events.

We had done our itinerary — two cars, the batches of runners, taking turns for hydration support, choosing the right or left based on tracking the speedsters, choosing the water bottles, energy bars, electrolytes, sprays, etc.

As early as 4:00 am, we catch up for the warm-up together. Some started the race as per the plan we are willing to run the entire 60 kms wearing their headlights, and reflective wear. The hydration squad split across two cars & reached the first hydration point. And, the 2nd batch of runners started from the first hydration point such that it went in a round-robin fashion among us the volunteers to ensure that most of us finished the 60 km stretch.

We did have issues & had to deviate from the plans. Eg: Some runners took a longer route by missing a turn, due to traffic we could not stop at the exact hydration points as planned & hence this led to dehydration. There was a bit of solace as we reached the outskirts. The sun started blazing, and running the highways felt like an infinite loop, the cyclists caught up & supported the runners who were either too fast or too slow or held back.

We took turns evenly. However, we exceeded the kms we planned for than earlier planned as the route got lovelier & bearable with straight roads. We all wanted to wrap the year with x number of kms & hence had our internal calling plus the runners high. The onlookers helped us by cheering. We luckily had cash so we took pitstops as hydration went berserk substituting with tender-coconut water & water bottles in the stores as we passed by.

Through Google Maps and Power Banks, we somehow were in the mind though we went out of sight & got deviated. We finally arrived in the foothills for the final climb, exhausted, fatigued, nauseous, dehydrated, heat stroke was very much the condition for most of us. Some of us sacrificed our place from sitting in the car due to cramps & started running uphills as space was limited. Some took the short trek route to the top of the hills.

Alas, we finally executed it amidst all the repercussions & roadblocks. We knew what it takes for organisers to plan a marathon. We had our learnings so that we plan the next ones much better. It was lovely to cheer our 60 kms finishers.

Have you planned a race on your own with your running groups? If yes, please do enlighten us in your comments or rather join our Running Group. Here’s my Strava Athlete profile.