Just a stone throw away from Bangalore, lies the hill town of South India – Madikeri. A perfect blend of weather and elevated ranges to get your legs take on the much needed training for your future prospects.
The first ever Coorg Elevation Challenge, Half Marathon allows you to take on such challenges and add that flavour to your running schedule.
Dharma – The founder of proton sports is gearing up the elevation series to bring out the best from atheletes that can not only take on such challenges but also challenge the mountains in return – Such is the perspective of elevation series
A ride from Bangalore to Coorg is just 5-6 hours and quite a delight if you happen to drive in the wee hours from Bangalore to avoid traffic. The cloudy weather with drizzles can get on to your nerves if you aren’t a fan of rain and yes, could restrict your trainings but it’s something that you might want to consider training under such conditions if you are looking forward to runs up north in the Himalayas where it snows and rains and the difficulty level just double folds.
Coorg is a unknown territory and was one reason to choose this destination for the run and also have the opportunity to drive after a really long time.
The pickup to the start point was scheduled at 5:45am at the finish point and the start time was at 6:30am. Having run many Half Marathon, the plan was to definitely look at the gains that I have made from all the mountains training and if I could look up to my personal bests at a comparatively lesser elevation gain challenge of 1000meters.
With very less preps since i was still in a recovery phase post the 100km solang ultra run, the idea of doing something extraordinary was not on my mind but yes, doing a good 21kms elevation run around two hours is something that would compliment my fitness levels.
On the d day, we had to gather at the statue and drive down all way to the start point that was 21kms away. The drizzle had already begun and could have added to worry if it had to pour when we started to run. Being the first of the event, we had a handful of runners who had made it to the event. The idea of achieving a personal best on this route took a back seat as we drove down to natures beauty and wanted to soak all that in on the way up. The bib distribution happen at the start line along with ample photo clicks that made it to the memoirs. As the clock struck 6:31am, we started our journey to the finish line at the top.
An easy start before getting into the groove is all that I needed and my focus was to ensure that I keep moving without any breaks. This was a conscious test that I took up to see if all that madness in the Himalayas had added to my potential of conquering elevations with ease when compared to my past runs. The gradual ascent kept me happy and I could move up well without any niggles in the intial stretch of 5kms. As usual, I had my compression socks on to relax the fatigue in my leg muscles after the 100km mayhen at Solang Sky ULTRA.
The attire was much lighter this time, with drifit inners, shorts and a tank tee. Since this was a road run with ongoing traffic, it is always advised to wear bright colors. This keeps you in limelight among the vehicles that passby. Prior to the start a customary bowl was missed this time, I instead ate two slices of bread with cheese and jam. I was carrying a 250ml bottle of electrolyte and four gels that I planned to consume on the way up. Sips of electrolyte at every 2.5kms and gels at 5, 10, 14 and 18km respectively were consumed. I even picked a 500 water bottle and tucked it in my back inside my shorts and it held well for the next 11kms towards the finish line. I also picked my favourite Orange at 13kms mark as I was starting to get hungry.
There were two vehicles that were doing the rounds of supplying all the hydration and refreshments. It was well thought approach by Dharma and I got what I wanted along the route whenever needed. It is also good to be self dependent at times, be it a small bottle of water or muchies that you can rely on till the next refill.
So the journey to the top continued and the eagerness to finish the run grew within me. I managed to not stop and run throughout the route. Just when I reached the 15th km mark, the ascent reduced a bit and I used it to my full advantage to chase through it. This continued till 17km and the incline started to look me into the eye again. Now, I had another 4kms to go, I popped in the gel at 18kms mark to give me that much needed energy to cross the finish line. I must say, the turns on the route helped you plan the shorter goals. Every turn in sight was converted in to the next milestone and this strategy worked for me without having to worry about the bigger goal. Hence, the 500 to 1000 meters short and evenly placed sprint added to this luxury of the climb. This helped reduce the stress on your mind too as it gave you the immediate happiness of completing each of the shorter milestone without any worries. This process continued till the finish line.
I finished the coorg elevation challenge -half marathon in 2hours 8mins. By the way, you may tend to loose gps signals on the route and few 100 meters lag here and there will be obvious. I used the Garmin Solar Instinct and it had another 300-400 meters left even after crossing the finish line. Nevertheless, I was happy with the time taken to finish. A quick session of stretching is all that I needed to relax those calves of mine and it just felt like heaven. Remember to warm up just enough prior to the run and do your stretches post the run. It will keep you injuries at bay.
Here’s how the end result looked:-
Yuvaraj – 2:08:22
Sukhesh – 2:29:32
Anup (+2) – 2:51:46
Pradeep – 3:17:24
Sineesh – 3:20:35
Last finisher – 3:28:51
I was unstoppable – Hearing this from the maestro himself ‘Dharma‘ made my day.
Starva Run Statistics
My itinerary for the event:-
Left bangalore at around 4:30am on Friday 12th, reached Coorg by 11am.
Continued with my office work for the day and had some nice coorg cuisine for lunch and dinner.
Hopped a few cafes on Saturday, 13th and then rested the whole of day after lunch.
Woke up at 4:30am on Sunday, 14th November and headed to the gathering point (400meters away) at 5:30am for the pickup.
Finished the event by 8:40am and left for bangalore by 11am on the same day.