Vagamon Ultra 60km Trail, Kerala- 11th June 2022, A blind date on this trail.

Back to Back ultras was never on the cards, but with COVID playing spoil sport for many on ground events, the postponement of events lead to a clutter. Thinking it otherwise, this posed a challenge on the time of recovery one could have before the next Ultra. A 5 day interval had to closely monitored with activities that can help your body recover as much as you can and hands down, strength and conditioning and mobility exercises was the go to schedule. 

A days break after the Bison Ultra and with a solid celebration mode kicking in, I could manage a days time after the run to build that hunger of getting back on track again and prep my body and mind for the next demanding ultra trail event in Kerala – The Vagamon Ultra. 

Vagamon Ultra has been by far the most recommended event by fellow ultra runners and the idea of a blind date with this trail just turned right and couldn’t have asked for more. One pure technical trail in the midst of pine trees and tea plantatios and with hills to admire and lush green pastures and waterfall sighting leaves you in awe of this creation on Nature. 

So, how did it all happen. Bison Ultra got postponed from 6th February 2022 to 5th June 2022 whereas Vagamon was scheduled on 11th June. The call was taken post analysis of the distance that had to be covered and the idea was to go easy on yourself and do a injury free run. Bison Ultra 50kms did well and had enjoyed the event to the core. I was fortunate enough to finish on top. Back in Bangalore the same day of Bison Ultra finish and then gearing up for a early loooooooonnnngggg drive to Vagamon – Kerala in couple of days, the first ever towards this southern part of the country was a right bet. The idea of settling in this new location and experiencing the weather conditions was done to inject a mindset of what we could expect on the day of the run. 

Work hadn’t taken a back seat either and continued to do my usuals on the weekdays. A evening stroll for some eat outs and a short drive here and there made it to the schedule too. With days passing by, the idea of doing a recce run just could not cross my mind as I was still willing to give my legs the time it needed to recover from the last run. A session of Yoga and strength workouts was doing its job to keep the fatigue and laziness at bay. 

Highlights of the event, no pre-bib collection and could only be done on the race day, bare minimum orientation – the only instruction was to follow the arrows and orange ribbons along the route, aids and checkpoint stations were placed at every 10kms and can actually be a bummer for some if you are banking on frequent refreshments and hence the idea of being self dependent can keep you going, no Garmin gpx files and love it when you are bound to discover your own path and yes, loads of motivation along the route and checkpoints loaded with eatables is all the paradise you wished for. 

Okay now, enough said, let me get right to the start line. The event had 30kms and 60kms category. 

The bibs were collected at the start point by 5:30ish and the wait for 6am began. My rituals of a dry fruit muesli bowl and a warm glass of water before the start went along fine. The Vagamon Adventure park hosted the start location and in 50 meters or so, you are asked to run the incline on the trail. It did get a bit chaotic and you had to find your way out of it.

Had fueled up well in the hydration bag with water, electrolytes, coke, energy gels and drink, chocolates for the journey. TimTim was kind enough to hand over few dry fruit energy laddoos to overcome the mayhem that we were about to witness.

Morning were a bit cold and layers of clothing help you to be cozy in the attire and as expected with the weather conditions clearing up and humidity on its rise, decision of layering down was playing on my mind. The rain god’s did show some mercy though after pouring consistenly for last two days and that very night. Those initial 10kms had me sweat like a pig and I had to take of the rain shield and have some breather ahead. Phew! That definitely helped. 

A small peak up and a downhill lead us on the road and back in to yet another trail and guess what, in no time you have gallons of water in your shoe as you tend to overlook the lush green grass dampened with water in it. You have no choice but to continue with those wet shoes on. Trail shoes with quick dri technique can help in such runs. A puddle here, a puddle there, a slip here, a slip there was all a part of this game. A few water streams could only be covered with your shoes on and there was no escape from soaking your shoes again. The tea plantations can injure you severe as the rigid and protruding dwarf bushes can entangle you like no one’s business and have to be carefully dodged. This can be deal breaker too at times. 

Next stop at 17th and then at 24th km i suppose and my only job to just munch in my favourite and out of the world snack – Orange and Salt. This combo is a amazingly tasty and at the same time gets you in the much needed salt and oranges, a source of vitamin c do help in avoiding muscle injury. The conditions were getting humid, so pouring a glass of water here and there also have some respite from the heat. 

The rolling hills now had come in to action, from one year trail to another and so on. The next refill happened at approx 32km mark and we headed towards the 42nd km mark and was one of the cut off points in the 60km category. I believe you had to make it by 2pm to avoid the disqualification. Oh, i forgot to mention the idli station at last checkpoint but I still chose juice out those oranges. 

All the aid stations were appropriately maked with mile information as well the distance to the next expected station. But I hardly bothered to read them since I had company on the route. This can also act as a stress buster when you don’t have to keep a track of the time , distance and all you had to ensure you keep moving. 

Roshan had left me behind on the trail, but I managed to catch up with him and ventured ahead together in the unknown territory. I remember he mentioning that this wasn’t one of his days and all he had on his mind was to finish it peacefully. The heat, humidity and the never ending climbs were getting us restless. The journey to the next checkpoint just seemed endless and we had started praying for some rain to cool us off from the sun ☀️. The dark clouds did play peek-a-boo but never bother to shower some relief. 

Next pitstop at 42kms and it was time for a refill again. The hunger was getting on to me and a bowl of curd rice was very much relished. This station also served dal and rice and a lot of other munchies. A quick water refill and out we go towards the next checkpoint. I was glad to see TimTim on my way out and was quite amazed with her feat already and knew she was in for a celebration towards the end. 

Also to mention, we heard about an unfortunate incident that took place and we’re definitely worried for the runner in question. A lot of thoughts run in your mind when it comes to ones physical fitness. We may be belting those miles at every event and vibe around could be so overwhelming that you may tend to overlook your boundaries and go with the flow. As a matter of fact, such demanding runs need to be carefully and consistenly trained for and patience is one such key ingredient when you aim at Ultra feats. The process takes time and so be it. You are here to push your limits but have to be very mindful in drawing the line of between being ambitious and being agrresive. Now, all we could do it pray for the well being of the runner and take this as a learning curve.

With 18km left in the journey, a steady walk or rather a speed trek is what we ended up calling the entire run is all that we were game for. A short runs here and there in the plains and declines were the go to strategy and walking the inclined had become habitual by now.

On the route, Roshan started having a few muscle pulls and all I could hear was his screams that put me into dilemma on what next, I could ask him to calm down and act on a few pressure point to relieve him of his pain. This has happened on the way to 20th km too I suppose when he actually had a fall and was not a happy site to watch him in pain. He rested and stretched a bit and managed to get on his feet and kept going. By now, we tagged along a few runners on the route and it was a sign of relief to have some company to share the dreadful ness of the trail and continued motivating each other to push enough and keep going.

The next station was at 50th km mark and then at 56km i suppose before you could head towards the finish line. Guess what, the rains.. the rains had started. It was a light drizzle though but in no time, the showers drenched you to the core and the very idea of even wearing a raincoat need not cross your mind because it wouldn’t help anyways. 

The trails were flooded too. The shoes were flooded too. My only worry was my phone in my hydration pack. I had it covered in a zipper lock but it still kept worrying and with so shade in sight , i did not take the risk of checking on it as it was literally pouring now.

This surprisingly helped in recovery and felt good to run the last 6kms. Post the 55th km checkpoint where I only halted for a sip of water and off I go in the madness of rain. This was my first ever experience of running in rain at a event. The declines towards the end were quite slippery and risky if you had to increase your pace. The trail was hardly visible.

The only challenge that remained now was the last climb towards the finish. I brisk walked the entire climb comfortably and was so glad for yet another finish at an ultra event and no injuries. The fear of having leaches over your body was doing rounds too but had none on me through out the run. A pinch of salt is all you need to get rid of them when stuck on to your body. Saline water was also made available at check points to help you get them off. And by the way, if you happen to carry a sanitizer spray, it works like a charm as I ended up using it post my run. 

The finish line garlands you with you well deserved medal.

And yes yes, lunch was served!

Admire my fellow partners in crime Roshan, Sanjay, Aman, Guru, Lipi, TimTim , Kuljeet, Deepu with Aman running the trail and setting the course record like just another day at work and Lipi, Hats off to you, I saw you slay the trail, congratulations on your podium. Guru is like a snake charmer in ultras, he lures the mileage. Deepu had yet another impressive run,  Sanjay – I love you tattoos. And,  TimTim you were amazing, bagging first runner up in women’s category in your first ever Ultra and that too trail, Salutations my gal!

https://www.getfittwithtim.com/blog

Mixed feelings towards the end of the run when we were communicated on the unfortunate incident that lead to a loss of a runner on the route. Condolences 🙏.