48-hour, Strides of hope

As runners came around the bend of the final lap, there were smiles, hugs, congratulatory slaps, and high fives. There was jubilation, and celebration. No one was talking about sleep deprivation or sore muscles. With a cumulative 3000-km distance, 350 runners, and 48 long hours later, Strides of Hope 48 hour run came to an end on Feb 21, 2010, 4pm, IST

A personal goal to run 48 hours to raise funds for ASHA, an organization he supports and works for, prodded Santosh Padmanabhan to seek volunteers to crew, and support him on his run. I had crewed for him once before on a 24-hour run, and I was not going to miss this chance. Information on his fundraising, and volunteer efforts can be found at http://runnershigh.in/nonprofit.php. He dreams for the kids he trains, and helps them realize their potential.

Santosh trained by running 20 hours at Bangalore Ultra, and another 12-hour and 6-hour runs back to back, setting a realistic expectation of what he can achieve. As volunteers turned into organizers of the 48-hour run, ideas floated around, and what was formalized came to be Strides of Hope 48-hour run. With free entry, and a fully supported run, it encouraged participation of large number of runners. The idea: To log as many miles, and to have as many runners on a route, which was chosen carefully to highlight run locations available to general public within Bangalore city limits, while taking in to consideration feasibility of traffic management. I must say that we not only succeeded, rather exceeded our expectations.

As the first 24 hours came to end, some of us needed downtime to replenish food stock, broadcast the run on the radio, and rotate support crew. As the run moved from location to location, Saturday morning saw a surge in runner numbers, pacing already exhausted runners well in to 12-hours of running. Some chose to walk all of those 48 hours, and some walked for about 12. However, there was always someone on the route.

Globeracers Photofile: Photos by Kavitha Kanaparthi.

Globeracers Photofile: Photos by Kavitha Kanaparthi

Globeracers Photofile: Photos by Kavitha Kanaparthi.

Globeracers Photofile: Photos by Kavitha Kanaparthi.

Globeracers Photofile: Photos by Kavitha Kanaparthi.

A big collective shout out to all those who participated in the run, and all those who came to cheer. Sunand and Murtazza breezed through a 48 hour walk, Sindhu and Jagadish walked 12 hours, Bhaskar Sharma ran 13.5 hours, and many more met and surpassed their time, and goal of total miles logged, all the while cheering Santosh who aimed to run all of 48 hours but was forced to retire after 30 hours into the run, due to foot injuries.

The organizers also deserve a big round of applause for doing double-duty as organizers and crew. They registered participants, braved three days of sleep deprivation while they ran and cycled the course to ensure safety, manned water stations day and night, while making sure that logistics such as movement from location to location, medical help, and food requirements were all met, as well as ensuring that an uninterrupted 48-hour run was logged, and recorded. 

Strides of Hope, a 48-hr mega-marathon is here to stay continuing with the current open and free format, with no sponsors, and all donations benefiting childrens’ education. When it returns in 2011, Strides of Hope aims to bring out more Bangaloreans, and everyone across the country to take a step towards hope, to trail blaze their way to an active lifestyle as well as have an impact on the lives of children they indirectly shape.