Thar Recce 2009

I left for Rajasthan, my first trip to that state, expecting to be blown away by its beauty and history. What I experienced, however, was not even close to my expectations; I was blown away.

The first day, as I sat in the courtyard of a small haveli in the town of Bikhamkor, I was treated to a star splattered sky. Beautiful milky stars lay about in the sky twinkling away, bringing to light the gorgeousness of the universe we live in, yet barely notice.

We woke up early next morning to capture sunrise over the dunes, a sunrise so inexplicably beautiful that my heart skipped a beat, maybe two. I was awestruck.  We hung around the area capturing more of the elusive beauty – peacocks strutting about, pigeons gathering in groups, and historic houses standing majestically against the desert backdrop. Finally, we set out to Jaisalmer picking up a colleague on the way at Jodhpur. Jaisalmer was our first stop on the recce.

GR Photofile: Thar Desert Wildlife. Desert has abundance of spotted deer, blue bulls, peacocks.

GR Photofile: Peacocks are fiercly protected by Bhishnoi community, and it shows in their numbers.

We set out the next morning to visit hotels that would serve as residences for runners, during that leg of the run. Needless to say, they are truly royal, and spectacular in their architecture. We were treated with great hospitality, including scrumptious food, before we set out to see Jaisalmer Fort where descendants of earlier royal families, and their relatives own apartments within the fort complex. Inside the fort was a maze of shops, apartments, as well as crumbling sections of the fort-wall. View of the city from the vantage point at one end of the fort is impressive, and one can almost see Pakistan border on the horizon, or so it seemed.

GR Photofile: Jaisalmer Fort vantage point

GR Photofile: WIthin the Jaisalmer Fort walls

My only grouse are the touts, and guides who literally mob you, and come too close for comfort. If you can block that out, you will take away a marvelous experience of seeing intricate lattice and filigree, imposing structures, and complex architecture.

GR Photofile: Beautiful Filigree work. Part of Jaisalmer Fort's intricate building structure

Our next stop: Pokhran, where it all came together. The Thakurs of Pokhran live in their heritage home, with a rich 700-year old history. Kunwara of Pokhran is the 14^th generation owner of this fort, which houses 19 intricately decorated rooms, unique in style, and presentation, as well as the Thakur’s family apartments.  We arrived at Pokhran around lunchtime, and waited for Param Vijay Singh, Kunwara of Pokhran. My interaction with him over the previous few months have been lengthy, and extensive. I was looking forward to meeting him in person finally.  Again, I was in for a surprise when a handsome young lad walked in looking gloriously royal. No mistaking his regal lineage. We were treated to lunch before heading out to the dunes, with Param in toe, in his proper business attire and shoes. What a fun afternoon it was, running up the dunes, while Param pointed out beautiful route possibilities, and ran up the dunes with us in his, yes, dress shoes!

GR Photofile: Param on the dunes in his proper dress shoes 🙂 It sure was a hot day!

GR Photofile: Sliding down the dunes can be as much fun as running up! Thar Recce 2009

We spent the evening discussing route options and terrains available around Pokhran. The beauty of the place combined with logistics consideration had us choosing to start the race in Pokhran, and completely forgo the Jaisalmer leg of the race. And that’s how Pokhran came to be the center point of Globeracers’ Thar Run. A beautiful quaint town on the highway from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, with its unassuming Thakur family, doing their best for people who respected, and looked up to them for ages, it offers sand dunes, historic ruins, and salt flats to mix it up, thus treating runners to a variety of terrain and not limiting the entire duration of the race to dunes.

GR Photofile: Temple architecture.

GR Photofile: Camp Thar - Fourth day's stay location during Thar Race 2009

GR Photofile: Lalniwas, Phalodi, third day's stay location during Thar Race 2009

GR Photofile: Life in the Thar desert can be extremely harsh, and these ladies have been walking for over 4km by the time I caught up with them. They are extremely shy, and I had to coax them into posing for me. They agreed only after pulling their veils lower 🙂

Since we intend to change the race route every year, it might be several years before we visit these quaint little towns again, but we are positive they will be reintroduced at some point. Till then, our quest for unexplored, and under-served small towns with breathtaking beauty will be an important factor for the Globeracers’ Thar Run.

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.

Fast forward

It was crazy two weeks, and fell short of more than a single pair of hands due to reasons well kept away from discussion. We had a great race, thanks to folks who stepped up, shouldered responsibility when needed, and filled shoes which were left vacant. Routes were challenging to say the least, and runners faced some unexpected challenges in the form of cows, and strays. Cultural newness can add to experience one can safely say!

A short write up to follow. Including a link to race pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/ksimmsimm/TharDesert2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCM_99c39l6CfkQE#

See you back here!

Where it all started

Globeracers was born out of my imagination as I envisioned myself running through the world’s most remote interiors and rugged landscapes. It’s impossible to describe the energy that runs through my veins every time I hit the trails or take my cycle out for a grueling ride. Only those who do such extreme activities can understand the satisfaction one feels after those long runs and rides. “Race the world,” I tell myself, on foot and on wheels, one mile at a time.

With a good team, and planning, we ran the Himalayas on the West Bengal side, crisscrossing India, Nepal border in May 2009, starting at Manebhanjan, climbing to Sundakphu, and back in 3 days. We endured cramps (a must for all endurance racers 🙂 ), hail storms, freezing temps, our own limitations brought on by earlier injuries, and continued abuse of our own energy resources.

Every step was worth once we got up to the peaks, where we were mesmerized by Kanchanjunga, and were left speechless by next morning’s sunrise. Every one of the runners has a story to tell, a reason to linger on, and a penchant for more suffering! A very weird bunch of folks I thought to myself, and then, oops I thought, I am one of them 🙂

As we ran down the mountains, navigating hair pins bends at high speed, chased by clouds, befriending (I know it is a very strange word to use, but trust me, that is how it felt) butterflies who flew with us very pointedly while we ran alone separated from each other by a pace set for ourselves, very definitively it seemed as though life made sense, world meant something, and destination very clear.

I was the first to come down the mountains, and reach the base camp. The family we stayed with has seen one too many crazies like us, and were prepared to serve us hot food, and treat us to anything we wished for at the moment. I took advantage of the time to galvanize every one to get some hot water (we hadn’t had a decent wash since we started the climb three days ago), and cook up a filling meal. As each of them came down, bliss was written all over their faces. A contentment only a fellow crazie (words coined out of craziness I suppose 🙂 ) can understand.

I was exhausted from organizing, and participating in the run. That was when I decided I would do one of the two, organize or participate. I couldn’t sit around after a brutal climb, or enduring a hail storm. My team’s safety, recovery, and comfort were paramount. Some of them fell ill half way through the descent, and accommodating every one’s wishes was a decision I had to cope with. While my muscles ached, and complained, I would run up and down ensuring all were safe, and ready for the next day. I will run my heart out when someone else is responsible for me I told myself right then and there !!! Plenty of races like my good friend Chris’ Badwater I consoled myself 🙂

Here I am in Pokaran today, after 5 months of prep, with 4 more days to go before Thar Desert Run is flagged off. Two more days before everyone starts arriving. Am I psyched? Oh yeah.Watch this space for my crazies’ stories, each day as fun begins to roll in 🙂