Meenal covers over 680 kilometres in 6-day category, finishes second at event in US

Arun Bhardwaj (810 kilometres) finishes fourth in 10-day category

Delhi-based ultrarunner Meenal Kotak has set a new mark in ultrarunning for India. She covered a staggering 680.2249 kilometres over the stipulated six-day period (144 hours) at the Six Days in the Dome event held at the Pettit Centre, Milwaukee in Wisconsin, USA. The event was held from June 13 to 23, 2024.

She finished second among women in the six-day event behind Megan Ekbert of USA. Megan was also the overall winner covering a distance of 846.9994 km. In overall ranking, Meenal finished fourth in the six-day event. David Johnston of USA finished second with a distance of 740.5702 km and Tatsunori Suzuki finishing third with a distance of 713.5194 km covered.

India’s Arun Bhardwaj placed fourth position overall in the 10-day category at the same event covering a distance of 810.1927 km.

Meenal has been running since 2013. Starting with 10 km, she progressively upped her distance and finally got into ultrarunning.

“ I had earlier done the three-day event at Milwaukee. The next practical move was to do the six-day event,’’ she told this blog after the race.

Training for a multi-day event does not entail merely increasing mileage and working on strength training. It is a lot more. It requires managing a whole lot of things – training, mental conditioning, overall fitness, recovery, sleep, nutrition and hydration – in the run-up to the event.

“ I did a lot of endurance runs, hour-based runs, mileage-based runs. But more than all these, doing a multi-day event is understanding the challenge mentally and physically and hoping that one’s gut works properly,’’ she said. “ There are many aspects to consider – when to take a nap during the run, when to eat, taking measures to prevent chaffing injuries, blisters,’’ she said.

In April 2024, Meenal was one of the Indian ultrarunners representing the country in the IAU Asia & Oceania Championships held in Canberra, Australia.

“ I was not able to do well in Australia. But coming to Milwaukee I was in a much better place, both fitness wise and mentally,’’ she said.

For Milwaukee, she had worked out a plan. “ I went according to the plan perfectly for the first two days. But on the third day, I went into a low phase due to lack of sleep. I could not sleep and I could not run either. If I was giving 100 percent of mine in this event, my husband as my support was giving 200 percent. I finally managed to get some sleep and felt some sanity returning,’’ she said.

As a seasoned ultrarunner, she was aware that the second and third days of multi-day events would be excruciatingly difficult.

The Pettit Centre is an indoor ice-skating facility. The course was open for the entire 144 hours with temperatures maintained at 6 degrees Celsius throughout. Runners were required to run on a 443 metre-track.

“ It was quite cold for the runners and doubly so for the crew supporting the runners. Because of the enclosed space it was claustrophobic. We don’t get to see the sun or skylight and that can take a toll on our sanity,’’ she said.

Many runners, she said, were hallucinating and cracking under pressure.

“ I ensured that I took breaks, sometimes short ones and sometimes for a couple of hours to catch up on the sleep. I ate proper food. My husband arranged for Indian food at least once a day, other times I ate food available for the runners. Hydration and nutrition were well-taken care of,’’ she said. Physically, she faced some niggling issues but the worst aspect of the multi-day running was lack of sleep.

“ It was great running alongside Megan, the winner. She was so full of energy. On the first day she took a lead and then never looked back,’’ Meenal said.

Of the 144 hours, Meenal ran most of the time but resorted to walking in the last 5-6 hours of the event.

In her ultrarunning journey, Meenal lost three years to a back injury. “ It was tough getting back. I had to start with 5 km runs and progress to ultrarunning events. I owe a lot of gratitude to my husband, my family, friends and the running community,’’ she said.

Meenal’s physical recovery following this event has been quite good. “ I am good to go. I am now in New York and have been walking around the city quite a lot. But mentally, I continue to feel the circling motion, especially when I sleep. I guess, it will take some days to recover,’’ she said.

She plans to take a break of a couple of months before resuming running.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)