From the race in Saudi Arabia (Photo: courtesy Adventure III)
Indian ultra and trail runner, Nupur Singh, finished second among women and seventh overall in the 81-kilometre category of EcoTrail AlUla 2022 held on March 19.
In January 2022, Nupur Singh received an invite from Asia Trail Masters, a series of trail running races in Asia, to participate in EcoTrail AlUla 2022.
For much of 2021 Nupur had been battling a personal crisis; she lost both her parents to COVID-19. “ In January 2022 I was not in a good shape. I was completely off training for most of 2021 because of the situation at home,’’ she said.
The invitation from Asia Trail Masters propelled Nupur to resume her training.
“ I was very excited by the invite to EcoTrail AlUla. I wanted to come back to running,’’ she said. Nupur commenced her training in Manali, where she resides. “ It was snowing there. So, I shifted to Bir, where I trained for one and a half months. Here, the weather was a mix of cold mornings followed by hot afternoons,” she said. She also participated in Tuffman Stadium Run’s 6-hour relay race, opting for an afternoon slot of two hours, primarily to train herself for running in Saudi Arabia’s desert heat.
Nupur travelled to Jeddah from New Delhi and after an overnight stay there, moved on to Al-‘Ula, a city in North West Saudi Arabia, in the Medina Region of the country.
From the race in Saudi Arabia (Photo: courtesy Adventure III)
The 81 km race at EcoTrail AlUla is predominantly a trail course comprising deep sandy stretches for over 10-12 km, followed by rocky canyons with stretches of continuous ups and downs. The wide open desert landscape was interspersed with rock formations, date farms, architectural monuments and the occasional road for transitioning to different areas. The course also winds through Hegra, the archaeological site, marked as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The entire course has an elevation gain of 1200 meters.
“ Here, the mornings and nights are cold while the afternoons are quite hot. The race started at 6:10 AM on March 19, 2022, and the initial terrain was a mix of deep and paved sand. It was chilly and that helped me pick up a good pace. From the beginning, I had decided to run my own race and not push too much early on and to enjoy the course and my comeback. The most enjoyable part of the course for me was the canyon section; technical terrain with mountain views is what I love the most,” she said.
Saudi Arabia’s dress code ensured that women runners wore outfits that covered themselves fully. “ It was beautiful to see so many women taking part in the race and at aid stations,” Nupur said.
Nupur said she felt strong for most part of the race. “ I never felt low at any point. My nutrition and hydration went off quite well. It was a good come-back race for me,” she said. She finished in nine hours, 19 minutes and 25 seconds. It earned her the second position among women and an overall seventh place.
A second place-finish; on the podium with the other winners (Photo: courtesy Adventure III)
Her nutrition consisted of Unived gels, salt tablets, peanut butter, oranges and locally grown dates. For hydration, she had Unived recovery drink mixes and water.
In the 81 km category, there were a total of 67 participants of which 31 runners finished the race.
Nupur got into running in 2014. Soon afterwards she started organising races in the mountains. In November 2019, she participated in the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships held in Jordan. She ran in the open category and finished in fairly good time behind British athlete, Joasia Zakrzwenski, the winner of the open race.
Following the race in Saudi Arabia, her aim now is to participate in qualifying races for the IAU 100 km World Championship to be held in August 2022 in Berlin, Germany and the IAU Trail Championship scheduled to be held in November 2022.
(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.)
Reaching the small pass on the road from Pargaon to Junnar (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
A bicycle trip we had planned a couple of years ago, eventually got underway in March, 2022. Hoping against logic, we imagined temperate weather; the lingering grace of winter’s extended exit. Nature had other plans.
Heat waves are not often heard of in Mumbai.
There is always the relief gained through location on the sea coast. But then, these are times of unusual weather. On March 16, 2022, newspapers reported that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a heat wave warning for Mumbai.
In its report, the Times of India explained, “ heat wave warnings are issued when the temperature of any coastal station reaches 37 degrees and the departure from normal is between 4.5 to 6.4 degrees. When both these conditions are met for a costal station like the city and when it persists for two days at more than one station, then a heat wave is declared for that region. If departures exceed 6.5 degrees, then severe heat wave conditions are issued by the weather bureau.’’ The report then quoted the IMD: Due to the advection of warm and dry winds from North West India, heat wave to severe heat wave conditions are very likely over parts of Konkan-Goa, including Mumbai, over the next three days. Due to the prevailing clear skies and low humidity values, the temperatures are expected to rise and similar conditions are likely to prevail for next two to three days over the region.
Savouring a patch of shade (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
“ Aha,’’ I thought with the satisfaction of having found the answer. My mind was dwelling on the afternoon of March 5. Early that morning, Prashant Venugopal and I had set out on a small, multi-day cycling trip from Navi Mumbai. We knew the timing was bad; ideally it should have been in December, January or February when the weather is relatively pleasant. But for much of January-February 2022, I wasn’t in Mumbai and given his work, Prashant has to schedule the required number of days, which takes time. Eventually, the trip was slotted to commence on March 5. The idea was older still. It took shape in 2019, not long after the two of us cycled from Mumbai to Goa (for more on that trip, please click on this link: https://shyamgopan.com/2019/12/29/on-a-bicycle-mumbai-goa/). By now periodically studying the map for interesting routes, we had noticed this giant circle possible around the Bhimashankar massif. With Malshej Ghat added, one could do it like a circle linking the coastal plains with the higher Deccan Plateau. Then a few things happened.
First, in the first quarter of 2020, India slipped into COVID-19 and lockdown. The following year too was spent in and out of COVID. Our trip went into hibernation. Second, we heard that portions of the route had become part of a BRM. Brevets are a different world. As the casual touring sort, we would never cycle as fast or as consistently as those participating in brevets do. But news of the BRM reminded us to try the route, in our own way. Third, over 2020-2021, Prashant’s niece came to study at a university near Bhimashankar. We thought of our fifty plus-selves dropping by one day on cycles to say hello but the very same musings provoked the question: why don’t we do the full route? We took it up seriously in February 2022, dates were decided towards the end of the month and after a quick check of the chain, drive train and disc brakes of my bicycle by Inderjeet of Evolution Cycles, we left home at around 5.30 AM on March 5. We had this hope that although it was unmistakably summer, the weather would be tolerable.
On the Mhasa-Vaishakhare road; late afternoon, day 1, Gorakhgad and Machindra to the far left
Our goal was to proceed from Nerul to Panvel and onward to Chowk, Karjat, Mhasa, Vaishakhare, Malshej Ghat, Junnar, Narayangaon, Chakan, Lonavala, Khopoli and eventually back to Nerul via Panvel. We made no arrangements for stay in advance and given the Mhasa-Vaishakhare stretch could see us bivouacking, we provided for some extra layers in the panniers besides regular stuff like snacks, first aid kit and bike repair / maintenance equipment. We thought of taking a tarp or a tent ground sheet along but finally dispensed with that; neither of us wanted to work overtime on fashioning a perfect ride. Take it as it comes.
Gorakhgad (background, centre) and Machindra pinnacle (to the left), as seen from the ashram in Dehri (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
By noon of the first day, on the Karjat-Murbad road, it was amply clear that we had underestimated the heat. Among the great achievements of civilization has been diminishing tree cover and this road seemed an excellent example of that. The land to the side of the road and the smaller roads meandering off inland had sprinklings of shade. But the main road itself was starved of tree cover good enough for you to stand under and feel cooled. Those big trees of yore – they are deeply missed. The result was a slow and steady progression of cyclist into dehydration. It wasn’t so much the lack of water, which we had in sufficient quantity. In my case, it was the loss of water and salts and the glare all around caused by exposed road and limited shade. To make matters worse, I love tea and soft drinks. Both, recommended as unsuited (perhaps the right description is: deceptively satisfying) for hot days, I downed in handsome quantities. It was a bad choice. I felt full and hollow at once and lacking energy. After a particularly bare stretch of blazing hot road, roughly an hour before Mhasa, I unhesitatingly rode into the fragile, thatched shelter of a tiny shop selling lemonade. It was sweet relief and there I remained for quite some time, waiting for Prashant and recalling a similar moment of God sent-relief on a hike to Prabalgad several years ago.
Our mountaineering club having acquired new tents, Abhijit Burman (Bong), Franco Linhares and I had decided to camp overnight on the hill’s apex, so that we could test the gear and also take in the unhindered sight of city lights in the distance. All that was good, except somewhere in the walk-in with tent, stove, fuel and provisions to cook food, Bong remembered that he had forgotten to take a matchbox. None of us smoked and that meant, there were no matches on Franco and I, as well. Suddenly we realized the value of a matchbox; the small thing separated us from a nice dinner and sleeping on an empty stomach. And we liked to eat. The evening was quickly fading to night, when we hurriedly retraced our steps to the nearby village. We worried that we may have to knock on people’s doors, be a nuisance. And what if they didn’t have matchboxes to spare? Luckily, ahead of the village, a lone old man appeared smoking a beedi. “ Maamaaa…,’’ Bong shouted in relief and happiness. He brought himself to a halt before the old man, bowed low and offered a heartfelt namaste. Never before in the history of the matchbox was a non-smoker so happy to see a person with smoke escaping his lips. The old man looked on amused. Bong narrated the blunder we had committed. The old man listened. He saved us, he let us have his matchbox. At the small roadside shack, I had three lemonades one after the other. Prashant had his share. Never before in the history of lemonade were two cyclists this happy to see a lemonade vendor. Thirst quenched and salts restored, we thanked the vendor and picked our way to Mhasa.
Sunrise on the Mhasa-Vaishakhare road (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
At Mhasa’s Guruprasad restaurant, we evaluated our options. Enquiries along the way had shown that rest houses were limited on the Mhasa-Vaishakhare road. “ Go to Murbad’’ – that was everyone’s suggestion. On the other hand, we had thought of days one and two of the trip as its main attraction and within that, the Mhasa-Vaishakhare road was important. Cycling to Murbad and then returning to Mhasa next morning to be on that road, didn’t appeal. The waiter who served us lunch at the hotel indicated that his manager may know more and so Prashant took up the task of speaking to the manager to find out about places of stay. He recommended an ashram in Dehri village and connected us to the caretaker there. It was a restricted property and securing permission for stay was difficult. But eventually, Prashant got a yes. The journey from Mhasa to Dehri was more or less a repeat of the conditions experienced on the Karjat-Murbad road. It was hot, dry and not generous in shade. By evening we were in Dehri and the ashram, located right at the base of Gorakhgad; Machindra pinnacle to the side. Under the greener circumstances of monsoon or winter this would be a pretty place. Unfortunately, we were visitors in March. In summer, vegetation in the Sahyadri dries up and the hills acquire a dusty, light brown shade interspersed with the black of ancient volcanic rock.
Gorakhgad holds a special place in my life. It was one of the first Sahyadri forts I hiked to, back in 1997-1998. After my first hike in Sikkim, I had looked out for company to go hiking around Mumbai and my first friend in this regard was a young, very tall Sikh gentleman. We made an odd pair; as tall as Satinder was, I was short. Gorakhgad was the second or third fort I visited with him. Those days, Dehri had been just a bus stop with a couple of shops. Having arrived in the late evening bus from Kalyan (or was it Murbad?), we slept in the veranda of one of the shops and hiked up Gorakhgad early next morning. However, it was in the years that followed, spent hiking and climbing with Girivihar (Mumbai’s oldest mountaineering club) that I realized the full scale and wealth of the Mhasa-Vaishakhare road. From Gorakhgad to Jeevdhan, Naneghat and Bhairavgad a massive wall of hills signified the abrupt drop of the Deccan plateau to the coastal plains. The last time I was here was to hike up Dhakoba and onward to Durga Killa (you can read about it here: https://shyamgopan.com/2013/08/05/the-short-cut/). Simply put, Mhasa-Vaishakhare is a special road; one of the less celebrated gems although of late (especially following the early waves of COVID-19), there have been reports of many visitors going in, naturally triggering concerns alongside. Our stay at the ashram was comfortable. The caretaker’s family made us a tasty dinner. Our gratitude to them. As we took leave of the family to return to our room, a car load of trekkers who had taken a wrong turn, arrived on the premises asking if the path to Gorakhgad ran through the property.
From the road to Malshej Ghat (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
Early next morning, we pushed off for Vaishakhare and Malshej Ghat. The road was very good and distances marked directly on the tarmac indicated that it may have played host to road races. We cruised along, first in darkness and then, savoring a fantastic sunrise. A few kilometers before Vaishakhare, a man we met suggested that we take a short cut. We did so and ended up off-roading for a while. The path connected us to the road leading to Malshej Ghat. At the hotel we stopped for morning tea, a bus passenger traveling from Ahmednagar to Kalyan and halted there for breakfast, took much interest in our cycles and the small trip we were doing. He gave us an overview of the road to Junnar beyond Malshej. Tea had, we pushed off. Our next stop was another hour or more later – a cart and a van parked by the road to Malshej; the former offering tea and vada-paav, the latter functioning as a store selling packaged snacks. Both were managed by a local villager and his son. We had tea and vada-paav and enjoyable conversation with the father-son duo. Then, up the ghat road, we continued.
The small eatery called Hotel Malshej; Balu and his wife, who served us excellent food (Photo: courtesy Balu)
The mountain wall from day one now curved towards Malshej Ghat. The dyke-like Bhairavgad was an impressive sight to behold. Meanwhile we could see ranges coming into view on the opposite side of the road as well. Occasionally a motorcycle rider or the occupants of a passing car would give us a thumbs up for encouragement as we sweated it up Malshej Ghat (on the Internet, the average elevation of Malshej Ghat is given as 700 metres, around 2300 feet). We took periodic breaks, particularly at view-points with parking space created by the side of the road. Having learnt the importance of self-care from the previous day, we were also quite liberal with halts for hydration, especially lemonade. Around noon, we reached the entry to the final stretch; there was a lemonade stall, a fort-like structure and a patch of road with a fleet of cranes and many workers engaged in (what seemed like) strengthening the rock wall of the hill through which the road had been cut. Besides that, the workers removed lose rocks. We paused here for lemonade and some down time spent watching people and traffic. Early afternoon, we reached the side road leading to the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation’s (MTDC) resort at Malshej Ghat. But given Dehri had made us fans of the local cooking, instead of heading to the resort straight away, we dove into Hotel Malshej, a dhaba (small eatery) right at that corner. It was operated by Balu and his wife. They didn’t let us down. It was another encounter with tasty food; fresh, simple and beautifully made. We told Balu that we will be back for dinner.
Post lunch, we proceeded to the MTDC resort but ended up quite disappointed with their tariff, which despite it being off season, was high. The tariff showed no sign of being flexible. And they didn’t appear to require questioning the inflexibility because there were people driving in on their cars and SUVs, willing to spend that much for a room. What are two cyclists then? – I guess. We asked ourselves if the basic paradigm of a bicycle trip is to spend high for creature comforts or focus resources on the cycling. The answer was definitely the latter. So, we consulted Balu and he fixed us up at Hotel Nisarg a little distance away. It was a rather bleak lodge but liveable and with an evening stroll to a nearby meadow possible and dinner set up at Balu’s eatery, the hours went by quickly. Interestingly, the lodge’s biggest customer appeared to be the firm doing the work on the rock wall at Malshej Ghat. The officers of the company stayed there. There was a small temple near the lodge. Harishchandragad could be seen in the distance. There was however one emergent problem – the flow of traffic on the road was now steady and the number of vehicles, more. On top of it, the road here was in a bad state. It didn’t augur well for next day’s start.
On the road to Junnar (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
Hikers, climbers, runners, cyclists – they typically like an early morning start. The reason is simple. Unlike people traveling in the climate controlled comfort of automobiles, these activities involve physical strain. You therefore try to get at least some portion of the day’s work done before the heat sets in. It had been the same with us. We always aimed to commence cycling by 6 AM or earlier. Usually, it is a nice experience. That terrible irritant of Indian roads – traffic, is less and in places away from cities, you have a world at peace for bonus. Early next morning however, the cycling was a challenge. The road was gravely, the tarmac dipped sharply at the road’s edges and there were potholes. But the real nuisance was the traffic and the ocean of lights one saw in front. Probably because this is a hill section, trucks, cars, pick-ups, SUVs and vans plying on the road tend to have multiple lights. Their logic would be – the more the number of lights, the more the visibility. Oncoming vehicles therefore hark of a film shooting scene. There’s so much light; all one needs is a movie star dancing on the road. What they forget is, lighting technology has changed over the years. The average car or SUV of today has headlights significantly more powerful than what they used to be years ago. Adding more lights is overkill. For cyclist on the road, oncoming traffic awash in a battery of such lights is blinding. For an hour at least, I struggled to see properly. Dawn’s sunshine brought relief. Slowly the road condition too improved. We soon got past Pargaon and on to the hill road leading to Junnar. This road was a bit steep in parts but it was in excellent condition. There was very little traffic at that hour and hence, the road was quite enjoyable. It was peaceful.
We saw a well-dressed young woman, seemingly on her way to college, walking barefoot with her slippers in her hand. It was an odd sight. Prashant asked why she was walking so. She replied that her slippers were fancy ones unsuited for walking on the hill road. Maybe closer to her destination, she would slip them back on. The road climbed up to a lovely, small pass with a temple by its side. We parked our bicycles at the pass to hydrate and take in the view. It was an impressive landscape; a chain of hills and the lake created by the Pimpalgaon Joga Dam. As we stood there, we saw a cyclist on a light road bike, come up from the Junnar side. It was Santosh, jeweller and cyclist from Othur, out on his regular training ride. It was a study in contrast – he on an utterly light road bike free of load and us (an MTB and a hybrid) sporting panniers and hauling load. We exchanged notes and a brief conversation later, Santosh rode off elegantly as road bikers typically do; he essayed a smooth turn at the corner and disappeared down the road in the direction of Pargaon. We crossed the pass towards Junnar and were treated to a long, smooth descent. It was fun; that stint going downhill felt like a magic carpet-ride.
Looking towards Malshej from the small pass on the road connecting Pargaon and Junnar (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
After breakfast at Junnar, we attended to a major problem, on since day two of the ride. My shoes, veteran of several rides, were enduring a divorce; the upper had come off the soles completely. The first one separated so before the trip and I had it repaired in Navi Mumbai. The second one followed suit at Malshej. We located a cobbler just outside the Junnar bus depot. He stitched the whole thing up. Bless you sir. We set off for Narayangaon. In retrospect, all the attractions of this trip ended at Junnar. From Junnar onward, the route we had chosen was on a crowded main road or highway and therefore very reminiscent of India’s daily rat race-existence. We could sense in the environment, the distant presence of Pune, Maharashtra’s second biggest city and among India’s major industrial hubs. As traffic from all over merges and proceeds to such hubs, the local flavour recedes and an industrial blandness takes over. The return to urban life was viscerally felt in the lunch of day three – the thali we ordered at a dhaba along the highway had nothing authentic or regional. It tasted of everywhere. Several hours of cycling on characterless roads later, we reached Chakan.
Meeting Santosh; the small pass in the backdrop (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
By now the return to civilization was full blown. Its most visible ambassador was traffic moving nonchalantly towards you on the wrong side of the road. It seemed an institutionalized, normal practice. And it was dangerous, making for deadly roads. We turned into the road leading to Talegaon from Chakan and some ways off, decided to halt at the fairly upmarket Matrix Inn. While we discussed the tariff, we told the manager of the hotel that we were cyclists out on a multi-day trip and spending high wasn’t exactly what we wished for. He heard us out and offered a good deal; he also let us take our cycles to the floor we stayed on. It was an excellent stay. Next morning, the hotel even prepared an earlier than usual complimentary breakfast for us. There was sandwich, boiled egg, fruit and tea. Our thanks to the manager and his staff.
The early morning ride through Chakan was a gaze into the dim underbelly of GDP. The factories here contribute to the GDP that is bandied about as data for discussion in the financial circles of Mumbai and the government circles of Delhi. However, there is something bleak about how GDP is made; about Chakan’s early morning heavy traffic, the sight of buses transporting workers to various factories, people waiting at bus stops, the queues before factory gates and people walking along the road, mile upon mile, proceeding on foot to their places of work. And the sun isn’t up, yet. There was an Orwellian tinge to the picture; a sense of self succumbed to industrial order and redemption through money. It isn’t an uplifting sight and you cannot blame anyone for the lack of buoyancy in the frame. It is just us, our numbers and our predicament of life traded for means of survival. Spoken of as data and statistics and minus the human angle, GDP is sexy.
Day 3, lunchtime; our cycles at a dhaba between Narayangaon and Chakan (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
We wound our way to Talegaon, tucked into the traffic flow headed to Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Pune highway, watched paragliding over a cup of tea at Kamshet, breezed through Lonavala, descended to the coastal plains via Bhor Ghat and sat down for a ritual snack at Khopoli. The whole passage was as industrial as the morning mood of Chakan. A few hours later, Mumbai hit us in full force at Panvel. By afternoon on the fourth day (March 8), we were back in Nerul. In terms of daily mileage (approximate and measured on Google), Prashant estimates it was 95 kilometres covered on day one, 55 on day two, 90 on day three and close to 130 on day four. The cycles – a Trek 4500D MTB and a GT Traffic hybrid – held up well. The only instance of gear malfunctioning was a headlight (one of two used on the given cycle) that failed on day two. We tried repairing it in our lodge room at Malshej but to no success.
The IMD’s warning, the Mumbai municipal corporation’s (BMC) advisory on heat wave and the related news reports not only put those hours on the Karjat-Murbad road and the Mhasa-Vaishakhare road in perspective, it also helped explain another aspect of the heat, which we had felt. Although the cycling beyond Malshej had been less enjoyable due to traffic and regular highways, the heat hadn’t been as punishing as it was in the phase before Malshej Ghat and the phase following Bhor Ghat on the return. That was unusual for summer – a comparatively tolerable Deccan and an unsettlingly warm coastal plain.
(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.)
The recent incident of a trekker stuck on a high rock face near Malampuzha and eventually rescued by army personnel, should be cause for reflection in Kerala.
Footage broadcast on TV showed a rescuer descending from the top of the rock face, collecting the 23-year-old who endured nearly two days without food and water (there was a small cavity he could sit in), and the duo then being slowly hoisted up. It seemed a fairly straight forward operation. By the evening of the rescue, there were TV debates asking why the local police lacked the required skills. Unfortunately, that’s the wrong end to start enquiring. What one must find is the source of the required skillsets and ask why climbing, the sport hosting many of those skills, never gained traction in Kerala.
In India, civilian presence in adventure sports like climbing was traditionally inhibited by the fact that they are expensive. When it came to the ability to afford gear and access prized terrain like the Himalaya (which unfortunately constitutes a sensitive border), the armed forces always scored. In the list of Indian mountaineering expeditions, one will therefore find a sizable military presence. In Indian media, rescuers are often described as trained in mountaineering.
Rock climbing in India, evolved differently from mountaineering. Here one half of the traditional impediments to adventure – accessibility – is less. Engaging rock faces are available in the ranges south of the Himalaya along with access less constrained by weather and security issues. Consequently, domination by military is absent. In their earlier years, India’s climbing clubs attempted some of these faces and features with what gear they possessed. Later club members pooled their resources and bought better climbing equipment. Nowadays, thanks to the growth in number of rock climbers and rise in disposable income, there are individuals owning a full set (a rack) of climbing gear.
From the perspective of rescue, civilian-rock climbing matters because notwithstanding difference in terrain tackled and variations to equipment thereby, many of the basic systems of mountaineering and rock climbing are similar. Besides south of the Himalaya, you are not dealing with snow and ice. In peninsular India, Maharashtra and Karnataka have produced good rock climbers. Maharashtra has a number of hiking and climbing clubs; some of their members climb rock regularly in the Sahyadri and have also done courses in mountaineering. Rescue related to the outdoors in Maharashtra, rarely sees the army called in; it is done by a combination of the clubs and local authorities. According to Umesh Zirpe, among the most respected expedition leaders from Maharashtra (he has led successful civilian expeditions to several 8000m peaks in the Himalaya), in the above-mentioned combination, as much as 90 per cent would be civilian volunteers familiar with hiking and climbing, working for free. The club Zirpe belongs to – Giripremi – was instrumental in starting South India’s only mountaineering institute in Pune. In 2016, the club and the institute launched the Maharashtra Mountain Rescue Coordination Centre (MMRCC). Today, the state has a 24×7 mountain rescue helpline that gets volunteers to respond in the event of a mishap, he said.
Arguably, the most crucial aspect in this ecosystem are the clubs and the treatment of climbing as sport; not as spectacle or something extraordinary. Done so and treated in a relaxed, unpressured fashion, learning happens. If one wants to be a good rescuer one has to be competent at the technical systems involved. This is not a macho accomplishment. It is basically comprehension of a given situation, knowledge of climbing gear and its maintenance and an understanding of system architecture. One gets good at this in direct proportion to how often one is practising the sport and which sub-category of climbing, one is interested in.
Bouldering for example, is minimalist; it dispenses with equipment (except for crash pad, chalk bag and rock climbing shoes) but teaches a lot about physicality and the grammar of movement. Sport climbing teaches more about systems but given climbing routes are prepared in advance, there is no need to delineate afresh a route on rock or set up anchors oneself. Traditional (trad) climbing – particularly multi-pitch – brings climber closer to the range of contexts and skillsets required for rescue. “ In multi-pitch trad climbing, one navigates on rock in a fashion that isn’t simply a continuous vertical progression. One may climb up, then correct by climbing down. Unlike sport climbing, there is more looking around. Plus, we get situations that require applying one’s sense of judgement,’’ Dinesh Kaigonahalli, among Bengaluru’s best-known senior climbers, said. While knowledge of multi pitch climbing provides the foundation, to be a rescuer there are specialized techniques to master additionally. Club culture and regular climbing expose us to the basics and the world of learning beyond.
This skills-led, civilian-based approach is also in tune with models reported overseas. For example, one of the world’s greatest big wall-climbing destinations is Yosemite in the US. It is home to massive rock faces cherished by many as an objective to climb. Occasionally, climbers get stuck or accidents happen. Rescue is done by Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR). As a direct offshoot of adventure activity being treated as sport, rescue machinery in several countries is managed by motivated civilians familiar with the sport and locality, and trained in rescue systems. This is unfortunately yet to happen in India at large, although as mentioned earlier, in states like Maharashtra, there is an emergent self-reliance in rescue.
In Kerala, trekking and climbing remained small. Given the eco-sensitivity of the Western Ghats and presence of wild animals, the state’s wilderness is officially protected (as it should be). Extended monsoon adds to the complexity; rock climbing needs dry rock. The state could have overcome this by opening up access to rock in less eco-sensitive areas and complementing the limited outdoor window with good indoor climbing infrastructure. That hasn’t happened as needed. Further, marketable soft adventure as is the case in tourism, is quickly understood in the state. When it comes to full blown trekking or rock climbing (or adventure in water and air), there is the tendency to initiate youngsters into the sport via agencies like the National Cadet Corps (NCC), which endorses the widespread notion that adventure is the domain of the armed forces. The paradigm was visible in TV programs around the rescue in Malampuzha as well; discussions featured police officers and ex-military personnel. This is despite the state of affairs overseas and the evidence of Keralites working in other states in India, who learnt to enjoy hiking and climbing as a responsible, civilian sport.
Illustration: Shyam G Menon
Wider knowledge of the proper techniques and etiquettes of trekking and climbing is the best way to avoid mishaps in the outdoors. Shorn of spectacle and treated as a sport (as done by responsible clubs), such awareness is disseminated easier. One gets to be in an ecosystem that is not only seriously pursuing the activity but is also sharing information on associated courses and workshops. Good club culture matters. If clubs end up serving vanity, alpha characters and internal politics (all, classic Indian problems), then they lose professionalism. Interestingly, one of the comments this author heard from a foreigner who spent time fostering outdoor culture in India, was how young Indians approached the outdoors like a caged beast set free. A direct product of conservative family and pressures at work, the behaviour breeds its own scope for accidents, he said.
Viewed through the prism of adventure, Kerala’s limitations are on show. Simple rescues have vaulted to the realm of madness by media and involvement of the armed forces. The solution is to treat adventure as an instinct within sport, base it in the civilian realm to which it naturally belongs and let a responsible club culture take roots. This will put in place a wider base of climbers, those competent in related first aid (there are first aid courses designed for people into outdoor sports and wilderness), and above all, a regimen of regular engagement with the sport for ultimately you are only as good as the last time you practised those skills. Ensuring that people stay in touch with their skills is a priority for Zirpe too, given the sizable share of volunteers in Maharashtra’s pool of talent for mountain rescue. “ We plan to conduct refresher courses,’’ he said.
The model of clubs should not be difficult for Kerala to emulate. Recreational running and cycling have become quite popular in the state and good clubs exist in those spaces. They invest in best practices, skills, dissemination of knowledge and provide support. That’s the way to go. But let’s be clear – notwithstanding the best we do, mishaps may still happen. A promising society learns from every incident without stifling the appetite to explore.
Every morning for 61 days, Pune-based ultra-marathoner, Ashish Kasodekar, woke up at 4:30AM and ran a marathon, a distance of 42.2 kilometres.
It was a well-planned endeavour, cast in the form of a two month-long running event, organised by Run Buddies. The one extra day was Ashish’s decision to test himself after running for 60 days.
In 2021 Ashish was turning 50 and wanted to run 50 marathons consecutively to celebrate it. “ When I found out that there was a Guinness record for 59 back-to-back marathons, I decided to extend it to 60 days,’’ he said. His plan was to execute the project in April but he was not able to do so as the country was in the grip of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.
However, the groundwork for Guinness record requirements began. As per the Guinness guidelines, Ashish was required to achieve this record in a public event. There had to be two finishers apart from the record seeker, four witnesses, photographs and video recordings among others.
The event that was created was titled Ultra Dynamo. The lead sponsor was Traveltime Car Rental Private Ltd. It was organised by Run Buddies at Savitribai Phule Pune University on a loop of 5.3 km. Run Buddies organised it like a multi-day event offering runs of varying distances such as 5 km, 19 km, 21 km and 42 km.
The organisers invited other runners to join the event and run a marathon. Ashish started running on November 28, 2021. “ When I started my endeavour, there were very few cases of COVID-19 but the numbers started to climb,’’ he said, adding that the organisers reduced the number of runners to be invited to run. “ There were many runners who ran a marathon for the first time during those 60 days,’’ he said.
Even as COVID-19 was spreading fast in its third wave, Ashish remained untouched by any infection. “ My routine was well-organised. I would wake up at 4:30AM and get ready to leave for the run. At 6AM, the run was flagged off. Once, I was done with the marathon, I would head home, have lunch and rest. I was eating, sleeping and exercising well,’’ he said. “ The positive energy of those 60 days, meeting so many people and leading a disciplined life helped me immensely,’’ Ashish said.
According to him, his preparations by way of fitness for the two month long-event spanned both stretching and strength training. During the two months of a marathon done every day, Ashish counted the run itself as his fitness routine. He did it as a mix of running and walking to keep injuries at bay. He laid emphasis on recovery, making sure that he ate, stretched and slept well.
In endeavours like the one he was attempting, wherein an activity is repeated and sustained for a long period of time, the main thing to manage well, he said, are discipline, avoidance of injury and proper recovery. You keep that cycle going.
Although repeating the same loop for two months, Ashish said he never found the experience monotonous. “ For me it wasn’t at all monotonous. Every time, I completed the loop it was an opportunity to refuel and see my friends and those who had come to encourage me. I called it my Recharge Station,’’ he said.
A team of 8-9 friends, friends from running and volunteers of Run Buddies, helped Ashish execute the project. On most days, Ashish completed the distance in about five and a half hours. “ Speed was not the issue. I wanted to run easy to stay injury free. I took each day as it came. I am happy with the way it finished,’’ he said.
Ashish Kasodekar (Photo: courtesy Ashish)
Ashish is a keen basketball player. Apart from runners, hockey players and basketball players came along for the run on a couple of occasions; the latter dribbling their ball on the 5.3 km loop. “ One person in a wheelchair also completed the marathon,’’ he said.
Ashish’s aim was to officially conclude the project on January 26, 2022, to coincide with India’s Republic Day. He ran for one more day to test himself after running for 60 days. “On January 27, I ran the marathon in 3:45 hours,’’ he said.
Ashish has been participating in running events since 2013. He has been focussing on ultra-distance events. In August 2019, he was the first Indian to finish the 555 km-category at La Ultra The High in Ladakh. In January 2020, he completed Brazil 135, an ultra-marathon held in the Serra da Mantiqueira mountains.
In July 2022, he is scheduled to do the Badwater 135 ultra-marathon. The original plan was to do Badwater in 2020 but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.
“ In a few days’ time I will start training for Badwater,” Ashish said. The race in the US, covers a distance of 135 miles or 217 km from Death Valley to Whitney Portal, the trail head to Mt Whitney. It takes place annually in mid-July when the weather conditions are extreme.
(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.)
Indian ultra-runner, Anjali Saraogi, is the new Vice-Chair of the Athletes’ Commission of the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU).
According to a related statement from IAU, Pablo Barnes, Argentinian ultra-runner, has been named as the Chair of the Commission.
The Athletes’ Commission was set up in 2018 with 15 members including two IAU Council members. Wayne Botha and Virginia Oliveri were the first Chair and Vice-Chair respectively.
“ As a group we are the voice of the athletes,’’ Anjali said when contacted.
The responsibility of the Chair is to speak for the group at IAU meetings, present reports, arrange and chair meetings with the Athletes Commission and represent the Athletes Commission at press conferences at championships and be available for interviews on social media, she said.
The Vice Chair will stand in if the Chair is unavailable and assist the Chair when required.
“ The Athletes’ Commission also serves as a link between federations and the IAU. It promotes good communication and relations between athletes, federations and the IAU,’’ Anjali said.
Kolkata-based Anjali has represented India in 100-kilometer races held internationally. She is also a podium finisher in races of other distances, including the marathon.
The former national record holder over the 100 km distance had won the ultra and trail running award of the Athletic Federation of India in 2019-2020. At the 2019 IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships held in Aqaba, Jordan, in November 2019, Anjali broke her own national record for the 100 km event.
The record has since been broken by another ultra-runner, Gunjan Khurana.
(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.)
This is an article by invitation. Dr. Yamini Menon, a physician based in the US, writes about her first marathon, completed in December 2021.
Painting (acrylic on canvas) inspired by the trail at Wolf River Greenway, where the author did some of her training runs. This painting was done in the late summer months. The trail is a popular course for runners as the trees offer plenty of shade; the trail feels cool particularly in summer. Trails branch off in various directions and one of them extends over 18 miles. There are also a few bridges over flowing water along the way, adding to the beauty. If lucky, one can see a variety of birds, deer and the occasional beaver (artist: Dr. Yamini Menon)
Days after the event, I am still in a state of disbelief.
I was able to participate in and complete the St Jude Marathon of December 4, 2021; my first marathon.
I never considered myself a runner although for several years now, I have exercised regularly.
Being a physician – a rheumatologist – I have tried to practice what I preach: that staying active and exercising regularly help physical and mental wellbeing.
In 2016, I happened to take part in a 5K run as part of a local community event and in the spring of 2017, a local 8k run. These events sparked my interest in pursuing longer distances. Soon, aside from being an exercise routine, my running seemed to feel a stress reliever. It was an opportunity to get fresh air and enjoy nature.
Living in Memphis, Tennessee, I was familiar with the St Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend, usually held in the first weekend of December every year. I found myself registering for a 10k and then a couple of half marathons in the following years, the last of which was in Dec 2019. More inspiration came from my patients who I met over the years. Some of them have pursued walking and running long distances despite the physical ailments and chronic conditions they deal with.
In 2020, even as the pandemic was on, along with a dozen other lady physicians in the area, I became part of an ` athletics group.’ We came from different backgrounds, had different personalities and interests. But we had a lot in common given our profession. Our shared goal was to take care of one’s health, be consistent with work outs and motivate each other to do more. Due to limitations imposed by the pandemic, initially these activities including walks and runs were posted on a virtual forum. Shortly after we were all vaccinated, we started gathering for early morning runs on Saturdays. As the months went by, these group walks and runs enabled us to share our feelings and frustrations, enjoy a breath fresh air. The outdoors gave us an opportunity to be away from N95 masks and face shields which had by then become part and parcel of our routines. No one seemed to mind the nipping cold of the early morning. At times, the run was followed by hot tea or coffee and snacks, which we all pitched in to bring and share.
The group had challenges assigned for a given month. It prompted us to post and share our activities and runs. In January, when Martin Luther King Day arrived, we were expected to post our work-out activity and a milestone therein to honour the late Dr King. My dream was to run a marathon with this team! I wondered whether this would be an impossible task; one that held high risk of injury. All the same, when registration opened, I signed up for the full marathon.
The reason for choosing St Jude marathon over others was simple. Aside from the fact that it was held locally in Memphis (my home for the past 15 years) and that there was no qualifying time to register for the race, I was excited to run for a cause – raising funds to find a cure for childhood cancer. In the past few years, I had had opportunity to meet and get to know a family whose infant son was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour and received treatment at St Jude Hospital.
This report by ABC24 Memphis, available on YouTube, provides an overview of the St Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend, especially the charity angle associated with the event (the link to the video is for representation purpose. No copyright violation intended)
After signing up for the marathon I chose a six-month training plan and modified it to fit my schedules. I am an early riser; 4 AM on a regular workday. I modified my morning routines – I tried incorporating a few miles on the treadmill on workdays besides some core exercises and stretches. On my days off, I tried to be consistent with walk-runs in the neighbourhood, averaging about 3-5 miles. On Saturday mornings a few of us in the group would meet and run along Wolf River Parkway – which has pedestrian and biker friendly lanes, and later with sunrise, run along the Trails of Wolf River Greenway. Shelby Farms Park is another popular spot to walk / run – it is usually quiet and serene and the route goes around a lake. In previous years, I had learnt that one loop around the lake would be about 2.4 miles. That made it easy to calculate a given mileage-target. The route also had restrooms and water fountains along the way. However, during the pandemic, they stayed temporarily unavailable.
As the weeks progressed, I was able to run and walk in intervals, gradually increasing the distance. One fear I had was the possibility of injury. I maintained a pace that avoided injury and walked when necessary; if a twinge of pain or cramp started, I walked. Though alone for most of my long runs, the constantly changing scenery, leaves changing colour with the seasons, the sound of birds chirping, even sightings of a few deer and fawn, plus my playlist of devotional songs, kept me upbeat. A couple of friends in the group, who had completed marathons in the past, provided tips on the hydration and nutrition required during the runs. My longest run was about four weeks prior to race day. Then, I tapered down mileage as per my modified training plan. I tried to stay calm and focused.
Aside from the above said practice runs with gradual increase in mileage, I also devoted some time to strength training every week. This included core strengthening exercises, a few of them featuring the use of light weights and resistance bands. I also followed a clutch of modified yoga routines and stretches.
Though my specific training for the marathon lasted about six months, I feel that my daily 1–2-mile runs, regular stretching exercises and some of the core strengthening exercises that had been a part of my routine for the past few years, benefited me greatly. They also reduced the risk of injury. I cannot stress sufficiently the importance of listening to one’s body as pushing through any pain may precipitate additional injuries. During my training, I never felt compelled to finish in a certain time. In our group, we always applauded those who have a good pace. But I never took that up as a challenge – for me, it was about completing the race without injuries. The focus was definitely to enjoy the run and finish it.
A few weeks prior to race day, the weather turned quite cold in the morning; anywhere between 30-40 degrees F. That meant learning to dress appropriately for the long runs. I found myself checking the forecast for race day about 3-4 weeks in advance and soon realized that it may be warmer and even rainy by then.
Picking up the race bib a day before the race, brought excitement. The countdown had begun. The previous day and night were filled with a sense of anticipation as well as nervousness. Due to the pandemic, we were allotted corrals and arrival times were staggered to prevent overcrowding. Masks were required until the start line. In the morning there was a drizzle. It was breezy and the weatherman had predicted temperatures ranging from 50-65 degrees F, much unlike the days leading up to race day.
Crowds could be seen close to the start line at B. B. King Boulevard. There was excitement all around, music and cheering for the participants. My turn came to start and praying that everything goes well, I launched into the run. After the first mile, participants run through the Saint Jude hospital campus, where patients and their parents cheer us on. It is a very emotional part of the run. One mile at a time, the run progressed. I had to tell myself to slow down as in the all the excitement I was running faster than my usual pace for the first 2-3 miles. Our group had the half and full marathoners splitting around mile 6-7. Soon the crowd of runners grew thin. Fortunately, the cheering crowd and hydration stations did not!
Dr. Yamini Menon (photo: courtesy Yamini)
Around mile 9-10, I felt some fatigue. But I was looking forward to seeing my husband who was to cheer me on at about mile 13. He met me there as planned and also surprised me with a ` cheering squad’ including my mom who was so happy to see me run. My older son Ashwin and a few of my friends had also joined with posters encouraging me along. Running with intervals of walking continued, my pace seemed a bit slower after mile 14. There were two loops within a large park which caused me some confusion and I had to make sure I was on the right track. Around mile 20, I felt tired again and was walking more than running in short intervals. I could see that many of my co-runners appeared tired as well.
I had read about a wall that one hits during a marathon; a point when mind and body protests and wonders what the hell one is doing. I wasn’t sure whether this was that or the fabled wall was yet to come. I saw a young man sit down. As I paused to check on him, he said he had leg cramps. Soon he was back on the track albeit with a slight limp. Exiting out of the park, there was more cheering and I felt glad that the finish line appeared closer. A family that was cheering the runners offered pickle juice. I gulped it down; I had heard that it may help relieve muscle cramps.
To my delight, my personal cheering squad was there again after mile 22. With rekindled energy and another nutrition gel and a round of hydration, I cruised along trying to visualize the finish line. Soon I heard many people shouting, “ almost there, you can do it.” I crossed mile 24 and 25; the last mile felt rather long. The finish line loomed to view, a few meters ahead. I was excited, relieved, happy and in disbelief. I heard the announcer say, “ her ponytail oscillating in the wind” followed by my name. Someone handed me a finisher medal, I was tired but smiling,
I had just completed my first marathon.
(The author, Dr. Yamini Menon, is a physician based in Memphis, Tennessee. In her spare time, she likes to paint.)
Within a short while, this 25-year-old has notched up a series of podium wins, including a couple of national bests.
Amar Singh Devanda (Photo: courtesy Amar)
On December 5, 2021, Amar Singh Devanda, a long-distance runner from the Indian Air Force (IAF), won the 24-hour Ageas Federal Life Insurance Stadium Run in New Delhi, covering a distance of 223.20 kilometers.
Four months earlier, Amar, running the Bengaluru chapter of the 24-hour Ageas Federal Life Insurance Stadium Run, had covered a distance of 240.8 km, setting a new national best (on Indian soil) in the category. The overall national record for 24-hours is held by Ullas Narayana. Ullas had not only won the bronze medal at the men’s 24-hour IAU Asia & Oceanic Championships at Taipei in December 2018 but he also set a national record in this event covering a distance of 250.37 km.
Amar already holds the national record for the 100 km category. Running the 100 km race at the Tuffman 24-Hour Chandigarh Stadium Run in March 2021, he crossed the finish line in 7:32:43 hours. He had improved on the previous national best of 7:56:22 set in January 2021 by Surat-based ultra-runner Sandeep Kumar.
“ I trained well for the New Delhi stadium run of December 2021. I was excited about participating in this run. Some international runners were expected. Also, Ullas was running. This was a chance for me to meet him and some of the top runners,” Amar said following his win.
All the same, at 8.30 AM on December 5, 2021, as he stood at the start line of the 24-hour event in New Delhi, he wasn’t feeling fine due to an uneasy stomach. Nevertheless, he started his race and continued to run for about 10 hours, which was when a co-runner suggested a remedy for his problem. He took a break to execute her suggestion of having a spoonful of carom seeds (ajwain) with warm water, a remedy that helped him almost immediately. “ Barely 200 meters after I resumed, I started to feel better,’’ he said.
Amar Singh Devanda (Photo: courtesy Amar)
“ I just wanted to keep running at a steady pace and get to a winning finish. Already Damian Carr was 10 km ahead of me,” he said. Damian Carr was eventual the winner in the international category at New Delhi, covering a distance of 240 km. His mileage made him the overall winner of the 24-hour segment.
Amar finished the run in Delhi covering a distance of 223.20 km, 17 km short of his Bengaluru stadium run (held in August 2021) mileage.
“ In Delhi, many top runners quit the race mid-way. With each runner exiting the race, the competition became easier,’’ he said. He believes, one reason that prompted runners to exit was the bad air quality. The national capital had been facing days of extremely poor air quality prompting the authorities to take stringent measures.
He wonders if the absence of competition may have prevented him from stepping up his pace further as he was already heading for a win. “ Weather could have been better. It did get quite warm during the day,’’ Amar said.
With virtually no exposure to sports in his school years, Amar’s winning performance in the last few long-distance running events came as a surprise to him.
Growing up in Cheethwari village in Jaipur district, Amar did not participate in sports at the Shri Krishna Senior Secondary High School he attended. Once back from school, he was actively involved in farming and dairy activity. His family cultivated wheat, jowar, bajra and vegetables on the land and also carried out dairy farming.
“ I feel that farming and dairy activity helped build my endurance,’’ Amar said.
Post schooling, Amar enlisted to do his B-Tech at the Government Engineering College in Jhalawar. “ I was there for all of three months. I quit to join the Indian Air Force as a technical soldier,’’ he said.
Amar Singh Devanda (Photo: courtesy Amar)
“ At IAF, they encouraged us to participate in sports such as running, ultra-running and mountaineering. Among my first events in running was a 12 km cross country race at Jaisalmer, where I was posted. My coach told me to complete the race and then he would commence training me. I ended up winning the race. He was very happy,’’ Amar said.
A corporal in IAF, he commenced his journey into long-distance running in 2016. He has participated in a number of races organised by the defence services over the past few years. In 2019, he took part in a marathon in Bengaluru, organised by the Indian Air Force. He finished the race in second position with timing of 2:37.
The first time he participated in an open event was in December 2020 when he ran the 60 km ultra-race at Shivalik Ultra. Later that month he ran the 100 km race, The Border, which starts in Jaisalmer and ends in Longewala in Ramgarh, Rajasthan. Here, he ended up winner in the 100 km segment with timing of 10:47:21.
Amar Singh also participated in the 100 km race at NEB 24 Hour Stadium Run held in Bengaluru in January 2021. He covered the distance in 8:26 hours.
Guided by his IAF coach, Thakur Singh Bajetha, Amar has been able to focus on training, race strategy and nutrition.
Amar believes he will be able to do well in the 24-hour category. “ The 24-hour category is tougher than 100 km because you need to be mentally strong to sustain through the hours. At the August 2021 run in Bengaluru, I kept getting negative feelings. At the end of 18 hours, I felt I could not continue. My coach spoke to me and that helped,’’ he said.
Amar Singh Devanda (Photo: courtesy Amar)
He is open to participate in either or both the 100 km and the 24-hour category at the IAU events, which India represents.
At Bengaluru’s August 2021 run, he had set a personal target of 220 km but ended up creating a new national best on Indian soil with the help of a robust support crew.
In India, ultra-runners were forced to pause their outdoor running training when the country went into a stringent lockdown in March 2020. But most of the runners used the time to step up their strength training and focus on diet and rest, equally important elements of training.
“ I could not do any training during the initial lockdown period,’’ Amar said, adding, “ our routine work increased during that period.’’
Posted at Jalandhar then, he would occasionally step out for a 5 km run.
“ I was in peak training before the lockdown and had participated in a 160 km ultra-race organised by the air force, in February 2020,’’ he said.
Unknowingly, the forced rest caused by the lockdown, helped him to recover.
Amar Singh Devanda (Photo: courtesy Amar)
Apart from his occasional short runs, he took to cycling. Sometime in September 2020, he resumed his proper training, building up mileage week after week.
At the Ageas Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon 2021, held in March, he was the winner in the half marathon.
A week later, he set a new national best for 100 km at the Tuffman 24-Hour Stadium Run, Chandigarh. The following week, he ran the IAU & AFI 6-Hour Global Solidarity Run, covering a distance of 74 km, third highest mileage among Indian runners.
He is currently in the process of figuring out the correct training, nutrition and hydration for ultra-running races.
(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.)
Ultra-runner and mountaineer, Hari Om, was among personnel from the Indian Navy who lost their lives in an avalanche near the Himalayan peak of Trishul in early October 2021.
At the time of writing, the bodies of four climbers – including Hari Om – had been retrieved. Search operations were on for another two expedition members, reported missing. According to the Indian Express (report dated October 2, 2021), a team of ten was caught in the avalanche.
Located in Uttarakhand, Trishul (7120m / 23,360ft), is among peaks that form the protective wall around Nanda Devi (7816m), the highest mountain wholly in India and noted worldwide for its magnificent setting.
Trishul (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
It is believed that back in 1907, when it was first ascended by mountaineers, Trishul was the first peak above 7000m to be climbed so. In 1951, the peak hosted the first Indian mountaineering expedition following the country’s independence from the British.
The early climbing route on Trishul was from within the Nanda Devi sanctuary. Given the sanctuary has been closed for long, the route currently used lay outside the sanctuary. To approach this route one has to proceed via the village of Sutol. While the old route, which was a relatively straight forward climb had given Trishul the image of being a doable 7000m-peak, the route used at present is not in that league. “ Compared to the old one, it is difficult,” an experienced mountaineer, who has been on the peak, said. None of these technical aspects, however affect the image of Trishul on a photograph. Seen from select angles, it remains among the most beautiful peaks in the Himalaya.
Hari Om at the 2016 edition of La Ultra The High (Photo: Shyam G Menon)
This blog met Hari Om for the first time in 2016 in Leh, at that year’s edition of La Ultra The High. He was part of the Indian Navy’s ultramarathon team, participating in the event; he went on to finish third in the 111km category of the race.
In May 2017, he was among climbers reaching the top of Mt Everest as part of an Indian Navy expedition to the peak. He was among those selected for the Nao Sena Medal (devotion to duty) in 2018.
NOLS is among the world’s biggest outdoor schools. Its headquarters are in the US; it has its India operations in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand. For years, practices evolved at NOLS have served as a benchmark for the outdoor industry especially the segment therein focused on outdoor education.
When the world slipped into the grip of COVID-19 in early 2020 (the disease was first reported in late 2019) and normal human life got disrupted, NOLS too was impacted. But characteristic of it, the school worked on new, safe means to conduct its courses and by early 2021 was back to operating many of its outdoor programs in the US.
N. Ravi Kumar, Director, NOLS India is currently in the US, working outdoor programs and first aid courses there. He spared time to answer a few questions on NOLS, NOLS India and outdoor programs in the midst of a pandemic.The exchange was via email.
Broadly speaking, how has the pandemic affected the operations of NOLS globally?
The impact has been significant. In spring 2020, NOLS was forced to shut down the following locations abruptly: India, Tanzania, Patagonia, Scandinavia, Mexico and all its locations in the US.
The school had to let go of a large portion of employees and retain only essential workforce to help with restart when things are under control.
When did operations resume and in which all geographies?
Spring 2020 everything was shut. In the fall of 2020, we did a few courses with COVID protocols in place and by spring 2021 we had most of our operations in the US going with limited course offerings. The response was very good. All courses were full in no time and we have had the least number of evacuations in the school’s history as everyone wanted to be out in the woods after a year of staying indoors.
This summer we had enrolment beyond what we could accommodate and had to cut back significantly due to staff shortage.
NOLS uses the expedition model to teach its courses. How has the structure of NOLS expeditions changed to handle the precautions and protocols required in these times of COVID-19? In one of our conversations, you briefly touched upon a multi-phased model that is being used. Can you give us an overview of this model?
Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and variants are an evolving hazard. The risk of contracting the illness, COVID-19, on NOLS field courses cannot be eliminated. But we have identified mitigation strategies based on guidance by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to reduce that risk, which can be used in concert with testing and vaccines. With those strategies in place, we believe the risk can be managed appropriately.
The cornerstones on which, we have based our approach include informed consent, reducing the risk of virus transmission, hygiene with emphasis on hand washing or sanitizing to prevent flu-like illness and monitoring for symptoms of COVID-19.
NOLS has put in place COVID-19 risk management strategies for each of the outdoor activities it is associated with spanning land and water.
Our field practices are divided into phases depending on the documented vaccination status of course members. A course starting in Phase 1 will follow the recommended practices of that phase for the first ten days of the course. After ten days, if there are no significant breaches and if no one becomes symptomatic, we can reasonably assume that the risk of COVID-19 transmission within the group is reduced and the group can move to Phase 2. A course that is fully vaccinated can start the course in Phase 2, which is normal course operating routines with continued attention to hygiene. This is the broad paradigm.
Besides detailed protocols on hygiene, daily health checks, physical distancing, masking and cooking, the first phase features a few other key elements. For instance, in Phase 1, the tents used are of the sort that are roomier and capable of better ventilation. Models like the Mega Mid are finding increased use in the quest to have less confined, better ventilated shelters. Tarps, flies – they are staging a comeback. To provide adequate physical distancing, the number of persons per tent is kept low in Phase 1. Groups are also encouraged to use their shelters such that there is spare shelter capacity within the group, for flexibility. The Phase 1 model has the quality of a protective cocoon. If during this phase or at a later stage, somebody does show symptoms, then in addition to isolating that individual and preparing for further steps thereof, the Phase 1 model may be continued or returned to for the rest of the group.
The above is an overview. It is only meant to provide a broad idea of how things have changed.
WMI first aid courses are now an integral part of NOLS. How has the onset and spread of COVID-19 affected the WMI curriculum? Has measures around the avoidance, detection and field management of COVID-19 / infectious diseases become a part of contemporary WMI curriculum?
All WMI courses start with an hour-long class on infection control, right after introductions. The class covers a wide range of infections and devotes ten minutes to Covid related infections and how to mitigate the spread. This addition has forced the removal of the lightning class in WFA courses, and altitude illness. Now we direct students to watch videos on the topics as homework.
The WMI courses are full and busy. They even started running courses partly online and partly with classroom presence. We are still adapting to norms and restrictions in large classrooms and how we run practical patient care with minimum exposure to each other.
How did COVID-19 affect NOLS India? What is the short to medium term plan for India operations? Do you anticipate any changes to how you run courses here as a consequence of the pandemic?
NOLS has decided to close a few international locations for good. India is not one of them. I hope it continues so. Most of the students on our programs run in India, are from the US. Although the US itself has struggled to deal with the pandemic (even today the number of people succumbing to the disease is high) the combination of what happened in India and how it got portrayed, has been such that a proper perspective of the reality in India is absent in the US.
Hence the school has decided to take a conservative wait and watch approach as regards restarting India operations. It is imperative that when in India, our students should get proper medical care if required. We cannot restart when the health care system is overwhelmed or there are indications, it may be.
(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai. The WMI first aid courses offered by NOLS are WFA, WAFA and WFR of which WFA is the shortest.)
Two hours, 31 minutes and 33 seconds. In early March 2021 when Nihal Ahamad Baig topped the amateur segment of the year’s Ageas Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon (NDM) with said timing, it was an improvement in his personal best (PB) by approximately 16 minutes.
The last full marathon he had run was the 2019 Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM), where he covered the 42.2 km-distance in two hours, 47 minutes and 30 seconds to place ninth overall in the amateur category and second in his age group (18-24 years). That year the winner among amateur runners at TMM had clocked 2:32:57. Although the 2020 edition of TMM was held as scheduled in January, Nihal had to sit that one out owing to a shin injury. The marathon in Mumbai was followed by the one in Delhi (2020 NDM) wherein the overall winner among amateurs clocked 2:35:10. A triathlete with successful finishes at Ironman events to his credit, Nihal’s major objective for the year was to participate in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships scheduled for November in New Zealand. The project went for a toss, courtesy something tiny and as described in a 2008 article in Scientific American “ inhabiting the grey area between living and non-living’’ – a virus. Roughly two months after 2020 TMM and almost exactly a month after 2020 NDM, India slipped into lockdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. As humans sheltered indoors, outdoor sports ground to a halt. Initially, it was a sense of abject gloom and plans upset for those into the active lifestyle. Then, a different script began to play out. Nihal’s year gone by – as one looks back from the 16 minute-improvement registered at 2021 NDM – appears to have followed that script.
“ During my B.Tech and M.Tech days at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai, I was part of the athletics team. I used to participate in races over distances ranging from 400 meters to 5000 meters. I finished my M.Tech in 2016. But I did not stop running. I continued it on the IIT Mumbai campus thanks to my being alumni. I moved to exploring longer distances, starting with half marathons. Around this time, I took up employment in Mumbai. I work as Risk Associate at MSCI Inc. I started cycling to work, a distance of about nine kilometers from where I stay. Over time, I started to go for long rides. At that time, I had heard about the Ironman triathlon. I was keen to explore it and began learning to swim. In October 2017, I did my first half Ironman distance-triathlon in Hyderabad. What attracted me to the triathlon was that I got to do three sports in it instead of the usual one. And triathlon is all about fitness and endurance. I love how I get to push myself in these three disciplines,’’ Nihal had said in an article for this blog in November 2019, soon after he placed second in Ironman 70.3 Goa.
Nihal Baig (Photo: courtesy Nihal)
When lockdown unfolded in the first quarter of 2020, of the triathlon’s three disciplines, swimming went into profound hibernation as authorities ordered pools shut as part of pandemic protocols. For those pursing the sport as well as the triathlon, the closure of pools would have left a bank of energy to be addressed – namely divert it into other activities that were still possible. Nihal, restricted to the confines of his apartment, found his refuge in cycling. “ I am not generally a fan of intense training sessions. But in the first few months of lockdown when we all had to stay indoors, I did a lot of intense cycling on my trainer,’’ he said mid-March 2021, some ten days after NDM. Cycling is recognized cross-training for running. The hours spent on the home trainer, besides working the relevant muscle groups, contributed to improving cardio-vascular fitness. He also worked out at home to stay physically fit. Additionally, as the frenzied urban lifestyle slowed down with pandemic and Work from Home (WFH) took hold, there was both greater ownership of time, an improved sense of personal ecosystem and therein, the inadvertent use of such existence for general recovery by minds and bodies traditionally addicted to relentless activity. Downtime, rest, mindfulness – these things matter. Running is an impact sport. Cycling, pounds the joints less than running. The reduced impact of cycling suited Nihal who was recovering from shin injury. Slowly, the injury began to heal. Around end May-early June, he commenced regular jogging on a loop of roughly 1.5 kilometers, within the premises of his housing society in Powai, Mumbai. Thereafter it was a gradual drift back to the training of old albeit with no events on the horizon for focus.
Nihal Baig; cycling in Pune (Photo: courtesy Nihal)
“ Between swimming, cycling and running, I have always found running to be the most satisfying,’’ Nihal said. Given his last marathon had been in January 2019, he was keen to get back to running long distance. To satisfy the urge, he ran the virtual Boston Marathon in September 2020. He did this during a visit to Hyderabad, his hometown. Then he did something that fundamentally altered his training ecosystem. According to Nihal, he had all along been training alone in Mumbai. He wasn’t particularly attached to any group of runners or triathletes in the city. At the same time, he was aware of the need for a dose of intense training to improve his act and the deficit he experienced in this regard. Training with others can be helpful. The question was – how can he create an ambience offering better motivation; where would he find it? Nihal had noticed that intensity / commitment levels were more in Pune, Maharashtra’s second biggest city, approximately 150 kilometers away from Mumbai. With WFH rendering one’s location irrelevant when it came to office responsibilities, Nihal took advantage of the new trend to shift to Pune in October. There, training in the company of committed amateur athletes, his running and cycling gathered momentum. Two other things also influenced the decision. Thanks to its location at higher elevation (1840 feet / source: Wikipedia), Pune’s weather includes a winter. The place is generally less humid than Mumbai. Plus, its terrain is more varied than that of India’s financial capital; Nihal found himself cycling outdoors more often in Pune than he used to in Mumbai. “ Currently I have intense training sessions four days a week and long training sessions twice a week. I also do easy sessions in the evening. The training sessions are evenly divided between running and cycling,’’ Nihal said.
By late 2020-early 2021, as the first flush of pandemic subsided and lockdown rules relaxed, a trickle of sporting events reappeared in India and elsewhere in the world. Partial to running, Nihal itched to participate in a running event. He registered for the district cross-country championships in Pune; the race spanned 10 kilometers. Nihal secured third position, qualifying for the state championships (race length: 11km) in the process. At the latter, he failed to qualify for the nationals. But the timing from the district championships told him something – he covered the distance in 33 minutes, 29 seconds while his previous PB for the same distance was 35:30. “ I had the feeling that if I were to attempt a full marathon, I may be able to chop off eight to ten minutes from my PB. But it is difficult to extrapolate expectations for a marathon based on performance in a 10k. The marathon is four times longer, anything can happen,’’ he said. The cross-country experience of January 2021, encouraged Nihal to register for 2021 NDM. With an event to look forward to, he trained with greater focus from five to six weeks ahead of the competition. “ About 18 days before NDM I did a time trial over 25 kilometers. The timing I got in it was an hour and 28 minutes. I then felt that if all went well, aiming for 2:35 at NDM wouldn’t be unreasonable,’’ Nihal said.
Nihal Baig; on the podium after topping the amateur category at 2021 NDM (Photo: courtesy Nihal)
On race day in New Delhi, he kept a conservative pace for the first six kilometers and then went slightly faster. “ I could catch the leaders around the 10k mark and then we started pushing each other till 30k before they began slowing down. I stuck with the same pace till 37k but then I got a bad cramp which forced me to stop. I had to stretch and walk for about 30-40 seconds before I could recommence running,” he said. He was able to hold on to his pace and finish ahead of others in the amateur category. The timing – 2:31:33 was an improvement in PB by 16 minutes; it also fetched a position on the podium.
When the 2020 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in New Zealand was cancelled due to COVID-19, Nihal had opted for the event’s 2021 edition scheduled in Utah, USA. At that time, a year had seemed adequate for humanity to counter the virus. Early 2021; in hindsight, that smacked of over-optimism. With the world still in the clutches of the pandemic and international travel yet to become normal, Nihal is unsure whether he would be able to attend the event in Utah. Races closer to home appear more practical. “ I hope to participate in the 2021 TMM in May, if it is held as planned,’’ Nihal said.
Outrigger 