Myself along with Devyani, Hari Natarajan and HariHaran sir left on friday 11th by Yeswantpur express. These train trips are always fun as we get to sit back and catch up on all the running stories and also do a little bit of bragging. We landed in B'lore on saturday at 11:00am and took a cab all the way to Srirangapatnam. We booked accommodation at FortViewResorts which also happens to be the race day camp for the RFL, which organizes this run. The hotel itself is very mediocre with ragged carpets and not very clean for the price they charge (Rs.1300). Given that the buses to the race start point leave from here in the morning, it is really convenient as you can leave right from the hotel and then once back from the run you can go take a shower. A few of the runners had stayed at Ginger in Mysore which is much better for the same price but you need to travel 20km in the morning to get to the start and the same on the way back. We reached the hotel at 1:30pm. We quickly freshened up and went sightseeing around Srirangapatnam (Tipu's summer palace, Sangam and Ranganathaswamy temple - must see). We returned back to the hotel and ordered room service. The food was very good and very economical.
The next day morning we woke up at 5:30am and went and collected the bibs in the counter setup in the Hotel. At 6:30am we were shuttled by the buses, which came with runners from Bangalore, to the start point which is about 2km from the hotel near the Ranganthittu bird sanctuary. At the start point I met up with a few of the runners from the Tibetan marathon (Deepthi, Ken, Sunil, Ramesh) and a few others Mahesh Srinivas, Rohit reddy. We also met Niranjan there. The full marathoners were flagged off at 7:20am and the half marathoners a few min later.
The weather was nice and cool at the start of the run with a thin cloud cover but the sun was threatening to come out. Even though there were 400 odd runners for HM and the trail some what narrow, within half a kilometer the crowd had thinned out and there was enough room to run freely. A few km into the run, we started to feel the humidity. The trail was a little uneven and needed to watch the step along the way. After the half-way point it started to heat up and the humidity and the uneven trail started to take its toll. I decided to take it a little easy. The beautiful surroundings definitely made it a little easy.
With the sun and the humidity it was very important to be well hydrated. I made sure I stopped and walked every water stop and loaded up on water/electrolyte and also bananas at the end. The aid stations were well stocked with water, electrolyte, bananas, PB&J sandwiches. Finally crossed the finish line with a time of 2:05.
There was a canal right next to the end point and many of us took a dip into it. After a really exhausting run you can't beat the joy of taking a dip into a cold gushing water with really pretty surroundings. I ended up staying in the water for an hour or so and then went back to the hotel in the bus arranged by RFL. Freshened up and had lunch at the garden by the river at the Hotel . After lunch I headed back to B'lore with my friend Deepthi. A couple of my old friends from college met up in B'lore and we pigged out at Dwaraka near Basavannagudi which is famous for its "Khali Dosa". If you ever get a chance to feast at this place, dont miss it. Finally boarded Rajdhani express from B'lore and got back to Hyd on monday morning. All in all it was a wonderul event and it is really wonderful to meet the running fraternity at all these running events. Next stop Bangalore ultra in Nov ......
