My first running century – 100k at Hennur Bamboo Ultra

My Ultra-marathon journey started in 2017. The day I ran my first 50Km, I had made a promise to myself to score a running century soon. I came close to doing this twice in 2018 – Bengaluru 12 hour stadium run where I touched 88Km and Hennur Ultra 2018 where I finished my 80Km and ran more with my running buddies to stop at total distance of 97Km (I stopped because I wanted to do a 100K in the right event category :-D).

The 100Km at Hennur Ultra was probably my toughest run ever. Not because of the distance but because of the conditions – brutal trail in dry and dusty bamboo forest,  temperature touching 40 deg and repeat loops of 10K which gets curtailed to 2km post evening.

The conditions were known so I had planned accordingly – get in as much distance as possible before noon, stay steady and conserve energy till 5 pm in evening, and finally get into steady rhythm in evening till finish.

I decided to set into a steady rhythm of 6 min pace at the start and continue till breakfast time. 30km came in 3:15-3:16 so it pretty much went as per the plan.

Stopped for a quick breakfast and then started again with the objective of clocking in another 20K before the lunch stop. The sun come in its full glory by 11 am and things were getting tough already. I continued running as per plan and hit 50Km mark at around 6:40.

By this time, I knew that conditions are going to be tougher than expected. I saw several seasoned and regular runner pull out by noon. Not a single runner was running full steam after noon.

I resumed my run after a longish lunch break. The objective was to just keep moving with a combination of run and walk. Having gone faster in the first half, I had lapped my running buddies so did not have a steady company.

At around 56km mark I started feeling a burning sensation in groin area. I did a quick urine test (in running parlance) and realized that I need to hydrate more. Decided to chuck salts for atleast an hour and only have water. I desperately wanted this situation to pass but it persisted. Thankfully, my running buddy, Ganesh Gogi joined me. We discussed my condition (he is an accomplished fitness trainer) and he said he will stick with me for atleast 2 loops (despite the fact that he was a >10km behind already). Over next 2-3 hours, we relied on brisk walk and short runs in shaded areas and talked about anything and everything in life. He kept an eye on my water intake and ensured that I had enough water in my system.

I hit 70km in 11:00. The burning sensation was finally waning and I thought of getting my race back on track. Evening got the heat intensity down but there was no breeze whatsoever. I decided to do more focused walks and longer stretches of runs.

As always, Hiral (my wife) & Vivaan (my 7yo son) came to cheer me and we did a few kms together. I also spent some time with them clicking pictures and checking on other running buddies. Anna was down with cramps due to excessive heat. We egged him to continue with brisk walks along with oodles of water and salts.

Post 6 pm, the loops were shortened to 2km. I hit 90km at around 14:45 and wanted to continue running till finish. Sadly the aid station had run out of any solid food as the dinner was about to be served. I decided to stop for dinner which meant atleast 30-40 mins of stationary time which I could have avoided if only I had a banana or two at 90km mark.

Post dinner, I started with renewed energy. I had company of my running buddies in the shorter loops and we decided to stick together till my 100Km.

I pushed pace in the final 4km and finally came home at 16:52 with a huge sigh of relief. Finally, I had my first running century. Surely, it was one of the slowest runs for me but given the conditions I was happy to even get home in this time. Further, 5th position finish was an icing on the cake.

At the finish line, I made another promise to myself. To get my second century sooner – at 12 Hour Bengaluru Stadium run in July 2019. Hoping (training…) for the best.