Book Review: Free Country - A Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain

Free Country - A Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain
- George Mahood

George and Ben plan to go on an adventure cycle ride, between two extreme points of United Kingdom, from the most westerly point in England (Lands End) to North-East tip of Scotland (John O' Groats). That's around 1000 miles. The most interesting part of the adventure is, not the ride. They have to do it without spending a penny. That's right. And, that's not all. They can't even start the trip with their own cycles or even clothes. They have to depend entirely on the mercy of people along the route, for practically everything.

They start their trip with just a pair of shorts each, as cover page of the book depicts, at the Lands End. They explain their challenge to the people they meet en route, and request them to part with anything that helps them start their ride. Within a couple of days, they manage to get some abandoned bikes, socks, shoes and some TShirts.

From then on, their routine is pretty much same for the next 18 days. They cover around 50 miles a day. For breakfast/lunch/dinner, they knock doors of random places en route, explain their challenge and request some food, and offer to do some chores in return. Most of the days, they manage to get food without doing any work in return. And, there are days, where they end up helping cleaners in kitchen or even picking up cigarette buts in the front yard of a hotel. By dusk, they reach some town/village and look for pubs/hotels/hostels and play the same record. Some readily offer them a full service room and some offer just some space in parking lot, where they can pitch their tent, again given by someone after listening to their challenge, and some just express their inability to help.

By the end of 19th day, they could confidently say that people of Britain were great, as they didn't go hungry even for one night, and even had a couple of beers almost every night. They had a few interesting places to spend their nights that include, a luxury boat, a barn with cattle, a disorderly house with a drunken self proclaimed hitman, floor of a pub etc., 

For such a long ride without a penny, I expected it to be a bit more eventful. But, despite the pathetic condition of cycles and not even having a pump or a puncture kit, and not so great planning about which town/village en route to spend the next night, they manage to have an almost smooth ride. Some of the conversations that they had over free beers make good reads.

A Few Months Towards Comrades Ultra Marathon

Comrades Ultra Marathon, an 89 KM road run on a hilly terrain, between 2 cities in South Africa (Pietermaritzburg and Durban), is the world's oldest and largest Ultra Marathon that attracts around 20,000 runners from across the world. It happened first in 1921. The name Comrades is due to the The League of Comrades of The Great War (First World War). Vic Clapham, a soldier, who campaigned for the League dreamt about an endurance race between his home town Pietermaritzburg and Durban, and realised it 3 years later in 1921.

Several months back, a couple of my friends from Runners For Ever, had been bitten by this Comrades bug and decided to take it on in 2016. Allegedly, one of them has been suffering from the bug-bite for several years. There are a few things that make this run particularly challenging. The first one is, of course, the distance. It's 89 KM, which is a little more than 2 Marathons. It should be covered in 12 hours and there are 5 intermediate cut-offs as well. Then comes the icing on the cake, the terrain. Majority of the course is hilly, with some serious elevation gain/loss. Though I am not good at runs that expect a certain pace, and also not much into Ultra Marathons (distance runs that go beyond 42.195 KM), they somehow convinced me that I too should make an attempt.

Comrades Marathon usually happens on the last weekend of May. We started our planned training from Mumbai Marathon in January. 4 months training is quite short for such a run. But, as we are not too young in the world of distance running, we decided to make an attempt. We picked the most challenging routes (Pipeline Road and Nandi Hills) available in Bangalore for some of our weekend runs, that would equip us to handle the hilly terrain of Comrades. We threw a couple of day long cycle rides in the schedule that would make us be on our legs for the whole day. Also, thanks to the growing popularity of distance runs in India, I could fit one organised Marathon every month in the schedule. That made the last four months of journey towards Comrades quite occupied.

Apart from these weekend runs, we added at least one run during weekdays that's 2 hour long. And, of course, strengthening and conditioning through out the week. It's, by no means, a rigorous training. But, a bare minimum one to make a good attempt. We have 3 more weeks to go and we just started tapering down. All of us have 5+ years of running and a lot of Marathons and a few Ultra Marathons to our credit. Hope, all that experience and the bodies that have been used to enduring time & distances would be of help!

Book Review: A Guy on the Sidewalk

A Guy on the Sidewalk
-- Bharath Krishna

It's a self-narrated story of a guy, as ordinary as the title sounds. Just another guy on the sidewalk. What makes it interesting is the connect that one can make with the protagonist. 

A smart but not studious guy; His friendship with a girl in college, which he was not sure how to handle; A routine, mediocre, boring and unplanned career, which he couldn't take for too long; His reluctance to go with the flow; His eccentricity in taking every major decision in life; Introspection at the back of his mind, without a pause; Being devoid of irrational fears that usually keep one from straying - that pretty much sums up the story.

I particularly liked the relationship between Jay, the protagonist and Siri, a single mother who had been through a bad patch and appears to be living a reclusive life, for people who get judgmental too soon. Also, the friendship between Jay and Venkat, his childhood friend, is so realistic that I could establish a connect with it, instantly.

Though the story is largely event-less and highly predictable, I loved the simple and yet gripping narration. I felt as if I was listening to a long lost friend narrating his story, where I don't mind excruciating details. This might be partially due to the author being a good friend of mine in Agricultural college. As I read somewhere, first time authors tend to bring a lot of auto-biographical elements into their book. This being the first book by Bharath, he too might have done a bit of that. If that's the case, it only made it better!

Corbett Marathon

Corbett Marathon-2016 is the 6th edition of Corbett Marathon, organised by Running and Living. I got to know about Running and Living for the first time, when I was searching for some information on how to choose the right running shoe, several years back. They still have that article online, which introduced the word pronation to me. I have been following their runs since then, but never got a chance to run one. March to June/July are kind of dry months for Marathon runners in India. As I look forward to doing one Marathon every month, I ended up checking all the runs in India, and Corbett Marathon in March did fit the bill. 

 

The location of the run is quite unique and remote for someone in Bangalore. I flew to Delhi and got into an overnight train to Ramnagar, a small town in Uttarakhand, that's a gateway to Jim Corbett National Park. Though I am not a wild life enthusiast, I love walks/treks/safaris in forests to just enjoy the serenity. So, I got into a Jeep right at Ramnagar railway station for a few hours of safari into Jhirna Range of Jim Corbett. Apparently, Jhirna was one of the man-animal conflict zones till a few years ago and people from this village have been completely relocated now to other places, and left that area to animals. There are still some remnants of the village. Despite the very high numbers of wild life boasted by safari guide, we couldn't spot much animals during our ride.

Marathon expo and start/end points were at Mapple Resort, around 10 KM from Ramnagar station, towards entry gate of National Park. I checked into a cozy room, right next to Mapple in Parfait the Roar. When I went to collect my bib, I was surprised to see just 6 registrations for Full Marathon (with no-show and on the spot registrations, it turned out to be 7 by the next morning), and some 50-60 for Half Marathon. Most of our regular weekend runs have more runners than that. It may be due to the Holi weekend, which people in the north may prefer to celebrate with families/friends than with elephants/tigers. But, that didn't deter the organisers and they received us with full enthusiasm.

It was a 10.55 KM loop and Full Marathon runners had to do 4 loops. Run started at 5 AM, while it was still pitch-dark. 3 cars were arranged to help us, with their headlights on, during the first loop. It was the most interesting 10 KM run for me. It was completely dark (but for the headlights of a slow moving car behind me), on a road that cuts across a thick forest (outside the Safari entry gate of course, but not sure whether animals know about that). We could hear various sounds that are typical to a forest, in the early morning chill as it's winter/summer transition. Just 7 of us cruised through, immersed in our respective worlds. Weather was great for the next 2 loops too. I had to face a bit of heat for the last loop. Well stocked support stations reflected that the organisers themselves are runners and understand what a runner needs on the course. Later on, I found that Rahul, founder of Running and Living, has run 37 Marathons across several continents. 

Along with a couple of Runners for Ever friends, I have been training for Comrades Ultra Marathon, an 89 KM road run in a hilly terrain, on May 29 in South Africa. The last few months of training seems to have helped me, as I was very consistent through out the 42 KM course, without the usual drop in pace that I used to experience towards the end.

There was a post-run brunch at Mapple, where I could interact with a few crazy runners with varied interests. One of them is a local guy, who got to know that there was a Marathon and just came and ran. It was his first Marathon and he finished in an enviable 3 hr 34 min. But then, he is a Lieutenant Colonel in Indian Army. Respect! Another one is a 50 year old guy, running 4 Marathons a month. He had another Marathon in Delhi on the following day, and was traveling to Delhi right after the run. One guy flew from Bahrain for the run, who is training for London Marathon in April, and this is just one of the training runs for him.

It was a long travel to get there and get back to Bangalore. But, at the end of it, I felt it was worth it. I will be looking forward to more runs by Running and Living in much more exotic locations.

RFE Annual Celebration - Auroville Marathon - 2015

We, The Runners For Ever (RFE), had decided last year that Auroville Marathon at Pondicherry would be a celebration run for us every year, where none of us would chase their Personal Best timings and just enjoy the run, and of course, the entire trip, as a group. This year, we implemented it in letter & spirit.

The preparations had started several months back. Kishore, the de facto planner of the group,  had planned everything well in advance. Ravi, the generous RFE member, offered his membership to get us rooms at Club Mahindra, Pondicherry, a beautiful and well equipped resort with a private beach, away from all the buzz of city.

We got into a train at Bangalore on Friday night, and the celebrations were kicked off then and there itself. Bafna ji, the master entertainer of the group, took over the charge instantly. Our conversations covering everything funny under the sun went late into the night, which ended only after a couple of fellow passengers requested us to let them sleep for a while, before the train reaches Pondicherry.

A 10+ seater vehicle was ready to pick us up at the railway station, courtesy - the meticulous planning by Kishore. We headed directly to Auroville to pick up Running Bibs, and had sumptuous breakfast en route. Auroville is a few thousand acre area, a few KM away from Pondicherry, that's developed by Sri Aurobindo Society as an experiment in sustainable living, which started in 1968.

Auroville: The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity – in diversity. Today Auroville is recognised as the first and only internationally endorsed ongoing experiment in human unity and transformation of consciousness, also concerned with - and practically researching into - sustainable living and the future cultural, environmental, social and spiritual needs of mankind.

We reached the resort by noon. As I observed earlier, the day before a run, we typically behave as ambassadors of saatvic diet. But, Auroville trip is an exception. This being the run planned purely for celebrating our otherwise gruelling running year, we defy all rules here. We started our lunch with a couple of beers, followed by an elaborate buffet lunch. We spent the rest of the day exploring the resort and several in-house activities that include, pool, swimming-pool, ping-pong, a bit of fooling around in the beach. Activities of the day concluded with rocking the dance floor, inspiring rest of the guests too to join us. Highlights of the activities include, Bafnaji's unisex swim-suit, Nirup's transformation into Pappu, Ravi's futile attempts to save himself from getting bullied etc., The day concluded with yet another round of elaborate buffet dinner.

Natraj deserves a special mention, who missed joining us in train due to some emergency meetings. But, not to miss his outstation run and annual celebration of the group, he traveled by car, 2 buses and finally a taxi and reached the resort, late in the night. Hats off to his spirit.

The run was scheduled to start at 6:15 am on Sunday. We reached the venue on-time and socialised a bit with the usual suspects. The entire group decided to follow 9:1 method of running, i.e, 9 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking at an average pace of 7:30 min/KM, an extremely comfortable and enjoyable pace for all the seasoned runners. We followed it till we crossed the finish-line as a group, and had an unforgettable 2 hour 40 minutes of running experience that will stay fresh in  our memories for quite some time. Shouting silly slogans, wearing our team T-Shirt with our team logo and our names, encouraging fellow runners, we made our presence felt in every inch of the course.

We reached the resort back by noon and treated ourselves to drinks and lunch. With that much of fun overdose, the entire team was tired and just dozed off in the lobby in the oversized and comfortable lobby chairs. As good times move extremely fast, it was time to leave for Bangalore. We spent the evening at the beautiful promenade sipping some coffee and nibbling on some snacks, at the legendary Le Cafe, enjoying the sea breeze.

Reached Bangalore by next morning and dispersed, only with a promise to make this an annual RFE affair.

Runners For Ever - Marathon Silver Jubilee

A lot of interesting things happened in the last one year. I mean, my last running year. 

Co-founded a running group in Bangalore, with like minded runners, called Runners For Ever (RFE). RFE Members have only one thing in common. They are all runners and they love their sport. Some of them are pacers, some are cruisers. We have weight watchers and also body sculptors. Some are chasing the Marathons that need the fastest possible pace by amateurs, and some are behind the longest ever distances treaded by distance runners. The only thing that keeps RFEs together is, we all run and we make sure that we have great fun, while we are at it.

I have my own humble journey. To join 100-Marathon Club, some day. I just crossed my Marathon Silver Jubilee (25 Full Marathons), an important milestone en route the 100-Marathon Club. I wanted to cross this milestone at an event, where my running group would be with me. So, I chose Mumbai (SCMM) as the place where I would cross it. Mumbai Marathon is something that hardly any distance runner in India misses. Though organisers had been indifferent one way or the other, the beautiful course, amazing support from residents through out the course, make it the best Marathon in India. So, I obviously chose it for the Silver Jubilee. I started 2014 with my 18th Marathon in Mumbai. I had 6 more to go to make it the 25th Marathon in Mumbai, the following year.

Mumbai -> Auroville, Pondicherry -> Zurich, Switzerland -> Hyderabad -> Vietnam -> Bengaluru -> Bangalore Mid-Night -> Mumbai : That's my Odyssey towards this cute little feat.

Bangalore Mid-Night Marathon finish has been the most memorable finish among all the runs that I did so far. It started at 12 Mid-Night. I planned to finish the run around 5 AM. RFEs promised to give me company, while I need it the most. The last 7-8 KM. Despite their promise, I didn't expect them. Because, if there is anything unearthly than running a Marathon at 12 Mid-Night, it's waking up a 2 AM and reaching the Marathon course across the city, to support a runner from 3 AM to the finish. And, defying all common sense, they turned up :-) Not just 1 or 2, but, a big bunch of them, right at 3 AM. And, we ran together till I touched the finish line at 4:40 AM. Then, we drove to Lalbagh, walked around enjoying the early morning chill till MTR opens, and had a great breakfast in a private room booked to celebrate the occasion, with full attendance, as rest of the RFEs made it to the breakfast. :-)

Vietnam Mountain Marathon deserves a special mention. It's more of a trek than a run for me,  with  elevation gain and loss to the tune of thousands of feet. It's organised in the border mountains between Vietnam & China. The area is untouched by modern civilisation, with only a handful of tribes having access to it. A Danish Tourism company and Danish Embassy in Vietnam organise the event with help from a lot of local organisations. Undeniably, one of the most interesting places that I ever visited during my MOMO, and an event that I don't mind repeating in the coming years.

That brings the curtains down on the last running year and my Marathon Silver Jubilee.

Swiss Odyssey: MOMO-Part-10

San Francisco-2010 (US) -> Athens-2010 (Greece) -> Berlin-2011 (Germany) -> Niagara Falls-2011 (US/Canada) -> Singapore-2011 -> Kuala Lumpur-2012 (Malaysia) -> Venice-2012 (Italy) -> Phuket-2013 (Thailand) -> Mt.Fuji-2013 (Japan) -> Zurich-2014 (Switzerland)

My Overseas Marathon Odyssey (MOMO) - Part 10 - Zurich Marathon

It all started when I was conducting my ritual search for the next destination in Europe. I was considering Vienna Marathon, Austria and Prague Marathon, Czech Republic. As my budget is always very limited, I usually check for the airfares to different places first and then select a Marathon. Vienna and Prague were both looking good. Around the same time, I happened to talk to Pravin, a friend of mine living in Zurich, Switzerland and also found that Zurich Marathon fits the bill well, and others fell off the radar.

Zurich Marathon turned out to be a very low profile event (relative to the other European Marathons that I had done). Though it's low profile in terms of its popularity outside Switzerland and in terms of the number of runners (just a few hundred), it was organized impeccably. The Swiss ingenuity could be seen everywhere. Printing a free Zurich public transport ticket, with 24 hour validity on the Marathon day, behind the Marathon bib is just a sample of it. Aid stations at every 3.5 KM were well-stocked and well-manned. There were pacers from 3 hr to 5 hr 30 min at 15 min increments. As the total number is very small, there were hardly any runners who were not following the pacers. So, after a few KM, the entire course looked like bursts of runners with a 15 min gap in between. I didn't go with any pacer and ran at 6:20 min/km initially and averaged to 6:50 by the end to finish in 4 hr 52 min. It was 12°C in the beginning (pretty cold for a South-Indian) and went up to a comfortable 18°C towards the end.

When I did my first European Marathon in 2010 in Athens, Greece (the birthplace of Marathon), I didn't quite have this MOMO plan in my mind. So, I did quite a lot of sight seeing and traveling with in Europe for the next couple of weeks. But, as this has become a regular affair now, my trips have become shorter and shorter. This is the shortest trip, with just a couple of days planned after the run. 

I visited Interlaken, a small town between two large lakes, Thun & Brienz, the most popular tourist destination in Switzerland and the gateway to several mountains and lakes in that region, the following day. Though there are some great cycling trails, and a bunch of adventure sports options, this being the day right after a Marathon, I had not planned any activities and just walked around the lakes whole day. The best part of the visit was getting in and out of Interlaken. Interlaken could be reached from Zurich through two different routes. One is shorter, more expensive, less scenic route (via Bern, the Swiss capital) and the other is a bit longer, cheaper and insanely scenic (via Lucerne). I chose the later in the onward journey and the former to return. The scenic route via Lucerne is just picture perfect in its every frame. It's a heaven for photographers and a feast to eyes. Icing on the cake would be the extremely efficient, comfortable and luxury trains.

The following day was for Baden-Baden, Germany. A 3 hour train ride from Zurich took me to this small German spa town at the foothills of Black Forest. Baden means 'bathing' in German. It's popular due to its natural thermal springs and their therapeutic effects, discovered by ancient Romans, thousands of years back. I heard about it from Dilip, another friend of mine, when we planned our 2010 trip. There are two popular spas, Caracalla-Spa and Friedrichsbad. The former is a modern spa with modern construction and luxury facilities. The later one is older (opened in 1877) and wilder (clothes are off for a full 3 1/2 hours), with its 17 stages that give one a glimpse of Roman bathing culture combined with Irish hot-air baths. I, obviously, chose the later and I don't regret. Some of the stages are hot air sauna rooms and some are pools at different temperatures, heated using only natural thermal springs, with a couple of short massages in between. Though the relaxation was quite comparable to the Onsen that I tried in Tokyo, Japan, the process and the aura were much more exotic.

That brings an end to the short & sweet Swiss Odyssey.