On a somewhat gloomy evening in August 2006, I majestically brought up the rear in the inter-house cross country finals at the Laidlaw Memorial School and Junior College, Ketti.
As punishment, they docked 50 points from Plummer: the poor house I was dumped in when I joined the school.
I vowed never to run cross country again. The next year, being what was referred to in LMS slang as a 'Big Jang' in standard 12, I took great pleasure in skipping cross country in favour of 'studying'. In reality, I would hightail it down to the dormitory and take a long, leisurely bath before anyone else could hone in on the hot water.
Fast forward 10 years, and I was back in the Ooty to run 25 kilometers in the Nilgiri Ultra. Whoda thunk. By this time, I'd discovered that running was pretty cool if you didn't have the carrot-and-stick arrangement to worry about and I'd taken to the sport with some frequency.
The course began and ended at the YWCA in Anandagiri. Staying here was most satisfactory: it is conveniently located, very clean, and run by friendly and helpful staff. The rates are very reasonable too, especially if you're sharing a room.
At 1, I shuffled into the dining hall for the pre-race briefing and bib collection. I sat down at en empty table and was soon joined by a group of elite runners, recognisable by their GPS watches and air of comfort in a room where I thought everyone would be nervous. One of them, who introduced himself as Shashwat (and about whose ultra-running exploits I would read about at length in his blog) asked me about the cheap (but really solid) Decathlong watch I was wearing. I said something stupid and revealed my true colours as a fledgling runner. Ah well, I'm sure Shashwat had to start somewhere too!
At half-past 5 on Saturday, the 2nd of December, the runners in the 25 km and 50 km editions lined up for a final briefing with Globeracers lead Kavitha. Following instructions to keep our headlamps lit and our reflective jackets on throughout the course (visibility was down to single digits, in feet) we were off.
Remembering my coach's advice (never run too fast in early stages and waste energy), I kept things slow. We turned off onto the Coonoor road and hit our first incline. At this point, a couple of Army runners decided they'd had enough of us slower folk obstructing their path and they shot off into the rain. They'd eventually finish first and second.
I negotiated the first couple of hills without too much difficulty and soon found myself near the Coonoor - Lovedale junction. At this approximate location, me and a few friends were almost caught by our Principal one weekend as we returned (just a tad) late from an Ooty outing in 2007. He didn't catch us and we made it back to school in time for my all-time favourite LMS dinner: Chapati and Chicken.
Okay enough nostalgia. I took the turn towards Lovedale and the (relative) grime of Ooty town was soon forgotten. Pine and Eucalyptus trees all around, I ran with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway to my right and turned towards (insert evil and dramatic drumroll) The. Lawrence. School. Lovedale. Da da da daaah.
Okay, Lawrence isn't that bad. I had a couple of friends there and although our schools were rivals of sorts that didn't stop us from having a lot of fun during badminton tournaments (the only sport I didn't TOTALLY suck at. Okay, maybe I just sucked less than everyone else).
The run was getting prettier by the minute. Mist descended and any view I might normally have had of Ketti Valley was obscured by clouds. I pulled out my third-rate cellphone (primitive Apple technology) and took a few photographs, reproduced below for your pleasure.
Before long, I reached the half-way point where I stopped to take more photographs. Although I broke one of my cardinal rules and took selfies during an earlier run in Ladakh, I refused this time around and asked the pit stop person to take a couple for me. That's me right there, wearing my Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC) t-shirt. Do look them up on Facebook and Instagram and do consider supporting their work. If you work at a company in Bangalore that engages in CSR activities, you could also invite them over for a talk or two.
Photographs taken and primitive Apple technology stowed away, I confronted the uphill climb back to Ooty. It was here that I realised, in the midst of the fog and rain, what a real Ultramarathon must be like (though the 25km event was part of the larger Nilgiri Ultra, a real Ultra is by definition longer than 42 kilometres). I screwed my courage to the sticking place and lumbered on, overtaking a couple of runners along the way. My coach's advice to take it easy at the start was paying off.
Running and walking. No, mostly walking. Okay, maybe equal amounts of both. I reached the final pit stop and ate a boiled baby potato. I chilled a little too long and one of the runners I'd overtaken caught up. Determined not to lose my place, I bolted back past Lawrence and Lovedale and found my way back to Ooty. This is where the runners high hit me (instead, mercifully, of the wall) and I ran faster than I'd run all morning back towards the YWCA. I overtook one runner easily, and then another, before storming up the slope to the YWCA reception. Mine was the third name in the finisher's list.
What a run, and what an experience! I can't wait to get back to the Nilgiris next year, though perhaps for the 50k division! If only I had another shot at running cross-country :(
I decided to celebrate that evening in the company of old friends (pictured below):
As punishment, they docked 50 points from Plummer: the poor house I was dumped in when I joined the school.
I vowed never to run cross country again. The next year, being what was referred to in LMS slang as a 'Big Jang' in standard 12, I took great pleasure in skipping cross country in favour of 'studying'. In reality, I would hightail it down to the dormitory and take a long, leisurely bath before anyone else could hone in on the hot water.
Fast forward 10 years, and I was back in the Ooty to run 25 kilometers in the Nilgiri Ultra. Whoda thunk. By this time, I'd discovered that running was pretty cool if you didn't have the carrot-and-stick arrangement to worry about and I'd taken to the sport with some frequency.
The course began and ended at the YWCA in Anandagiri. Staying here was most satisfactory: it is conveniently located, very clean, and run by friendly and helpful staff. The rates are very reasonable too, especially if you're sharing a room.
At 1, I shuffled into the dining hall for the pre-race briefing and bib collection. I sat down at en empty table and was soon joined by a group of elite runners, recognisable by their GPS watches and air of comfort in a room where I thought everyone would be nervous. One of them, who introduced himself as Shashwat (and about whose ultra-running exploits I would read about at length in his blog) asked me about the cheap (but really solid) Decathlong watch I was wearing. I said something stupid and revealed my true colours as a fledgling runner. Ah well, I'm sure Shashwat had to start somewhere too!
At half-past 5 on Saturday, the 2nd of December, the runners in the 25 km and 50 km editions lined up for a final briefing with Globeracers lead Kavitha. Following instructions to keep our headlamps lit and our reflective jackets on throughout the course (visibility was down to single digits, in feet) we were off.
Remembering my coach's advice (never run too fast in early stages and waste energy), I kept things slow. We turned off onto the Coonoor road and hit our first incline. At this point, a couple of Army runners decided they'd had enough of us slower folk obstructing their path and they shot off into the rain. They'd eventually finish first and second.
I negotiated the first couple of hills without too much difficulty and soon found myself near the Coonoor - Lovedale junction. At this approximate location, me and a few friends were almost caught by our Principal one weekend as we returned (just a tad) late from an Ooty outing in 2007. He didn't catch us and we made it back to school in time for my all-time favourite LMS dinner: Chapati and Chicken.
Okay enough nostalgia. I took the turn towards Lovedale and the (relative) grime of Ooty town was soon forgotten. Pine and Eucalyptus trees all around, I ran with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway to my right and turned towards (insert evil and dramatic drumroll) The. Lawrence. School. Lovedale. Da da da daaah.
 |
| Lovedale Railway Station |
 |
| Shortcut to Ketti with the Lawrence School behind the trees beyond |
The run was getting prettier by the minute. Mist descended and any view I might normally have had of Ketti Valley was obscured by clouds. I pulled out my third-rate cellphone (primitive Apple technology) and took a few photographs, reproduced below for your pleasure.
Before long, I reached the half-way point where I stopped to take more photographs. Although I broke one of my cardinal rules and took selfies during an earlier run in Ladakh, I refused this time around and asked the pit stop person to take a couple for me. That's me right there, wearing my Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC) t-shirt. Do look them up on Facebook and Instagram and do consider supporting their work. If you work at a company in Bangalore that engages in CSR activities, you could also invite them over for a talk or two.
Photographs taken and primitive Apple technology stowed away, I confronted the uphill climb back to Ooty. It was here that I realised, in the midst of the fog and rain, what a real Ultramarathon must be like (though the 25km event was part of the larger Nilgiri Ultra, a real Ultra is by definition longer than 42 kilometres). I screwed my courage to the sticking place and lumbered on, overtaking a couple of runners along the way. My coach's advice to take it easy at the start was paying off.
Running and walking. No, mostly walking. Okay, maybe equal amounts of both. I reached the final pit stop and ate a boiled baby potato. I chilled a little too long and one of the runners I'd overtaken caught up. Determined not to lose my place, I bolted back past Lawrence and Lovedale and found my way back to Ooty. This is where the runners high hit me (instead, mercifully, of the wall) and I ran faster than I'd run all morning back towards the YWCA. I overtook one runner easily, and then another, before storming up the slope to the YWCA reception. Mine was the third name in the finisher's list.
What a run, and what an experience! I can't wait to get back to the Nilgiris next year, though perhaps for the 50k division! If only I had another shot at running cross-country :(
I decided to celebrate that evening in the company of old friends (pictured below):
Looks like had a great time during the run and congrats on your 3rd position.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing about your running exploits.
Nice read. Ooty is a beautiful place to run.
ReplyDelete