Anecdote of the 125 km run from Chandigarh to Shimla
Param
Firstly thanks to all the members of this wonderful group for keeping my spirits up during the 125 kms of Chandigarh to Shimla run that was successfully completed on Sept 23-2011. I am especially thankful to Rahul, Harshita, Randeep, Trips, Prasad, Vineet, Arvind, Dinesh, Umesh, Shashank and Rashmi for calling and messaging me throughout this run to check on me. Guys this means a lot to me and thank you so much.
Historical background and training
To be honest and truthful to you all, personally the Chandigarh to Shimla run was an under-achievement in many ways to what I had been planning since June. The original planned distance was 400km from Gurgaon to Shimla. I had recced the route in my car down to every 5 kms about a month before the planned run. So Arvind sir when you read in July about a loony doing a 55km it was training for this. And Trips bhai asked me a during one of my Sunday runs why I was carrying a 12 kg backpack on my 40km runs from gurgaon to Delhi, it was all part of the training. Also I had been running everyday at BD Park to get some semblance of hill training for the past 2 months during weekdays and a full marathon distance every Sunday at Nehru Park along with my training partner Ankur Bedi and can’t thank him enough for being partner in crime. But it wasn’t meant to be as 3 weeks before the run I had a cartilage injury and doctor strictly advised me against any longer distances over 10km.Also my guru and mentor Sharon thought that I could complete it but wanted me to do it only if I was 101% confident and in peak physical form, which I wasn’t due to the injury. Even than I wasn’t convinced and wanted to go ahead with it until my most beloved friend in Shimla talked me out of this. If it wasn’t for her I would have been crazy enough to attempt it.
So about a week before the run it was decided that I would go for a shorter route and decided upon Chandigarh to Shimla. I had already arranged a crew for this run; a bunch of close friends from shimla who I could trust upon. The crew was 7 in number including a driver; with 4 who would tag along with me till Sloan, out of which two would take a retreat and head back home at this point. And 3 more crew member who would join me thereafter for the final and more difficult phase of the run.
Also would like to point here that my experience in Leh was most instrumental in planning and successfully implementing this run as I had seen at close quarters how the best ultra runners in the world plan their runs. So have to give THE HIGH race its due credit.
Run details
The original distance calculated was 110kms based on Google maps shortest distance but ended up doing 125kms, which is the actual distance from Sector 17 bus stand Chandigarh to Victory Tunnel, Shimla. On 21st checked in at a hotel opposite sector 17 Chandigarh, had a session with my friends where explained to them what we were about to do and for the cause(Under-privileged children of Himachal) and also went over the routine when I would need my water supply and what things needed to be added to the water. Also can’t hide this but had a couple of large Tuborg bottles the night before the run followed by a sumptuous dinner. Also bought half kg of dry fruits and protein biscuits for the run.
Went to bed around 10 pm and woke up at 1 am had a relaxing shower got dressed and headed out to the car. Oiled myself up (a usual practice that I follow before every run), put on my Nike free shoes and took off on Sept 22-2011 at 2 am with the crew behind me for the first 3 kms. After that it was decided they would drive up 3 kms and wait for me to catch up for a refill. The Chandigarh roads were totally empty and a delight to run on; also got strange stares from party revelers and mid night owls who must have been thinking I am crazy :)
Maintained an easy pace and crossed Chandigarh, Manimajra, Chandimandir and hit the national Highway at 3:18 am and headed straight towards Pinjore/Kalka. About 5 kms before Pinjore the incline started and the cartilage injury started to act up. I wore a hinged knee cap as the doc had adviced and started running with that, it did slow me down a bit but kept running at a decent pace. Thereafter reached Kalka dot at 4:30 hours and saw signs of Shimla 90 Kms away.
Kept going strong till Parwanoo and thereafter really slowed down and came to almost a walk at the incline right after you enter Parwanoo. Next target was Kotti about 7Kms away and that run seemed like ages; walked and run for most part and reached Koti around 8 am. It seemed the weather gods were not too kind that day and it was going to be a sunny day but it didn’t really matter as I had trained in the Delhi heat for months. By now was feeling hungry and at Kotti I grabbed 2 paneer paranthas on the way and had them while I walked, gave me some energy so next target was set to Dharampur 14 kms away and it seemed like an ok run as now the incline had kind of tapered off and had lots of straighter routes where I sprinted. But I was drinking water like crazy and had been drinking 750ml of h20 + honey + glucose+ amla juice mixture every 2-3 kms and had consumed 20 liters of h20 already. After completing dharampur next target was Dagshai (5kms) it was again more incline to reach there and it was again run+ walk to get there. By now left knee was hurting a bit more but I felt strong and continued running. After reaching Dagshai next target was set at Solan 15kms and I believe that was a mistake as it was too far. On this route I suffered the most and felt totally exhausted interestingly now the sole of my feet had started to hurt really badly and every step seemed like an arduous task. My friend and core crew Vidya suggested I change my shoes and boy he was right. I put on PUMA Faas shoes and it felt much better. But still it was a real struggle and shimla was still good 55 kms away.
By now I was in un-chartered territory as had covered 70 kms without any rest, covered some decent incline without any real solid food and was feeling totally exhausted and worst of all a cramp seemed to be rearing its head along my left thigh. To top this all I was getting unbearable chaffing along my groin area that was causing a lot of discomfort, but I kept changing shorts and powdering them with prickly heat powder in order to get over this. But I kept my head down, ignored all pains and kept going (learned this at Leh) until I could go no further around the 80 km mark a severe cramp shot up my left thigh making it impossible for me to stand and I lied down outside a shop about 1 km before Sloan city. I could not get up and at that point it seemed the race had ended for me. Luckily I had crashed less than a 200 meters outside a doctor’s office and he was a good man(TANGRI CLINIC) he came out to see me as I could not even get up, he diagnosed it right away as Potassium deficiency. He gave ORS, Lemon juice and water. In the meantime my core crew Vidya got Bananas and gave me a massage on the thighs /legs/knees with an ointment that the doctor had given. Within 10 minutes I was on my knees and the cramp was gone. By now was feeling too hungry and continued for another 2kms but it was now 3 pm and a good over 13 hours on my foot. It was decided by Vidya and me that if I had to complete this run I had to take a break and refuel. So I ran till the bus stand in Solan where my crew was waiting for me and took a rest for 30 minutes by lying in the car parked below the bus stand. After that indulged in a sumptuous lunch and was on my way by 4 pm towards shimla. Shortly after crossing Solan was joined by my close friends and that really motivated me.
Now these friends are not even runners and the last time they ran was in high school, they were brave enough to pace me in multiples of 5 KM all the way till Kaithleeghat a good 29-30 kms away from Solan. And I can’t thank them enough for what they did for me .By the time I reached Kaithleeghat I had crossed the 100KM run mark and felt a sense of jubilation. It was pretty dark and I was obviously tired; it was around 8:30 pm had run out of batteries on my torch light, but nevertheless I was now trying to run hard and reach Shimla (another 22 kms) before 11 pm. But just then a piece of rock hit straight on my left foot toe head while running on the side road. I withered in pain and stopped at the pavement. I tried to get up after 5 minutes but could not run. Again I was getting this eerie feeling that I would not be able to complete this run; it looked so near yet so far as 22kms in the hills is a lot of distance considering the baggage I had accumulated by then. I slowly limped to a dhabha with my friends chugging along. I had a couple of vegetable sandwiches (15 minutes break) felt relaxed but pain was still there. Decided not to give up and continued walking and limping for the next hour to cover a measly 2.5 kms. Now Shogi was about 2 kms away and decided to attempt to run and magically due to prayers of my friends and well wishers(they know who they are in this group) the pain seemed to wither away and covered the next 2 kms of all incline in 30 minutes.
Reached Shogi at 10:20 pm still 17.5 kms away from Shimla decided to take my second food brake. We all had a great time and after our dinner I sat on the side and closed my eyes and energized all my resources for the final push, yes I was going to run from Shoghi to Shimla a distance of 17 kms in one go as I felt I still had lot of energy left for the final push. To make this a sure shot deal I bought a bottle of King fisher at 10:40 pm and gulped it down :) Also now I took off my hinged knee support, changed my shorts and was rearing to go. The run started gently at 10:45 pm, it was as dark as it gets. Post Shoghi there was a deep valley (overlooking the airport) on the side I was running and with me out of batteries it was now decided that for the remainder of the journey the car would drive right behind me so I could see where I was going.
Also it was getting colder and fog was engulfing the area; in the horizon towering above the clouds I could see perched upon the highest hillock the tiny temple of Maa Tara Devi the most benevolent local goddess that I have most arduous belief in. Closed my eyes again said a small prayer asking the blessing of the local deity and then turned to my most dependable friend who was running with me; thanked her for coming along and turned back towards the car and asked her politely to take rest in the car. The last run I was going to go all out and it was going to be just me and the elements. Thereafter picked up a steady pace, now only thing in my mind was what Sharon had said “dig deeper.” The limits of physical exhaustion had been reached and now it was all a mental game. Visualized the course ahead as a usual flat course I run in Delhi and ignored all the milestones, inclines etc and just ran hard. I think the hardest in my life to date and kept going stronger and stronger till I reached Ghora Chowki; shimla was now mere 4 kms away but now steep inclines had begun. I walked the heavy inclines and sprinted the lesser ones till I saw a tempo parked right in the middle of the road. The driver was sleeping with his vehicle still running, I stopped and tried to wake him up but he wouldn’t budge. Eventually I threw cold water on his face and he kind of gained consciousness. I asked him to park his vehicle on the side; otherwise he would have definitely gotten into an accident. He did so sleepingly thereafter I took out the keys from the ignition kept it on the side; he went back to sleep and I went back to running.
It was right before midnight, though Shimla had already begun but I wanted to reach the center of Shimla, Victory Tunnel another 3 kms away. Nevertheless continued my run/walkathon at a good pace then out of nowhere a totally drunk guy came and started to run behind me he was saying something incomprehensible. I decided to sprint away from him and in 2 minutes he was far behind me, but then he attempted to stop my crew and luckily nothing untoward happened. I had another drunkard chase me right below Hotel Oberoi Cecil and I followed the same golden rule “When in Doubt just run”
Finally Victory tunnel was in sight and the last 200 meters I felt like Usain Bolt and sprinted hard really hard. Till I landed at the Traffic signal pedestal and rested on it for 5 minutes. It was 12:18 am, I had covered a distance of 125kms in a total time of 22.5 hours out of which actual time was 20.5 hours and covered a combined elevation of over 9000 ft in this entire route and drank close to 50 liters of water. Now I ran up to my crew hugged them, later I proceeded to Hotel HHH;where the staff was already waiting for me.They were shocked to hear about what I had done and were happy that I did it for the children of Himachal. In the room I tried to rest but could not and for about 15 minutes my body was trembling really hard. I guess it was in a state of shock. The next morning was ok but did not get much sleep. The funniest part was when I ordered breakfast in my room, it took 2 waiters 4 rounds to bring all the food I had ordered not surprisingly they had a bemused look on their face. Nevertheless the best part was when I partied with my awesome friends in the night.
Later next day collected stuff for the children; had already collected stuff for 500 kids and my car was full to the brim and was happy at that. On the day of the HM, I thought I am going to run a strong race but within 2 kms of the run realized was out of juice and had to realign my target at just completing the run. I managed to complete the HM in a little over 2 hours. Later that day headed out to the Girls orphanage in Durgapur, shimla and handed over the stuff. Couple of days later went to Govt School Mohri and handed over stuff to 450 children and at that point all this pain and struggle seemed so much worth it and I promised myself to do it again and again.
Current Status
Now I am back in Gurgaon and this week attempted to run at BD, but seems the body has still not recovered fully. Not feeling too well either. Also according to Sharon; a run like this needs 3- 4 weeks of recovery. So I am just going to be taking it easy for the next month and will be watching /cheering you folks from the sidelines :)
Arvind Tripathi
The concoction of your hidden agenda and the worthy cause topped up with the superlative effort are intoxicatingly inspiring cocktail. Wish you had just give a hint, more foot soldiers would have joined up with you...remember us next time....There are many lessons to learn and I think the best one is 'Ek baar commitment kar di, toh phir apne aap ki bhi nahi sunta'
Truly heroic, many more
Trips
Running and living!!
Mob: # 9560452218
ravi parmeshwar
raghunath...@gmail.com
Well documented and something to cherish for a lifetime. I feel honored to have run with u a cpl of times now and will proudly share ur feat with more of my friends after having awed a few already....
Its truly the spirit which soars high above all odds and all else...
Cheers to you!
Bhaagte raho,
Raghu
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Param
Thank you for your kind words Raghu sir and Trips bhai the next sojourn is already on my mind; will discuss with you shortly it will be far tougher and for a greater cause.
To relive some of the moments during and after the run click below
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.164550666966812.44222.100002356383928&l=3b9ab6c176&type=1
Cheers!
Harshita
very proud to know you
Harshita
On Oct 7, 7:13 pm, Param <paramsinghnar...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Firstly thanks to all the members of this wonderful group for keeping my
> spirits up during the 125 kms of Chandigarh to Shimla run that was
> successfully completed on Sept 23-2011. I am especially thankful to Rahul,
> Harshita, Randeep, Trips, Prasad, Vineet, Arvind, Dinesh, Umesh, Shashank
> and Rashmi for calling and messaging me throughout this run to check on me.
> Guys this means a lot to me and thank you so much.
>
> seen at close quarters how the best ultra runners in the world plan their
>
> *Run details*
Rashmi
This is truly heroic.. Amazing.. Awesome..
Kudos to you... And to your team... A run like this is not possible
without the amazing support you had..
And you are a Real Hero... A worthy cause and a genuine person
pursuing it...
Proud to know you and to have run with you...
- Rashmi
>
> read more »
randee...@rediffmail.com
I am at a loss of words honestly.
All I can say is that it is an amazing achievement for an amazing cause & I am proud to be a part of your running circle .
Hats off to you & your crew without whom this would not have been possible .
Tusi great ho sirji .
Randeep
Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel
vinee...@gmail.com
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from !DEA
Dinesh Madan
Could actually feel the journey with you .... the way u narrated ...
starting from the preparation till the very end .... the stops ..till
the end ...
. hats off ..
... to u
...to ur running ....
more important ... the MOTIVE ....
Cheers ....
Happy running always .....
regards
Dinesh
( am not that good at comprehension so in plain simple few lines just
wrote what I felt )
Param
Cheers
Param!!
Aakash
It was a pleasure to meet you in Shimla. Cheers and keep it going, and
stay healthy, injury free.
> spirits up during the 125 kms of Chandigarh to Shimla run that was
> successfully completed on Sept 23-2011. I am especially thankful to Rahul,
> Harshita, Randeep, Trips, Prasad, Vineet, Arvind, Dinesh, Umesh, Shashank
> and Rashmi for calling and messaging me throughout this run to check on me.
> Guys this means a lot to me and thank you so much.
>
> seen at close quarters how the best ultra runners in the world plan their
>
> *Run details*
Ankush Mendiratta
Sent from my iPhone
Naveen Kundu
Sent from my iPad
Ameet
autograph?
Ameet
> spirits up during the 125 kms of Chandigarh to Shimla run that was
> successfully completed on Sept 23-2011. I am especially thankful to Rahul,
> Harshita, Randeep, Trips, Prasad, Vineet, Arvind, Dinesh, Umesh, Shashank
> and Rashmi for calling and messaging me throughout this run to check on me.
> Guys this means a lot to me and thank you so much.
>
> seen at close quarters how the best ultra runners in the world plan their
>
> *Run details*
Vinod Kaul
Princy
Now we have a "running God" amongst us. Truely amazing run.
I think the best takeaway for me from this is the concept of "dig
deeper" Hope you will be with us cheering us, sprinting past us as we
take baby steps towards ultras.
BTW i m not sure you notice this or not you did 125k in 22.5hrs on
what was largely a hilly track. The fastest 24hr run record by an
indian i think is 156Km. You were 90mins yet to go and would hv done
say 136Km given full 24hrs. Give a 15% advantage in the overall run to
shifting from hilly tracks to flat track where this record is set u r
already close to that number. Dare i say we would be honoured to be in
the company of the fastest 24hr runner in India shortly.
> spirits up during the 125 kms of Chandigarh to Shimla run that was
> successfully completed on Sept 23-2011. I am especially thankful to Rahul,
> Harshita, Randeep, Trips, Prasad, Vineet, Arvind, Dinesh, Umesh, Shashank
> and Rashmi for calling and messaging me throughout this run to check on me.
> Guys this means a lot to me and thank you so much.
>
> seen at close quarters how the best ultra runners in the world plan their
>
> *Run details*
>
> read more »
Param
Sri
A run of gigantic proportions and a story even better told. What a
man!
Navin Theeng
You're an inspiration.
Sunil Kumar
congratulations Param,
truely amazing !!!!! and superb performance, and only brave hearts could think this BIG for others
Sunil Arora
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Ankur Bedi
must have gone in since we all have experienced the pain and stress of
running after a certain distance . To carry on when the going gets
very tough is what ultra running is all about and you are Ultra
Running personified man !! Great work .
On 11 Oct, 17:12, Sunil Kumar <s_ksu...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> congratulations Param,
> truely amazing !!!!! and superb performance, and only brave hearts could think this BIG for others
>
>
> Sunil Arora
>
>
> read more »