The Ootyultra Story:

I’d applied for this race in Jan 23 but was rejected at first for not being fast enough. Fortunately I was scheduled to run the Tata Ultra however my training wasn’t sufficient. Post TUM,I finally received an invite from Coach Kannan Sundararajan.

This was 3 weeks away from the race and despite being March, somehow I was satisfied with whatever I could manage in this short period and took off to Coimbatore on 1st Apr morning. My best friend Mani was there to help me with the itinerary once I reached there. The journey from airport to Ooty was more or less smooth. I reached on time for the 4:30 pm race briefing, collected my BIB & Kit.

The buzz and excitement at the holding area at TTDC Boat House was palpable. The facilities were excellent, enough baggage counters, NO queue for toilets which was a pleasant surprise, first such experience in an event of this scale. The race was flagges off by guest of honor Health Minister of Tamilnadu Thiru Ma. Subramanian at sharp 6 am.

They had 35 aid stations (AS) for 90K, which means you could break down the distance into 35 sections. The one thing that always sticks in my head are the distance wise cut off (CO) timings. Another thing I’d noticed on the elevation profile that the bulk of the climb was frontloaded so the only way was to accumulate buffer time for the final onslaught which was 550m elevation gain for the final 10K.

The halfway mark was done in 5:11 which included the Doddabetta Peak (~9K) the highest mountain in the Nilgiris and the Tea Park finish point at 15K. Inspite of a good buffer in my kitty at 60K (7:27) this race distance cannot be underestimated so I kept the momentum going. The runner friendly pleasant weather and scenes throughout the route were outstanding – the nilgiri pine trees, hillside tea fields, the chirping & melody of birds, the people working in the tea, carrot, broccoli fields, green cover throughout this period were simply mesmerizing & kept me thoroughly entertained. Volunteers at all the fully stocked AS kept cheering us while discharging their task scrupulously. It was perfect!

The sun’s heat was getting intense, as I crossed 80K (9:58) making the walk on inclines got longer touching pace of 10 mins/km. I estimated my finish time to be around 11:40. Had gone past a few fellow runners thus far, but two of them surprisingly crossed me in the final 5K as I kept wrestling the ascend. The climb was never ending particularly when you see 90K on your watch, the distance and effort gets difficult exponentially. Finally I crossed the last AS and reached the final ascent to Finish. I could hear Coach Kay announcing the arrival of another runner, was glad it was me. 11:50:41!!

A race where the entire town administration is involved, culture is on display and giving back is encouraged through the philanthropy initiative, highly recommend to one and all – fun guaranteed!

Thanks to Tata Capital for encouraging me & letting me pursue my sport.