2010.10.16 – Globeracers’ Bhati Lake 2010 (Delhi, India)

One very easy to get to race just south of Delhi, India. The courses are 100 miles, 50 miles and 30 miles. For metric, multiply by 1.6!

See the website for all the necessary information:
http://www.globeracers.com/Events.html#fragment-2

Roger said after the event:

Did a 50 miler in Delhi and this is the 10k out, then same route back course. Basic info on the run here:

http://www.globeracers.com/Events.html#fragment-2

I intended to do the 100 miles but that was beyond me as I was totally unprepared with hardly 40k/week for quite a number of weeks preceding this event. Temperatures were high and shade absent so after the first 20k lap that also didn’t help I walked the last 15k of my 50 miles, joining Marjan and Jans who had walked the course to the end point for their return. No better way to heal battered muscles and although I was really tired the next day I wasn’t sore.

The track is from recce by the organisation, as are the photographs (thanks Kavitha!)

Now to the more important issues: the course was great! This close to a Metropolis such a wild area! scrubby jungle, an old mining area with beautiful lakes, and wild life ranging from water buffalos, cows and goats to camels, jackals, monkeys and even a Nilgai. A well stocked support station at either end ensured I lacked nothing, and a water point in between meant I only had to carry 1/2 liter. The trail was diverse, ranging from rocky to deep sand. The first two k were tarmac, which I didn’t particularly like, but as it was limited to 20% of the total it didn’t spoil the trail character. There was not a flat bit in the whole course which shows in the profile: each loop made for a cumulative 300m of positive altitude.

Meeting Indian runners was a treat and I hope some of them will come out to our Annapurna100 and we can return the favors received. The only runner finishing India’s first official 100 miler was Arun Bhardwaj, the country’s prime ultrarunner, who recently won a six day race in South Africa.

See his GPS info here:

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=862683

Check the after race blog here:
http://globeracer.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/first-steps-100milers/