JHU - 25K

Ever since we finished the JHU’24 volunteering last year, I decided to get back into running more regularly, given I’d taken a break from Ultimate. I’d signed up for a 10k at Vagamon in January 2025, and ended up making my brother and my 5-yr-old son both of them run (a.k.a hike) the entire distance with me. Going to Vagamon together with the CTC gang was one of the best decisions ever. CTC has always been like family - the people, the conversations, the care, everything brings a sense of belonging to anyone who is a part of it. I’m always in awe of this community and the people who make it so. With the last couple of years dedicated predominantly to Ultimate, I didn’t have a chance to connect with these people regularly. But JHU’24 and Vagamon’25 gave me the chance to become an active member of CTC again. 

Also, Vagamon sort of reminded me about my love for trail runs, making me want to hit the trails more often. I started off with 5k runs for two to three days a week, mostly on road. The initial days were quite hard where I had to struggle to push beyond the second kilometer. But gradually the 5K’s became regular and easy. As May approached, the recce (surveying the route) for CTU began. Given I’ve always only volunteered for any of the CTC organised runs, I have never been through the actual trails fully. Joining the guys during the recce seemed to be a good idea to have a peek into the trails. And so, I joined a couple of recces and managed to comfortably cover 15-16km without any injury or fatigue. That gave me some confidence that my endurance game is still going strong. 

Once CTU’25 was over, the team started preparing for the Jawadhu Hills Ultra (JHU), which is a trail run along the scenic villages of the Jawadhu Hills. I wasn’t able to go for any recces to Jawadhu, hence, I signed up for the Simulation Run that happened over the weekend. A Simulation Run is like a pilot before the actual event with a small group of runners, but with almost all the support (aid station, food, timing) that is given during the actual run. In total, there are about 3 categories in the current year’s JHU, 25km, 50km and 85km. The simulation run happened for 2 categories, 25km and 50km. I had opted for the 25km run. We had 10 runners for each category and a handful of volunteers who came by to support these runners - brining the total group size to around 30. The 50km run happened on Saturday with 10 runners, and the rest of us supporting them with food and hydration. They started off at 6:15am in the morning and had to finish off the 50km distance in 10 hours. The goal of the support team was simple - we had to reach the aid station spots on time for the runners to come by and provide water / electrals / food. The group had seasoned runners, a couple of first time 50k runners who had put in their due practice to be able to finish it, and all of them finished the entire course and within the 10-hour cut off, which was the best part! 

the 50K Finishers

Once the run was over, it was time for some food, a dip in the well, more food (dinner) and back to the school (which was our place of stay). There seemed to have been some issue with the power supply at the school, and hence, we didn’t have any lights. The place was pitch dark and you always had to use a torch or headlight to see what is ahead. As I was trying to move around prepping up for the next day’s run, it happened - I slipped a step, and got my left ankle twisted. The pain was initially mild, and I was thinking it was due to impact and not really an ankle twist. I stood up silently, and immediately went to sleep, all the while hoping and praying it isn’t going to cost me my run tomorrow. The whole night, I kept waking up almost every two hours, trying to turn around my feet and see if the pain has reduced, every time hoping against hope that I’d be able to run tomorrow. For the first few hours, it felt very devastating to think that I wouldn’t be able to run - because this has been a run that I’ve been really looking forward to, my first longest run post Malnad 50K (which was 8 years ago!). As the night moved on, and I kept realising that the pain isn’t subsiding, I started to make peace with myself and decided I wouldn’t run the next day, but instead be part of the support team and cheer the ones running.

As the alarm beeped at dawn break, and I woke up to inform the folks about my twisted ankle and my decision to skip the run. People felt sorry for me as I tried my best to stay calm and not break down, because it was really very hard to accept.

Then came Nilesh bro, our Race Director (RD) asking why I wasn’t getting ready for the run. As I narrated him about my ankle twist, he was like - “Oh no! I really wanted all of guys to run, so that it’d help us understand if the cut-off timing would suffice”. Gosh, I felt a fresh wave of guilt rise through me, for not being more careful. But then, he didn’t stop there, and went on to offer if I would like to have my ankle taped up and give a shot at the run. It felt as though everyone was waiting to hear something like this, and the moment he suggested this, all of them pounced on it and urged me to give it a try. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical about this, as I didn’t want to aggravate an injury and make it even more worser. But then, a small part of me, jumped at this option with joy and wanted to try. And so, I agreed. Our BYU Champ a.k.a Bigil Mani was the man to the rescue. He woke up midway through his sleep and very kindly plastered me up, with not just one, but two tapes (I’m still clueless on what these tapes were). His only advice to me was, you can be really strong in uphills, but don’t push too much in downhills. I tried to walk around and jog slowly, the pain had significantly reduced (could feel the tape doing its work perfectly). 

So off we all walked towards the start point, 10 of us, together with 3 pacers (who’d finished 50K yesterday). The run started at 6:10AM, and our cut off was 5 hours for the 25K distance. 

25K Start Line

The initial 2kms were mostly flat and road sections. I stayed at the end of the pack, consciously jogging at about 8:00-8:30 pace per km. The roads slowly opened up to trails along paddy fields, and got a little narrower as we moved from paddy fields to wild bushes, the terrain becoming a little rocky-ish causing you to alternate between jog and walk. And before we knew it, we entered a village, and reached the first aid station, which was at 7.5km mark and spotted our support team cheering for us. This brought a new surge of energy as I gobbled up a few chikkis and oranges and continued to run along. It had taken me almost an hour and 10 minutes to cover this distance and that meant I was still on track to finish the course within the 5-hr cut off. 

Right after the first aid station

Once out of the village, we get back into the trails again - this time treading through some forest cover with gradual uphill climbs, followed by some downhill stretches with an occasional stream crossing. My uphill climbs were surprisingly strong as I managed to maintain a decent slow jog for most part of it, and continued to be cautious in the downhill sections. One of the best things about a trail run is it forces you to be fully aware of your surroundings. It brings your attention to the tiniest of things that you’d otherwise not observe at all - like the sound of crickets chirping, frog croaking, ants huddling together carrying their new found meal (dead insects), lots of fresh cobwebs, mist covered leaves, the smell of earth, the sound of the flowing stream, the gentle breeze and the rustling of leaves - the list never ends. Also, you always have to be mindful and be present in the moment, following the markings / ribbons ensuring you are in the right trail. 

At about 12.5km mark, we reach the next village, Odamangalam, and were warmly welcomed by the locals who very kindly provided us with water and even offered to feed us breakfast. We accepted the water (oh, it tasted absolutely divine) and thanked them for their hospitality and continued to trudge on. The next section was mix of grasslands and paddy fields, with a lot of descents, and I had to slow down the pace and switch to walking a little too often, but the leg didn’t give up on me as yet. It was around this time that I started feeling really grateful to my body - all those gym workouts (special thanks to Ram bro for those periodic check-ins) the Pallavaram hill repeats and the (almost) regular 30 minute runs in the past 4-5 months definitely paid off.

Like I had shared earlier, I was amongst the last in the pack and there were about 4 of us (Riya, Suhashini, Vinodh and me) who were constantly over each other’s toes and often kept pushing each other. All this while, we’d had a lot of descents with mostly minimal uphill climbs. But it was at between the 16-17km that we were faced with one of the steepest uphill climb of the entire course. Since we’d missed our support crew in our 12.5K checkpoint and would be meeting them again only at the 20K-mark, we decided to take a quick 2-min rest before the steep ascent. Thankfully, Vinodh had some Paalgova buns, which we shared amongst us and filled our bottles with some water from the nearby stream.

Though the climb seemed intimidating at first glance, once you started climbing and caught up your own rhythm, it didn’t feel as daunting as it looked. We chanced upon a couple of our biking support folks enroute, who had by this time thought we were lost in the trails. This was a welcoming sight and they came by laden with food and some hydration and we were more than happy to know that we were almost nearing the 20K checkpoint. 

Another 20-30 mins of run and walk finally led us to the last aid station in the village of Gundalathur where we were finally reunited with our ever lovely crew, encouraging and cheering us for all that we’ve been doing. I had some oranges and bananas and a glass of lemonade that felt very soothing to my very dry throat. The time was 10:10 and we had exactly an hour more to cover the last 5km of the course. The last 5km was supposed to be fairly easy with almost 90% of the distance on roads. All this while, we were mostly amidst forest covers and the Sun was playing almost peek-a-boo with a little drizzle here and there. But in the last 5km, because it was fully open roads with the Sun shining almost directly overhead, the exhaustion started to creep in. With 20mins and 2kms done, I switched to brisk walk for the next 2kms. With 20 mins to go and last 1km to finish, I started to jog it up to the finish line. Mani spotted us early on and sprinted over to escort us for the last 300metres. As I entered into the ground, it was heartwarming to the see and hear the sound of applauses from the team. I crossed the finish line by 4 hours 50 minutes, a good 10 minutes within the cut off - yayyyyy!! From almost skipping the run to finishing it within the cut off, it felt surreal. 

The pack of 4 with the RD

The Taped Girls :)

I shall forever be grateful to each one of them present that day, for their support and encouragement, without which I wouldn’t have been able to finish this. Every little thing counts, right from the initial push from Nilesh bro to the constant encouraging words from the fellow runners throughout the run and the unwavering support of the group. This run definitely will be close to my heart for a long long time to come. Lastly, a heartfelt thank you to my very own body for enduring this whole ordeal of finishing the 25KM.

The troop :)