Bangalore Oxfam
Trailwalker 2014
The night was
spent in packing, unpacking and repacking.
It had my
kids question my intent- was I really going for a walk or was I going on a picnic?
It was a sleepless
night- what if I miss hearing the alarm, what if I am late, what if the cab
comes and honks and am not ready!!
Finally 3:00
am dawned and I was up and about!
Left home at
4:00 am, not sure if we were ready or not!
Picked up
folks and a lot of stuff on our way and we were soon on the road to nowhere!
Reaching the
starting point at 5:00 am seemed easy, till we reached a point where we had no
idea where we were!
Note to self:
learn to read maps and directions!
Managed to
find the place thanks to other stragglers like us and we were a bit late but
worked out well for us..
We avoided
the traffic at start point, we started 12 minutes late.
We missed the
hullaballoo and got right down to business.
The morning
was still dark and the clouds casting shadows over the moon.
Slowly light crept
through the grey and everything looked ok.
We walked in perfect
harmony for a while, 2 in front leading, 2 following.
We followed
all rules of the road, make way for faster folks, do not occupy the whole road.
Try not to be too noisy.
It started
out well, we maintained our pace and smiled at fellow walkers as we crossed
them, feeling a bit proud that we were not the last ones!!
As the sun
peeped through the clouds we had mixed reactions, it was comforting to know we
would not get drenched in surprise showers, but had to be prepared for the
unforgiving sun!
Reaching Check
point 1 was right on time! and easy! 10 kms was doable.
But we were
not prepared for what we saw at CP 1. There was a long queue for breakfast and
we heard breakfast was not ready!
Other teams
were getting tired waiting and requesting their support crews to pick up
breakfast for them and meet them half way to the next check point.
Left with no
choice but to wait as we had no support crew, we filled water, we had a cup of
coffee and sat.
We got a bit
of food and we were hungry enough not to complain.
Soon we were
on our way, wanting to take advantage of the still cool morning.
The next
stretch of walk was also a breeze!
Not too
tiring, walkers along the way, lovely green fields, village scenes and time for
pictures too.
Check point 2
was at a church , we spent few minutes there and had a cup of tea by the
roadside, met a bunch of support crew on a bicycle!
And back on
the road.
This next
stretch got hot and dusty.
There were
farmlands, several small villages and
trees to provide shade from the mid morning sun.
Reaching
check point 3 was bliss only because we knew lunch was waiting and we would have
covered 25 Kms!!!
But again, we
were in for a shock, lunch was over and they were making the next batch and we
had a wait.
We took advantage
of the wait to get out of our shoes and air them and stay barefoot for a while.
Went through
the motions of filling water, hydrating ourselves and finally got our lunch,
much later than what we thought.
Several
walkers were already struggling with blisters, we decided to take precautionary
measures and I taped my feet as well as I could.
Many of the
teams had left by then.
Soon after lunch,
we were on to meet the sun head on!!!
This stretch
from check point 3- 4 was an eyeopener.
We struggled
in the heat! We were in Krishnagiri,
around 2:00 pm or so and that is not the right time to be in this part of the
state!!!
One of our
walkers had a problem with his footwear and was wearing slippers, blisters got
to him!
He slowed down
drastically and we did too.
Our water supplies
were dangerously low, the tar roads not helping with the heat.
Reaching Check
point 4 was bliss.
Our walker
rushed to get first aid and relief from the cramps which were hitting him hard.
The rest of
us, struggled, to find place to sit and sat.
I chanced
upon friends new and old, got talking and we got some time to relax while our walker
suffered!
By now,
having walked 35 kms, we could feel the pain closer to home, the legs and
calves were feeling the fatigue, our back was broken thanks to carrying our
heavy backpacks and our body giving up due to insufficient food and water.
We spent a
long time at Check point 4 and watched everyone leaving, we had no choice but
to stay.
After a long
break, watching the sun slowly giving up on its fight, we picked our bags up
once again to start on our way.
The next
stretch was the longest, at 13.5 kms and the pace we were making, we knew we
would take 3 hours.
We were 3
hours behind our planned schedule and were one of the last few teams to leave
the check point.
But with the
sun down, we were comfortable walking slowly and enjoying the absolutely
marvelous sun set and jazzed up skies.
The roads were
full of surprises, curves, ups, downs and soon dusk turned to night.
We had a
couple of torches with us to guide us as we crossed signs warning us of
Elephants, we crossed over into Karnataka again and were wary of elephants.
My music kept
me company, enjoying the calm of the night.
We did feel
the aches, the pains, the cramps, but we knew we could make it.
That is when
we hit upon a roadblock!
Our already
injured walker broke down with a painful back!
We took him aside,
sprayed him down with Moov and rubbed it also.
Provided a
bit of relief but not enough to help him move.
We guessed we
were about a km away from the check point.
Having no
support vehicle at our disposal right then, not knowing where to call him to
meet us, we were confused and slowly made our way in the night to the check point.
We quickly
reached the checkpoint, and flopped into a chair.
It was a wide
open area, where there were lot of volunteers and tents set up.
This was
where we had dinner, struggled to get up to wash our hands, cried in pain when
we had to press the foot pedal to get the wash basin working, pleaded for
someone to hand over a spoon to avoid getting up.
We were a
bunch of messed up walkers.
We were one
of the last few to check in here.
I walked towards
the first aid tent, hoping to get relief from burning soles and quickly
cramping thighs.
The place was
packed with walkers getting massages and sprays.
I walked away
dejected, not even sitting down, fearing the getting up part.
We contemplated
waiting at the check point for the night.
After a long
enough break, we walked to our waiting car which had reached by then.
We heaved a
sigh of relief to be able to leave our bags behind and rest our backs.
Popping a
brufen, wearing warm jackets and pants for the night, carrying our lanterns and
torches, we set off for the night.
Our original
plan was to rest a while at night and continue at dawn.
But since we
had only covered 48 kms and our goal had been to hit 56 by then, we decided to
walk on.
The night was
cool, the stars looked cool, our moods were better, the brufen was kicking in.
Were we
scared, yes!
Of the night,
of the dark, of getting lost, of snakes, of scorpions, of tigers!!!!!
This was a
short stretch and we got there sooner than we realized.
After a quick
break, removing our jackets since the night seemed warm now, and back again with
our lanterns.
We were half
way there at 56.4 Kms and it was already well into the night.
The next
stretch was again a long stretch! At 12 Kms we knew in the night it could take
over 3 hours, we were prepared for that.
The painkillers
still had its effect and we could move on.
We walked
through fields, searching for elusive markings on the road, searching for
flying ribbons on bushes, all the while keeping an eye out for snakes!
Most of the distance
we were alone- not seeing even a flicker of another torch bearer.
We bore on,
calmly, quietly, talking loudly when we saw the snake, our fear making us
chatter!
The night was
turning chill and we were anxious to reach our check point and meet our cab
driver to get our jackets on.
Our legs were
sore, our feet was turning numb, our heads were aching from the cold.
We reached
the check point, grateful to have reached CP 7 and completed 68 kms.
Unfortunately
we had not taken into consideration the fact that our cab driver was not aware
of what we were doing and had dozed off at the previous check point.
Reaching the
check point, we shivered, shook, tried to find a warm place to sit and rest,
all the beds were taken.
We had no support
crew waiting for us with warm coffee or a wollen blanket or a bed to rest.
We sat on the
few chairs we could spot and waited.
Finally once
the cab reached, we checked out, rushed, got our jackets on and just soaked in
the warmth of the cab!
Loading our
pockets once again with batteries and supplies for the night, we started off
after a 1 ½ hour break.
We walked
more cautiously this time, since this was a long stretch and a tough one
supposedly with uphills, rocky roads and downhills.
There were
stone quarrying, lack of signs, lack of proper roads, no markers, finally as dawn broke we reached check point
8.
We were
supposed to get our lunch at this point, but we had reached at 7:00 am!! We had
already missed our breakfast at the previous check point since we had reached
there at around 2:30 am!
We were
hungry, tired, the walk had been strenuous and we had reached 80 kms!!
We were
exhilarated that we had only about a HM run to complete the 100 kms.
But the state
we were in, we were wondering if we could do the next 20 kms.....
We had
started off all our planning with the goal of completing by 1:00 pm.
When we had
reached check point 4 and 5 , we felt we could not meet our goal.
But walking
through the night, had got us back on track, but were we fit enough to do it?
We took a short break here, and got the best
news ever!
Lunch was
ready!
We grabbed
our boxes, gobbled roti and rice at 7:00 am!
Felt energized,
filled our bottles and felt good that we were one of the early teams to have made
it to CP 8.
We did see a
few tents where people were still sleeping, we decided to take advantage of the
coolness of the morning and we set out again.
The next walk
was a lovely stretch, we saw parrots screeching, coconut groves, crossed some
lovely village houses, made way for a VIP crossing, crossed over Kanakapura
road and walked as the sun rose high.
We were on
time and very early at the next check point- 9!
This was the
last check point and it surprised us that we were among the top 80 teams to get
there!!
This by
itself was motivating and we did not stop for long here.
A quick check
of the shoes, bandages and we grabbed our oranges and left.
This was the
home run, the final stretch, the one we were waiting for!!
We knew we
could do this.!
But…
The heat and
lack of water and the rush without sleep were slowly taking its toll.
The sun at
11:00 am on a dry, treeless road, beats down mercilessly.
Would it make
sense to take your clothes off and walk in minimal clothes, no!!!! but the clothes
were burning against the skin.
Feet felt
like lead, the head felt like someone was pounding inside and outside.
The brain was
addled.
The last 3-4
kms was the worst!!!
We pushed ourselves, ran a bit, walked a bit,
kept our sanity in check, trying to feebly joke about reaching the finish in
the top 60.
Crossing
other teams on the road, made us feel good and helped us think maybe we could!!
Slowly and
steadily we edged on, stopping only to breathe!
We encouraged
other walkers , just as they did us!
Everyone had
one goal- complete!
Finally seeing
the resort was like an oasis in the desert.
The 1 km walk
inside the resort seemed like the longest I have ever walked,
We started
running, walking, running , till we came to the last 100 kms.
To stop
ourselves from collapsing, we slowed, walked in calmly and stopped our clock!
The
overwhelming joy of having completed something so difficult, slowly started
seeping in!
Kicking off
our shoes, gulping cold juice, we crashed!
When we were
called to collect our medals and certificates, we dragged ourselves.
But Boy, were
we smiling!!
We could not
stop grinning!!
We had not
only completed the 100 kms walk, we had finished it in the time we had set out
to do: 30 hours!!
We completed
it in 30 hours 47 minutes!
Watch this video and in the background you can hear our names being called to collect our medals!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifJNPpvFAMQ
This has been
my toughest and best physical endurance activity ever!!
I look
forward to more- it pushed me to my limits- physically and mentally!
It taught me
the importance of team work and keeping each other motivated.
It taught me
how a simple smile and word of cheer can change the whole mood!
Hats off to
all the teams who started off on this challenge and completed it!
I know there
were teams who completed it in 16 hours, 19 hours, 23 hours and so on!
But to me:
Everyone is a
winner!
