Wow ! That's awesome and a real inspiration. Regards,
Varun On May 7, 2554 BE, at 3:32 PM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote: > Interesting piece about silklister Sumanth Cidambi. Congrats Sumanth, and > have an extra beer to celebrate. :) > > Udhay > > http://www.livemint.com/2011/05/05201740/Desert-runner.html > > Desert runner > The first Indian to complete a seven-day, 250km-long desert trail in the > Chilean Atacama, one of the toughest endurance races in the world, shares his > experience > Rudraneil Sengupta > > In March last year, Sumanth Cidambi, CFO with a Hyderabad-based company, > received an email from a friend that simply said “game for a run?” It also > had a link to the website of possibly the world’s most challenging running > event, the 4Deserts—a series of four 250km self-supported desert > ultramarathons, each run over seven days, that include the Atacama in Chile, > the Sahara in Egypt, the Gobi in China, and Antarctica. > > Cidambi, who picked up running in 2005 after being diagnosed with diabetes, > quickly found an aptitude and passion for the sport that went far beyond just > health concerns. From struggling to finish even a kilometre in 2005, he was > jostling with other competitors at the starting line of the Mumbai > half-marathon in 2006. A full marathon in 2007 was a natural progression. > Racing through almost the entire country of Chile on the driest, most brutal > desert on the planet though was an exponential leap. > > “I spent a couple of months thinking about it and researching the race,” says > Cidambi, “and then in August 2010 I signed up for it as a 40th birthday gift > to myself.” > > High and dry: (clockwise from top) Cidambi at the Atacama ultra with volcanic > peaks in the background; negotiating a rocky climb and at the finishing line > at San Pedro. Photographs courtesy: RacingThePlanet > > High and dry: (clockwise from top) Cidambi at the Atacama ultra with volcanic > peaks in the background; negotiating a rocky climb and at the finishing line > at San Pedro. Photographs courtesy: RacingThePlanet > > Cidambi, who already had a daily 10km running schedule, began scaling up his > training for the extreme race immediately. For the next six months, Cidambi > turned the guest bedroom in his house into a supply and equipment depot, woke > every morning at 3.30, ran for 2 hours, did strength training and stretching > exercises for another hour, before returning home and leaving for work by > 8.30. For his wife Nandita and their year-old son Atri, this crazy schedule > meant tailoring all their activities around it. > > Nandita began a blog called The Runner’s Wife to write about her experience. > “…all those missed moments of togetherness doing simple stuff like having a > cup of tea together in the morning or staying late watching a movie on the > telly, it is almost like I have loaned my husband to someone else in this > whole period.” Nandita wrote on her blog during this period. Nandita, a > doctor specializing in nutrition, played a crucial role in Cidambi’s > training; managing his strict and complicated daily caloric requirements, and > sourcing the specialized running shoes, equipment and supplements through > friends and family returning to India from foreign countries. > > By the end of six months of training, which included running the 2011 Mumbai > Marathon, Cidambi was comfortably running 25km a day, and 35km on Saturdays. > > The race > > On 2 March 2011, Cidambi flew from Bangalore to Santiago de Chile, before > finally arriving at San Pedro de Atacama, a small sun-bleached town on the > northern edge of the great Atacama desert. Cidambi spent two days walking > around and acclimatizing at San Pedro, which is surrounded by volcanic > mountains, lagoons and archaeological sites dating back as far as 800 BC. > > On 5 March, Cidambi left San Pedro with the other 109 competitors, including > 42-year-old housewife Michelle Kakade from Pune, an ultramarathoner and > mother of two, for Camp 1, tucked in between high canyon walls. They were the > first Indians to compete in the Atacama ultramarathon. > > “Despite some last-minute-butterflies-in-the-stomach syndrome, I was quite > calm and meditative,” Cidambi says. > > He went to sleep early under a sky ablaze with fist-sized stars. > > The next morning at 8, the race began. The stunning landscape of sand dunes, > rocky climbs, bare mountains, canyons and volcanoes gave Cidambi the > motivation he needed. > > “Running is a solitary sport— you have to push yourself, fighting blisters, > nausea, heat and dryness,” says Cidambi. “Ever so often I stopped and > breathed in deeply, and found inspiration from the incredible views.” > > The temperature soared to above 40 degrees Celsius in the daytime, and > dropped to around 5 at night. Pink flags marked the race route, through > breathless climbs and pounding descents. > > Stage 2 began with an 8km run through a deep river canyon, and Cidambi > emerged soaking wet after multiple river crossings. Next was an old mountain > road and an ancient footbridge believed to be of Inca vintage. > > “The next 9.6km saw us climb up and up and up,” says Cidambi. “Great scenery, > but I wasn’t in a frame of mind to appreciate. The incline was really steep, > at times almost 45-60 degrees.” > > At the end of the stretch was a ridge-line with a volcanic mountain range > dominating the horizon, with wispy smoke rising from their peaks. Cidambi > then tumbled down a 1,000ft sand dune at an incline of about 60 degrees. > > “I earned my first blister that day.” > > For the last 26km of the day’s run, Cibambi, running all alone, spotted just > one tree. One of the hardest stages of the race was the Salt Flats, the > fourth day of the race—a 43km stretch with 20km of rough, crusty salt. > > “I don’t even remember how I managed to complete this stretch,” says Cidambi. > “But by the end of it my legs were hurting very badly after pounding through > the sharp, jagged salt plain.” > > But Day 5, a 73.6km run appropriately called “The long march”, was even > worse. By then Cidambi’s blistered and sore feet were ready to give up, he > had gone without eating for two days (the untested freeze-dried food he was > carrying did not agree with him), surviving on soup, carb powder, water and > antacids. > > “The dry desert heat was brutal,” Cidambi says, “and there was no shade > anywhere. I was hobbling for the most part given my bad legs from the > previous day’s run and at one point almost felt like giving up.” > > Six kilometres of Stage 5 passed along a fenced-off minefield, a result of a > border dispute between Chile and Argentina, with glow sticks marking out a > safe route. > > “The key at all times was to stay positive,” says Cidambi. “I never gave in > to despair out of loneliness or exhaustion, and always held on to good > thoughts.” > > On the morning of 12 March, after seven days in the Atacama, Cidambi ran > towards the finish line at the San Pedro town square waving the Indian flag. > > He became the first Indian to complete the Atacama Crossing in the > eight-year-old history of the race. Eighty-seven other competitors, including > Kakade, finished the race. “The feeling of elation and pride I felt is > indescribable. ‘Being first’ was merely an optional extra,” Cidambi says. “At > the race, we had several first-timers, sharing mutual hopes and fears. We > helped each other and were helped by those who were running in such events > for the second or third time. It was like being part of a large family.” > > Cidambi then went straight to the food counter and ate 10 large slices of > pizza, washed down with three cans of coke. His first “real” meal in a week. > > Carry on luggage > > Cidambi lugged an 11kg backpack through the self-sustained race > > •30-litre Mountain Marathon backpack, Marmot sleeping bag > > •Petzl Tikka 2 Headlamp (35-40m range), compass, knife/multi-tool, whistle, > sunglasses > > • Thermolite survival bivvy (a thin, warming 200g blanket) > > •Sunscreen, lip screen, blister kit, medicines, toilet wipes > > •Red flashing LED safety light > > • Mountain Hardwear jacket, CW-X shorts/tights/underwear (meant to support > key running muscles and featuring quick sweat-drying technology) > > • Inov-8 rocklite shoes (a multi-terrain shoe that can handle wet rock, loose > rock, sand and shale) > > • Cap, fleece hat and iPod > > •Freeze-dried food such as veg ‘tikka’ and rice for seven days, Hammer > Nutrition range supplements such as Sustained Energy (slow-releasing > carbohydrates) and electrolyte capsules > > • Water bottles (2.75 litre) > > Cidambi spent roughly Rs 4 lakh on the race, including the $3,300 (around Rs > 1.46 lakh) registration fee, and Rs 1 lakh for return airfare > (Bangalore-Paris-Santiago) and gear. > > [email protected] > > Dry run > > The Atacama Crossing is the first ultramarathon in the 4Deserts series. The > others are: > > Gobi March > > 26 June-2 July > > Start and finish: Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region > > Temperatures will reach a maximum of 45 degrees Celsius. The ancient city of > Gaochang, a key point on the Silk Road dating back to 1 BC, falls en route. > > Registration:$3,300 (around Rs 1.46 lakh) > > Sahara Race > > 2-8 October > > Start and finish: Pyramids of Giza, Cairo > > Competitors will cross the Valley of the Whales, the remnants of an ancient > sea that contains fossils believed to be whales with legs that died 40 > million years ago. Temperatures reach a maximum of 50 degrees Celsius. > > Registration: $3,300 > > The Last Desert (Antarctica) > > The final part of the series has not been scheduled yet for 2011, but usually > happens in November. Competitors pass near vast penguin rookeries, fur seals > and spectacular ice shelves and glaciers. Entry is by invitation only, > extended to those who have completed at least two of the other races. > > Information courtesy www.4Deserts.com > > -- > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) >
