Tuffman Shimla – Race Report

Late post! Had this race done two weeks ago… finally, got time to sit down and pen down few things about the race…

First of all, the race. Distance covered – 30km… Time took – 4:10 hours… Difficulty level –  ‘I am giving up’ tough!

Every year, I do a run in hills to prepare myself for some of the toughest races in the coming season. Lasy year, I was at the Bir hills for the Bir-Billing half marathon where I finished third.

This year, I decided to try out one of the Tuffman races (series of ultra runs in a number of tough race routes across India – from desert to hills to beaches to islands). I signed for the Shimla race where they had the race categories of 20, 30, 50 and 80 km. And since the race is in June, I can escape the horrible Delhi heat at least for a weekend… After much thought, I decided against the 50k and registered for the 30k, mostly because I was underprepared for the 50k… Though I’ve done many full marathons in the last two years, a 50k run in the hills would feel more like an 80k or something…

After the long bus ride from Delhi to Shimla, settling in the beautiful bamboo cottages in Mashobra Greens felt more like a vacation. I had spent some time walking around the place and clicking on some beautiful pictures…

The Race

Well, I did finish first in the women category with a time of 4:10 hours… that would sound ‘too much’ for a 30k run… And that says a lot about the route… It was never easy with an elevation gain of about 1700m.

Breaking it down further… the first half of the run had more descent than ascent… The best part was the 5km -10 km steep descent. We all went down almost flying… I never had an idea then how difficult it would be to climb that back… It was not just difficult; it was hell! That would be the right word to use… That climb back from the 20 km point to 25 km was the longest ‘climb’ of my life… Even vehicles passing me struggled in the ascent… imagine the human legs!!!

I wanted to give up…

I wanted to quit…

I thought I’d never finish…

I cursed the moment I signed up for the race…

The weather was not on my side that day… There was a rain forecast… but, instead, we had scorching sun over our heads… Anyway, I kept walking/climbing… I made sure I never stopped anywhere… The moment you stop, you are never going to get back on!!!

It was a relief when I crossed the 25 k mark and when the climb was over… Since then it was more like a run/walk to the finish line…

At the end of the race, I was all worn out and drained… also, my knees were hurting real bad! Well, finishing a race will change your perspectives on life and pain… I was soon eager for my first ultra… From ‘I will never do this again’ to ‘let’s raise the difficulty level’ was something! Trails work on you in strange different ways!

That was my mountain treatment for the summer… Experienced some tough hill runs, made new friends and now ready for more tougher runs coming up later this year!

Follow me on Strava