Vagamon ULTrail 33km – Starting 2024 with a Win!

Yes, a win to start 2024 with.

Ran the Vagamon ULTrail 2024 on January 6, Saturday. Considering the focus on the Mumbai Marathon on January 21, I have decided to do the 33km alone.

Vagamon ULTrail is one of the most scenic and one of the toughest races in the country. I was planning to run this race for years; but it being 2 weeks before Mumbai Marathon never let me run here… Vagamon is close to where I grew up and every year I have the FOMO! Not this time…

The planning

Planned this in advance since mid-2023. Bullied my brother to register too. Landed in Trivandrum 5 days before the race; and got the humidity acclimatization I needed. Came to Vagamon 2 days before and settled in a beautiful resort!

Everything about Vagamon is beautiful… though it is a bit crowded with tourist these days…

The rolling hills and meadows are something unique to this place

Pre-Race

I had my usual pre-race rituals. Hydrating throughout and having electrolytes (not overdoing it) and careful about the meals.

Laid out my gear and everything the night before ready to reach the start point on time.

But there was one miss from me – getting exposed to the cold and rain and went to bed with a sore throat the night before panicking!

Race Day

As feared, I woke up with a cold and a weak body. I had no enthusiasm or the regular race-day feeling.

Got ready and reached the start with my brother. The whole gathering and the race day feeling lifted my spirits a bit and I begin to forget about the cold.

The race started off well starting with a steep climb and into the roads, then to the pine valley and to the many hills often connected by small sections of the road.

My initial plan was to have a sub-4hr finish. But early into the race – looking at the trails – I had a feeling that’s going to be challenge. Still, I decided to give it a go.

The troubles started when the Sun was in all glory! It was too hot and humid and running a ‘weak’ body, I started feeling the effects of it. The hills here are mostly exposed with very little tree cover and imagine being running under the Sun and navigating through the trails trying to spot the trail markers! I was feeling a bit lightheaded at times; but kept having the gels every 45 minutes to avoid the ‘bonk’. There were parts of the trails that are totally not runnable and there were some bushwhacking bits too! Fun times! 😐

The accents and descents had my glutes and quads working and at some point in the second half I felt the effects on my knees. I decided to slow down… I was already in top 10 at the time and the leading woman. Decided to take the win and forget about the timing.

The last couple of kilometers were frustrating wondering ‘where is that damn finish line’! Finally finished under 4:45 and that was a top 10 and women’s winner timing.

For the past 3 years, I was focusing more on road racing trying to improve the leg speed I have lost over the years running ultra trails. Having achieved some of my goals last year, I wanted 2024 to be my comeback year to trail racing! Happy to start the year with a win!

As I type this, I am still with the after effects of the race and also the cold. 12 days to Mumbai Marathon and I have my fingers and toes crossed!

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