Sinhagad Epic Trail – A Win to End the Offseason

Finally made it to Sinhagad.

I never got to do these trails here (in thir ultra race in December) thanks to my training schedule which is always aimed at a fall race and a marathon on January or December.

With a long 2023-24 season and extended offseason I have planned some trail runs and races during the period. Sinhagad epic trail (SET) planned for Monsoons fitted perfectly with my plans and gave me an opportunity to run this trail during the rains…

Sinhagad, in Pune, is part of the Western Ghats region and is a beauty during monsoons. As someone from the other end of Ghats in Kerala, the place felt like home…

The Race

It never disappointed! Well marked route, great support from the volunteers and a beautiful trail…
It was raining during at least half the time… so, slippery rocks and lots of muck!

The first 2.5 km were hard climb to the fort. I have checked the route the day before and had an idea what i should expect… so, i tried moving faster up to take the lead…

After the climb to fort we were on road for a bit before starting two epic climbs… the hills were pretty and green… but the rains had made everything muddy and slippery… almost fell many times until a heavy fall on my bum down the second hill… it was bit of a shock and slowed me a bit…

But from being scared of downhill running to get up and move again and finish the race, I have come a long way…

My second fall was while descending the fort to the finish… the route was scary and full of rocks… i was distracted for a second and landed on my bum again… shook that off and moved to the finish at 5:30:45 more than an hour ahead of the second placed female…

I am extremely happy with the race execution… the old me would have wasted time complaining… the new me was strong enough to climb and move on and run downhill with ease!

Now off to new season, training and race planning!