“The Miracle is not that I finished, The miracle is that I had the courage to start – John Bingham”
Hi, I am Anirudh Verma from Bangalore and here is my story on how I survived the Solang Ultra Sky run.
I was born and raised in a small village in Haryana, am a food technologist, and was then living in Gurgaon with my family. One day, I enrolled for a very short distance to explore running. I strongly believe in the quote ‘push your own limits’ on which the whole running/fitness community is built. At that moment I had no knowledge, clue, or guidance about the technicalities of running as a sport. Nevertheless, I started with small runs and when I gained that confidence, I enrolled and challenged myself to run my first half marathon, ADHM (Airtel Delhi Half Marathon), 7 years ago, only to test my limits.
I researched, spoke to many experts, and bought my first proper running shoes. After the 1st ADHM was successfully finished in 2 hours 52 minutes, there was no looking back then. I started preparing for multiple different events in the vicinity and ran many half-marathons. I didn’t think of doing a full marathon but was looking for different and difficult challenges. This is when I attempted the trail run – Ladakh Half Marathon and Aravali, 25K Winter Run where I ran approximately 22K with a leg injury (not boasting about it, and is certainly not a good practice), completing it in around 4 hrs because I didn’t want to quit. After doing multiple short and long-distance marathons for almost 4 years, I was able to build my pace to a level where I felt eligible to attempt full marathons. I have learnt a lot from established running groups like the Gurgaon Runners Group. The Wings Marathon was my first full marathon and the Tata Mumbai Marathon was my second full marathon.
“The most challenging event for me was Solang Sky Ultra as it was a night of survival.”
In no time, I graduated to doing Ultra Marathons, The Pagdandi Ultra was my first one in 2019. I even attempted the Solang Sky Ultra, in October 2021 stating that it was a night of survival where I started my run at 7.30 a.m. and finished by 11.30 p.m. I ran through the jungles, rivers, and streams in severe cold weather and ended with a DNF with Narender (my Ultra Buddy) & Niranjan (Another Ultra runner from Manipur). It was a sense of accomplishment to survive those harsh climatic conditions and live in some of the most mesmerizing scenic beauties and I count this run as one of my greatest achievements. That’s when I got my next calling. I set out to run a 24-hour run, skipping 12 hours, covering a distance of 126.8K.
“I had run for 9 hours maximum but I had built a very strong base of endurance.”
While doing all these events of running for such long periods, I made many friends on the way, became best buddies with (Prashant Dahiya – Mentor), and started planning our next endeavors together. All this while I kept getting this feeling of giving back to the community and that’s when I decided and form my community धाVAक with other like-minded folks. It’s been 5 years and today the group has 200+ active members who do fitness exercises together like running, cycling, strength, and yoga sessions. धाVAक has even organized many running events for the community.
“Until I don’t sweat, I don’t enjoy my day.”
It’s been over 10 years since I started my running journey and have witnessed a tremendous change in the running community over the years.
- New runners are very enthusiastic and their participation in any events and challenges has doubled up.
- People have overcome the myth that running on roads will harm your knees and overall legs.
- Technological enhancement has led to an upgrade in everything ranging from air foam shoes to sunscreen and fungal powder for one’s skin.
- The number of brands providing running equipment is ever increasing giving the runners a wide range of options not only design-wise but cost-wise to select from.
- In today’s world, there is a solution to every injury. Back then, it was a blind game, for us as well as the doctors.
“Every comfort comes at a price.”
I strongly suggest beginners to:
- Build a strong base to avoid injuries.
- Decide a goal and focus on the running form.
- Try training under a coach if available and affordable.
- Take care of your nutrition and hydration all the time if you want to be in this sport for the long run.