India's First Ultramarathon

Runners for Life, a running club in Bangalore is organizing the first Ultra marathon in India on Dec 16th.
I guess, everyone is just tired of waiting for the Bangalore Marathon this year, as it is already postponed twice. So I'm sure guys in RFL decided to do an Ultra marathon on their own and I'm sure this will be a great run.

Check out Bangalore Ultra ..  I like the line " Its tough, Are you?"
You can download the registration form here

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Categories for the Ultra
Race Category	Age Criteria
78 Kilometers
Senior Men's	45+ years
Senior Women's	45+ years
Men's	18+ years
Women's	18+ years
52 Kilometers
Senior Men's	45+ years
Senior Women's	45+ years
Men's	18+ years
Women's	18+ years
26 Kilometers
Senior Men's	45+ years
Senior Women's	45+ years
Men's	18+ years
Women's	18+ years

Comments

[Bk]

Interesting idea and good luck to all involved.

My initial thoughts are whether India is really ready to hold an ultra when distance running itself is still in its infancy as a mass participation sport.

Why not a well organized 10k or 15k, or a series of them in places like Chennai and Bglre, which will draw casual runners and give them some reasonable goals to shoot for, before jumping right into an ultra event?

I wonder how many can comfortably complete an ultra, and how many will end up frustrated hurt and then quit running altogether.

India should be looking to change peoples ideas about running and focus on making this a life long habit, and it seems to me an ultra isnt the way to start.

Just my random thoughts,but Im looking forward to hearing other views on this.

[Hari]

I agree with you. But here RFL guys have waited enough for the B'lore marathon to happen, so they want to do it on their own. This event is not about creating awareness / encourage beginners, this is mainly for serious runners.

Yes, our country needs regular 10 k, 15k runs to increase awareness in different cities and that would take a mammoth effort by all of us

[BK]

Hari, i can understand their frustration, and from what i hear about Indian running events this is not unusual.

However I wonder if they would be better served by holding a marathon of their own, along with a half marathon and a 10k or 15k instead of these ultra events.

I know Im being a devils advocate here, but if their focus is to get "runners for life" they might want to focus on something that will keep people running. They would certainly get more runners.

BTW, do you have any idea what peoples weekly mileage might be who train and run regularly over there? Im sure it varies but any idea around what distances people are running weekly?

thanks

bk

[Hari]

Any intermediate runner would do around 50 kms to 65 kms in a week.
Advanced runners would do 120kms + in a week