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| Hi friends,You picked a super great run ! I absolutely loved it and had an experience of a lifetime!!!First of all – let me tell you – Mr. Pandey’s race is the most organized race I have ever been to – everything – transportation, food, the race, accommodations, everything. And I felt totally safe and completely trust him and everything pertaining to the race. I love India and would go back, in fact had planned this year when I heard it was a ‘reunion’ of past runners, but am strapped financially and didn’t have the airline miles to make the trip – hopefully next year. The cost of the race is minor compared to what you receive. You get so much more than you could ever imagine!!!
To answer your questions – training? I live in north Texas which is totally flat and tried to find hills to train on, and even went to Colorado to run the Breckenridge Crest Marathon two months prior to the event. I never did quite get enough hill training in. But, not to worry – everyone who can and wants to, will finish. I am a true back of the packer and finished, late, but finished. I had never run a stage race before and had serious doubts I could get up early the next day (after the first day) and run again, but actually had no problems, other than being slow. Mr. Pandey takes great pride in seeing that everyone finishes and the first day I thought I would never make it in – he was out there on the course, at night seeing us in. I did run a lot of marathons that year to prepare and a few 50K’s. Altitude – I brought Diamox with me for altitude and it worked great. Some people had troubles, but not many and it all passed. Clothes – I brought lots of clothes – probably too many. But I do for every run – running clothes for hot, warm, cool and cold. If you normally run trails and are used to tying things around your waist – or carrying a small fanny pack or hydration pack, you just adjust. The first day, if you are slow, it will get cold as the sun goes down. As for nighttime – it gets cool in some of the places – you will need warm clothes. But, in Rimbik it was warm and sunny when we finished the race. I think I had two huge duffle bags and like I said, probably brought too much. Food – Some people like to bring their favorite snacks for the run – I brought chocolate, but this was weird – didn’t even have a taste for it at all!!! Mr. Pandey doesn’t let you get hungry!!! Flights – Mr. Pandey will let you know what day you need to get there, depending on whether you signed up for a side-trip and it doesn’t really matter what time the flight comes in – he will have someone waiting for you. I came in about 2:00 – 3:00 a.m. and another couple from London was coming in around that time also. Mr. Pandey had people waiting for us at the airport to take us to the hotel. You don’t have to worry about anything – it is all taken care of – I felt like royalty!!! Keep asking questions! I have lots to tell! Whatever else you need to know – just email me back, or I can even call you. You will have a great time, an experience you will never forget! Karen Riddle, USA |
