The Unsung Heroes of La Ultra
This blog is not necessarily in any order but just taking you through from the decision to put it together to getting to the start-line.
Crew at La Ultra - The High
At La Ultra - The High we have been really lucky to have the most passionate and talented mad folks come along from the very first year. The interesting part is that crew members come and help me put this race together and actually pay me for doing that. I’m just blessed to know some of the most amazing folks.
Crew for the 1st edition all set to start their journey. In the background is Back 2 Fitness clinic that has made this run possible. La Ultra - The High is a for profit organisation which has tradition of loss making all along the 10 years.
Magic happens when madly passionate folks come along without any vested interest besides the experience of having a time of their lives. Thank you everyone who made the very first edition happen when I had nothing to show for the journey we were to go on.
Initial plan was to keep it at 217 kms because that’s what Badwater is.
We thought of various permutations combinations starting all the way from Manali, or to address high altitude acclimatisation starting from or finishing at Patseo staying above 12,000 feet at all times and then Khardung La happened. And rest, as they say is her and his story.
Long before Hell Race organiser came to discuss ultra running with me and then went ahead with putting his race on the route I told him about, this was the map I had shared with the 3 confirmed runners and asking if we should add Khardung La in the route. Dr. William (Bill) Andrews suggested to have this bridge between Khardung La and Tanglang La. :)
From L-R: Jatin, Manisha, Sonali, Hitender (Bunty), Sushil, Sindhu, Sabine, Robert, Abhijeet, Pramod and Akhil. Just ordinary folks all set to an amazingly extraordinary thing.
Another option was this. Besides a few others. :)
Cafe Johnson in Manali. That’s where we stayed for the first night, the same place where we stayed when I had come along with Melvin for the run upto Rohtang pass.
Why 222?
It started from ‘why copy a distance from any other race out there, let’s have our own identity.’
That obviously meant La Ultra - The High had to be longer than 217 kms. 220 seemed very plain. I liked the sound of 222. Found some cool stuff on internet to back up that thought.
222 supposedly means you are at the right place in your life exactly where you ought to be and you should definitely carry on doing, whatever you are doing.
And according to the Bible, number 222 represents happiness, which means that we can be happy only if we are ready to give and to share things with others. It is already known that number 2 is a symbol of sharing and giving. And that’s exactly what La Ultra - The High is about.
This beautiful logo was done by Sonali Bhatia. I actually discontinued with it because it was just too good. I wanted something raw, in your face. :)
After Manali. Back then this used to be the last petrol station before Leh.
Yet again designed by Sonali Bhatia.
“Here was a thought for the ‘medal’ which apparently means a lot to the 217km (that was the initial thought) runners... and since there are only 6. Thought it might be nice to do something hand crafted... (as there is no prize money).”
Hats off to all these brave men. That’s where we were planning to either start or finish the race in one of the route options.
We ended up giving trophies for the same reason Sonali raised above. These trophies have become an integral part of the race, an identity of the race. Rajat Tuli of Happily Unmarried fame who now happens to married :) helped us with the trophies. Mukul Goyal from Designwise India Pvt. Ltd. is the one who got them made.
Hitender (Bunty) at Baralacha La.
La Ultra flags had been designed too by Sonali.
At Baralacha La everyone got excited see snow.
And t-shirt as well by Sonali. It looks so cool. Not sure why we didn’t go ahead with it. But black has come back at La Ultra.
Folks soon realised that they could have been better prepared for the conditions and Maggi tents on the way are most hospitable places on the route.
On the same concept as the trophy a medal was suggested too, by Mukul Goyal from Designwise India Pvt. Ltd. We are contemplating having this medal soon.
And we soon realised that once you were stuck behind an army convoy, there was simply no point in overtaking a truck or two via risky manoeuvres as there would be more than a 100 of them ahead of you. Simply enjoy the view.
And we were still far away from Leh.
And a lot further away from Delhi, leaving back the madness. But stopping at 15,000 feet can be madness.
Most figured here why do we have the trophy that we do. Nakeela is a pass most would miss but because this was an important part of one of the many original routes we were considering so it seemed I knew it really well.
Lachungla, yet another pass most wouldn’t care about. But to me was like meeting a friend who I had been meeting for months in my dream. I just had to stop and say Hi.
I’m not fond of being photographed but I wanted La Ultra - The High to do exactly what this sign said.
It’s on purpose that I didn’t post photos of the beautiful route. They’ll follow in next few blogs, photos that are totally out of the world.
High Life… I am just so addicted to it.
Got it. Not here.
Molly was phenomenally awesome. She made that transformation happened in all the crew members. So lucky to know you Molly!
All crew members were instantly in love with Leh.
We soon realised that communication is going to be tough up there. Probably a blessing disguise as all of us are hooked to our phones all the time.
One email… and we did something really wonderful, probably meaningless yet again, but wonderfully meaningless I would take any day over lousy meaningful anything.
Simply brilliant the kind of folks you meet at La Ultra - The High.
We all have our own versions of meaning of this meaningless life, but this one is pretty decent.
Again, I no longer talk to Sunju (Jitin) but with all hi flaws he did play an important role.
Who would have guessed that my cousin brothers Pramod, Sushil and Hitender (Bunty) would play the most important role in making La Ultra - The High come alive! Thank you guys. Without you all this wasn’t on. The crew team was only created around you. I wouldn’t have had the courage to put this insane project together without you all, so yet again, thanks a million miles.
L-R: Pramod, Sushil, me & Hitender (Bunty)
As luck would have it, Pramod got sick but didn’t want to leave his younger brother alone with this mammoth task and yet wanted to stay back.
I felt it was al my fault.
