When I first heard about a run along Kaveri river, I was intrigued. Opportunities like this are limited in Bangalore where I usually end up running in MNK park or Lalbagh. That itself is a privilege since I stay in Basavanagudi. So, even though we had to drive 120 kms to Srirangapatna to take part, me and my friend Bipin went for it opting for the 10k distance.
We were up at 5am and made it to the Fort view resort well in time to catch the buses to the starting point of the run. The half and full marathon(42k) runners had started at 7am itself. We were flagged off at 9am from a point some ways further along the road to the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. 300 runners made quite a crowd for the 10k. The trail is pretty much a cart track alongside the canal all the way to end. We got to see the actual river only at the starting point. So, my suggestion is to change the name of the event to "Kaveri Canal Run" :). Though a bit gravelly and narrow in parts, it was quite comfortable to run in the muddy ruts. The views were very scenic with paddy fields and hills on one side and the gentle flow of the canal water on the other. Green Bee-eaters, King-Fishers were around as were plenty of Ibises flying overhead, no doubt to or from their home at the Sanctuary. At the end, the organizers had some bananas, biscuits and water to get our energy back. We chose to board the next bus and got back to the resort by 11am. On the bus, got to meet a 21k participant, Surya, who had come all the way from Auroville, Pondicherry to take part! Got few nutrition tips from her, one of which is that a concoction of mashed apricot, jaggery and honey gives nice energy boosts along the way. Hmm....got to remember that if I ever go for half or full marathon!
Back at the resort, we got to see a Flameback (black-rumped?), Great tit, Dove and few other birds. Too bad that we didnt have a couple of hours to spare for some bird-watching. It was early lunch and on the road to Bangalore by noon. We reached our homes around 3pm. Overall a nice, fun event and well organized. For more information on the organizers you can go to the Runners for life website.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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2 comments:
I agree on the Kavery Canal Run comment - it is no river. But the river usually have less water because of the KRS dam. And surely the canal would have been on the river bed before the dam was built. So in a way it is fair!
True. Last Sunday the river had lots of water, though. The canal itself spreads out nicely in places giving the feeling of a nice stream. Btw, the name suggestion was only made in jest... :)
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