The Oxfam Trailwalker
Sometimes you are inspired, sometimes you just react based on impulse. In one such fleeting moment and inspired by my beautiful Iceland trek, I agreed to attempt the #OxfamTrailwalker this year along with three other women Leena Shoor, Radhika Balakrishnan, and Meera Prashant, women I didn’t know at all before this. While the task of 100 kms seemed daunting, I knew I will finish it. If you know me and have been reading my blog for sometime you know whether I am dead or not, I have never left a task incomplete.
Rules
Rules are simple. To participate you need to be a bit crazy in the head(who in their sane minds will want to do this?) 18 years or above and you need a team of 4 members and raise a minimum of 80,000.
We manage to raise 1,26,000 to the cause.
The team needs to pass through 10 checkpoints together and swipe their RFID watches. In order to withdraw, the participant must complete a retirement certificate at one of the checkpoints. A team with less than four members cannot continue without a copy of the retirement certificate. The complete team to reach first wins.
You must wonder why the need for retirement. Well, it’s a possibility many consider in the trail and many exercise. But before you read why is it an ordeal, even tougher than Everest Base Camp, in my opinion, let me introduce you to my teammates.
Meet the Team: Chance Pe Dance
Meera is a travel enthusiast, always looking for a new story, a new experience. She is a dreamer of possibilities, a dancing queen, a music lover and an optimist. Her motto is to try everything once.
Prerna(yours truly) is a mommy fitness blogger and travel enthusiast. Fitness is not a fad for her but a lifestyle. She has been running half marathons since last 5 years, practices Ashtanga yoga and hits the gym for some mean strength and core training. She hopes to inspire more women and most moms to pick up fitness.
Radhika, an ex-banker, and a CA by profession, a fitness enthusiast, a student of Vedanta and Carnatic Music has a calm composure and believes in doing her best in every aspect of life. She loves travelling and adventure. Having done bungee jumping on the Zambezi river, scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef and a couple of half marathons under her sleeve, she undertook the challenge herself further with the Trailwalker.
A lifetime Marketing Professional, Leena was on a break when we did the trailwalker but in that break decided to do it all- from trying Zumba, to learning swimming, running half marathons, to dancing on stage for local celebrations!
Preparation:
While overall fitness is important, I strongly recommend climbing 2-30 flight of stairs 2-3 times a week. Maybe with ankle weights. Going for long walks. Start with walking 5 kms 2-3 times a week and longer walks 10 kms walk on the weekend. Increase that to 15, 20, 25, 35 every week. As a team, we even geared up and did one mock trail walk from CP 1 to CP 2 before the actual trail walker. The benefit of that was that on the main day this distance felt familiar and easier. Oxfam also organises practice walks before the event which you can join in.
Support Team:
They play a very important role. When you have crossed a few Checkpoints(CP) you are in no mood or state to fetch for your food or even refill water in your water bags. Small administrative operations feel gigantic. We did not have anyone volunteering for the support team so we had Radhika’s driver and Leena’s driver, Anilji as our support staff and they did a splendid job. However, sometimes, you need someone to just boost your morale and so would totally recommend emotionally blackmailing family and friends to join in.
The Trail:
Start To Check Point 1: 10.5 kms
Start Point: MDC High Places, Village Adarbari
Rahul Bose flagged us off at about 6 am. It was still dark and we wore woken up with the energetic sounds of the dhols and bhangra music. The enthusiasm was riding high and we some of it was brushed on us too. I remember we all gave news bytes to the OXFAM social media team on why we an all moms and women’s team had taken up this challenge. The trail looked easy and lovely for the first two kms and as we knew we came back to the road we had started from to finally start climbing for the next few kms. Since we knew what to expect here we finished the first lap in really good time. We were amongst the first few teams to reach the CP1.
Here we had breakfast and as planned Meera and Radha changed their socks and blister tapes. They had planned to change their taping at every CP. A mistake which we will realise later. We refilled our water bags. The Camelbak waterbags that we were carrying had a capacity of one litre of water as we wanted to keep the backpacks light. Apart from this, we carried a tetrapak of enerzol with us and some nuts and chocolates. Some SOS stuff like Relispray, band-aids and pocketknife etc were divided amongst all of us so that no one person had to bear the weight. We walked dressed in our chance pe dance Tees with a single walking pole, sunglasses and our hats.
Warm Breakfast being served at CP2
Time taken: Nearly 3 hours
CP 1 – Time of Entry: Around 9.00 a.m.
Exit Time – 9.30 a.m.
CheckPoint 1 to CheckPoint 2(22.2 kms)
Vinjaidevi High School, Tamhini Village
Distance covered: 11.7 kms
From CP 1 the trail goes behind the school and then there is an ascent. You pass through dry grasslands and go on the road, finally, you go downhill and end up near a lake.
CP 2 was set along this lake. We reached here by 1 pm and broke for lunch. As planned, we did physio as well. Our support team was there with theplas and coconut water(some luxury that you can indulge in while on the trek). However, we ate the packed lunch thalis that were given to the participants.
Time taken: 3 hours
CP 2 – Time of Entry: Around 12.30 p.m.
Exit Time – 1.30 p.m.
CheckPoint 2- CheckPoint 3 (33.2 kms)
Open ground, Mulshi lake, Mohri Village
Distance covered: 11 kms
By now, the toughness of the trail and the heat was playing on me, I was flagging down and was feeling dehydrated. With the scorching sun on our back, we pushed through the dry grasslands, crossed some small streams(small brooks- you don’t get into water at any time). This was probably the toughest stretch. We had covered only 33 km in 11 hours. Our entire planning was going haywire.
Time taken: 4 hours
CP 3 – Time of Entry: Around 5.30 p.m.
Exit Time – 6.15 p.m.
CheckPoint 3- CheckPoint 4 (43.8 kms)
Govt Primary School, Waghwari Village
Distance covered: 10.6 kms
It was cooler now but it was time to take out the headlamps and not to miss the trail which was marked by somewhere by orange ribbons, somewhere by white paint and others by a neon tape. It was abrupt and we had to keep a vigilant eye not to miss the trail as told to us by our friends who had completed the trailwalker the previous year.
By the time we reached CP4 we were exhausted at CP 4 – at this point, we were 40% done. Muscles we didn’t ever think of, woke up to sing songs of torture. But we were a team of mothers – bring it on, we said!
A lot of teams had camped here for the night but that would mean the next day would be daunting. We were lucky to find an amazing physiotherapist here, who actually fixed us and brought life back into our limbs. We had dinner and were off again in the jungle through hills and dry grasslands.
Time taken: Around 3 hours
CP 4 – Time of Entry: Around 9.30 p.m.
Exit Time – 10.30 p.m.
CheckPoint 4- CheckPoint 5 (50 kms)
High School, Wandre Village
Distance covered: 6.2 kms
I was a bit sceptical about walking in the night but once I knew I had no choice, I was leading four teams through the dark and dreary trail. We heard the call of the wild animals and found snakeskin on the trail. There was just one-night marshall camping in the middle of the trail and he too had retired for the day.
The trail was just 6.25 kms and we thought we can cover it easily but it by the time we reached there it was already midnight and by now all of us were dead. Meera’s adductor muscles were acting up, Radhika had some 8-9 blisters, Leena and I were just dead. CP 5 was an open tent and it was very cold. There were beds in the tent where I lied down and was ready to doze off. I looked at my teammates through the corner of my eye and I could see both of them(Radhika and Meera) squealing in pain as their blisters were being burst by a nurse there. Taping, again and again, had actually caused the skin to peel off and these blisters now had pus. All the other teams decided to take a break here but we knew that 50 kms the next day would be a crazy task. When Leena and I put the point across I was half unsure seeing their condition but these brave women surprised me walked with us in their pain at 2.30 am in the night through the jungle. In fact, at one point in time I was unsure of only us four women walking through the jungle at that time but the three of them had no fear.
Time taken: two hours
CP 5 – Time of Entry: 12.30 a.m.
Exit Time – 2.30 a.m.
CheckPoint 5- CheckPoint 6 (62.5 kms)
Open Ground, Luthravan, Ahirwadi village
Distance covered: 12.5 kms
The trail was pitch dark and unusually quiet. You could see nothing before us or behind us. Today when I look back, I think we were crazy to have walked at that time in the night. If we had screamed also no one would have heard us. The path down was steep, and there were several climbs. I have never seen clearer skies than this. We carried on like zombies and became delusional at times where we could see faces in the hills around us. The main road finally emerged at the crack of dawn. CP 6 was a school compound and we could finally sleep.
It could not have been that simple, could it? We had to swap our RFID bracelets and search for someone to do that at the check-in counter. It was 6.30 a.m. already.
We don’t have any pictures for this. We had no energy to even think pictures
Time taken: 4 hours
CP 6 – Time of Entry: 6.30 a.m.
Exit Time: 9.30 a.m.
CheckPoint 6- CheckPoint 7 (75 kms)
Distance covered: 12.5 kms
Telbaila Village to Ambetap Village
We somehow snuggled into blankets and slept on mattresses on the floor trying to sleep. Since it was morning teams that had camped in the night were ready to leave and there was too much chaos. People entering and leaving the room caused the door to open too many times and the cold crept in. After 1.5 hours of trying to catch sleep, I woke up and decided to get ready.
I finally changed my clothing, socks and blister tapes. It was a new day and our spirits rose when we saw Raj, Radhika’s husband standing there to support us. He had gotten some fresh food and just seeing someone familiar helps. Morning sun just toughened our determination. We could do this!
Just look at our happy faces :)!!
CP 6 to 7 was a walk high on adrenaline. The trail opens into pasture and scrubland. Some parts of the trail open up to spectacular valley views.
Time taken: 4 hours
CP 7 – Time of Entry: 2.30 p.m.
Exit Time: 3.15 p.m.
From here on the story is contributed by Meera Prashant
Check Point 7 to Check Point 8 – (86.6 kms)
Distance covered: 11.6 kms
At three-fourths of the way in, we found ourselves in a strange combination of fatigue, excitement and caution. The finish line was within grasp, yet 25 more kms on aching legs, in anxious minds and on unknown terrain could not be taken for granted. Our team was beginning to become noticeably quieter. All of us seemed to be drawing some strength from our reserves now. We had a quiet discussion on how we wanted to proceed on this leg. We had finally realised that it was a great idea to have someone to pace the entire team. The pacer would set the speed, would look for the red ribbons and markers, would ‘feel’ the trail and basically think for the team. The flagging (rest of the) team then “just” had to follow. As a strategy, it was brilliant, because each of us could focus on what our (respective) bodies were telling us and walk accordingly.
The trail itself started with gentle-yet-rocky upward and downward topography. Then into and around villages. On Bullock cart paths (muddy roads with a raised centre and ridges on either side). We walked through fields. In grasslands (or scrubland) and via pastures. We crossed several teams that were walking 50 kms (in 24 hours) and were heartened by their cheers and words & looks of appreciation and admiration for us. But we never lost sight of the distance we still had to cross.
The pace, on this relatively straightforward stretch, was excellent. Despite all the aches and groans and blisters we averaged almost 5 kms per hour (sadly, our first time on the TW, but better late than never, eh?). We stopped briefly to down an Enerzal each. Some pictures. And then off like the breeze, we floated again. The last couple of kms were up a slope, but we trudged on pretty gamely. We crossed barefoot walkers, village belles carting pots and babies together (smiling at us) and several school children assessing us curiously!
You have to be on a lookout for these arrows, as they might be placed randomly anywhere. If you miss these, you can go off the trail.
And as our shadows started lengthening, we saw the welcome white tents of CP8. We had originally thought that this was a 10 kms walk, but to our delight, we saw that we had actually covered almost 12 kms, and were now only 13 kms short of our goalpost. This filled us with renewed energy and we literally danced into CP8.
Time taken: 2 hours and 30 mins
CP 8 – Time of Entry: 5.45 p.m.
Exit Time: 6.00 p.m.
CP8 to CP9: Ambetap Village to (Balashray Ghar) Nangaon Village (93 kms)
Distance to CP 9 – 7.1 km
Before we set off on this leg, we ate a hot steaming cup of Maggi noodles, and boy did it taste divine! Our amazing support member Anil Ji managed steaming hot cups of tea as well. We got several jealous looks at the Maggi 😉 We also got a bit of physiotherapy done – M’s thigh muscles, L’s heel & ankles (specific), R’s blister taping and in general some stretches.
Our group huddle now was tinged with excitement. We were extremely hopeful of a strong finish (vs. a limping, straggly, almost-dead finish). “13 kms is less than a half marathon”, P chimed. We spoke about what we thought this stretch would entail (we knew there would be some upward stretches) and we agreed that we wouldn’t stop at CP 9 except to check in & out, for a loo stop if required and to refill our water bags.
The stretch was quite gruelling (to put it mildly). The upward AND downward stretches were rocky, with lots of gravel and loose stones, branches at face height and plenty of steep step-ups. After 2 kms of a focused walk, the trail evened out into a bullock track and once we rounded a village, the path again was a bit of terrain. We plodded on, eyes on the prize.
When we finally reached the almost-94 kms mark, we were tired, in pain and a wee bit angry at the organisers for having made this stretch so difficult. It was pretty dark now and with the cold winds and the low temperatures, exacerbated by lack of sleep and exhaustion, aching muscles acted up even more and all of us were sore and “hangry”.
At the CP, tempers ran high. One team member wished to rest a bit, maybe grab a bite and stretch a few muscles, the rest wanted to continue and “just finish the d@mn trail”! After some to-ing and fro-ing, the hungry teammate just opted to grab some parathas to eat on-the-way and we set off on the LAST leg of the trail.
Time taken: Nearly 3 hours
CP 9 – Time of Entry: Around 9.00 p.m.
Exit Time – 9.20 p.m.
CP9 to Finishline: Nangaon Village to Cloud 9 Hill Resort, Lonavala (100 kms)
Distance to CP 9 – 6.3 km
This stretch, we believed, would be a breezy gentle upward climb to lead us to our dream for many months now (albeit on and mostly, off!). We started off on a slightly uncomfortable note (because all of us were hungry, and we’d had a mild argument amongst ourselves). It was quite dark and the temperatures were not helpful at all. The path started off as a gravel-ly hilly track that evened out to a walk across fields and on rough village mud roads. After about 3 kms, we hit the road.
The elusive 99 mark, after which 100 km just seemed so long away.
I am going to traverse on a tangential note now – much like the trail. During the walk, there was a period when I felt each of us hit a roadblock, a wall as it is termed. Basically, a point where you draw on your personal reserves of faith in yourself, your confidence and your inner framework of guidance… or you give up. The walls were different for each of us – for someone due to the sun, someone due to multiple blisters, someone else due to heel pain, another due to hunger, or lack of sleep. Personally, at about 95 kms, I believed that I hadn’t really hit any wall (despite a very badly aching upper left thigh muscle that I was able to push past) and a bad blister (that immodestly, I must say that I had completely pushed off my mind). Just when your ego sends these messages, the TW takes a turn, and there is one’s wall! The next 2 kms was a steep uphill climb on a tar road (the Amby Valley road for the detail-oriented) Somewhere along that stretch, I lost my cheer and it was only sheer determination to end the walk that kept me going. A combination of the physical effort required, exhaustion, a wave of sleep and a strange sadness that the TW was coming to an end came together to make me wonder why indeed I had to finish it! Whether the last 5 kms were so important! Whether 100 was indeed better than 95! And what were all these numbers after all?! Weird? You bet! Once you hear these thoughts echo around your exhausted mind, trust me, either you’d sit down and refuse to move, or buck up and push yourself to just get to that warm bed on the other end! No prizes for guessing which one I opted for.
The organisers had schemed and plotted to make this a real trail down to the last 2 kms. The trail suddenly veered off the road. We could see the resort where the finish line was, even hear music, but did the road lead straight up to the resort? No! The path went over fields, around a pond, over a tiny bridge, across a construction site, behind the refuse area of the very resort, up a dirt track and back on the road up a really steep incline to the oh-so-sweet sight of the finish line. At 11.31 pm. Before midnight. Without any broken bones or torn muscles or murdered teammates.
True to our name, we danced across the finish line and up to the podium. Got our medals, took plenty of exhausted-happy-smile photos, gave sound bytes, got our physiotherapy done one last time and headed back to our hotel rooms elated!
The Oxfam physiotherapy team who were a great support!
Time taken: Nearly 3 hours
CP 10 entry time: 11.30 p.m.
Cumulative Time Walked: 41 hours and 31 mins
Well deserved Treasure!!
What I learnt from the TW: By Meera Prashant
- Team: A good team is beyond invaluable. Supporting, encouraging, joking, pushing and comforting each other is so required of one’s teammates. Also good playlists and good photography skills 🙂
- Preparation: I missed out on this one. Ideally, a steady build-up to the walk would stand you in good stead.
- Equipment: Good shoes, many pairs of socks, good trekking pole (s), sun hat, sunscreen and not-too-tight clothes. Important beyond words.
- Support Crew: A strong support crew is half the irritability removed.
- Planning: A basic plan and timeline chart is a useful tool to adjust one’s pace and rest-times to.
- Physiotherapy and Stretches: The physios at each CP are absolutely wonderful. Ceaselessly working through each person’s “pressing emergencies”, smelly feet and dirty toenails is more than service. It’s humbling. But I’d say, the next time I do it, I’d sit with them every alternate CP, and try and do some stretches myself on the other set of CPs. Being self-reliant is a big take-out of the entire walk.
- Food and Hydration: Important to eat, more important to drink water/ORS regularly. The camel pouch for sipping water regularly is a life-saver. It is a good idea to be self-sufficient in terms of food and have some dry food readily available over what the organisers provide.
- Self-belief: At the beginning of the trail, I chalked up the TW as a combination of 50 % willpower, 30 % stamina and 20% physical ability. At the end of the TW, I was humbled. It is the trail that allowed me to finish it, not my own prowess in any way. It is grace and the ability to enjoy even the difficulties. What it gave me is a quiet confidence. And the overwhelming understanding that it was possible because of so many things coming together beautifully, and that the ones who didn’t finish the TW’16 were just as strong and brave and blessed as we were.
pic credit: Meera Prashant, Leena Shoor, Oxfam Trailwalker, Radhika Balakrishnan
