Runners passing through a scenic trail inside a privately owned-coffee plantation in Chikkamagalur during the previous `Malnad Ultra' Marathon.
Credit: malnadultra.com.
Chickkamagalur: The ninth edition of `Malnad Ultra' Marathon, the most scenic trails inside privately owned-coffee plantations in Chikkamagalur, will be flagged off by The Printers (Mysore) Private Limited Director K N Shanth Kumar in Mallanduru on November 22.
Launched in 2016, The Malnad Ultra is organised in three categories including 30 km, 50 km (day and night) and 100 Km. Runners should complete 30, 50 and 100 Km marathon within 6.5 hours, 10-11 hours and 21 hours respectively. All categories will begin and end at a single point.
Malnad Ultra, considered by runners to be a premier Trail Ultra in India, has grown from over 200 participants in the first edition (2016) to over 1500 participants in the previous eighth editions--making it the biggest Trail Ultra in India. The trail has been designed specifically keeping the relatively inexperienced and highly experienced runners in mind.
"We have consciously included stringent qualification criteria to improve quality as the `finish
percentage' was under 50 per cent during the previous marathon. At Malnad Ultra, we want runners to take their running to the next logical level of trail ultras and test their endurance to the maximum," a press release stated.
Running mentors
In order to lure more people and reduce injuries among the runners, workshops covering a host of topics on techniques, tips for runners had been organised in Mumbai, Goa, Pune, Chennai, NCR and Bengaluru since 2016. 2016. Summer camps with world-renowned endurance coach Eric Orton had been organised with an objective to groom running mentors. 21 amateur runners had been identified across the country. These runners, trained to become running mentors, have launched or joined running groups in their city.