Sprinting through slush, Bolt speed!

Bengaluru: The record time for a Kambala 100m dash stands at 8.78 seconds in the name of Srinivas Gowda of Dakshina Kannada’s Moodabidri.

Based on the timings alone, comparisons with track and field sprinters was a predicament committed by enthusiasts not too long ago.

And in the midst of it all was the 31-year-old Srinivas, the rural sport’s most well-known name, who drew parallels to multiple Olympic champ Usain Bolt, for having clocked sub-10 secs at a Kambala race in 2020.

He is here in the city to take part in the Namma Kambala along with top jockeys Suresh M Shetty, Nishanth Shetty, Vishwanth Devadiga, and Ananda among 70-80 others.

It is a running event, yes, and perhaps the only similarity, but the traditional coastal spectacle is more than just that.

Dashing through uneven slush and not flat track, barefooted not shoes with spikes, speed propelled by buffaloes and not generated on one's own. Fundamental differences, but big enough that makes comparison amateurish.

While runners and buffaloes hog all the limelight, around 20 to 30 others called ‘buffalo attendants’ — who act as starters and stoppers for animals charging at around 50km/hr — form the core of a team.

Though the total length of the race track is 155 meters, the actual race, however, lasts 100m with 25m on either side serving as a lung space for the competitors to accelerate and decelerate.

A Kambala season is scheduled between November and April of every year packed with nearly 22 races. The jockeys and their team members begin training two months prior to the opening event.

The competitors, who race on paddy fields with natural slush, will be running on an artificially created track in Bengaluru, prepared by a specialised team from Mangaluru, comprising 25 members who worked over 45 days at a cost of Rs 60 lakh.

“A mixture of red soil, dust and white sand makes the 2.5-feet base with six to eight inches of water on top of it,” explained Umesh Shetty, president of the Bengaluru Kambala’s organising committee.

Fitness and diet

“The konas (buffaloes) are used for ploughing to get them ready. That’s the first step. After 15 days, we do trial runs with them,” offered Vishwanath.

“As runners, we go swimming in lakes and rivers for 30 minutes to one hour. No weight training or any such thing is involved,” he added. One needs to have a look at the fitness levels of the runners, and his statements seem too modest.

The naturally fit men who mostly toil in agricultural fields find the next question even more amusing.

Diet? “(Laughs) Ganji for breakfast. We cut down on whatever we eat during these months to keep ourselves light,” said Rajesh, another jockey from Moodabidri.

Even though the differences in details are glaring, comparisons between Kambala runners and synthetic track speedsters will float around carelessly in the next few days. 

Nonetheless, over to the panche-wearing sprinters at Bolt speed!