Kaveri Trail Marathon, with its rich 11-year old history, has a special place in the hearts of runners.
The route is not just beautiful, it is also a tough taskmaster. The impossibly green landscape, the paddy and sugarcane fields, the beautiful village scenes, the bullock cart that is always blocking your route as you run, the gurgling noises of the canal, a tributary of the life-giving river Kaveri… there is not one thing about the route that is not eye-catching. What makes it tough is that the sun is overhead and blazing down relentlessly, increasing humidity levels on the trail. Runners therefore have to hydrate smart, and replenish fluids periodically, to avoid cramps, dehydration, hyponatremia, and a host of other race-stopping issues. The route is not only pure trail (and therefore uneven), it is also undulating, but in a way that you don’t experience it immediately. The increase and dip in elevation is only evident when you pay attention to your sudden change in breathing, for reasons you can’t explain, accompanied by a sudden sting in the quadriceps.
The Finish line euphoria, is especially unparalleled, whether the finisher has been looking at the race as a bucket list, or is one of the many, for whom KTM is a must do race, penciled into their running calendar each year.