I am interested in organizing a "Fat Ass" Style 25k and 50k in Pune. Are there any folks interested to participate in such a event. Most of the run will be on trails.
What is FatAss style run?
It is not a race, no fees, no tshirts. Just meet and run on a decided route. Will try to arrange for some water at certain parts.
good to know there is some interest. we can have this run on Sep 13th(saturday).
I did visit Sinhagad fort last weekend. trail is 4km to top. But I was told road to top is 11km to top
so that looks promising. With additional 3km we can have a nice 25km out and back course.
50km runners will do it twice. I will scout the route following weekend and confirm the route.
I am interested. Is there a nice reasonably priced clean hotel to stay close to the venue? Can you describe the trail a bit more in terms of, Hilly, scenic, through villages, forested, etc.?
Nice of you to call for such a race. My hat would be in the 50K ring.
I did scout the Planned Trail yesterday, listing some details.
Start Time:
Sep 27th(satruday) we will meet at 7:00am and start at 7:15am.
Start and End point :
Hotel Gurudutt
Atarwadi village (Base of Sinhagad fort)
Distance:
Atarwadi village is about 25km from Pune, once we hit Sinhagad road, it takes you village all the way.
Run Trail description:
We will start our run from Atarwadi village at the Base of Sinhagad Fort. We will run towards pune for about 2km, and hit a motor road to top of fort(there is a checkpoint for vehicles). It starts of as a gentle uphill with through the forest to begin with. As we continue to ascend it opens up beautiful views of small villages on both sides of the village. At about 3m we hit a flat section and a hut (1 st paid aid station) which services nimbo pani, water, host of other eatables. From this point the trail gets slightly steeper and we can see atarvadi for most of the time. After another 3km we have another hut (2nd paid aid station). From this hut we have a slight downhill for about 1 km before we start climbing again. From this point we should be able to see the fort and the ridge leading us to the top. After about 10 km we hit the parking lot and from their we continue on the fort wall on the right and continue running on the paved path, always keeping straight( there are couple of diversions, but always maintain the center paved path). This leads to a barricade and end point of the fort. Uptill this point my GPS shoed 11.5km. One can explore the top for other vista points, to keep route simple I just measured distance uptill barricade.
We Retrace back to village with a total distance of 23km. So folks doing another loop will have a total run of 46m(instead of 50km).
We run on motor road, so we have to watch out for traffic. In my experience not too much traffic on saturdays. So this was a very good running experience. I would say it was safe enough to run but we all need to be watchful.
Total elevation gain:
about 2500ft for 23km in loop.
Estimated time:
It took me about 1:35 mins for up and 1:10 mins down ,
I think 23km folks will need from 2 - 3:30hrs. 46km folks will take between 5-8 hrs.
Recommended water:
I would recommend carrying atleast 1 bottle with 500 ml-750ml of water. Also carrying energy gels
Water stops:
1. Hotel gurudutt (small hotel at atarvadi) will have bisleri and other eatables.
2. after 5km Hut with nimbo pani
3. after 8km another Hut with nimboo pani
4. At top of fort Multiple vendors of water, numboo pani, bisleri
Drop bags:
you can leave a bag with Hotel Gurudutt with some dry clothes, towel etc , whatever else you need for run, for 2nd loop good point to refresh at Hotel gurudutt.
Weather:
It rains most of the time, so be prepared for a wind breaker/light rain jacket. But it is a good running conditions.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I am planning to stay friday night close to Atarwadi. If outstation folks wants a pick up, then let me know. (just 1 person). Other localites can help out station folks with ride as well.