The Vagamon Ultra is a community-driven trail race that is organized by the running group, Soles of Cochin and is hosted in Vagamon, a small hill station about 3 hours from Kochi. It offers a unique trail race experience among the lush tea estates of the region. The 2024 race, it’s 6th edition, had three categories – 60 km and 33 km, each with its own qualifying criteria, race cut-offs and gear requirements. There is also a 8 km trail walk for novice fitness enthusiasts. The race route is majorly jeep tracks with some sections without any trail. There are some road sections that connect different trail sections.
Vagamon Ultra is a great option for runners who are keen to attempt their first mountain trail race as most of the course is semi-technical and suitable from someone transitioning from road to trail.
Since the race is organized and executed entirely by runners from Soles of Cochin, there is a lovely sense of community that comes through in every aspect of the race, from the race briefing to the finish line celebrations.
Pictures used in this post are courtesy of wonderful Soles of Cochin/Vagamon Ultrail photography team
For someone who has been running trails in India for over a decade, Vagamon Ultra had been on my bucket list since it’s inception. I had registered for the race in July 2023 and was excited to be part of this community race.
After running the Malnad ultra 100K on a few weeks back, training was focused on a short recovery phase of about 10 days, followed by a short “tune-up” phase of three weeks, before a compressed taper of 5-7 days. I would recommend a longer taper (by 5-7 days) for runners with fewer years of running experience – as they say, it’s better to be slightly undertrained at the start line than to the slightly injured.
The goal was to hit “maintenance volume” of 70-80 km per week, which was managed for the most part barring some interruptions due to an extremely busy phase at work. I don’t follow a structured training program and plan my runs on-the-go. As Founder & Coach at All In Running and thanks to a deep understanding of training methodologies, I was able to fit a few short speed session of moderate intensity (but not peak intensity) during this short training phase, some of which was spend on trails and some on road.
My training week starts on a Monday with a weekly mileage target range and I try to get within that range by Sunday night. Training runs are mostly super slow and easy runs combined with different types of speed sessions and long runs. In order to get some “elevation under the legs” in flat-ish Delhi terrain, we either get on a treadmill or just run up and down a local hill section. I do the latter i.e. doing repeats of a local (trail) hills, road flyovers or segments with stairs.
During this short training block, I was able to manage a few key sessions, including a nice long trail run at Rishikesh around mid-December, a tempo session at 8/10 RPE (while pacing a friend) and a slow long run with good time on feet. Fatigue from the 100K at Malnad Ultra was certainly visible in the quality of my runs, but I made the most of what was possible all things considered.
I arrived at Kochi on 04 January, which gave me some time to sightsee the beautiful Fort Kochi area along with a few other parts of the city. I did a short run on the next morning (05 January), enjoyed a nice breakfast before meeting up with friends, Kaustav and Mahima, along with fellow runners at the rendezvous point for the bus to Vagamon. We (Kaustav, Mahima and I) had taken the “travel package” via the organizers that included travel from Kochi to Vagamon and back. They also offer a “travel & stay package”, though we decided to stay a hotel of our choice, which turned out to be a logistical challenge – more on this later.
Pre-race announcements were somewhat limited. We followed instructions given on the event website and assumed that they were still accurate. Fortunately, they were! There were 2-3 buses that transported 70-80 runners to Vagamon. On the way, it was nice to speak with runners from Kochi as well as different parts of the country, something I look forward to when traveling to outstation races, even though it ends up being me talking about FKTs and trail running opportunities in India (help people broaden their horizons).
We were taken directly to Vagamon Adventure Park, which was the location of the race start and also the location of the race briefing and dinner. There, I met with more friends who had already reached Vagamon, including folks from All In Running and CapitalTrails. Bib collection was relatively seamless. Race briefing was held at a large open-air amphitheater with lovely views of the rolling hills of Vagamon. The evening light made is quite majestic. The race briefing was short, may a little too short and casual (I wonder if novice trail runners felt slightly unprepared at the start line because of it).
Shortly after, dinner was served and sadly, this was one of the few disappointing parts of the race experience. Considering this is an important meal before the race, there were very limited food options (rice, rasam, dry daal, chapatis and chicken). While rice and chicken maybe a nutritious meal for some, rice and rasam is not a balanced meal for a humble vegan. Also, there were no spoons or bowls to eat with (can’t expect everyone to eat with their fingers, especially if you expect international runners to attend the race). Food organization has always been an issue at Indian races and I rather have organizers forego this than to offer a limited menu meal. Fortunately, our hotel was really nice and I had a lovely dinner, feeling satiated and race ready.
As a side note, the “travel only” package included reaching the race briefing area only; Hence, we had no way to reach our hotel, a gap in the package and something to be looked into. Fortunately, I had booked the same hotel as Juby and Jacob, so got a ride in their car from the briefing area. We would’ve been a bit stuck if it wasn’t for them. This also became an issue on race morning.
Since the “travel package” didn’t include transport from the hotel, we tried to look at options for reaching the start line in the morning. After some phone calls, we synced up with Micah, a friend from Delhi, who agreed to pick us up in the morning. While waiting for Micah on the main road, a fellow 60K runner (whose name I’ve sadly forgotten) from Bangalore with a rental car noticed us waiting and kindly offered us to ride with him. Kaustav and I were deeply grateful for this. It was a sweet ride as we exchanged running stories of the past.
Back at the Vagamon Adventure Park, we were greeted by excited runners ready to go. Met up with Mohit, who reached late at night due to a delayed train from Goa. Breakfast was being served and I took a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (the peanut butter was excellent!). The sky at dawn was beautiful. We were all set to run the trails around Vagamon. The race start was on-time and at 6:30 A.M.
Learning from mistakes of the past (from Malnad), my plan was to be at the front from the start of the race. As we sped off, I took the lead only to lose the way in the first 200 metres and causing chaos for the 5-6 runners immediately behind me.
There was a bottleneck within 200 metres from the start, where one has to go through a section of fenced wire with narrow gap, which allowed only one runner at a time. Not the best planning and route selection, especially at the start. Several other points of the race had fencing and one had to crawl or fit through these fenced sections (not very inclusive, especially folks with larger body types). From a safety aspect, this was not good on design / route selection. The organizers simply need to cut a few wires and put them back later – more work for the organizing team but certainly safer, especially when 100+ people are running full speed at the start. Anyways, back to the race.
The race route is 60 kilometres (kms) point to point course i.e. the start and the end are at different locations. The course winds its way through a mixed terrain – dirt roads of tea estates, rugged technical sections off-trail, forest routes, ridgelines, and some tarmac sections connecting all these sections. For the most part, the routine is “runnable” except for the off-trail sections. There is one climb that requires scrambling over some rock, which was fun!
The route is very well marked with ribbons, placed every 200-300 metres and at key points / junctions. A couple of points didn’t have ribbons, but for the most part, marking was on-point (I still feel organizers need to give GPX files to all participants). Aid stations were well spaced and placed strategically at key points, well stocked with water, Unived sports energy drink, bananas, chips etc. The larger aid stations mid-route (can’t recall which ones) had a wider array of food options.
The first 10 km is a loop that brings us back to the Vagamon Adventure Park. Geeno took the lead early. 4-5 of us became the chasing pack. I went off-route several times, only to be kindly corrected by others (a big thanks to all who corrected me). We stuck in the pack for this section of the race, which went through some scenic sections – through tea estates, off-trail sections and some lovely viewpoints.
I tried to maintain a steady pace for the first half of the race, chasing Geeno, who maintained a gap of 4-5 minutes on me till 40K. Around 22-23 km mark, there was a steep climb, which involved scrambling over some rock sections. I had lost the trail at that point while searching for route markers. After reaching the top, I hiked the ridgeline, which was mostly off-trail. I saw Geeno for the first time in a while and that kept me motivated. I met my friend, Jomy, at the top and we shared a selfie together. After some bushwacking through tall grassy sections, we descended into a beautiful pine forest section. On the way down, the pipe of my hydration bladder came off had to stop to fix it, losing some more time and momentum while doing so.
After the aid station at the bottom of the pine forest section, we starting climbing, initially on tarmac and then on trails. This led to a beautiful and wide ridgeline with panoramic views. My friend and photographer, Damlem, was parked here and he ran up the ridge with me trying to get the “perfect shot”. From the ridge, there was a steep descent along a grassy off-trail patch, which took a solid toll on the knees. The next section was a rolling course, downhill and uphill on tarmac and trails through village roads and jeep tracks.
The sun started hitting hard and it got hot quickly. I tried to throw water all over me at every aid station with the hope to stay cool. At around 40K, I was forced to take a nature break and this extended the gap with the leader by another 5-7 mins (around 12 mins in total). Things started to get challenging and pace slowed down. I hoped that others were struggling as much as me. I shifted focus on maintaining 2nd place for the rest of the race.
Things were going fine till I went off-route around 48-49K mark and climbed a big hill, which was not supposed to be climbed! Not seeing any runners for a while and doing back and forth finding route markers on the hill, after almost 10-15 minutes (felt like an eternity), I found my way back and rejoined the course, only to be caught by Jaimon, who had fought his way to 3rd place. This came as a big blow mentally. I pushed the pace for a few minutes, trying to put a gap on Jaimon. The race was ON to the finish line!
A couple of kilometers later, Jaimon caught me again on a downhill section and I was forced to put the foot on the accelerator. 10/10 effort, even though the pace was “slow”. I remember running a narrow single-track section at my top effort and Jaimon chasing me. The was fun – something about running fast on single tracks! We came across a mini aid station, which I didn’t use. I ran my heart out on the short road section, trying to build a small gap.
The race has a gradual climb of about 150m in the final 2 kms. Because of the hard push on the road section, my legs started cramping up. I was able to slow run/walk the flat and downhill sections, but every step uphill would result in painful cramps in both legs. I stayed focused and managed to crawl forward, hoping that the legs would “breathe” better, postponing a full body cramp. I was certain that Jaimon and others would pass me as progress became excruciatingly slow. Fortunately, as I found out later, Jaimon was also struggling with cramps on the uphills as well.
The finish line was a short dash from the top of the climb and I was certain at this stage that 2nd place was secured. I pushed the pace and crossed the finish line, which was at a local school and church compound, a nice setting (the kids were still in class, which was interesting).
On the fueling front, I started with around 280-300 kcal per hour, mostly energy gels, mixing between the 180 kcal Unived energy gel (a boon for ultra races) and 100 kcal energy gel (of Unived or Leap). I ate a 2-3 energy bars at sporadic intervals during the run. I also had 3X salt caps. On the hydration front, I carried 1.5 litres of water (in a bladder) and 2X 500 mL soft flasks of Leap Storm sports energy drink. Along the way, once my bladder was empty, I used one soft flask for water and one soft flask for sports energy drink. Getting the Unived sports energy drink on the route was a blessing. At aid stations, I ate what I could – chips, dates etc. However, I didn’t take in as much solid food as I did for the Malnad Ultra, which was not good. Overall, my fueling and hydraton was not as structured as my Malnad Ultra and this impacted performance in the last third of the race. This is an area I would like to improve on.
Overall, it was a very well managed race, an improvement from previous ultras of this distance. While I would’ve liked to finish 15-20 mins faster in these conditions (it was a hot day!), but this time around, this was all I could conjure up.
The finish line experience was a “homely” experience, non-commercial and something I would set-up for a home race myself.
Kudos to the organizing team for creating finishing arch as well as the medals out of sustainable and biodegradable materials, a very welcome sight and change from the usual. The race medal, designed to resemble the head of the Muntjac - a creature native to Vagamon and the emblem of the event, is a work of art conceptualized and handcrafted by local artists. It’s made from 100% biodegradable screw pine leaf, a material found in abundance in Vagamon.
The hosts were serving local dosas (thicker / pancake style), which were excellent. There was also sambar, chicken / meat curry, rice and chapatis along with some fruits / bananas. It was a good spread, even though there were no spoon or paper tissues (or soap in the hand wash area).
After a nice meal, I hung out with Jomy, Annie ma’am, and friends of Soles of Cochin crew. It was nice to share race notes with Jaimon, as we both complained about cramps over the last 10K.
The Vagamon Ultra has been a permanent fixture of the Indian trail running scene for several years. It’s been on my bucket list for many years and I’m grateful to have been part of this year’s edition.
I highly recommend runners around India to experience these trails. More importantly, the race environment is something to cherish. I’m a fan of community led initiatives and the Vagamon Ultra is a fine example of it in the Indian context – it’s beyond a running event! Super grateful to all the volunteers and to the entire team at Soles of Cochin team for conceptualizing and hosting this unique experience for all of us.
The race has allowed me to identify some more areas to improve upon and I’m excited to work on this over the coming years. Most crucially, I’m grateful to have an abled body that allows me to do these sorts of efforts. Overall, it was an extremely satisfying experience!
After much needed downtime over the next 2-3 weeks, Kshitish and I, the co-founders of CapitalTrails, hope to attempt a 90 km FKT loop, the Nilgai Forest Trail, which we designed over multiple years of exploring. The trail goes through the vast forest areas of the National Capital Region, which has one of the largest green covers of any metropolitan city in the world. We hope that our efforts inspire others to learn about the FKT culture and to grow it in India over the coming years.
Pictures used in this post are courtesy of wonderful Soles of Cochin/Vagamon Ultrail photography team
Nakul Butta is the founder & coach at All In Running. He is an accomplished Indian amateur long distance road and trail runner. He has won several long distance races (ultra marathons, half marathons, trail races) and is a regular top finisher in major races around the country.
Nakul is also passionate about the environment, nature and the outdoors. He pursues this passion by spending hours running on trails, some of which is in the Himalayas.