Mountainously, head over hills

The Bangalore Mountain Festival is all set to take place at the end of the month. The fun event for adrenaline junkies, sports people and everybody in love with trekking will include a trail run, cross country cycling and downhill biking, and will also celebrate the country’s runners and cyclists in an event.

This will be the toughest trial running track in India with climbs across four hills with a rocky terrain, mud paths and some steps as well! But the event isn’t only for those training hard but also for those who want to have fun on race day with picturesque view and tonnes of fresh air that leave you replenished and rejuvenated!

The question on our mind, is how is this event any different from the other marathons and triathlons that take place in the city on an almost daily basis?

“The sports activities that take place usually happen on very well tarred roads and set tracks. The speciality of this event is that tracks are specially created on hills in the outskirts of the city. So it is rough terrain which poses as a bigger challenge as compared to a smooth tar road or cemented track,” says Sunil Nanjappa, one of the organisers of the event.

“The idea was to expose and challenge athletes by providing them with a track which is only available in European and very few American countries,” the national level cyclist adds.

Apart from events taking place literally on the mountain, the event is curated and organised by actual sportspeople, as opposed to event companies – so they legit know what they are doing! “But that doesn’t mean that only athletes can take part in the event,” clarifies Santhosh Hegde, past participant.

“Mountain biking is the only extreme sport which is open only to professionals. Since it’s a mud track and the slope is downward, it is very risky for people who don’t know about the sport,” reveals the adventure sports lover who is excited to be a part of this edition of the festival as well.

The path for the festival, which will be taking place on January 28 and 29 near Nandi Hills, took almost two months to prepare and was set up by the athletes themselves! It is the perfect depiction of a tough terrain.

“I am not an athlete but I love being a part of marathons and runs. But this experience is different from the rest – we get to run in the wild! The paths are small and only allow two people to run on it at the same time. Also since it’s on mountains, there is an abundance of fresh air and the views of the city are absolutely splendid!” smiles Vanitha Nambiar, a freelancer in the city.