Sandakphu 70 Mile Himalayan Race Spring Sandakphu 70 Mile Himalayan Race Spring 2014

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1 WindChasers E n d u r e t o l e t g o! Sandakphu 70 Mile Himalayan Race Spring 2014 Race Name: Sandakphu Himalayan Race is a 4 day 70 Mile (112 KM) supported race. Region: Darjeeling/Nepal Himalayas Duration: 5 Nights 6 Days Destination covered: Delhi - > Bagdogra - > Maneybanjang - > Tumling - > Sandakphu - > Rimbik - > Bagdogra - > Delhi Max Altitude: 3636 m above sea level. Grade: Moderate Summary: Arrive in Bagdogra & drive to lodge: Day 1 (Apr 26) Sandakphu Himalayan Race 112Km: Day 2-5 (4 days) (Apr 27- Apr 30) Drive to Bagdogra and departure: Day 6 (May 1) Sandakphu 70 Mile Himalayan Race Spring 2014 Hello Everyone: Hope you are all doing well. participants of this upcoming race. We are extremely happy to announce an opportunity of a lifetime to Arrival & Departure in/out of Bagdogra: Please note that all competitors will have to arrive in Bagdogra (IXB) on the 26 th of April before or around noon. Also, all competitors are requested to make arrangements to depart from Bagdogra on 1 st of May in the afternoon. Transportation will be arranged to take the competitors to the airport and will be reaching Bagdogra around noon. Please make your flight arrangements quickly because the flight prices to Bagdogra goes up as you get closer to the travel date. Please us your details as soon as you book them. Balance Payment: Thanks to those who have taken care of the balance payment. For those who have balances remaining, please make the remittances latest by March 1. If you have any queries please let us know. We really appreciate your cooperation in this regard and we eagerly look forward to meeting you all at the race. Volunteers & Crew: Pemba Sherpa is our Course Director. He is quite knowledgeable about the hills in this area. We are planning to have at least fifteen (15) Sherpa crew members to help with the race. Every Sherpa crew member is a seasoned mountain climber and knows the terrain extremely well. They will be helping Pemba Sherpa in all the activities pertaining to the race. In addition to this we will have a Doctor and a photographer. 1

2 Luggage Logistics: The plan is to ONLY carry the things that will be needed in the Himalayas and leave any suitcase either in New Delhi or alternatively you can also leave them at the first lodge to be picked up on the departure date. Bring ONLY the things in the backpack that you will need for the 5 days in the Himalayas. Since the luggage has to be transported by the Jeeps, please make sure that you pack your things in a Backpack. Please do not bring suitcases as it will be very hard to transport. Backpack has to be in addition to your Camel back or day pack. It should be BIG enough to put all your stuff that you will need during your stay in the Himalayas and this backpack will be transported by the crew members to the next lodge. You will just carry the Camel back or a day pack during the race. The Camel back or the small day pack should have some space to carry your rain jacket and pants, gloves and a warm jacket just in case you need them while you are on the run. International Contestants: All international contestants will require to get a visa to enter India. Tourist (aka Visitor) visa is sufficient. Please arrange to get a 6- month Tourist visa latest by end of February. Please me if you need further information on getting the visa. If there is not an Indian consulate in your city, we can provide you the name of a Visa agency that helps our runners with the visa procurement process. Additionally, once you have your visa, please us a scan of your passport and visa pages. This is mandatory for all international participants. This is not necessary for Indian nationals. Suggested Packing List: The packing list is given below on page 4 & 5. Mandatory Item notes: Runners will have a mandatory medical checkup the day before the race start. This is to make sure that the Doc feels that everyone is in good condition to embark into this endeavor. Also, rain jackets and pants are a MUST and not having one will be a room for disqualification since it is EXTREMELY dangerous and risky in the Himalayas if one gets caught in the rain. Answers to some queries from fellow runners: a) Headlamp: is compulsory or is a torch enough? When do we really need to use it? YES. Gets dark early plus could get dark because of weather. Also, you need it in the room and in the lodge both evening and morning. Headlamp is suggested because you will need it in the rooms and it is hands free. But Torch also should work but may be inconvenient especially if you are in the bathroom. b) Do we need to carry 2 pairs of trail running shoes? Not necessarily. Some people prefer to get 2 as a backup but one should be good enough. c) Has anyone been running in Vibrams: Barefoot trail running shoes? Nobody yet. Vibrams will be very hard on the ankles and the heel because most paths are cobblestones. Hard on knees, ankles and heels even with shoes! We would suggest you bring your regular shoe with the Vibrams. This way if the Vibrams are too hard on your heel and ankle you could switch. d) What time in the morning do we really start the race? 2

3 Days 1, 2, 3 & 9, 7 6 and 8.30 on 4 days. Check: calendar.html. However, Pemba Sherpa our course director will do a briefing the night before each day and will inform any changes based on weather e) Do we need to carry rain paints and rain jackets on our backs throughout the race??? This is AN ABSOLUTE MUST!!! You will have it in your small camel backpack. If it rains and you get caught in it and could be quite deadly. So has to be with you all the time. f) Can we carry a small camera too? Sure you can. g) What about food in the morning. Is it ok to eat before you run? Every morning breakfast will be served. We will have coffee, tea, eggs, toast, oatmeal etc. Definitely you should have a good breakfast and there will be a gap of atleast ½ hr to an hour before you start the race. It is not a problem. In fact on the contrary you shouldn t run with an empty stomach because you need the fuel. We will also have aid stations every 2 miles or so for water and every alternate one will have water and some snacks and bananas. Every day there will be a briefing in the evening around dinner and we will let you all know all the logistics for the next day. This will keep you informed about the happenings. WindChasers for Charity: At WindChasers, we promote healthy living and enjoyment of life through living life at the fullest. With that said we also support charity work that is for a great cause. In this regard our Charity organization of choice that we support is Jana Rakshita Charitable trust. WindChasers is now associated with Jana Rakshita, a Non Profit in Mumbai, India that works for poor and underprivileged cancer patients, focusing their area of work mainly on children with cancer. We ve been watching their work closely for a few years now and we re more than honored to be able to help them in whatever way we can. Their dedication, compassion and extensive hands- on work with the poor and underprivileged children in India, is remarkable. We ask you to help us help them. If you haven t already signed up with a charity and would like to support the organization, please help us by raising funds for them. You can write to us if you re interested and we can take it further. More details about the organization can be found here: and also on FB: We are working on providing you the most amazing and wholesome experience possible. That said the packing list is below. If you have any questions please feel free to or call us anytime. More in the next. Cheers Ram, Priya & Pemba The WindChasers Team 3

4 SUGGESTED PACKING LIST ACCESSORIES # LEGEND Backpack for putting all the stuff for the Himalayan Passport med insurance cards, cash & credit cards Camel back preferably (that can be carried on the back) Electrolyte Camel back tablets (one tube has about 10) Whistle Sunglasses Baseball cap Baggage tags (for the baggage) Headlamp Chap stick Sunscreen Toothbrush/floss/toothpaste Wipes/TP Trial size deodorant Moisturizer Small hand towels Bug repellent TOILETTERIES CLOTHING Socks for Himalayas & rest of the trip 8 Light weight jacket 1 Heavy duty Winter Jacket 1 Must Shorts and shirt for running (at least two long sleeves) for 7 Himalayas/rest of the trip Gloves (water proof preferably) 1 Warm hat 1 Rain Jacket 1 Must Rain Gear pants 1 Must clothes for travelling shirts/ shorts/ jeans 5/5/1 Flip flops 1 pajamas for hut at night 1 Short sleeved shirt and nylon shorts that feel like cotton Buff one (bandanna) 1 Contacts or any eye care stuff L

5 Plastic bag for dirty clothes MEDS (organizers will get it) Advil (for pain) Anti acid tablets (for stomach) Relispray (pain relieving spray) small Multivitamins Vitamin C Glycerin suppositories? If you need to you can also bring: 10 tabs 10 tabs Small tube 1 per day 1 per day 1 packet The plan is to ONLY carry the things that will be needed in the Himalayas and leave any suitcase if you can in New Delhi. Backpack has to be in addition to your Camel back. Should be BIG enough to put all your above stuff for the Himalayan Race in it and the backpack will be transported by the crew members to the next lodge. You can just carry the Camel back during the race if you have one. Since the luggage has to be transported by the Jeeps, please make sure that you pack your things in a Backpack. Please do not bring suitcases as it will be very hard to transport. 5