How an Indian ultra runner set a national record in the US

Six years ago, Meenal Kotak had been laid low by a back injury so severe that just getting around the house was a struggle. It made her fear for her career, as a successful ultra runner, that had included representing India at the 24-hour World Championships in 2017. 

Most doctors recommended surgery, but that too was put on hold when covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill. All she could do, by way of injury rehabilitation, was to will herself to take short walks in her neighbourhood. For Kotak, those walks in April 2020 was the start of a long journey, that culminated in her longest run, in June: A 144-hour race in the US called ‘6 Days in the Dome’. 

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The challenge tested her body and her spirit alike. But by the end of the race, she had run a whopping 422.67 miles (680km) in 144 hours to take second spot among women and finish fourth overall. It was notified as an Indian record by the race organisers.

“There was a time I would pray to just walk without experiencing any pain. We visited physicians, physiotherapists and chiropractors, but nobody had a solution and I had pretty much given up on running again,” says Kotak, 44, recalling the grim days six years ago. 

Kotak had started her career in 2010 walking distances on a treadmill, and slowly worked her way to participating in half and full marathons, before embracing the monotony of racing in loops at stadium runs. At one point, she held the national record for the 24-hour run as well. But the progress came to nought after the injury and it took a whole lot of patience to start rebuilding again. 

Her first 2km run, in 2021, after the injury was blissful, an entirely new feeling as she found her stride. A year later, she ran her first marathon and in April 2022, finished a 12-hour stadium run alongside a whole new generation of ultra runners. After pulling off a 24-hour effort (187km) at the start of 2023, she visited the US in June last year to attempt a three-day run where she covered 379km.  

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“Multi-day races test you physically, mentally and emotionally. There are moments when you’re close to breaking point and have to figure out a way to  bounce back. Once you’re hooked on these kinds of races, you won’t prefer the shorter stuff,” she says. 

Her pace was still slow, but Kotak soon realised that she hadn’t lost her ability to endure longer distances. So, in January, she started training for the six day run. “Ultra running is all about going solo and being happy with yourself. The idea is to simply scrap words like ‘boring’ and ‘lonely’ from your dictionary,” she says.

During pre-dawn hours, she would hit a 600m loop at her residential complex in Gurugram to get used to running in circles, greeting every dog walker, car washer and security guard along the way. The focus was on completing a run of 2.5-3 hours, rather than keeping track of the distance. She would also visit the gym thrice a week, working out her legs, shoulders and back, and a mix of legs, back and core. 

A few weekends were about increasing her running capacity: A six-hour morning run and a four-hour evening run on Fridays and Saturdays, followed by another six-hour effort on Sunday morning. She would then rest until Tuesday before repeating the cycle. On average, she would log about 550-580km each month. 

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“The speed workouts didn’t work for me, since my back would act up. I realised that strength sessions were key and ensured that I never missed them,” she says. 

When she began the 144-hour race, the target was to simply complete it and finish strong. On the first day, her daily goal of 123km was stretched to 160km, way more than what she had planned. She felt its consequences the following day when she could complete just 98km. By the end of the third day, she had covered a total of 376km, which was three kilometres short of what she had managed the previous year. 

The conditions at the indoor track tested her as well. Running under floodlights, it was hard to keep track of day and night, and she left a lot of the planning to her husband, Sachin, who has crewed her on multiple occasions. Besides checking her progress, he had his hands full tending to nutrition and hydration, pricking and bandaging blisters while she rested, and ensuring she was in good spirits during the run. 

“The temperature is maintained at 6 degrees Celsius and it gets really cold after a point. What is really strange is not seeing the sun for all those days. It gets really claustrophobic over time,” she says. 

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Kotak started experiencing hallucinations four days into the race. Each time she crossed a poster placed along the track, she felt like the lady in it was tapping her shoulder, running with her for a short distance before disappearing. “Coffee was the initial cure, but I soon got used to ‘her’,” she says, laughing. 

The short halts were usually for meals, besides a two-hour sleep break each day. She even had to switch to a bigger shoe size to deal with swollen feet. But there were times she found her flow and pushed on to catch up with the competition.

“The idea was to be out on the track as long as possible to cover more distance. So for instance, wet wipes instead of a shower may sound unhygienic, but that’s the only way to approach a race like this,” she says.

There was the delight of finishing on the podium, but the feat truly sank in when she was at the airport the next day. “I just couldn’t handle the long walk to get to the terminal, so I simply called for a wheelchair and settled in,” she says. 

Shail Desai is a Mumbai-based freelance writer.

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