The pace had been steady over the initial 10km of the Trofeo Kima, a 52km trail race in Italy. Kieren D’Souza arrived at the second aid station and stocked up on nutrition. He then took a moment to strap on a helmet that would be essential over the next 30-odd kilometres. Rockfall was just one of the many hazards he was up against last month.
The profile of the race seems deceptive—a trail ultramarathon with 4,200 metres of elevation gain that climbs as high as 2,950 metres. It requires experience and ability in equal measure. But beyond running, it demands skills to navigate technical sections on rock and slab, and a big heart to handle the exposure.
“As you climb, certain sections need you to be on all fours. And once you hit the pass, it’s quite literally a 90-degree drop, so you descend using chains and ropes fixed to the mountainside. That’s what most of the course looks like,” he says.
It’s the kind of race runners like D’Souza, 33, are exploring across continents these days. From short, technical trails that require precision to the seemingly endless road ultras that demand patience, the result shaped by nature and how things pan out on the day. A challenge that is as daunting as it is unique.
D’Souza first experienced similar terrain in the Indian Himalaya while attempting speed climbs on mountains such as Friendship Peak, Deo Tibba and Trisul.
“This race has been in the works for long, given how technical the terrain is. While I couldn’t recce the route, I went on a smaller section to get a sense of how I could use the chains effectively. Given the uncertainties of the course, I didn’t really have a target in mind,” he says.
Over a decade ago, he started out by running longer ultramarathons on road such as La Ultra (111km) and Spartathlon (246km), before transitioning to more technical mountain routes.
“When I started, the overall knowledge in the Indian ecosystem was limited. So I had to figure out a lot of things on my own. I had to plot a roadmap and then locate races that interested me,” D’Souza says.
Back in 2020, Shailesh Kumar spotted a video that gave him an idea of the extreme weather runners face during the Badwater 135 in the US. The baked tar road on the course in Death Valley was hot enough to cook eggs. He wondered what it would be like to run in the furnace.
He first trained for the distance, then worked on pacing. He set a new course record (26 hours, 2 minutes) at the Hennur Ultra (220km) in Bengaluru in 2024 and then finished Spartathlon last year in Greece. Most of his training for Badwater was in the afternoon heat of Kochi and through sauna baths to acclimatise the body. He realised his preparation was on track after winning the Fort Ultra (100 miles) in March in the dry heat of Udaipur.
In July, Kumar finished 20th of 95 runners at Badwater and eighth in his age category (30-39). His timing of 29 hours, 28 minutes is the fastest among Indian men.
“The maximum temperature was 51 degree Celsius. I felt good and realised my training had worked. But I didn’t study certain sections and missed my goal of sub-28 hours,” Kumar says.
Most of these races have qualifying standards—finishing certain distances or gathering enough ITRA (International Trail Running Association) points to make the cut. Some have a lottery system through which runners are selected and need to be applied to months in advance. Planning then becomes essential to pick out not just the main race, but also “B” races that double up as vital preparation.
D’Souza was fortunate that Trofeo Kima, which is run biennially, was scheduled right before his big goal for the year—the Adamello Ultra, a 170km trail race in Italy later this month. His past experience was adequate to get him a spot on either.
On the other hand, when Sannat Sachdev didn’t make the lottery of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), he signed up for Sierre-Zinal (31.1km) in August. It was part of his preparation for the Chiangmai Thailand by UTMB (Hmong 60; 63km) in December.
“Sierre-Zinal is a historic trail race in Switzerland that started in 1974 and is among the oldest. And though it’s fairly non-technical terrain, the competition was deep. It leads up to the training block that I’ve planned for the Thailand race, so it’s a continuous process,” he says.
With performance in mind, Sachdev, 34, doesn’t do more than four races a year. After targeting shorter trail races, his latest podium, a third-place finish at the Buddha Trails (30km) in Rimbick, West Bengal, in April, his current goal is to gradually transition to races around the 50km mark.
“I look for a European race in summer. And the Thailand race at the end of the year since it’s the most accessible and offers double the UTMB points (which increases the chances for selection in the UTMB finals lottery). If you plan well, there are plenty of races that are as beautiful as the big ones. It all depends on your abilities and goals,” he says.
The races need detailed preparation and execution to ensure a memorable return. Last year, D’Souza and Sachdev started ‘Train for Trails’ to educate runners on how to gear up for races—from studying the route to readying for the conditions.
“A 50k on trail is eight hours, the same distance is four hours on road. The difference starts there,” Sachdev says.
Racing abroad is expensive business—for instance, just the entry fee for Badwater 135 is $1,595. An aircraft engineer in the Indian Navy, Kumar had to take two personal loans and dig into his provident fund to compete. But it’s hardly a deterrent for his future goals.
“Only I know the feeling of doing well on a demanding run. It’s why I go to these races,” he says.