The first ever Trail Running race in the region was organized at Guwahati on 13th December 2020. The race was organized on the Monkey Temple Trail situated in Hengerabari Hills near Partiksha Hospital in VIP Road.
A trail is any unpaved surface; it can be rocky, muddy, icy, hilly, uphill or downhill. Trail running is mostly done on hiking or walking paths and is more like the ‘off road’ version of ‘regular running’ and is an effective full-body workout. More muscles are used than when we run on flat surfaces. It also improves your balance. It’s more technical and unpredictable, hence more fun.
The race was well received by the running enthusiasts from around Guwahati, many from different parts of Assam and even some neigbouring states like Meghalaya and Manipur.
Overall there were 100 participants with 23 females and 77 males. The winners in the women’s category are 1st – Dakhai Kyndiat, 2nd Suna Pradhan & 3rd Dipamoni. Among men the top positions were acquired by 1st Bipul Satnamu, 2nd Kresstrajune Pathaw and 3rd Innus Ali.
With abundant hills spread all around Guwahati as well as the whole Northeast we have plenty of scope to develop this sport. Trail running as a competitive sport has been around for some time in India and are mostly concentrated around the hilly areas. With a vision of developing the sport and giving scope to our talented young runners in our naturally endowed region we decided to organise the first competitive trail run in Guwahati.
The running course is an approximately 5 kms long trail that will go up and down the hill. The trail consists of naturally occurring obstacles on many sections that are rocky, uneven, slippery and steep slopes, trees and thorny bushes. One can get a great view of the eastern part of city and during early morning one can get a superb view of the rising sun from the top.
The run was organised as part of the opening of the first exclusive Garmin store in Guwahati (Opposite Doordarshan Colony, Borbari, VIP Road). Garmin makes various types of world renowned GPS navigation enabled sports, fitness and outdoor activity products.
The race is being managed by trailnexus.in, a trail sports event platform focused on mountain biking and trail running. Spokehub, Pedal for a Change and Whacky Talky are the organisations behind the event.