Meet Bengaluru’s Deepa Bhat, Taher Merchant who are the first Indians to finish the world's highest 60 km-Everest Marathon
SDFH
It is the world’s highest running event
Trust Bengalureans to set new goals. For now, it’s DeepaBhat and Taher Merchant’s time under the spotlight. This week, they completed the 60km Extreme Ultra – Everest Marathon, the world’s highest running event, and with that, became the first Indians to do so since this competition opened in 2013. Everest Marathon is held to mark the historical ascent on the Mount Everest by Late Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953, and also includes half and full marathons.
Back to the Indian feat. Bhat clocked the circuit in 19 hours, 50 minutes, and 40 seconds – beginning at 6am on May 29 and finishing by 1am on May 30. “I took two coffee breaks, without which, I would have fallen asleep,” the vice president (products) of an e-learning firm shared on a quick call from Nepal. While Merchant took 19 hours, 15 minutes and 10 minutes, he didn’t run in one go. “Mountains are unpredictable. That evening, temperatures went sub-zero. It started to snow, so I decided to stay back at a lodging and resume the next day. For this, I was penalised for four hours. Otherwise, I would have timed 15 hours,” says the businessman.
Thirtha Tamang ran it all within seven hours to win the day. Nonetheless, they are proud that it took “two crazy Bengalureans” to bring this honour to India.
It was in 2016 when Merchant thought of attempting the EBC challenge. Next year, he suggested the same to Bhat, his running buddy, and the duo got cracking. They had completed India’s toughest ultra marathon, the 72-km Khardung La Challenge at Ladakh, already and wanted a bigger challenge, that’s why they decided to take the EBC test.
But running is not all that the participants had to do. They first trekked up from Lukla to the 5,431m-high EBC for 11 days, rested for two days, and then ran down till Namche Bazaar, crossing five mountain passes.
‘I want to do more mountain races now’
Merchant’s family wasn’t keen initially. “I have two daughters (nine and 11 years old). When I broke the news to them, they brought up the movie Everest and said people, who go to the Everest, die; they don’t come back. Even my coach was shocked. So I took him to my farmhouse in Sarjapur, fed him good biryani and only then shared my plan,” the 35-year-old guffawed.
Biryani worked, and he started training. But this wasn’t going to be an easy regime. In the run-up-to the expedition, Merchant had to sprint a 1,000km every week for 12 weeks, and sweat buckets in gym. “ Also, I used to get these dreams that I am running in the Everest. So would get up at 3-3.15am, go out and run.”
For Merchant, the task was not just to run down, but trek up too. “Before the EBC, I had never trekked in my life. That’s why I broke my campaign into two parts. First, to get to the start point at the EBC well, acclimatise myself, enjoy good food without the fear of falling sick. Second, run the route at a comfortable pace, so that I don’t catch the mountain sickness.” He didn’t fall sick but he almost fell on the ice. “That too in the first five kilomteres of the run. I slipped!”
But that’s in the past. What remains in his mind now are the views of the stars twinkling in the clear night sky and tents looking like yellow dots at the EBC, at the backdrop of the Khumbu Glacier. “Every day I used to look at the mountains and feel so tiny, humbled and connected. Mountains can do that to you. I want to do more mountain races now. Maybe, Kilimanjaro.”
But before that, he wants to spend time with his family and eat a lot of biryani, because he has had enough of “cauliflowers, and potatoes”.
‘It’s a very technical race’
The first thing Bhat did on the finish line was pinch herself and ask, “Really? Have I done it?” And, wear the Indian flag. “I felt so patriotic. I hadn’t carried the Indian flag in my hands before that.” That surreal feeling hadn’t sunk in when she spoke to the BM before catching her flight from Nepal to Bengaluru on Saturday. “So I don’t know what’s the next challenge I want to take. Maybe a trail adventure route,” the 41-year-old added.
But one thing she was sure of. “I want to hug my sons (14, and 17) when I get home. I had to stay away from them for the campaign, for training, but they didn’t complaint. My family has been extremely supportive. They kept me in their prayers.”
Training is really key to conquering challenges like the EBC’s, said Bhat, adding that it’s not simply about clocking miles, but conditioning your body well for the unforgiving weather, altitude and terrain, and eating right. “So I used to run 500km every week, but only uphill, in Turahalli. I also dropped four kilos before the trek.”
It paid off, for she had no falls or sprains. “It’s a very technical race. You make one small mistake, lose focus for a fraction of second, or make a wrong midfoot landing, and you could be out of the race. I had no time to look up, look around, enjoy the mountains. All the time my head was down, looking at the rugged terrain.” Maintaining pace is out of question because “there is too much up and down. One minute you pick up pace, the next minute, it’s uphill, then a sudden drop.”
But it was an experience of a lifetime, she maintains. “It was never on my list of things to do but I am glad I did. I had the fortune of sleeping at the base camp (on all that ice), looking at the notorious Khumbu icefall from my tent and wondering how people go past it and summit the Everest.” And, yes, she got to do yoga there.
Trust Bengalureans to set new goals. For now, it’s Deepa
Back to the Indian feat. Bhat clocked the circuit in 19 hours, 50 minutes, and 40 seconds – beginning at 6am on May 29 and finishing by 1am on May 30. “I took two coffee breaks, without which, I would have fallen asleep,” the vice president (products) of an e-learning firm shared on a quick call from Nepal. While Merchant took 19 hours, 15 minutes and 10 minutes, he didn’t run in one go. “Mountains are unpredictable. That evening, temperatures went sub-zero. It started to snow, so I decided to stay back at a lodging and resume the next day. For this, I was penalised for four hours. Otherwise, I would have timed 15 hours,” says the businessman.
“No guesses but the Nepalis won the first eight slots,” Merchant said, laughing. “I saw them at the start and then at the finish, nowhere in between. They are so fast.” Rightly so,
dfhuh
It was in 2016 when Merchant thought of attempting the EBC challenge. Next year, he suggested the same to Bhat, his running buddy, and the duo got cracking. They had completed India’s toughest ultra marathon, the 72-km Khardung La Challenge at Ladakh, already and wanted a bigger challenge, that’s why they decided to take the EBC test.
But running is not all that the participants had to do. They first trekked up from Lukla to the 5,431m-high EBC for 11 days, rested for two days, and then ran down till Namche Bazaar, crossing five mountain passes.
‘I want to do more mountain races now’
Merchant’s family wasn’t keen initially. “I have two daughters (nine and 11 years old). When I broke the news to them, they brought up the movie Everest and said people, who go to the Everest, die; they don’t come back. Even my coach was shocked. So I took him to my farmhouse in Sarjapur, fed him good biryani and only then shared my plan,” the 35-year-old guffawed.
Biryani worked, and he started training. But this wasn’t going to be an easy regime. In the run-up-to the expedition, Merchant had to sprint a 1,000km every week for 12 weeks, and sweat buckets in gym. “ Also, I used to get these dreams that I am running in the Everest. So would get up at 3-3.15am, go out and run.”
For Merchant, the task was not just to run down, but trek up too. “Before the EBC, I had never trekked in my life. That’s why I broke my campaign into two parts. First, to get to the start point at the EBC well, acclimatise myself, enjoy good food without the fear of falling sick. Second, run the route at a comfortable pace, so that I don’t catch the mountain sickness.” He didn’t fall sick but he almost fell on the ice. “That too in the first five kilomteres of the run. I slipped!”
But that’s in the past. What remains in his mind now are the views of the stars twinkling in the clear night sky and tents looking like yellow dots at the EBC, at the backdrop of the Khumbu Glacier. “Every day I used to look at the mountains and feel so tiny, humbled and connected. Mountains can do that to you. I want to do more mountain races now. Maybe, Kilimanjaro.”
Deepa Bhat, Taher Merchant are the first Indians to complete 60km Everest marathon
But before that, he wants to spend time with his family and eat a lot of biryani, because he has had enough of “cauliflowers, and potatoes”.
‘It’s a very technical race’
The first thing Bhat did on the finish line was pinch herself and ask, “Really? Have I done it?” And, wear the Indian flag. “I felt so patriotic. I hadn’t carried the Indian flag in my hands before that.” That surreal feeling hadn’t sunk in when she spoke to the BM before catching her flight from Nepal to Bengaluru on Saturday. “So I don’t know what’s the next challenge I want to take. Maybe a trail adventure route,” the 41-year-old added.
But one thing she was sure of. “I want to hug my sons (14, and 17) when I get home. I had to stay away from them for the campaign, for training, but they didn’t complaint. My family has been extremely supportive. They kept me in their prayers.”
Training is really key to conquering challenges like the EBC’s, said Bhat, adding that it’s not simply about clocking miles, but conditioning your body well for the unforgiving weather, altitude and terrain, and eating right. “So I used to run 500km every week, but only uphill, in Turahalli. I also dropped four kilos before the trek.”
It paid off, for she had no falls or sprains. “It’s a very technical race. You make one small mistake, lose focus for a fraction of second, or make a wrong midfoot landing, and you could be out of the race. I had no time to look up, look around, enjoy the mountains. All the time my head was down, looking at the rugged terrain.” Maintaining pace is out of question because “there is too much up and down. One minute you pick up pace, the next minute, it’s uphill, then a sudden drop.”
But it was an experience of a lifetime, she maintains. “It was never on my list of things to do but I am glad I did. I had the fortune of sleeping at the base camp (on all that ice), looking at the notorious Khumbu icefall from my tent and wondering how people go past it and summit the Everest.” And, yes, she got to do yoga there.
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