Going the Distance

A documentary about growing old and running my age

Barnet village milestone, 2 PM, 5 hours 19 minutes into the run: The road is flanked by pine trees on the right, and a government school to the left. The snow covered peaks of the Dhauladhar range are visible, towering over the world. A tiny speck in the scene, Pritam sits on a bench, his head in his hands.

“Fuck”, he says, looking into the camera, “There’s no water”.

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Pritam’s home, 8:41 AM: Pritam steps out for a run. The camera zooms out to show the landscape next to his home: terraced farms, a pre-monsoon green.

Voiceover as he runs: This goal, of running my age in miles in the mountains, is something that’s been with me since I was 34. I’m 42 now, and I still haven’t done it. I don’t think I’ll do it this year either - maybe kilometres.

Somewhere between Tushita and Gallu, 9:15 AM: The trail is covered in rhododendron leaves. On both sides are layers of green. The rhododendron season is almost over, but there is a single flower, still blooming. Pritam stops and gets his phone out to take a picture.

The more we zoom in, the more layers we see. Grass, unnamed plants with tiny leaves, rhododendron trees, and mighty pines setting the scene as Pritam runs slowly through them.

Interview -- Pritam at home, sitting at his dining table with a coffee mug: The path from Tushita to Gallu really feels like a second home now. I’ve seen this trail in every season. I’ve run through the winter snow in the company of cheerful shepherd dogs. I’ve run in Summer, when the crunch of leaves almost drowns out the music in my headphones, the monsoon when everything is wet and I either have to pluck leeches out, or wash blood off my feet in the bathroom.

THIRST LEVEL: LOW. WATER CONSUMED: NONE

The path makes its way around the side of the mountain, opening up to views of Naddi with its cell phone tower and that small temple in the middle of the farms, and Dal Lake, which has only a thin layer of muddy water, almost earning the dal part of its name more than lake. A rocky path, mud, then more rocks and trees. The camera follows behind Pritam as the path turns right and suddenly, mountains -- white and grey against the uninterrupted blue of the sky -- are visible.

Interview -- at home: I really love that part of the trail where you take a turn and suddenly this big wall of mountains is in view. Once I came up there and there was a monk sitting on a rock in his red robes. The contrast of red against the green and grey was beautiful. He laughed when I asked if I could take his photograph. Another time, just before I got there, there was a gang of monkeys that I saw just after the turn. I just turned around and ran back [Laughs].

Gallu at the start of the Triund trail, 9:30 AM: Pritam is in the line to pay the entrance fee.

“I live here, do I still have to pay?”, he asks.

“Even she lives here, she’s never seen you.” the officer tells him looking at his colleague, but not actually asking her.

THIRST LEVEL: MEDIUM-LOW. WATER CONSUMED: NONE

Interview -- at home: This trail used to be free. Then the forest department started charging for entry and put up signs everywhere warning trekkers to respect nature, and take their trash back with them. Now the trail is full of trash and the signs.

I don’t think the locals like it either. Maybe they’re not getting anything from the money the forest department makes. When they first started charging, the cab drivers showed me how to go up behind the guest houses and join the trail after the checkpost [Laughs]. I still pay sometimes, because maybe they’ll eventually do something good with it.

At this point in the run, I was feeling good! Magic View wasn’t too far ahead. It’s the only place where there’s a filter and you don’t have to buy plastic water bottles. I would stop, say hi to Joginder, drink some water, and keep going.

Magic View Cafe, 10:15 AM: Pritam stands, looking at the closed shutter of Magic View. He checks his watch for the time and shrugs. The Kangra valley stretches out behind him, the shades of mountains in the distance like folds in a blanket. There are no clouds and the sun is shining bright.

THIRST LEVEL: MEDIUM. WATER CONSUMED: NONE

Pritam sits for a bit in front of the closed cafe, and then starts running again. Moon Peak shows itself for a bit between the rhododendron trees. He passes a few cafes on the way. He stops by one and looks at the display of water bottles, but shakes his head and continues.

Interview -- at home: The Triund trail always has hikers on it. People have been amazed that I was running, and especially amazed when I was running in sandals. If I had a rupee for every time I’ve been asked how long it will take to get to get to the top, I would have enough for a beer! Once a guy asked me “How much left to the top?” almost at the beginning of the trail. Before I could answer, he whispered to me, “Just say half an hour! She’s really tired,” and pointed at his companion walking a few metres behind him. I told them the truth that there were three hours to go [Laughs].

Voiceover: The trail is quite beautiful with the valley always to your right and the mountains coming in and going out of view between the trees.

There was a fire this year. I remember running the day after. The air smelled of smoke, and in so many parts the mountain was black”.*

Pritam continues running and overtaking hikers on the trail. The views of the valley get more expansive, but the Dhauladhars themselves are hidden behind the meadows of Triund. On the final, steep stretch, he is forced to rest because there are horses ahead of him carrying groceries for the cafes and tents at the top.

“There’s a path by the side, you can just go ahead,” the horse-guide tells him.

After the horses, he comes across a white-haired lady. “Good morning,” he says and smiles at her.

She smiles back. “Have you been to Triund before? This is the steep part”.

“Yes, I’ve been at least 10 times,” he says.

“This is my 75th time,” she says and they both laugh.

Triund, 10:58 AM: The final few metres. No mountain is visible, and there are many snaking paths leading up to the top. Pritam sticks to one and the camera stays behind him as he comes up to Triund. The view opens up and the big expanse of the Dhauladhars shows itself with millions of dots and streaks and rivers of snow.

He runs a bit further to the Hanuman temple and takes a photo. The colourful scarves on the God provide an excellent pop of colour against the majestic mountains in the back.

He goes to the cafe and buys a Gatorade. “The green one,” he tells the shopkeeper, and pays for the plastic that will end up in a landfill somewhere.

Interview -- at home: Ania always tells me it’s a big mistake to go on long runs without water and food. She’s right of course. I have to carry water and food, but I never do. On these trails, there are cafes with Coca Cola, water, Gatorade, and food in case of emergency.

He takes a sip, and then starts running down the ridge on the Bhagsu side. The meadow is covered in green grass. On the right is the valley stretching off into the distance where the Himalayas turn into the plains. On his left is the full wall of the Dhauladhars.

Less than a minute later, when he’s out of the bustle of Triund, he sits down by the side of the trail and finishes half the Gatorade.

We follow as he zips down the steep and rocky ridge toward Bhagsu. There are many hikers walking up. A few ask him how much further they have to go. He passes the campgrounds covered in trash and goes off-trail when the trail is narrow and there are people that would slow him down.

The trail turns right into a sandy-stony section and then a small village where there are tourists resting before starting the big climb he just ran down. Then a forest, and then Bhagsu waterfall.

The half-empty bottle of Gatorade is still in his hand as he passes Shiva Cafe.

Interview -- at home: I think it was when I passed Shiva cafe that I realized I had a decent chance of actually completing the 42 kilometres today. I made a plan in my head: I would stop at McLeod for a quick lunch at Sharma Dhaba. Then later, at Barnet, there’s a water tap and a guy who sells bread-omelette right next to it. So, even though I was thirsty, I was probably okay.

THIRST LEVEL: MEDIUM. WATER CONSUMED: HALF A BOTTLE OF GATORADE
HUNGER LEVEL: HIGH. FOOD CONSUMED: NONE

Pritam runs down to Bhagsu and then on the road to McLeod. He navigates through the mass of vehicles and tourists. He passes cafes and restaurants and shops with biscuits and juices. The only time he stops is when the road is blocked with a big car going one way and a touring bus going the other way.

The main square comes into view and he takes the road to the right toward Sharma Dhaba. He’s panting as he asks a taxi driver. “Which one is Sharma Dhaba?” The taxi driver points him to a shop with a green metal box in the front. It’s almost the last dhaba on the street.

There’s no one inside, so he looks around. “Where’s the guy?”, he asks and bends over breathing heavily, his hands on his knees.

“What do you want?”, a man gets up from a bench and walks toward Pritam.

“I just want lunch. Do you have mutton and rice?”

“No lunch yet. Lunch only after 1:30”, the man, presumably Sharma himself, says.

“Can you give me at least something to eat?”

“No. Come back at 1:30.”

Sharma Dhaba, 12:30 PM: Pritam drinks the rest of the Gatorade and throws the bottle into a bin. He slumps down on a metal bench by the side of the road.

Voiceover: There are a hundred restaurants behind me. Even Kalimpong and its momos are only a hundred metres away. I could just walk back to one of them and eat. But that would mean going back. After the disappointment of not having lunch, I’m so tired that if I eat a meal now, I’ll just go back home. Barnet isn’t that far from here after all.”

THIRST LEVEL: HIGH. WATER CONSUMED: ONE GATORADE
HUNGER LEVEL: VERY HIGH. FOOD CONSUMED: NONE

Pritam gets off the bench and runs on the road through Naddi to Dal Lake and then takes the left toward Barnet. It’s non-stop downhill to Barnet, and he keeps running - slow and consistent. The forest becomes less dense, and the character of the pine trees changes. The road twists and turns around on itself comfortably. He stops a few times to compose photos of the road and the forest with the mountains like a throne in the background.

Milestones count down to Barnet. 5-4-3-2-1 and then we come up on the final one. “Barnet: 0 km”.

He treks to the temple, takes a photo, and then comes back to the bread omelette shop by the bus stop. It is closed. He walks to the tap and turns the faucet, but no water comes out. He follows the pipe into the forest, turns on a valve and comes back to the tap. Still no water.

Barnet village milestone, 2 PM, 5 hours 19 minutes into the run: The road is flanked by pine trees on the right, and a government school to the left. The snow covered peaks of the Dhauladhar range are visible, towering over the world. A tiny speck in the scene, Pritam sits on a bench, his head in his hands.

“Fuck”, he says, looking into the camera, “There’s no water”.

He looks around. The camera zooms in to some discarded bottles in the bus stop. Most are whiskey bottles, but there’s one plastic bottle with a little bit of water. He picks it up, drinks the whole thing which takes just two sips, and then puts it back on the bench where he found it.

THIRST LEVEL: EXTREME. WATER CONSUMED: DON’T CARE
HUNGER LEVEL: EXTREME. FOOD CONSUMED: NONE

Interview -- at home: The road to Barnet is one of my favourite roads to run on. The clean road, the mountains, the trees, everything just fits. But on this day, the stretch back to Dal Lake was the hardest five kilometres I’ve ever run in my life. My mouth was dry. I was hungry. My legs hurt. My head hurt. I had actually passed by a water tap near Dal Lake, so it wasn’t like water was far away, but it felt like the road would never end. I had to play games to distract myself from the climb: run to this tree, walk to that pole, run to this turn, walk to the next one. You know, there’s even a hotel on the road with a nice restaurant on the top, and I didn’t go in because I thought they wouldn’t let me in with stinky running clothes [Laughs].

Pritam stops at a shop close to Dal Lake and buys and quickly guzzles a 500 ml bottle of Sprite. He then stops at a public tap from which water is flowing, and drinks with abandon.

“Feeling much better now,” he says looking at the camera once again. “Just have to” -- pants -- “figure out how to” -- pants -- “plan the route back home”

Interview -- at home: Courtney Dauwalter, one of my favourite runners, talks about being in what she calls the “pain cave”. She says she explores it and even enjoys it. I always thought that I would do the same when I entered it. Be quietly determined, work through it, and even enjoy the view maybe. But on this run, when I entered the pain cave, all I could think of was water [Laughs].

The rest of the run takes two more hours, but only a few minutes on camera. He passes by the Tibetan Children’s Village and the playground where on a building are engraved the letters: “Come to Learn, Go to Serve”.

From there, a path leads him through a forest back to Tushita, where in the Himalayan Tea Shop he buys another Gatorade and a croissant.

THIRST LEVEL: MEDIUM. WATER CONSUMED: 1250 ML
HUNGER LEVEL: EXTREME. FOOD CONSUMED: ONE CROISSANT
TOTAL PLASTIC CONSUMPTION: THREE BOTTLES

He reaches the door of his house and looks at his watch, then runs a few loops of the path next to home.

“That was just to make it 42 km”, he looks at the camera and smiles.

Interview -- at home: So many people have told me that running is all in the mind. I agree, but to have a strong mind, you have to drink water and eat food. Only if you do those things can your mind force your body to do the things it’s resisting. So maybe for things to be “all in the mind”, you have to feed your body first.

[Laughs]

DISTANCE: 42.06 KM. ELEVATION GAIN: 1919 M. TIME TAKEN: 8h43m

Camera zooms out from Pritam’s dining table to show his house, the terraced farms, and then pans to show Triund.