Team Motiv8 athlete Amrita Purkayastha recently ran the Border Ultra 100K, a tough desert race which starts in ultra-hot weather conditions at 12 noon. The heat turns into biting cold as the sun sets over the desert requiring athletes to adjust to the other extreme of weather. Braving such weather insults, Amrita completed the 100K race in a time of 13h:27m, standing 2nd overall in the women’s category.

Here is what Amrita had to say about this uniquely challenging race:

What was the most difficult thing you faced during training?

Managing long working hours and then managing high mileage weeks was a big task. Striking a balance between work and training was the most difficult thing I faced along with few bouts of health issues. I have done many of my long runs at odd hours making sure that I don’t miss out on runs and manage the runs whenever possible.

How did you keep yourself motivated during training?

I actually dreamt of running a 100km when I finished my first Full Marathon in Dec 2021 and I was so determined that I will have to do it irrespective of all the struggles that I may have to face during the training cycle. Whenever I used to feel low, I used to think about the finish line and that instantly gave me the motivation and boost to work towards it.

What was the most difficult thing you faced on race day?

I had two major issues on race day:
1. Before leaving for the race I had a bout of bad cold and cough, and that affected my nutrition and hydration plan. I couldn’t consume more than 3 gels and not even banana and oranges as it was giving me instant coughing issues. So I had to stick to just electrol water and some potato which for sure effected my energy levels I wished to maintain in my run.
2. Post 70km I wanted to take walk breaks however since I choose carbon plated shoes I couldn’t enjoy walk breaks much and had to stick to running throughout the distance with a bad plantar pain.

What was your first though and feeling after the finish?

In the end when I crossed the finish line every issues and niggles vanished. I was so so happy that I could finally live my dream of running a 100km and finishing it with a podium finish was just perfect. But honestly, the immediate thought was to next do the 100 miler race on the same route. I realized that if one works hard enough nothing is unachievable.