{"id":1704,"date":"2015-09-17T10:30:01","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goheritagerun.com\/?p=1704"},"modified":"2020-03-12T11:37:26","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T06:07:26","slug":"badami-run-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goheritagerun.com\/badami-run-report\/","title":{"rendered":"GHR Badami 2015 Run Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of our goals at Go Heritage Runs is to draw attention to heritage towns\u00a0that are often under-appreciated or under the radar of heritage, travel and fitness enthusiasts. This is why, while we\u2019ve done runs at the UNESCO World Heritage sites in\u00a0Hampi <\/a>and Ooty<\/a> in the recent past, we\u2019ve also planned run vacations at destinations like Bidar<\/a> and Warangal<\/a>.\u00a0Badami, a town in North Karnataka is another such example. The town was capital of the Badami Chalukyas for over two hundred years and has some spectacular rock-cut temples dating back to the 6th century. As recently as January 2015, Badami was also identified as a heritage city under India\u2019s HRIDAY<\/a> (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana) scheme. Badami is also situated 21kms away from Pattadakal<\/a>, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All in all, Badami checked a lot of boxes so planning a run there was quite a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

Preparation and Route Reconnaissance
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Preparation for Go Heritage Run – Badami began in July when we consulted\u00a0with Mr. K.S. Raykar, Executive Director of the Indian Heritage Cities Network<\/a>. Mr. Raykar has been a long-time supporter of Go Heritage Runs and IHCN is the anchor agency for the HRIDAY projects in Bidar so they were perfect partners for the\u00a0run.\u00a0In mid-August, right after the Historic Hyderabad Run<\/a>, we made a trip to Badami to validate some of the run route options we\u2019d mapped out online<\/a>. We were happy to discover\u00a0that this run route was going to be a particularly scenic rocky trail \u2013 one that traversed temples, cliffs, jowar fields, a lake and a fort. We undertook the route recce one rainy Friday evening and were rewarded midway with the appearance of a perfect rainbow!<\/p>\n

\"Badami<\/a>
A rainbow greeted us on the route recce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During this trip, we also spoke to local artisans to plan out our runner finisher medals. We initially considered medals incorporating local Kasuti <\/a>embroidery but eventually\u00a0settled on medals made of granite with a design etched into them. Badami is well known for its rocky landscapes after all!<\/p>\n

Promotion<\/h2>\n

With the 5K, 10K and 21K run routes validated, we set about spreading the word about the run. We launched registrations and made sure our friends in running groups across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Goa heard about it. We also got the word out at the 5th Airtel Hyderabad Marathon<\/a> and Tri Thonnur<\/a> in the weeks leading up to the run. As is our standard practice, we made sure we wrote extensively about Badami’s history and heritage at our blog. Our in-house designer, Harini Kannan, spent a lot of thought on the design of the finisher T-shirt and we made sure to share sneak peeks of the T-shirt with the Go Heritage Runs community. The T-shirt had a\u00a0beautiful, minimal design incorporating elements from the Badami region into a symbol every runner will recognize easily \u2013 a shoe! Look closely and you will find these individual elements stand out quite clearly. The most apparent feature in the design is of course the rocky landscape of Badami. The shoe lace eyelets are represented by a stitch design used in Kasuti Embroidery.\u00a0To encourage local participation, we also set up promotional signage at key points around Badami town.<\/p>\n

\"GHR<\/a>
GHR Badami T-shirt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The Question of Signage<\/h2>\n

Direction and distance signage on the trail route posed a unique challenge. At earlier runs, we\u2019ve used flex signage\u00a0hung from trees that are easy to setup, remove and reuse in further runs. Given the nature of the trail and the lack of trees alongside the path, we needed a different signage solution. We finally settled on election yard signs \u2013 those that are quite a common sight in the US. This Hillary 2016<\/a> sign in particular served as inspiration. India exports signage such as these (commercial name: Coroplast) to the US and it wasn\u2019t hard to find a supplier, albeit one in Gujarat. Since our supplier wasn\u2019t able to procure\u00a0the steel base though, while setting up the route, we improvised and used wooden stakes that we drove into the ground, or set in place with rock.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This signage served as inspiration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Signage we ended up using (see right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The Event<\/h2>\n

On Sunday, nearly 150 participants from across South India descended upon the Start Point – the Archaeological Museum at Badami and ran the trail route\u00a0from the North Fort to the Mahakuta temple and back. At that early hour, it was interesting to note that the Mahakuta Temple was bustling with activity – and some of our runners chose to\u00a0jump into the temple pool before making their way back to the finish point. All the finishers received a medal made of granite, because, as one of our runners said, Badami rocks!<\/p>\n

\"Post-run<\/a><\/p>\n

Our runs are organized in close coordination with the local administration and Badami was no exception. The district administration and elected representatives from the district were apprised about the plan for a run in advance and their suggestions were incorporated. The District Collector\u00a0Shri P.A. Meghannavar, IAS, Shri P. C. Gaddigoudar (M.P, Bagalkot district) and Shri B B Chimmankatti (M.L.A Badami Assembly Constituency)\u00a0 expressed full support and promised all help in this plan to promote heritage of and tourism to Badami. The Badami Municipal Council CEO Mr. Yelegeri assigned Executive Engineer Mr. Beli to help us with all aspects of the run. The runs were flagged off by\u00a0Shri. Vikas Suralkar (Assistant Commissioner, Bagalkot), Shri Amarawadagi (Tahasildar), Mrs. Gowramma Bevur (Badami Municipal Council President) and Mrs. Naik (Badami Municipal Council Vice-President). The enthusiasm of the authorities can be judged from the fact that we had 3 councillors participate in the run too!<\/p>\n