SEGMENT 1: FIRST 50 | 50 KM – 08 HOURS
THE BORDER is the only point-A-to-point-B hundred-mile road race in India. The race starts at an indoor stadium in Jaisalmer City, in the middle of the day. With an overhead sun, the runners are prone to malpractices in maintaining proper hydration and nutrition by the time they leave the outskirts of the city through Chhatrail. At Chhatrail Village, historically, the children of the village have made it a tradition to come cheer for the runners of The Border. After about 12-kilometres of the race, the magnificent windmills of Jaisalmer start showing up, and they go on to accompany the runners for a good deal of the next 25 kilometres of the race. Around the 40th KM stretch, the runners also face some patches of sand on the road. It’s just around the U-turn near Siyambar Lake that the 50K Aid Station will have timing mats. By now, the runners have been tested by the higher extremes of the desert temperature, strong headwinds, traffic on the road, and seldom-seen civilization after the city.
SEGMENT 2: TO THE ASUTAR HALT | 100 KM – 16 HOURS
The evening sun between 50 – 60 km is magnificent and marks a smooth transition of the race from day to darkness. The next fifty kilometres of the race expose the runners to the early lower extremes of night temperatures. There will be almost no signs of civilization, except for occasional encounters with dogs and cattle. At Aid Station No. 6, runners prepare themselves for the desert night ahead. This Aid station offers full-course meals.
The wilderness through the 70–100-kilometer stretch tests the patience and endurance of the runners. A runner reaches the aid station at Asutar to be welcomed with light snacks, tea, coffee, and refreshments. The ones who go on to endure a little more of the night get to see the morning on the roads to Laungewala—the border!
SEGMENT 3 – THE ROAD TO BORDER | 160 KM – 28 HOURS
The entire course of the Laungewala Battle is an embodiment of human endurance, will to survive and answer the enemy at hand with a victory lap. During the night of the battle, the Indian Defence survived through the night to see the day light – when Indian Air Force exploited their might to destroy the enemy like sitting ducks.
After the Asutar Halt, and refuelling themselves at the AID STATION at 130KM, Runners who see through the night onwards get to experience their run through the extreme ends of Indian Borders through Gamnewala and reach Laungewala. The last 40 KM stretch of the route has got rolling elevation changes and often troubles the runners with sand in their eyes. A the Laungewla War Memorial, the race finishes while the runners dedicate their effort and pay tribute to the supreme sacrifices of Indian armed forces.
