Welcome to the Red Stone Ultra course guide. This document is structured the way you'd want a service manual to be structured: section by section, decision by decision, with the reason for each one. The race runs through Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Karnataka, in December. The course threads ruins, boulder fields, river paths, and open trail. Your job is to finish well. Our job, here, is to give you the operating manual.
Below, you will find the course broken into segments, the terrain considerations for each, the pacing logic, the aid-station strategy, and the kit list. Read it twice. Bookmark the parts that apply to you. Then build your plan.
Section 1: The course at a glance
The Red Stone Ultra in Hampi is a heritage ultra, run through landscape that is half ancient and half geological. The terrain is mixed: dirt trail, granite slabs, riverside path, and short paved stretches. December weather in northern Karnataka is dry, cool in the morning, warm by midday. The cumulative challenge is not a single hill or a single climate. It is the combination, layered across the distance.
What makes Hampi different
Most Indian ultras are either hill ultras or coastal ultras. Hampi is neither. The terrain is undulating granite landscape with a low background elevation, and the visual environment is unlike any other Indian race. You will run past Vijayanagara-era ruins, past temple complexes, past boulder fields the colour of red iron. This is not a course you race purely on the watch. It is a course you race partially on your eyes.
Section 2: Course segments and pacing logic
For the purposes of pacing, divide the course into four functional segments. The exact kilometre markers depend on the year's route, but the logic applies regardless.
Segment A: The opening
Function: warm-up and pacing discipline.
What to do: Run two effort zones below your goal pace. Let the field spread out. Use this segment to establish your fuelling rhythm and your hydration rhythm. Goal: arrive at the end of this segment feeling like you have not yet started racing.
Common error: Going out too fast because the temperature is cool and the trail is forgiving. Resist it.
Segment B: The early middle
Function: settling into goal effort.
What to do: Lock into your goal heart-rate or effort zone. Begin your structured fuelling: gel or solid every 30 to 40 minutes, water at every aid station, salt at the half-hour mark.
Common error: Pace creep. When you feel good in segment B, the temptation is to push. The Red Stone Ultra rewards patience here.
Segment C: The hard middle
Function: maintenance under fatigue.
What to do: Hold form. Shorten your stride if you feel your turnover drop. Walk the steeper rocky pitches deliberately. Check in with your stomach every 20 minutes; correct early if anything feels off.
Common error: Ignoring small signals. A mild stomach feeling at kilometre 25 is a major stomach problem at kilometre 35 if you skip the fix.
Segment D: The closing
Function: controlled push.
What to do: If you've executed segments A through C, you'll have something left. Spend it carefully. Pick a runner ahead and reel them in. Keep cadence high. Trust the work.
Common error: Going to the well too soon. The last 5 km are not the place to test your maximum effort. The last 1 km is.
Section 3: Terrain handling
Hampi's terrain is the X-factor of this race. Each surface type has a specific handling protocol.
Granite slabs
Short steps, eyes one to two metres ahead, foot strikes flat rather than on the ball. Granite is grippy when dry, slick when wet (rare in December), and unforgiving on slips. Don't run granite at full pace. Run it at controlled pace.
Dirt trail
Your default surface. Normal trail running technique. Stay alert to small rocks; a turned ankle here ends the race.
Boulder-field segments
Walk. Always walk. The seconds you'd save by jogging through a boulder section are erased ten-fold by the time you take to recover if you fall. Use your hands on the bigger boulders. Move efficiently.
Paved stretches
If the course includes paved village or road sections, use these to drink, refuel, and find a pacing rhythm. Don't push on pavement; save the pace work for soft surfaces where it costs you less.
Section 4: Aid station protocol
Treat each aid station as a structured stop, not a free-form break. The recommended protocol:
1. Refill flasks first. Hydration is the non-negotiable.
2. Eat second. Take only what you have practised in training.
3. Reapply anti-chafe if needed. The seconds spent here save the kilometres later.
4. Move on within 2 minutes for shorter races and 4 minutes for the long format. Sitting kills more ultras than hills do.
What to eat
Bananas, salted boiled potatoes, biscuits, and oranges are typical at Indian ultra aid stations. Hot tea is often available and is a welcome intervention in the cooler hours. Avoid anything you have not trained on. New foods at kilometre 30 create avoidable problems.
Section 5: Climate considerations
December in Hampi is dry, with cool dawns and warm afternoons. The temperature swing across the day can exceed 15 degrees. Plan for both extremes.
Morning kit
Long-sleeve technical layer, optional buff, gloves if your hands run cold. By kilometre 5 you'll likely shed the long sleeve, so use a layer you can stash in your vest or hand off at an aid station.
Midday adaptation
Apply sunscreen at the start and reapply at the halfway aid station. Use a cap or visor. Run the warmer hours at one effort zone below your goal effort, and reclaim the time in the cooler late-day kilometres. The longer treatment of climate strategy lives in our Indian heat and monsoon guide.
Section 6: Hydration and fuelling protocol
The structured protocol that works for most ultras at Red Stone:
Pre-race: 500 ml water with electrolytes 90 minutes before start. 200 ml 30 minutes before start. Stop drinking 15 minutes before to avoid bathroom stops in the first kilometre.
In-race: 150 to 200 ml per aid station, every 5 to 8 km depending on the race layout. One gel or solid every 30 to 40 minutes. One salt capsule per hour after the first hour, more if you are a heavy sweater.
Post-race: 500 ml water with electrolytes in the first 30 minutes. Carbohydrate-and-protein meal within 90 minutes. Sodium-rich snacks across the rest of the day.
Section 7: Kit list
The minimum viable kit for the Red Stone Ultra:
Trail-rated shoes broken in over at least eight long runs. Hydration vest with two soft flasks (500 ml each minimum). Headlamp if your finish time crosses sunset. Two pairs of socks if you are running the long format. Cap or visor. Sunglasses with a strap. Anti-chafe balm. Salt tablets. Gels or solid food in quantities you have trained on. A small first-aid item (bandage, tape). Phone in a waterproof pouch. Whistle if the race mandates it. Bib clearly attached to your vest, not your shirt.
Section 8: Training shortcuts (there aren't any)
This is a service-design document. The temptation in a course guide is to imply that the right kit and the right protocol will substitute for training. They won't. The Red Stone Ultra is finished by runners who put the long-run hours in. For a structured frame, our ultramarathon training plans are a starting point. For a custom plan built around your hours and your goal, use the STRIDD plan generator.
Section 9: Next steps
Read the official Red Stone Ultra event page for race-year specifics: distance options, start times, cut-offs, and registration. Use the calculator suite to convert your recent training paces into a Red Stone goal pace and a target finish time. Browse the Running Lab for race-day checklists, pacing strategies, and recovery protocols.
This course is among the more visually striking ultras in India. The ruins, the boulders, the temple silhouettes at sunrise — they reward the runner who is present enough to see them. The protocol gets you to the finish line. The presence lets you remember the day.