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SPARTATHLON 2026 – Three Indian Finishers

For the first time two Indian women cross finish line

Sugourav Goswami completes in fastest timing among Indian runners

Spartathlon is a footrace in Greece that commences in Athens and ends in Sparta covering a distance of 246 kilometres. The route traverses through road, trail and mountain path.

The race traces the footsteps of the Greek messenger Pheidippides, who ran from Athens to Sparta to convey the news of the Greek victory over the Persians, at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

Runners have to clear 75 check points along the route, within a stipulated time, including the finish line. They have to finish the 246 km-race within 36 hours.

For the 2026 edition of the race, eight Indian ultrarunners had registered but only three completed.

Sugourav Goswami finished in the fastest timing so far by an Indian runner. Also, for the first time two Indian women participated and completed the race, which was held on September 26 and 27.

So far, 14 Indian runners including Sugourav, Arti Agrawal and Anitha Shivanna Mysore have completed Spartathlon. Others who have completed this iconic race are Kieren D’Souza (2016), Munish Dev, Amit Kumar and Rakesh Kashyap (2022), Jeevendra Singh (2023), Ashok Singh and Shakti Singh (2024) and Pradeep Kumar, Shailesh Kumar, Amit Singla and Pankaj Madaan (2025).

The blog spoke to three of the finishers of Spartathlon 2026.

Sugourav Goswami

One name that often figures in ultrarunning events is that of Sugourav Goswami. The ultrarunner from Uttarakhand has also represented India in ultrarunning events in India as well as overseas.

Sugourav registered for Spartathlon 2026 sometime in February and immediately commenced his training. “I watched a lot of documentaries on Spartathlon on YouTube primarily to get an idea about the route, the location and the terrain. It is a very beautiful route,” he said.

He embarked on a training schedule, drawn up by Santhosh Padmanabhan, Bengaluru-based ultrarunning coach and manager of the Indian ultrarunning team. “The training went off very well. As I stay in Haldwani, I could do a lot of hill runs. There are many rolling hills in and around Haldwani,” he said.

Sugourav had set a target of completing the 246-kilometre long Spartathlon in under 24 hours. Until then the fastest Indian finisher had completed the race in a little over 30 hours.

“The race commenced well and I was running along well. I was ahead of my target. I completed 100 km in 8.5 hours and 100 miles (or 160 km) in 14.5 hours. After that my hip abductor gave up. I had just commenced the uphill trail section. I found it very difficult to keep moving uphill,” he said. The trail section included steep mountain paths. At that point he was able to negotiate the small downhill segments. But after he touched 200 km mark, the downhills also proved extremely difficult. From a fairly good pace of 5.10 per km he had to run at paces of 8 or 9 or sometimes 10 too. He completed the race in 25:56:21 hours, the fastest by an Indian so far in Spartathlon. He finished 16th overall and 15th among male runners.

He crossed the finish line and the hip abductor pain worsened. “The pain was excruciating. “I was screaming in pain and I was also panicking. I was taken to the medical room and given sodium drip and pain killer injections. The severe pain subsided after an hour but I continue to have the residual pain,” Sugourav said.

The fact that he was the fastest Indian so far at Spartathlon was not offering him much comfort as the number of Indian runners at this iconic race is very small. “I am disappointed that I missed my sub-24-hour target”.

The weather, according to him, was quite good. “Heat in Greece is infamous. There was a heat wave until Tuesday (September 22. The race was on September 26). From Wednesday it was raining.

“The rainy weather was a blessing in disguise. I had trained in the rain. Along the route, the food was quite good. It was a very well organised race,” he said.

Arti Agrawal

At the finish line of the 100-mile run at Border Ultra during the 2024 edition, an ultrarunner told Arti Agrawal that she had qualified for Spartathlon. She had finished the 100 miler at Border Ultra in 21:24:27 hours.

She applied for the 2025 edition of Spartathlon but did not get through. For the 2026 edition, she initially did not find her name in the list of runners but after three months she was asked to apply.

“I had already started training under Kieren D’Souza for trail running. I wanted to do all kinds of ultra, not merely road running but attempt other terrain too,” she said. As Kieren was the first Indian runner to attempt and complete Spartathlon, Arti decided to continue her training under him.

“I realised that I did not have adequate time for training. I therefore decided to take Spartathlon as it comes,” Arti said. Nevertheless, she trained very well in the limited period, focussing also on her nutrition, hydration, supplements and rest alongside a full-time job.

“I was very happy with my training. I had a niggling knee issue but that did not trouble me during my training,” she said.

Runners were vigilant about the weather situation in Greece in the run up to the race. “Spartathlon is a fast-paced race. There are 75 cut-offs including the finish line. There were rains at the start of the race. Noone expected rains. I had no hopes I would complete the race. But I decided to take one cutoff at a time,” she said.

The trail segment was not easy. “But I was not overwhelmed by the trail because of my training under Kieren,” she said. As the kilometres went by the fatigue started building up. She also started hallucinating. Meeting runners along the route who were quitting the race made it tough too.

“I was constantly focussed on the cutoffs and did not even notice the kilometres I had covered. At around 200 km mark onwards, I started pushing hard. But with 7 km left to go, I felt an ankle injury and had to limp to the finish line,” she said. She finished the run in 35:18:44 hours.

To run Spartathlon, one needs a very strong mind and robust speed endurance, she said. “It is quite inspiring to see so many people pushing in the race. It is a life changing event,” she said.

Anitha Shivanna Mysore

The Mysore-based Anitha Shivanna took to recreational running sometime in 2008 when she was staying in Colorado, USA. Her proper foray into running began in 2015 when she had shifted back to Mysore.

“I joined a Mysore runners’ group and started signing up for short distance races,” Anitha said. She was also securing podium positions in some of these races. She went on to do 12-hour stadium runs.

“In 2019, I ran 50 km at Malnad Ultra and finished third among women. My approach to races changed after this event. Subsequently, I only signed up for ultradistance races,” she said.

Anitha had done a number of ultradistance races and most often secured podium positions. These include stadium runs, Malnad Ultra, Ooty Ultra, Ultribe Paderu Ultra, Vagamon Ultrail, Bahubali Ultra, Border 100 miles, Adiyogi Ultra, Banjara Manthan Endurance Run, Bengaluru Backyard Ultra, Hennur Bamboo Ultra and Jawadhu Hill Ultra among others. She has also been a marathon pacer for one of the editions of Tata Mumbai Marathon.

She chalked out a 16-week training plan for Spartathlon and executed it to the best of her ability amidst issues such as peri-menopause leading to a bad stomach-ache.

Her travel to Greece was also fraught with hitches. Initially, she was told by the airlines that she would have to travel by the next day’s flight but that got sorted out after some negotiations. At Athens, there was a delay in arrival of her baggage.

“The race started well and progressed smoothly for me until 100 km point. I started to feel tightness in my left quadriceps. Also, I started having gut issues. I could not hold food and had to reduce intake. At around 148 km mark, at the aid station I got warm chicken soup and that helped,” she said.

But difficulties were far from over. The hilly stretch had commenced and her headlight conked off and she had to depend on other runners’ headlights. Along the route, she was also hallucinating and sleep-walking. “I miscalculated the time left for the last 40 km and started to panic. At 236 km mark I was dizzy but with help from volunteers and consuming some food I regained my energy and made it to the finish line,” she said. Anitha had 2.10 hours to finish the last 10 km.

“My plan was to complete the race in 34.30 hours,” she said. Anitha finished in 35:24:52 hours.

The route was tough and there were many difficulties but Anitha did not feel the need to quit the race at any time. “I feel very lucky to be standing at the start line of Spartathlon and cross the finish line. It was a major experience of my life,” she said.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

(Photo courtesy – runners themselves)

(Inputs from Spartathlon website)

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Sawan Barwal smashes national record to win silver in Asian Games marathon; India’s first medal in 44 years

Sawan Barwal created history at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, when he won the silver medal in the men’s marathon, media reports said. This is the first medal for India in Asian Games men’s marathon in 44 years.

Sawan won the silver medal with a new national record timing of two hours, 11 minutes and 37 seconds. He broke his own national record of 2:11:58, which he had set in April 2026 at N N Marathon Rotterdam.

At Nagoya, Sawan finished behind Japan’s Ichitaka Yamashita, who won gold with 2:10:49 finish. Peiyou Feng of China took bronze with 2:12:13 finish.

India’s previous medal in Asian Games men’s marathon came in 1982 when Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan won bronze.

Kartik Karkera, the other Indian runner in men’s marathon, finished 17th in the race.

(Photos downloaded from Meta account of Athletics Federation of India)

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Amar Devanda rewrites 100 km national record again at IAU 100 k World Championships

Charlie Lawrence, Courtney Olsen of USA win men’s, women’s individual gold

US wins men’s team gold, Croatia wins women’s team gold

India’s Amar Singh Devanda once again shattered the national record in 100 kilometre run at the IAU 100 km World Championship held in Ames, Spain on September 20, 2026.

He crossed the finish line of the 100 km in six hours, 49 minutes and 17 seconds, smashing his own national record of 6:59:37 hours set at the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships held in November 2025 in Thailand. IAU is International Association of Ultrarunners.

Team India with Nadeem Khan, IAU President (centre)

At the Spain Championships, Amar finished in 23rd position among individual men, as per information on IAU website.

Amar Devanda with Santhosh Padmanabhan, India team manager and coach

Amar also holds the national record (282.881 km) for 24 hour run.

Amar said he adopted a conservative approach. “Initially, I found the run tough but my training helped me to do well,” he said. The fatigue of the IAU 24 hour run held in Japan in May this year did weigh down on him, he pointed out.

Amar Devanda with Nadeem Khan, IAU President

Among Indian runners, Geeno Antony finished in 7:17:58, a 10-minute improvement in his personal timing. Babu Gyan finished the run in 7:34:12. Saurav Kuman Ranjan had to drop out of the race due to illness.

“My training could have been better. Nevertheless, I managed to do a few ultra long runs,” Geeno told this blog. The run was tough because the weather was quite warm and the elevation along the 5 km loop was challenging, he said.

Geeno Antony (photo from another running event)

Individual performance

In the individual performance, Charlie Lawrence of the US won the men’s race with a timing of 6:09:25. World Record holder Aleksandr Sorokin of Lithuania finished with the silver with a timing of 6:12:41 and Alex Milne of Great Britain won the bronze with a timing of 6:17:50.

In the women’s individual performance Courtney Olsen of USA won gold with a finish of 7:10:31. Miho Nakata of Japan, who once held the national record, finished in 7:11:57 securing the silver and Gemma Alcazar won bronze with her finish of 7:17:50.

Team Performance

USA won the men’s team gold, Great Britain silver and France bronze. In the women’s team performance, Croatia won gold, Spain silver and Finland bronze.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

(Inputs courtesy –  IAU website)

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Ashwini Bhat – Unravelling the ultra trail running experience

First Indian woman runner to complete Grandmaster Quest of Asian Trail Master

In May 2026 Bengaluru-based Ashwini Ganapathi Bhat stepped into unchartered territory to became the first Indian woman runner to complete the Grandmaster Quest of the Asian Trail Master.

The Grandmaster Quest entails running six races from the Asian Trail Master calendar that is of minimum 70 kilometres or has an elevation gain of at least 4,500 metres. The quest has to be completed within two years of the first race. One of the races has to be outside the resident country of the runner.

Ashwini has been into ultrarunning for several years. She has secured podium positions in many of the races that she has participated. She holds the national record for the maximum distance in backyard ultra. In 2025, she ran the Bengaluru BigFoot Backyard Ultra for 28 hours notching up a total mileage of 187.6 km, surpassing the previous national best of 180.9 km set by Aparna Choudhary. (For more on this follow this link https://shyamgopan.com/2025/06/03/backyard-ultra-opendro-wins-ashwini-sets-a-new-national-best/).

Ashwini is in the process of figuring out trail running. “Being out there with nature is my life’s calling. I have done many road and stadium ultras but I don’t think I have enjoyed as much in a trail run,” she said.

The joy, according to her, of running a trail race is pristine pure. “Trail running humbles us. We have to climb a hill if it is a part of the route. Mountains don’t care what background we come from,” she said.

Ashwini is not focussed on performance metrics.

She describes trail running as both humbling and equalising. “Mountains don’t care about your background. You climb because the route demands it,” she said.

Ashwini came across the concept of the Grandmaster Quest at the Asian Trail Masters a few years ago while volunteering at Malnad Ultra. The initial curiosity soon gave way to serious planning. She attempted one of the races and decided to follow them through to complete the Quest.

Silabur Ultra Trail at Sarawak, Malaysia on May 4, 2024 – 100 km with 1,800 metres elevation gain

Ashwini finished 6th among 31 women and 17th overall of 120 starters. Completed the race in 19:15 hours against the cut-off of 33 hours.

“I landed at the venue three days before the event. Silabur has many caves. The trail route took us through deep jungles and two caves. I was very much looking forward to new landscapes and experiences hiking through new terrain,” she said. At around 60 km mark, the route turns back for another 40 km to the finish line. At this point runners get access to their drop bags. “It rained when I was at around 60 km. I changed my clothes and set out to finish the remaining 40 km,” she said.

One of the biggest challenges was the weather – hot and humid. The race, originally slated to start at 10 am, commenced at 10:30 am because of the delay in checking runners’ mandatory gear by the officials of the event. Runners were mandated to carry a few items including head lamp, collapsible drinking cup, blinker lights and about 600 calories of food.

“I reached the start line at 8 am. Waiting for the race to commence, I was completely drenched in sweat,” she said.

The route wound through huge sections of palm plantations with gravel and not a trail path. “That is always the hardest for me in a trail ultra. They are gnarly and we had 10 km of that from around the second or the third kilometre,” she said. Ashwini managed to chug along until the 60th km, when she changed her clothes but did not change her shoes. “That decision came to bite me later. I ended up with blisters in my feet. It also started raining and we had to navigate through a couple of streams in the dark. This race taught me that I have to take care of everything, including my feet too and early before things got out of control,” she said.

The last 15 km of this race was an ordeal due to the blisters. “I had nothing in my bag to take care of the blisters. That’s how inexperienced I was,” she said.

When interviewed by Kris Van De Velde, founder of Asian Trail Master, before the start of the race, about her goal for the race, Ashwini said she is here to enjoy the race and finish it strong with no major issues.

This race had a couple of intermediate cut-offs. Malaysia and Indonesia have a huge number of trail races and fairly large participation of recreational trail runners. Malaysian races have lenient cut-offs, Ashwini pointed out.

Being a vegetarian, Ashwini has to ensure that she has food with herself as most aid stations offer warm non-vegetarian food along with a selection of fruits and electrolyte drinks. “I mostly rely on gels. About 75 percent of my fuel is gels. I do carry dates, chips, salted peanuts and chocolates,” she said.

Also, one has to work around electrolyte drinks in training itself as electrolyte drink offered at aid stations may not necessary suit every runner.

This was Ashwini’s second international run, the first one being the 60 km Everest Ultra in 2022.The event entails first hiking up to the Everest Base Camp and then do the run with an overall elevation gain of 2,200 metres. She was the only finisher among 19 runners that year.

Bali Mountain Marathon (previously Bali Ultra Trail) at Bali, Indonesia on August 3, 2024 – 80 km with 4,600 meters elevation gain

Ashwini finished fourth among 20 women and 14th overall. Completed the race in 17:18 hours against the cut-off of 23 hours

The race was held in one of the most picturesque islands in Bali. “We were actually inside a crater and within that a mountain that we needed to circumvent as part of the route,” Ashwini said.

“It was a breathtaking experience. We had to start from the edge of the crater, go inside the crater, climb a mountain and then get down on the other side and go to the end of island to hit the ocean and come back,” she said.

The biggest challenge in this race was the terrain. “It had a lot of volcanic scree and sandy stretches. Also, it was hotter and more humid than Malaysia. Of the 80 km stretch, about 5 km had tree cover, rest of the route was open to the skies,” she said.

While doing this race, Ashwini realised that she needs to put in some systematic training to improve her performance. In September 2024, she joined Invictus Performance Lab.

“Trail running really tests the body. In trail running, one places excess load on one side because of the terrain. Therefore, unilateral training for those joints is important for trail running,” she said.

Ashwini believes that the strength training and experimentation with nutrition and hydration with the help of Invictus has benefited her immensely.  

“All the races that I do involve several hours. Even the shortest ones require 17 to 18 hours. At Invictus, I am given inputs on what kind of fuels I should try,” she said.

Deep Japan Ultra at Niigata, Japan on June 27, 2025 – 174 km with 9,300 metre elevation gain

Ashwini finished 10th among 12 women and 60th among 126 starters. Completed the race in 45:43 hours against the 46-hour cut-off

In January 2025, Ashwini signed up for a 100-miler trail run in the US. She travelled to California and ran 81 km of the race but the event was cancelled thereafter because of a storm.

The Japan ultra trail became Ashwini’s first 100 miler in trail.

“It was the hardest race I have done so far. It was brutal. We had to climb three different mountains with 9,300 metres of elevation gain. The terrain was quite technical. There were snow patches in one of the mountains that we had to climb it from three different directions,” she said.

The downhill paths were slippery and rocky, with tree roots sticking out everywhere. “In some sections, we even had to use ropes to get down, which made me question if this was trail running at all,” she said.

This race had eight intermediate cut-offs and a final cut-off of 46 hours. “In the initial part of the race, I was chasing the cut-offs. I was well ahead of time in the first five cut-offs,” she said.

At the end of about 28 hours, Ashwini was not able to consume any food. “I was quite exhausted and my energy levels were declining because I wasn’t able to eat anything. It was quite warm. I did contemplate quitting the race twice. But when we are on a mountain we can’t quit. We have to get to an aid station to quit,” she said.

Sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and the sheer magnitude of the climbs started to take a toll.

At that point, she was heading into the longest stretch of the race, with the next aid station 27 kilometres away. Knowing what lay ahead, she had filled her soft flasks & hydration bladder to the brim, carrying 2.5 litres of water, aware she would need every drop to get through the next six to seven hours.

Because it was a long race, the organisers had mandated that runners also carry a satellite phone, tracking device and a power bank to charge these devices periodically. These were in addition to the other mandatory gear that runners were required to carry. Ashwini was carrying nearly 6 kgs in her running vest apart from her own race nutrition.

“For about 5 to 6 hours I kept going. My plan was to go to an aid station and quit the race. It was really the defining moment of my entire running life. Questions started cropping up in my mind, “how badly do I want it?”. The fact that my husband was going to be at the finish line helped me stay focussed on the race,” she said.

She did not give up and finished the race 17 minutes before the cut-off. She was the first non-Japanese finisher that year. With this race, she also became the first Indian women to complete a single stage 100 miler trace race.

The Most Beautiful Thing at Sabah, Malaysia on August 30, 2025 – 109 km with 5,500 meters elevation gain

Ashwini finished second among 66 women and 14th among 279 starters. Completed in 21:18 hours against the cut-off of 33 hours

The event is called The Most Beautiful Thing as the route circumnavigates the highest mountain of Malaysia & Borneo – Mount Kinabalu. Sabah’s jungles promised heat, humidity, relentless climbs, and technical descents.

Yet, as Ashwini lined up for the 5 am start, things felt different this time.

In the initial part of the race Ashwini enjoyed the scenic moments capturing many photos and videos of the route. She was almost at the end of the pack of runners. At 60 km point, she changed into fresh clothes and had her food. At the next aid station she was told that she was in the 8th position among women. “I had another 35 km to go. It was 9 pm and I feel good running at night. I started running and as I went along I was overtaking many runners. Around 86 km mark I saw one female runner. Keeping her as a target I continued along,” she said.

At the last aid station with just 11 km to go, Ashwini realised that she had come up to second position among women. “The remaining 11 km was completely uphill. I just power hiked my way to the finish. The woman I was tracking finished 35 minutes ahead of me,” said Ashwini.

“This race helped me realise that I have the potential to do well. I felt confident,” she said. She finished in a little over 21 hours against the cut-off of 33 hours.

Vietnam Trail Marathon at Mộc Châu, Vietnam on January 31, 2026 – 70 km with 2,900 metres elevation gain

Ashwini finished 14th among 60 women and 69th among 535 starters. Completed the race in 10:21 hours against the cut-off of 18 hours.

In January 2026, a couple of weeks ahead of the Vietnam race, Ashwini ran the 90 km race of Vagamon Ultrail in Kerala as a practice run. “I decided to use Vagamon as a good training run considering it was of similar distance and elevation to the Vietnam event. But at 10 km point in the race, I twisted my right ankle. It was painful and I limped along for about a kilometre,” she said.

At the aid station she checked her foot and decided to continue the race. Her right ankle had swelled up but she felt no pain.

In the weeks leading up to Vietnam, she cut back her running to about 20 km a week. Instead, she spent time on the stationary bike and followed the plan set by her physio at Invictus. With rehab, support, and some help from taping, she made it to the start line feeling stronger, even if she knew she might not be at her best.

The Vietnam race was the shortest she had done in the Asian Trail Master series so far. The race was held in Mộc Châu. The route winds through jungles and small villages, with locals cheering along the way.

“It was the most scenic race I have done,” she says.

Merapoh Rainforest Trail at Pahang, Malaysia on May 1, 2026 – 164 km with 3,700 metres elevation gain

Ashwini finished second among 27 women and 5th overall among 146 starters. Completed in 28:33 hours against the cut-off of 42 hours

“This race was a long one but it did not have much of elevation gain. There was a lot of water crossing, including a 3 km river crossing and many caves, some with water,” Ashwini said.

The challenge was managing the feet during this race. “I experimented with many things for my feet. Finally, I hit upon baby diaper cream, which has zinc oxide. It does act as a water repellent. I had to change socks many times, change shoes once,” she said.

Of the six trail races that Ashwini did for the Grandmaster Quest, this particular one was her least favourite. But performance-wise, it turned out to be her strongest.

From the Japan 100-miler to the Merapoh 100-miler, her final four Asian Trail Master races were supported by Tekion, an automotive retail technology company. Ashwini says that this backing allowed her to train with intent, recover better, and truly show up as an athlete.

Choosing Trail Running

Trail running, according to her, is always offering something new. “Every race, every distance, every terrain, even the weather, brings a different experience. No matter how much you think you have learnt, there is always an element of uncertainty. That is what draws me in,” she said.

Being out there in nature, in its rawest form, is a gratifying experience. “Every run brings the same joy, curiosity and awe that I felt the very first time,” she said.

And today, she hopes more people find their way to a sport that has changed her life.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

(Photo courtesy – Ashwini )

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IAU 24 Hr Asia & Oceania Championships Japan – A Haul of Medals for India

At the recent IAU 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championships held at Hirosaki, Japan, Indian team put up their best performance so far and finished with a haul of five medals – 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze.

Tenzin Dolma and Amar Singh Devanda shattered the individual national records in men’s and women’s 24-hour running.

In the women’s run, Tenzin Dolma set a new national record of 228.939 kilometres, surpassing the previous record of 217.327 km set by Sunita Subba in France in 2025. Tenzin finished in the fourth position among women runners.

In the men’s event Amar broke his own national record of 272.537 km set in April 2024, to set a new national record of 282.881 km. He also won the individual gold medal.

Indian men swept the individual podium positions winning the gold, silver and the bronze medals. Geeno Antony secured silver medal with a distance of 272.894 km and Saurav Ranjan the bronze with a distance of 260.058 km.

With a combined distance of 815.833 km, the Indian men finished with a team gold.

The women’s team from India secured the bronze medal with a total distance of 667.722 km (The total of the first three leading runners of a country is considered for the ranking as per the rules of IAU).

The blog spoke to all the 11 athletes and their coach Santhosh Padmanabhan.

Santhosh Padmanabhan – Coach and Manager Indian Ultrarunning Team

The stupendous improvement in the Indian team’s performance at international ultrarunning events is primarily due to the shift in the team camaraderie, says Santhosh Padmanabhan, official coach and manager of the Indian ultrarunning team in all of the IAU ultra running events that India is part of.

“From competing with each other to now running as a team the shift in the camaraderie among the team members has made a huge difference. Now, as a team we are doing well and not merely focussing on individual performances,” he said. This, in turn, has led to a collective improvement in the performances of each of the athletes.

“Of the 11 athletes, eight of them got their personal bests,” he said.

Over time, he along with the team of runners and crew have figured out the hydration and nutrition requirements for ultrarunning events. “We have realised that hydration and nutrition cannot be mono-dimensional. One can’t sustain on one fixed formula. We should be ready to shift options,” he said.

Santhosh Padmanabhan with Sugourav Goswami (Photo from a previous race)

This time around the team worked with a nutritionist, Sonali Sahoo. “We analysed everything, created a cheat sheet and listed out the possible challenges and the strategies to overcome these,” Santhosh said.

The crew, comprising nutritionist Sonali, Crew Gorkha Ram, Assistant Coach, Hemant Kumar and Physiotherapist Aashish Kushwaha, was present throughout the training program including travelling to destinations, Santhosh said.

Going ahead, there is abundant potential to explore among Indian ultrarunners and at the same time a lot of learnings from each of the ultrarunning events, he said.

Tenzin Dolma

At Hirosaki, Tenzin Dolma shattered the national record in 24-hour running by a huge margin.

At the end of the stipulated 24-hour period, Tenzin’s mileage tally was 228.939 km, surpassing the previous national record for women by more than 11 km. She finished fourth among women runners.

Tenzin Dolma was part of the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships in November 2025. She had secured a silver medal in the women’s race with a timing of 9:18:49.

“I did my training for Japan in Manali where I stay. Because of the undulating terrain here, I was not able to put in speed work in my running,” she said. Also, she was not able to fulfil Santhosh’s training plan fully. Her strength training also fell short.

Standing at the start line in Hirosaki, Tenzin did have an injury around the knee.

“But the hydration and nutrition support during the run worked out very well,” said the 40-year-old ultrarunner.

Her post-run recovery has been good. Tenzin believes she can improve further in 24 hour runs. “I could have done better if I had trained well and had no injury,” she said.

Sunita Subba

The Darjeeling-based ultrarunner, Sunita Subba, who represented India at the 2025 IAU 24 Hour World Championships, France, and set a new national record, fell short in her training plan for the Japan championships.

“Santhosh Sir’s training plan was excellent but I could not follow it fully. My son had his 12th exams and I had to pay attention to him,” she said. She came down to Bengaluru from Darjeeling to be part of the training team but had to return home in a short while. At Albi, France, Sunita had set a new national record in 24-hour running to 217.327 km.

At Hirosaki, Sunita commenced her 24-hour race in her new pair of shoes that she purchased in Japan. That did lead to some discomfort. “After 14 hours of run, I got back into my old pair of shoes and I was much better off. I did have some gut issues and had to take many toilet breaks,” Sunita said. She surpassed her national record mark to cover a distance of 224.237 km, a new personal best and fifth position among women runners.

“After the run, I did not feel as tired as last time. The nutritionist’s (Sonali) recommendation to start consuming solid foods from the second hour itself helped, I think,” Sunita said.

Amar Singh Devanda

Ultrarunner Amar Singh Devanda has been rewriting national records in two categories – 100 km run and 24-hour run – for the last few years.

At present, he holds the national records in both these events.

At Hirosaki, Amar surpassed his own record in 24-hour run by a huge margin. He covered a distance of 282.881, up from his previous record of 272.537 km. He believes he has the potential to take it up further.

This time around, training was for a shorter period. Nevertheless, he covered a distance of 200 km weekly in training.

Many factors helped this time – mileage in training, the weather on race day, well-planned nutrition and hydration support and great team spirit.

“I was confident going into the race, both mentally and strength wise,” Amar said.

His recovery post-race has also been quite good. “After a few days’ break, we may commence our training for the IAU 100 km World Championships to be held in Spain later this year,” Amar said.

Geeno Antony

At the 2025 IAU 24 Hour World Championships, Geeno Antony topped among Indian men and also secured 10th position among the men.

He had covered a distance of 265.198 km during the stipulated 24 hours. He attributes his performance in Albi to the rigorous training schedule chalked out by the team coach Santhosh.

Geeno was able to adhere to the stringent training for the Japan championships too. “With so much of training, solutions are also easy to find,” he said.

Weather, according to him, was largely pleasant. “At the start of the race, it was sunny but then cooled down after sun went down,” Geeno said.

“It was clear that there was team work this time around. That really helped everybody’s performance,” he said. The crew’s support was also excellent. He was assigned Gorkha Ram as his crew. Gorkha Ram from IAF is also an ultrarunner.

Geeno covered a distance of 272.894 km, briefly surpassing the previous national record, and securing a silver medal in individual men’s race.

Saurav Kumar Ranjan

Saurav Ranjan has represented India in many IAU organised ultrarunning events.

“This time around my training went off quite well and I was able to execute all the runs including the long ones to the best of my ability,” he said. Saurav is currently posted in Bengaluru from Indian Air Force. At Bengaluru, he trained with his running compatriots – Geeno Antony and Amar Devanda.

“I did have a clavicular bone injury but I did not feel the pain during the 24-hour run,” he said.

Weather at Hirosaki, Japan, during the 24-hour period of the run was quite conducive for running. “Also, this time around, I avoided too many gels and focused on eating natural food as guided by our nutritionist,” Saurav said.

The 34-year-old ultrarunner covered a distance of 260.058 km, improving his own personal record by 18 km and securing a bronze medal in individual performance.

Aparna Choudhary

Aparna Choudhary was nursing an injury in her foot that she earned during the 338-kilometre run at Vineyard Ultra in February 2026. She completed the distance in 64 hours, an improvement of four hours from her previous attempt in 2025. She finished third overall.

She took time off from running to help the healing process and started training for Japan quite late.

At Japan, she kept running steadily through the 24 hours of the race. “But I kept taking too many toilet breaks as I had gotten cold because of the delay in getting into warm clothes,” she said. Aparna, often prone to gut issues during these ultra runs, was fine this time around. “After 14 to 15 hours, I reduced my food intake,” she said.

Towards the last part of the race, Aparna was quite inclined to give up. “But Bindu’s company helped me. What was amazing that despite her setback, she was goading me to go along and not stop,” Aparna said.

Aparna covered a distance of 214.546 km during the stipulated hours of the race, improving her personal record by 4 km. (For more on Aparna Choudhary follow this link (https://shyamgopan.com/2026/03/09/aparna-choudhary-running-the-ultras/)

Sugourav Goswami

Sugourav Goswami took to ultrarunning a few years ago and has been a regular podium finisher in many of the events.

At the Albi Championships, Sugourav finished second among Indian men.

Sugourav along with the other ultrarunners went through a gruelling training plan for the Albi championships. Training for Hirosaki was not adequate, he said.

“I could feel that I was lacking in strength. Also, I had an injury in my left glute. At times, it was quite painful,” the ultrarunner from Uttarakhand said. According to him, physiotherapist Aashish Kushwaha’s presence in the crewing team was a great help to all the runners.

Up until 16 hours, Sugourav ran alongside Saurav. “After that my energy dropped. I could not maintain my pace,” he said.

“I really struggled in the last eight hours. I was not able to maintain my pace,” he said. He also pointed out that the camaraderie among team mates this time around was quite good and that helped in bettering runners’ performances.

In the intervening hours, Sugourav also sought medical help and crew support for Bindu Juneja, who had collapsed during the run.

Sugourav covered a distance of 250.270 km during the 24 hours, improving his personal record by 5 km and also finishing seventh among men.

Mukesh Kumari

Mukesh Kumar, the Panchkula-based ultrarunner started running a few years ago and quickly moved into ultrarunning.

At the Tuffman 24 Hour Stadium Run in 2022, Mukesh covered a distance of 168 km.

She was also part of the 100 Days of Running, putting up a daily mileage of 30 to 40 km. That helped her build up her endurance.

After she was chosen for the Japan championships, she followed Santhosh’s training plan diligently. “My race at Japan went off very well. The arrangement and the crew support were quite good,” she said.

Mukesh Kumari finished the hours with a mileage of 194.237 km, an improvement of 6 km from her previous 24 hour run.

Velu Perumal

Velu Perumal has been representing India in many of the ultrarunning events for the past few years.

The runner from Indian Army, now in Ooty, had a very good training season, often running with India’s elite marathoners, Gopi Thonakal and Man Singh.

However, his decision to start the run with a new pair of shoes proved to be wrong as his toe nail came off and his toes started bleeding. “At the 13th or 14th hour, I changed into my old shoes but the damage had been done,” Velu said. He had to chug along at a slow pace.

He had set a target of covering 260 km and his training had done justice to that target. He finished with 192.895 km, falling short from his personal best of 234 km.

“I feel quite bad about my performance. I had training very well for four months,” he said.

Though he fell short of mileage, he was asked to run alongside the other runners in the team to keep the momentum going, said Santhosh.

The crew support, according to Velu, was quite good, especially that of the nutritionist.

Shashi Mehta

Shashi Mehta, an officer of the rank of Major from NCC, started running in 2018. Up until now, she has done eight 24-hour runs. She has also represented India in both 100 km and 24-hour runs of IAU.

Originally from Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, Shashi did some bit of sprinting in her school days. She started running in 2018 when she was posted in Kottayam in Kerala.

Shashi Mehta and Mukesh Kumari along with ultrarunner Deepti Chaudhary (centre). Picture courtesy Deepti

At the 2026 edition of White Sands Ultra held at Rann of Kutch in March, she won the women’s race in the 100-miler with a timing of 26:11:48 hours. She is a regular podium finisher in many ultrarunning events.

“Returning from White Sands Ultra, I was left with just six weeks for the Japan championships. I took two weeks off to recover from the 100-miler. My training for Japan did take a hit as I had not fully recovered from the race,” she said.

Shashi completed the Japan race with a mileage of 176.755 km. “This time, I had no gut issues. During the race, I consumed 20 gels, electrolyte drinks, salt tablets and solid food,” she said.

According to her, Indian women ultrarunners do have the capability to bring home the gold medal.

Bindu Juneja

At the IAU 24 Hour World Championships 2025 held at Albi, France, Bengaluru-based ultrarunner Bindu Juneja crossed the 200 km mark to finish with a distance of 202.164 km, a huge improvement of 17.2 km in her personal record.

This time around, she was not able to put in the requisite amount of training. After the World Championships, she went off training for a surgery and was left with two months to train for Japan.

On race day, Bindu managed to run steady for 10 hours. “Into the 10th and 11th hour, I started to feel dizzy and my heart rate was hitting highs constantly,” Bindu said. Following that she had no clue what happened. Sugourav Goswami, a fellow runner from her team, saw her lying down. He alerted the medical team and guided her to India’s support tent. Initial indication showed that her blood sugar had dropped to very low levels. She was also cold and started shivering. “I was out of the race from the 11th to the 14th hour. From the 15th hour I started walking until the 18th hour and then ran rest of the hours consuming only Coke and Eclairs,” she said. Bindu finished with a distance of 160.378 km.

“I will be eternally grateful to Sugourav for having rescued me after he had found me fallen along the race’s course, sacrificing his own race momentarily,” Bindu said.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

(Photos by Indian Team)

(Inputs from IAU website)

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Tenzin Dolma, Amar Devanda rewrite national records in women’s, men’s 24-hr run

  • India clinches men’s individual, team gold; women’s team gets bronze at IAU Asia Championships Japan
  • Geeno Antony gets individual silver, Saurav Ranjan bronze

Ultrarunners Amar Singh Devanda and Tenzin Dolma of India smashed the individual national records in men’s and women’s 24-hour ultrarun at the IAU 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championships 2026 held at Hirosaki, Japan, on May 23-24, 2026.

The Indian men’s team also topped the charts and secured a gold medal in the event and the women’s team finished with bronze medal, IAU (International Association of Ultrarunners) said in its website. Indian male ultrarunners covered a combined distance of 815.833 kilometres to win the gold medal. (The total of the first three leading runners of a team is considered for the ranking as per IAU rules).

This is the third time that Indian male ultrarunners as a team have emerged champions in IAU events, the previous two times being in 2022 and 2024.

At the Hirosaki event, Amar broke his own national record of 272.537 km set in April 2024, to set a new national record of 282.881 km.

In the women’s run, India’s Tenzin Dolma smashed the previous national record of 217.327 km set by Sunita Subba in France in 2025, to set the new record of 228.939 km. Tenzin finished in the fourth position among women runners.

At Hirosaki, the national record for 12-hour run for both men and women were rewritten, according to Santhosh Padmanabhan, the manager and coach of the Indian ultrarunning team.

Indian men swept the individual podium positions winning the gold, silver and the bronze medals. Geeno Antony secured silver medal with a distance of 272.894 km and Saurav Ranjan the bronze with a distance of 260.058 km.

In the women’s individual race, Miho Nakata of Japan won the gold with a distance of 261.170 km. She had briefly held the world record of 270.363 km for women’s 24-hour run before it was broken by Sarah Webster of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (278.622 km) at the IAU World Championships, France, 2025.

Amar Singh Devanda (Picture from another event)

The individual silver medal was won by two Australian runners – Jenny White and Carrie Geeson – who crossed the 24-hour duration with a distance of 241.229 km each.

Out of the 11 athletes from India, eight runners were able to secured new personal bests, Santhosh said.

Tenzin Dolma (Picture from another event)

Team Performances

In the women’s team performance, Japan won the gold covering a combined distance of 707.357 km. Australia won the silver with a distance of 684.450 km and India won the bronze with a distance of 667.722 km.

In the men’s team performance, Japan secured the silver medal with a combined distance of 754.726 km and Australia the bronze with a distance of 732.525 km.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

(Inputs from IAU Website) 

(Photos courtesy Indian team)

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My Boston Marathon Story

A personal account by runner Jayadrath Singh

Jayadrath Singh commenced running sometime in December 2018. A year later he ran his first marathon, finishing in three hours and 30 minutes. An SNCO (Senior Non-Commissioned Officer), Jayadrath, originally from Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, is now posted in Chennai.

Jayadrath’s foray into running was prompted by the need to step up his physical activity. Soon, he began enjoying running. In 2021, he attempted his first 50 km, a stadium run in Lucknow. Having done a few ultras thereafter, Jayadrath got the opportunity to represent India at the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championship, held in November 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand.

On April 20, 2026, he attempted his first World Marathon Major – Boston Marathon. He finished the race in 2:46:09, second fastest among Indian runners this year.

He writes about his experience at the 2026 edition of Boston Marathon.

I ran my first marathon in December 2019 finishing with a timing of three hours and 30 minutes. At that point I did not have any plan to go back and do another marathon, a distance of 42.195 kilometres. But within a week, I found myself training for the next marathon.

Running his first marathon – Wings Marathon Faridabad December 2019

In February 2020, I ran the New Delhi Marathon and completed the race in 3:11 hours, an improvement of 19 minutes. My coach Vin D told me that I could qualify for Boston Marathon. This was the first time I heard about this marathon. Curious about Boston Marathon, I asked my coach the criteria for registering for the race. He smiled and told me it is sub-three hours for my age category. The question that came to my mind was, “Can I achieve this?”. He was confident I could improve my time efficiency. When the coach believes that I can achieve the target, it became a moral responsibility to work towards it.

From that moment Boston Marathon qualification was my main goal. I began scouring through Boston Marathon website to find out about athletes from India who had run the iconic race in sub-three hours. I made a point to look for those runners who had finished the race in sub-three hours with a full-fledged job. Some of the runners’ names that came up in my search were Mahesh Diwedi, Hemant Beniwal, Dany Saran and Binay Sah. I followed their inspiring journey and with the help of my coach’s running plan and meticulous training I ran and finished the 2021 edition of the New Delhi Marathon with timing of 2:55. Most importantly, I had achieved a negative split in the race.

I was happy to have met the target visualised by my coach.

But qualifying is only one part of the work for participating in Boston Marathon. I needed funds for travel and stay in Boston. Also, with every passing year, the qualifying mark was getting tighter at Boston Marathon. Thankfully, I was able to improve my time efficiency in the marathon distance year after year.

Between 2021 and 2016, I qualified for Boston Marathon nine times.

Ultrarunner Vikas Malik, owner of Leap (nutrition brand) offered support to me to help me transform my dream to reality. I will be forever grateful for his support. I hope there are many more Vikas Maliks to help Indian runners get to the start line of Boston Marathon.

Representing India at the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championship 2025 at Thailand

Race day (April 20) was chilly and cloudy day when I lined up in Hopkinton, the start point of the marathon. From boarding the distinguished yellow school buses with Boston police escort to the finish line volunteers never leave a chance to amaze you and make you feel special during your entire Boston Marathon.

At Boston Marathon 2026

I was in Coral 3 Wave 1. I set off the start line with sun shining bright and witnessing the US Air Force fly along the course. It was an emotional moment crossing the start time. I felt confident and proud completing my first lap even as I remembered what my coach advised me, ‘to stay calm and composed during the early part of the race and push in the second half.’

The vibe was incredible and all along the course there is not a single stretch where people are not standing and cheering. It felt as if the entire city had turned up at the marathon course to cheer the runners.

At Boston Marathon 2026

As the miles went by, clouds began covering the sun and the weather turned pleasant. Advancing towards the finish line I kept hydrating myself with energy gels at regular intervals. The course was not easy by any stretch. The rolling hills kept the challenge for the runners. But the pulsating energy from the people and volunteers prompted every runner to push.

I crossed the finish line with gratitude and pride. The icing on the cake was getting a gold colour Boston Marathon finisher medal as the US is celebrating 250th anniversary of the Nation this year.

I finished Boston Marathon 2026 with a timing of 2:46:09. I was the second fastest Indian this time.

(Photos courtesy – Jayadrath Singh)

(Inputs from Boston Marathon website)

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London Marathon 2026: Two-hr barrier smashed, new marathon world record set

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe shatters marathon world record, two-hr barrier

The 2026 edition of TCS London Marathon witnessed history when two runners smashed the two-hour finish barrier and three runners smashed the existing world record for marathon.

On April 26, 2026, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha smashed the two-hour finish barrier at the London Marathon on April 26, 2026.

Sawe, the 30-year-old runner from Kenya, crossed the finish line at London Marathon in one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds, 65 seconds faster that the existing world record of 2:00:35 set by his late compatriot Kelvin Kiptum (also of Kenya) in 2023, media reports said.

Sabastian Sawe – photo downloaded from the X account of World Athletics. No copyright infringement intended

Ethiopia’s Kejelcha finished in 1:59:41 and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo came third in 2:00:28, London Marathon 2026 results showed. Kejelcha broke the two-hour barrier in his debut marathon.

In October 2019, Kenya’s running legend Eliud Kipchoge (also a world record holder for some time) was the first person in history to run a marathon in sub-two hours in Vienna, Austria, at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge. But it has not been considered as the world record at that time because the event was held in controlled circumstances.

TCS London Marathon is one of the seven Abbott World Marathon Majors and is widely known for its fast and flat course.

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Sawan Barwal smashes India’s 48-year-old marathon record

Indian long-distance runner Sawan Barwal, in his debut marathon, smashed the country’s 48-year-old marathon record by two seconds at the N N Marathon Rotterdam, held on April 12, 2025.

Sawan, a half-marathon champion, finished the marathon in two hours, 11 minutes and 58 seconds, beating Shivnath Singh’s national record of 2:12 set way back in 1978, media reports said.

He finished in the 20th position in the elite race at N N Marathon Rotterdam, its website showed.

Photo downloaded from Athletic Federation of India Facebook page

The 28-year-old runner from Indian Army is an athlete well-known for his competence in 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and half marathon races.

At the Rotterdam race, his army compatriot Gopi Thonakal finished in 2:13:16 in 23rd position.

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At a Glance – March 2026

Indian men’s team win silver in IAU 50 k World Championship

Great Britain win gold in both men’s and women’s race

Indian men’s ultrarunning team won the silver medal at the IAU 50 km World Championships held in New Delhi on March 14, 2026.

Great Britain won the gold medal in both the men’s and women’s 50 km race at the Championships.

Great Britain’s men’s team had the fastest finish of eight hours, 20 minutes and 54 seconds. (Team’s standing is calculated by the aggregate time of the top three finishers of each country.)

In second place, was the Indian team with a combined timing of 8:52:07. United States won the bronze medal with a timing of 8:53:52.

In the women’s race, Great Britain won gold with a combined timing of 9:53:41, Poland silver (10:01:34) and Japan bronze (10:38:03).

The Indian team at IAU 50 K World Championships, Delhi (Photo downloaded from IAU Facebook page)

In the individual race, Alex Milne of Great Britain won men’s gold with a finish of 2:46:09. The women’s race was won by Naomi Robinson of Great Britain (3:13:40), as per information on IAU website.

The World Masters Athletics 50 k World Championships was also held concurrently with the IAU Championships.

Gulveer Singh runs half marathon in India’s fastest time

Timing may not be recognised as national record

Athlete Gulveer Singh ran the New York City Half Marathon in the country’s fastest finish timing of under 60 minutes on March 15, 2026.

Gulveer finished overall third at the race with a timing of 59:42 minutes.

Gulveer Singh (Photo is screenshot from Indian Athletics’ Instagram page)

He bettered the previous national record timing of 1:00:30 set by Avinash Sable at the 2020 edition of Delhi Half Marathon.

Media reports said Gulveer’s timings may not be considered as national record because the NYC course is not recognised for world and national records.

Gulveer Singh already holds the national record in 3000 metres, 5000 metres and 10000 metres, Indian Athletics said in an Instagram page.

Indian team for 2026 IAU 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championships Japan chosen

The Ultra and Trail Running Selection Committee of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has chosen the team of ultrarunners to represent the country at the IAU 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championships.

A total of 11 ultrarunners have been chosen by the Committee, AFI said in a note.

Women ultrarunners to represent the country at the championships are Aparna Choudhary, Shashi Mehta, Sunita Subba, Bindu Juneja, Tenzin Dolma and Mukesh Kumari.

The men’s team include Amar Singh Devanda, Saurav Kumar Ranjan, Geeno Antony, Velu Perumal and Sugourav Goswami.

Of these athletes, Sunita Subba holds the women’s national record for 24 hour run (217.327 km), which she set at the IAU 24 Hour World Championships held at Albi, France in October 2025.

Amar Singh Devanda holds the national record for 24 hour run (272.537 km), which he set at the IAU 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championships 2024 held in Canberra, Australia.

The 2026 Championships will be held on May 23 and 24 at Hirosaki, Japan.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

(With inputs from IAU website and AFI website)