The Ultra and Trail Running Selection Committee of Indian Athletics (formerly Athletics Federation of India) met on May 1 to decide on the team of ultra runners to represent India at the IAU 24 Hour World Championship scheduled to be held in Albi, France over October 18 and 19, 2025.
Twelve runners (six women and six men) will be representing the country. Two additional runners have also been chosen as stand-by for both the men’s team as well as the women’s.
The women’s team comprises Aparna Choudhary, Shashi Mehta, Sunita Subba, Bindu Juneja, Arti Agrawal and Sadiya Salim Savy. Sufiya Sufi will be the back-up runner.
The men’s team includes Amar Singh Devanda, Ullas Narayana, Saurav Kumar Ranjan, Geeno Antony, Velu Perumal and Sugourav Goswami. Badal Teotia will be the back-up runner.
(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)
Ashwini Ganapathi fell short of an overall win at the Bengaluru BigFoot Backyard Ultra but set a new national best for women.
She ran for 28 hours (covering 6.7 kilometres in each hour) notching up a total mileage of 187.6 km, a new national best by a woman in this format of ultra running. The previous record of 27 hours (180.9 km) was held by Aparna Choudhary, which she set in October 2024.
The overall winner of the Bengaluru BigFoot Backyard Ultra 2025 was Thoudam Opendro Singh. He ran for 29 hours. The event was held on May 10, 2025.
The backyard ultra, also known as the last runner standing, is a format of ultra running in which runners are required to run a loop of 6.7 km within an hour. Every new hour runners who have completed the 6.7 km in the previous hour continue their running until the last surviving runner is declared the winner. This winner is also the sole finisher of the race.
“ The Backyard Ultra is an interesting format of ultra running and I had wanted to attempt it for some time now,” Ashwini said.
The concept of backyard ultra was founded by Gary Cantrell of Tennessee (also known as Lazarus Lake). He is the founder and race director of Barkleys Marathon.
Ashwini Ganapathi
“ I paced my run in such a manner so as to get seven to eight minutes time in each hour to get rest and nutrition before the next hour started,” Ashwini said. She managed to finish well within the 60-minute cut-off for most of her 28 hours barring one when she had a close call. She had to help a runner get back to the finish line.
The rules of this format of ultra running mandate that runners not take any external help or aid from passers-by or friends while on the route. But at the end of each loop, they can be assisted by their support crew. Ashwini’s support crew consisted of her husband Sandeep and Anand Adkoli, race director of Malnad Ultra.
“ When we started at 6 am on May 10, 2025, we were 20 runners. As the hours went by, runners kept dropping out. At the 18th hour only four runners remained and by the 22nd hour only two of us were left – Opendro Singh and me. I continued till the 28th hour. I gave up as I had developed blisters on my feet. Opendro Singh continued for the 29th hour to win the race,” she said.
The national best for men in this format – 52 hours – is held by Sunil Sharma. He set this record in October 2024.
Ashwini also holds the national record for 12 hours with a mileage of 111.8 km.
(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)
Outrigger 