Month: December 2025

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At a Glance – December 2025

Three course records broken at Border Ultra

Three course records were broken at The Border Ultra at its 2025 edition held on December 6 – 7, 2025 at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

The new course records were set in the woman’s 100-mile run, woman’s 100 kilometre run and the men’s 50 km run, said Vishwas Sindhu, Race Director and Founder of The Hell Race, the organiser of the event.

Ultrarunner Aparna Choudhary set a new course record for women in the 100-mile run finishing the distance in 18 hours, 52 minutes and five seconds. She broke her own course record of 19:47:31 hours, which she set during the 2024 edition of the race.

Aparna Choudhary – Photo courtesy The Hell Race

Sweta Rao set the new course record in 100 km finishing the distance in 11:32:31. She broke Komal Singh’s record of 12:16:00, also set in 2024.

In the 50 km men’s race Sugourav Goswami set the new course timing of 3:55:12, bettering the previous course record of 4:07:14 set by Jitendra Singh in 2024.

Kashinath Katare was the winner of the 100-mile men’s run finishing in 16:50:17.

Ajay Khandelwal won the 100 km men’s race with a timing of 9:31:50.

In the women’s race of 50 km, the winner was Sonia Rana with a timing of 5:15:08.

The total number of runners at The Border 2025 was 982, Vishwas said. About 100 runners missed the race because of the several flight cancellations ahead of the race days, he said.

IAU 50 km World Championships 2025 rescheduled to Mar 14, 2026

The IAU 50 km World Championships 2025 has been rescheduled to be held on March 14, 2026, a statement from IAU said.

The Championships were slated to be held on December 7, 2025 in New Delhi but postponed due to air quality issues and Indian government mandating suspension of sport activities in November and December.

IAU had previously announced that the Championships will be held on a 5 km loop course that will include the stadium loop of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The Championships will now be held on March 14, 2026. The opening ceremony will be held on March 13, 2026. 

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

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Gopi 23 secs short of national record; sets new PB at Valencia Marathon

A mere 23 seconds separated Indian elite marathon runner Gopi Thonakal from one of the longest standing national records at the Valencia Marathon 2025, held on December 7, 2025.

Thirty-seven-year-old Gopi finished the 42.2 kilometre marathon race in 2:12:23, just 23 seconds over the national record of 2:12 set by Shivnath Singh way back in 1978.

At Valencia, Gopi set a new personal record, a stupendous improvement from his previous best of 2:13:39, which he had achieved at Seoul Marathon 2019.

“My run at this year’s Valencia Marathon is my best performance in my marathon running career. I was able to achieve a PB (personal best),” he told this blog.

Gopi is among India’s leading marathon runners and the fastest in recent years. At the 2016 Mumbai Marathon, Gopi was assigned the role of a pacer for his colleagues from the Army. He ended up completing the marathon and securing a podium finish that year.

That run helped him to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics at Rio de Janeiro, where he finished in 25th position with a timing of 2:15:25.

In November 2017, Gopi became the first Indian to secure gold at the Asian Marathon Championships with a 2:15:48 finish. Gopi has secured many gold and other podium positions as an elite runner in many marathons in the country.

For the last six years, Gopi has been training in Bengaluru. This time around, he moved to Ooty for four months to train for Valencia Marathon. “I think the high altitude at Ooty helped my performance,” he said. Also, this time his training was tweaked  with a greater focus on endurance. Therefore, his training mileage was higher.

“At Valencia, the competition was good. Also, the course and the weather were quite good. That’s why I was able to do well and improve my performance,” Gopi said. Support from Indian Army and Reliance Group also contributed to his improved performance, he said.

During the race, at around 36 km mark, he developed cramps in his calves and had to pause twice. “If not for cramps, I could have got an even better timing,” he said.

Valencia Marathon is a popular marathon race mainly because the route is flat with very little turns, therefore a fast course. Also, the weather in December in Valencia is ideal for long-distance running.

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

(With inputs from Valencia Marathon website, Anand Venkatraman)

(Photo courtesy: Gopi Thonakal)