Author: Shyam G Menon

by

2023 BOSTON & LONDON MARATHONS

Evans Chebet (this image was downloaded from the Facebook page of Boston Marathon and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)
Hellen Obiri (this image was downloaded from the Facebook page of Boston Marathon and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

It wasn’t Eliud Kipchoge’s best outing. But that didn’t stop Kenyan runners from dominating the elite category of the 2023 edition of the Boston Marathon.

Defending champion Evans Chebet won the men’s race while Hellen Obiri, both from Kenya, won the women’s race. World record holder and the race favourite, Kipchoge, started strong but fell back at the 20th mile and had to settle for sixth position.

Chebet won the men’s race in two hours five minutes and 54 seconds. Hellen Obiri covered the distance in 2:21:38. It was her first victory at a race that is part of the World Marathon Majors. She had made her debut in the marathon in 2022, at the New York City Marathon, where she finished sixth. The 2023 Boston Marathon was only her second such event.

“ I live for the moments where I get to challenge the Limits. It’s never guaranteed, it’s never easy. Today was a tough day for me. I pushed myself as hard as I could but sometimes, we must accept that today wasn’t the day to push the barrier to a greater height,” Kipchoge tweeted the day after the event. He holds the world record in the marathon with a timing of 2:01:09.

Over 30,000 runners participated in this year’s Boston Marathon, held on April 17, 2023.

Less than a week later on April 23, 2023, the year’s edition of the London Marathon was held. The World Marathon Major saw some dramatic performances by top athletes.

Renowned middle-distance runner, Sifan Hassan, posted a stunning victory in the women’s race in her first ever marathon despite suffering an injury in the early miles. She finished in 2:18:34. The top three women runners were bunched together till the final 150 meters or so, which was when Hassan accelerated to finish first in her debut marathon. The strong finish was classic Hassan.

Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya won the men’s race at the London Marathon in 2:01:25, setting a new course record and coming very close to Kipchoge’s world record. In 2022, at the Valencia Marathon, he had marked the fastest debut in a marathon becoming the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes.

The Abbott World Marathon Major circuit entails running six marathons – Boston Marathon, Chicago Marathon, New York City Marathon, Berlin Marathon, London Marathon and Tokyo Marathon.

We spoke to a few Indian runners who participated in these two World Marathon Majors – the 2023 Boston Marathon and London Marathon.

B. J. Vikram (photo: courtesy Vikram)

Training for London Marathon, B J Vikram, a Bengaluru-based runner, was mindful of stepping up his mileage in the run up to the marathon. “I build my mileage gradually combining it with strength training,” he said, aware of the fact that increasing mileage suddenly often leads to injury. He is not new to sports. Vikram is a skater and has represented India in many championships.

Vikram commenced long-distance running about 10 years ago. He heard about Boston qualification from co-runners and obtained details about it. He qualified for Boston Marathon in 2019 but was able to run it in 2022 as the intervening years were lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and running events around the world were either cancelled or postponed or limited to elite runners.

He started his World Marathon Major journey with Boston Marathon and went on to do Berlin Marathon with a sub-three-hour finish in 2022.

“ Five weeks before London Marathon, I did a few long, fast runs. I also did time-based runs instead of mileage-based runs,” he said.

Weather is always an issue in international marathons. To cope with cold weather, Vikram resorted to taking ice baths. These also help with quick recovery after hard training runs. Vikram finished London Marathon in 2:57:28.

Karthik Anand (left) with Tilak Dutt and Suneel Kumar Koyi, both of who registered sub-three hours-finish at the 2023 Boston Marathon (photo: courtesy Karthik)

Bengaluru-based runner Karthik Anand completed the six-star World Marathon Major circuit way back in 2019.

He was repeating Boston Marathon to help his wife Deepti to complete the World Marathon Major circuit. She was on her fourth race in the World Marathon series at the 2023 Boston Marathon.

“ My training for Boston Marathon was quite good. I was clocking on an average 100 km every week during the four-month training period. I interspersed my training with long runs, tempo runs and intervals,” he said adding that he mainly followed a training schedule curated by his coach K.C. Kothandapani, who also ran the 2023 edition of the race.

Karthik’s run went off quite well until the 34th kilometre when he began to suffer hamstring cramps. “ For about 400 meters I had to walk before I could resume jogging,” he said. Karthik, usually a sub-three-hour finisher, completed the race in 3:04:32.

Subhojit Roy (photo: courtesy Subhojit)

For Subhojit Roy of Pune, the 2023 outing at Boston Marathon was his third time at the iconic marathon. “ I am not focused on the World Marathon Majors. If I get to complete the World Marathon Majors, it’s great,” he said.

In December 2022, Subhojit ran Valencia Marathon in 3:09:53. On February 26, 2023, he ran the New Delhi Marathon and secured a personal record of 3:06:47.

“ I took a week off after New Delhi Marathon and that left me with just six weeks of training for Boston Marathon,” he said. Subhojit was experiencing a left hip ache, which often surfaced after training runs. “ I was in a dilemma. If I train hard, I may risk worsening the injury,” he said. On the other hand, he couldn’t land at the start line of Boston Marathon without adequate training.

For Subhojit, the experience was worth it. “ This time around I handled the hills much better,” he said. Subhojit finished in 3:13:37, his best timing in his three outings at the Boston Marathon so far.

“ It was cold and damp. It was drizzling throughout and at the 28 km mark it poured quite heavily but I enjoyed the weather. My hip injury started to act up at around the 35th km. Nevertheless, I finished strong,” he said.

Subhojit trains under Nihal Ahamad Baig.

Vandana Arora (photo: courtesy Vandana)

Vandana Arora was the fastest women runner from among Indians at the 2023 edition of Boston Marathon. For the Bengaluru-based recreational runner, the 2023 Boston Marathon was her third marathon in this calendar year. She ran the Tata Mumbai Marathon in January this year just after recovering from COVID-19 infection in December 2022.

But a month later at the 2023 New Delhi Marathon, she secured a personal record, covering the distance in 3:24:28.

The 42-year-old recreational runner started her six-star World Marathon Major journey four years ago with the New York City Marathon.

Training under Bengaluru-based Coach Ashok Nath, she was clocking a weekly mileage of 110-115 km, sometimes running twice a day, in the run-up to the New Delhi Marathon. Thereafter, her weekly mileage was lowered. “Ash’s (Ashok Nath) training is uniquely crafted for the various segments of the Boston Marathon course. I did some of my runs at 11 AM because I was scheduled to run around that time at Boston,” Vandana said.

The second part of the training, according to her, was brain training. “ Ash told me that one is often tempted to run fast at the start of the race as the course is downwards. He asked me to restrict my pace for the first 10 kilometres,” Vandana said. She ran as per his plan and completed with a 4-minute improvement in her personal timing. She finished the marathon in 3:20:54.

Deepa Nayak (photo: courtesy Deepa)

Bengaluru-based Deepa Nayak did this year’s Boston Marathon and London Marathon, back-to-back. “Normally, I wouldn’t advise runners to do back-to-back marathons. But I decided to take on this challenge personally,” Deepa said. She is a personal trainer and coach at Asics Running Club and Runners 360.

Her interest in running commenced in 2011 when she took up jogging for health reasons. In a couple of years, the interest deepened and she joined training groups. She got serious about running and after having joined Reebok Running Squad in 2015, she decided to take up the ACE certification course.

She heard about Boston qualification even before she heard about Boston Marathon. “I then learnt about the World Marathon Majors. At the 2020 edition of Tata Mumbai Marathon, I qualified for Boston Marathon,” she said. She registered for the 2020 Berlin Marathon but the race was not held because of COVID-19 pandemic. She did Berlin Marathon in 2022.

Having missed registering for the 2022 Boston Marathon 2022, Deepa had to get a Boston qualifying time afresh to register for the 2023 edition. She ran the 2022 Jaipur Marathon and qualified for Boston with a finish of 3:22:49.

Post Berlin Marathon, Deepa took a break before she started training for Boston Marathon and London Marathon. “I had good training for a month in November 2022,” she said. In December, Deepa lost her father to cardiac arrest. “I came back from my hometown in Siddapur but was emotionally drained to do any training,” she said. She ran the 2023 Tata Mumbai Marathon without any training. Her running continued to suffer in the weeks after TMM. But she focused on strength training and nutrition. A week before she was to leave for Boston, Deepa fell ill. On the day, she was to take her flight out, her friend was admitted to hospital with cardiac issues. “Are these signs that I should not do Boston Marathon? I wondered,” she said.

Finally, she found herself at the start line of Boston Marathon but with very little mileage training.

“At Boston, the first 34 km went off very well but the last eight km was tough because of rain and cold weather,” she said. She finished the run in 3:22:40.

“I started to focus on London Marathon only after I finished Boston. My plan was to give it my best shot but if I fail, I wouldn’t fault myself,” Deepa said. She finished the marathon in 3:23:21. “I was quite surprised with my timings at Boston and London.

Having done three marathons in 2023, Deepa plans to do shorter distance races this year. “I am in the process of completing my nutrition certification. I also want to focus on coaching,” she said.

Gitanjali Lenka (photo: courtesy Gitanjali)

The 2023 Boston Marathon was Gitanjali Lenka’s first World Marathon Major. The Thane-based runner has been a podium finisher at events in India. She was the fastest runner among Indian women at the 2022 Comrades Marathon.

Gitanjali had two months training for Boston Marathon, despite losing a few days to a viral infection.

“The weather was a challenging factor. On Monday morning (day of the race), it started raining. It was very cold. My hands were frozen and I found it difficult to take the gels out. The route was also quite challenging. The route from 24th km to 34th km was very tough. But crowd support and cheering were excellent and kept the runners going,” she said.

Gitanjali finished the marathon in a personal best timing of 3:36:25.

She is now headed to her second World Marathon Major – Berlin in September 2023. She has already commenced training for the marathon. She trains under Ashok Nath.

Ranjini Gupta (photo: courtesy Ranjini)

The 2023 London Marathon was Ranjini Gupta’s fifth World Marathon Major. The Berlin Marathon was her first marathon in the six-marathon circuit, followed by Chicago Marathon in 2017, Tokyo Marathon in 2018 and New York City Marathon in 2019.

Ranjini’s training for London Marathon was quite good. In November 2022, she ran the half marathon at the Ahmedabad Marathon and finished it in 1:45:28. “My timing gave me confidence. I commenced my training for London Marathon in December. I had good months of training up to March and I was able to do speed workouts and long runs of 30 km and 32 km,” she said.

At London Marathon, weather was an issue. “ The rain started just when our race was starting. My shoes were heavy as they were wet. Also, roads along the course were narrow. But I was able to hold on to a 5:14-5:15 per kilometre pace,” Ranjini said. She finished the marathon in 3:41:58. “ I went to London with a lot of apprehensions,” she said. Though not close to her personal best (3:28), she was happy with her finish.

“ I will plan my marathon training after my registration for the 2024 Boston Marathon goes through,” she said. Boston will be the last of her six World Marathon Majors.

Sunmbul Rahman (photo: courtesy Sunmbul)

Sunmbul Rahman did not have any target for the 2023 London Marathon as she was fasting for the holy month of Ramzan. Yet, she surprised herself with a personal record of 3:48:30.

The Kolkata-based runner was not into sports during her school days at La Martiniere. She went through the motions of life and many years later faced a personal tragedy when she lost her husband to cancer. With two small children and restaurant that wasn’t doing too well, Sunmbul found her life spinning out of control. Sometime in 2011, she decided to join a gym for physical fitness. Coincidentally, the gym was organizing a 5 km walk. “ I took part in the walk and I surprised myself with a win,” Sunmbul said. That walk and the podium finish were triggers that propelled her into running. Soon, she found herself running the marathon. “ I also got into mountain climbing and have done four 6000 meter-plus peaks,” she said.

London Marathon was her second World Marathon Major, the first one being Chicago in October 2022. “ London Marathon for me, was an experience. I was fasting for Ramzan until two days before race day. It was a tough run with pouring rain, cold weather and huge crowds all along the course. Because I had to jostle through the crowds, I actually ended up doing 43.3 km,” she said. Her timing has helped her to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

“ For now, I have put a pause on my mountaineering activity. I want to finish the World Marathon Majors first,” Sunmbul said. Given interest in mountaineering, she may also look at ultra running, especially on trails.

Bajrang Singh and Asha Singh (photo: courtesy Bajrang and Asha)

Asha Singh and Bajrang Singh, the runner couple from Lucknow, have been running varied distances, including ultra-running events. Asha also represented India in IAU 24-hour Asia and Oceania Championships held at Bengaluru in July 2022.

The husband-wife couple trained well for Boston Marathon. They landed in the city a few days ahead of the event. “ On Sunday, a day before the marathon, we checked out the route. Monday morning was cold, rainy and windy. We had to put on layers,” Bajrang Singh said. By the time they walked to the start line their shoes got drenched in the rain.

“ When we started our run, the course was very crowded and we had to juggle our way through the crowds. Boston Marathon course is a series of rolling hills. We wanted to run together but Asha had a hamstring problem and she had to slow down her pace,” Bajrang said.

After the 25th kilometre, Bajrang Singh decided to go ahead. “ I ran really fast in the last mile of the race,” he said. Bajrang Singh finished in 3:51:40 and Asha in 4:04:19. “ We are quite happy with our performance here,” he said. They are scheduled to run the 80 km Tuffman Shimla Ultra at Mashobra on June 24, 2023.

“ We plan to do the Berlin Marathon this year if we manage to get into it. If not, we may do the 72 km Khardung La Challenge in Ladakh,” Asha said. Currently in the U.S., they are due to come back to India in June. “ We are right now at Charlotte in North Carolina. The undulating terrain helps us to train for the Mashobra event,” he said.

Neelam Vaid (right) with her brother Tarun Gulati (Photo: courtesy Neelam)

Pune-based Neelam Vaid has been running seriously since 2013. An ENT surgeon, Neelam has been climbing mountains in the Himalaya over the past few years. Having done her first marathon in 2014, she decided to go ahead and try the World Marathon Majors.

Training for the 2023 London Marathon was tough for Neelam. “ The heat and pollution in Aundh, where I stay, was quite high making long runs quite a challenge,” she said. Her training was inadequate. “ I missed runs and I often never reached my target pace,” she said. She trains under Coach Atul Godbole.

But her run at London Marathon was “amazing”. “ Words can’t describe the experience of running the London Marathon. Weather was bad. It was pouring at the start. My shoes were wet and my hands froze. But the crowd support carries you through from the first kilometre to the last,” she said.

London Marathon, according to Neelam, has the best crowd support among the World Marathon Majors that she has competed in – Boston Marathon and Berlin Marathon (both in 2022). “ Parts of the course are narrow and get crowded but the vibe from runners and crowds keeps one going,” she said. Neelam finished the marathon in 3:58:20, a new personal best and within the Boston Marathon qualifying time.

“ This was a special run for me. My brother Tarun Gulati also ran the marathon. Together, we raised 6000 pounds for Alzheimer’s Research UK, against the target of 5000 pounds,” she said.

After a short break, she plans to resume training for the 2023 Chicago Marathon, due in October this year.

Ashish Agarwal (photo: courtesy Ashish)

Ashish Agarwal started running just about four years ago. The Nagpur-based tax lawyer led a largely undisciplined life leading to obesity. “ Some of my friends were into running. They asked me to start running. In August 2018, I enrolled for a 3 km run,” he said. In 2019, he ran a half marathon at the Pondicherry Marathon. The following year at Tata Mumbai Marathon, he did the full marathon.

The COVID-19 lockdown came as a boon as he could run in the morning and cycle in the evening. With running events resuming in 2022, Ashish was able to run the Jaipur Marathon. The benefits of working out during the lockdown period paid off as he was able to get a personal best timing of 3:38:25 at this marathon. In September 2022, he was able to do the Berlin Marathon.

He signed up for the 2023 London Marathon but three months prior to the event he met with an accident. “ Window shutters fell on my hands and I was required to go in for surgery. I stood at the start line of London Marathon without any practice,” Ashish, 41, said.

He finished the marathon in 4:01:47. “ This run was entirely a mental game. It turned out to be a good run. It was raining throughout. All along the route there were so many volunteers cheering,” he said. Qualifying for Boston is certainly on the cards, he said.

Kaustubh Radkar (photo: courtesy Kaustubh)

Way back in 2006 when India was just beginning its journey into recreational runner, Dr Kaustabh Radkar ran the New York City Marathon. In 2010, he once again ran the same marathon. A former national level swimmer, Kaustabh had, in the meanwhile, started his journey in the Ironman triathlon.

Even as he continued his foray into triathlon and running events, he decided to persist with his participation in the World Marathon Major circuit. After a long gap he ran the Berlin Marathon in 2017. Two years later, he ran the Chicago Marathon. When events resumed post-pandemic in 2022, he was able to do the London Marathon. Early March 2023, he did Tokyo Marathon.

“ At Boston, I just wanted to soak in the experience. It was raining and very cold but the crowds were out in full support,” Kaustabh said. He was due to do Texas Ironman five days later. “ My goal was to finish Boston Marathon comfortably as I had to do Ironman in less than a week,” he said. The Texas Ironman was his 34th Ironman triathlon.

With his run at the 2023 Boston Marathon, he earned his six-star World Marathon Major medal. By the end of that week, he had also finished his 34th Ironman.

Mukesh Yeole (photo: courtesy Mukesh)

Pune-based Mukesh Yeole commenced his six-star World Marathon Majors in 2017 when he ran the Berlin Marathon. A real estate developer, Mukesh started running in 2014 with a 10 km run.

Following the Berlin Marathon, he participated in the New York City Marathon in 2018. In 2019, he completed Tokyo Marathon and Chicago Marathon. In 2022, he did London Marathon.

At the 2023 edition of Boston Marathon Mukesh got his six-star World Marathon medal. The trains with Radstrong Coaching. Mukesh said that he enjoyed the Boston Marathon. “ It was a very nice environment in Boston, some rain, some wind. Support was very good,” Mukesh said. He completed the Boston Marathon in 4:16:31.

Having completed with the six World Marathon Majors, Mukesh now aims to do one international marathon every year.

A triathlete, Mukesh has enrolled for Tallinn 70.3 Ironman but is likely to skip it. “ I won’t be participating in this Ironman because of some urgent work,” he said.

Deepti Karthik (photo: courtesy Deepti)

The 2023 Boston Marathon was Deepti Karthik’s fourth World Marathon Major. In 2019, she had completed three World Marathon Majors – London Marathon, Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon.

Following the years lost to the pandemic, Deepti was hoping to resume her running but an injury put paid to her plans. She enrolled for the 2023 Tata Mumbai Marathon and New Delhi Marathon 2023 but decided not to do these as she did not want to jeopardize the recovery. “ When I resumed my training, I had to start afresh but was able to do long runs,” she said.

Travelling to Boston one niggling worry remained, that of weather. Boston is known for fluctuations in weather. The 2018 Boston Marathon had challenging weather with temperatures dipping to the coldest in 30 years combined with rain and heavy winds. That year, Deepti’s husband Karthik Anand had participated in Boston Marathon.

“ We kept track of the weather. When we landed in Boston it was very hot. We did a short run. But by Saturday it cooled down and by night it started drizzling. We had registered for a 5 km-run held on Saturday. It went off well,” she said.

On the morning of race day, the drizzle continued. “ While I waited in the holding area, at around 11 AM, the rain ceased briefly and the sun came out. But along the course at around 18 to 25 km it started raining again. The route was challenging and I had to stick to a slow pace,” she said. Deepti finished the run in 4:30:55.

She is due to run the Berlin Marathon in September this year.

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

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2022 GGR / WRAP-UP

Abhilash Tomy and Kirsten Neuschafer (this photo was downloaded from the Facebook page of 2022 GGR and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

An overview, till early May 2023, of the 2022 edition of a fantastic race

Like some who watch the David Lean classic ` Lawrence of Arabia’ finding the desert the film’s real hero, the actual hero of GGR is the sea – its known tendencies and its unpredictability. None, not even the world’s best sailors, are spared.

As of late April, of the 16 sailors who commenced the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR), only three were left in the main race category. Two stood pushed to the Chichester Class. The rest had retired. This included two major accidents – a case of a boat sinking in the Indian Ocean in November 2022 and another of a boat rolled and dismasted in the southern Atlantic Ocean in April 2023. Nothing captured the sea’s effect on a race and those tracking it, as well as this comment posted on GGR’s Facebook page after the world was informed of Kirsten Neuschafer being seven nautical miles from finish and without wind to push her on, “ All of us on the YouTube live chat are pointing hairdryers, leaf blowers out windows and waving towels and beach blankets towards coastal France!’’ By afternoon, April 28, the situation must have felt similar for Abhilash Tomy and his fans too. He was expected at Les Sables-d’Olonne that day but thanks to prevailing weather conditions, the ETA (Expected Time of Arrival) stood revised to late morning April 29.

Over four and a half years after a storm in the Indian Ocean left him badly injured, Abhilash Tomy finished second in the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR).  According to the event’s live tracker and Facebook page, he crossed the finish line at Les Sables-d’Olonne in France after completing the race’s mandated solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the planet, at 04:46 hours Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) on Saturday, April 29, 2023. The race was won by Kirsten Neuschafer of South Africa. Sailing in the Minnehaha, she reached Les Sables-d’Olonne at 19:44 UTC on April 27, 2023. The 2022 GGR had got underway on September 4, 2022.

Simon Curwen (this photo was downloaded from the Facebook page of 2022 GGR and is being used gere for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

The first among the 2022 GGR participants to reach Les Sables-d’Olonne after a full circumnavigation done, was Simon Curwen of United Kingdom. He had led the race by a considerable margin for much of the voyage before the need to repair his boat forced him to deviate to coastal Chile, relegating him to the Chichester Class (sailing with one stopover) of the race. With that he stopped being one of the contenders for a podium finish in the main GGR, which requires solo, non-stop sailing. However, Simon caught up with the competitors who had gone past him during that halt in Chile, overtook them and finished ahead of all in the early afternoon (10:38 UTC) of April 27, 2023.

By evening the same day, the winner of the 2022 GGR, Kirsten Neuschafer of South Africa, reached Les Sables-d’Olonne becoming in the process, the first woman to win a round-the-world race by the three great capes across the solo / crewed and solo / non-stop categories. She is also the first South African sailor to win such an event. Her voyage as part of the 2022 GGR was remarkable not just for the quality of sailing she showed but also the rescue of fellow GGR participant, Tapio Lehtinen. The rescue happened in November 2022. Lehtinen’s boat sank suddenly in the Indian Ocean forcing him to transfer to a lifeboat. Neuschafer was awarded the Rod Stephen Seamanship Trophy by the Cruising Club of America for the rescue. The intervention, also fetched her time-credit in the race, as compensation.

Two things set the GGR apart from other races involving circumnavigation of the planet. Given it has the flavour of a retro-sailing event, some aspects of technology and access to technology permitted for the race have been pegged back to what prevailed a few decades ago. Second, a non-stop voyage around the planet takes a massive toll on both sailor and boat. This is where Abhilash’s story becomes special. In 2013 he had become the first Indian to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation in a sailboat (INSV Mhadei) as part of the Indian Navy’s Sagar Parikrama project, conceived and overseen by the late Vice Admiral Manohar Awati. A few years later, in 2018, he had participated in that year’s GGR only to end up with serious injury to self and his boat (Thuriya) dismasted, following a severe storm in the southern Indian Ocean. But he fought his way out from that reversal of fortune; he underwent surgery and rehabilitation and eventually got back to flying and sailing, the activities that defined him as a naval aviator and one of the all-time greats of Indian sailing. He then signed up for the 2022 edition of the GGR and returned to the race with the Bayanat; the boat was named after his main sponsor for the voyage, a company from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) specializing in AI-powered geospatial intelligence.

This video posted by the 2022 GGR is from the segment spanning Cape Town to Hobart. Starting with the days around Tapio Lehtinen’s rescue, it provides a feel of what being at sea is. Also, Abhilash was under considerable stress in the portion of the race leading to the location of his 2018 accident in the southern Indian Ocean; a conversation with race organizers near Cape Town revealed this. By the time he got to the check point at Hobart, he was past that rendezvous, relieved and in a cheerful mood.

Now retired from the Indian Navy, Abhilash’s passage in the 2022 GGR wasn’t easy. Although he kept himself in the pack of race leaders, the position probably revealed little of what he was actually enduring. He knew the sea, the challenges pertaining to weather and maintaining the boat. But in 2022, there was a new ingredient in the mix – his mind, still living the memories of the September 2018 accident. It was clear to those tracking the 2022 race and reviewing videos posted from the periodic rendezvous with sailors at check points that Abhilash was battling anxiety in the portion of the GGR leading to the southern Indian Ocean, where in 2018, he had been battered by a storm. This was vindicated by his admission (in communications with the race organizers) of a peace finally found after he got past the site of the 2018 accident. Thereafter, it was a different Abhilash. His worries from that point on, seemed mostly about addressing the needs of his boat which kept developing a litany of complaints. But he responded creatively and found solutions for the problems without resorting to a stopover for repairs. He improvised with what he had aboard. This approach kept him alive in the main, competitive segment of the race featuring solo, non-stop circumnavigation. Amidst this struggle, he coped with his old injuries acting up as a consequence of long hours of work, steering and maintaining the boat. What reached Les Sables-d’Olonnes on April 29, should therefore be a package of Abhilash and Bayanat that captures single handed sailing over an extended period of time. Saturday (April 29, 2023) was the 236th day since commencement of the race. 

Abhilash and Bayanat (this photo was downloaded from the Facebook page of 2022 GGR and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

For a race of this dimension, the boat matters. During the 2018 GGR, Abhilash’s boat had been the Thuriya, a replica of the Suhaili, in which Sir Robin Knox-Johnston had completed the world’s first solo, non-stop circumnavigation and won the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race of 1968-1969. The Suhaili was bult in Mumbai; Thuriya in Goa. To compete in the 2022 GGR, Abhilash bought a Rustler 36 type of yacht in France; it was then renamed Bayanat. The boat had been used in the 2018 GGR by Philippe Peche of France. As per information on Wikipedia, of the 16 sailors who commenced the 2022 GGR, four – including Abhilash – had boats of the Rustler 36 type. Kirsten Neuschafer’s Minnehaha is a Cape George Cutter (CG36) while Simon Curwen’s Clara and Michael Guggenberger’s Nuri are both Biscay 36. At the time of writing, Guggenberger (he is from Austria) was in third place with roughly 488 nautical miles left to finish. South Africa’s Jeremy Bagshaw sailing in the Olleanna (OE32 type of yacht) was second in Chichester Class and 1621 nautical miles away from Les Sables-d’Olonne.

In a video posted on the GGR Facebook page, Abhilash could be seen saying soon after his arrival at Les Sables-d’Olonne in France that this is the first time an Asian is securing a podium finish in a round-the world race of any format. “ It’s a big moment for me,’’ he said. Responding to a message from Admiral R. Hari Kumar, chief of the Indian Navy, congratulating him on his achievement, Abhilash recalled the support he had received from the senior officer when in 2018 he put in his resignation because he wished to attempt the GGR and was unsure he would be able to do that through the navy. The admiral was at that time, head of HR in the navy. “ He understood the importance of GGR and he pushed the boundaries of a lot of rules to make sure that I was here,’’ Abhilash said, adding that when he had the accident in the 2018 GGR (his boat, Thuriya, was dismasted and he suffered serious injury in a storm in the southern Indian Ocean), the admiral had been in the operations room directing the rescue.

“ I am happy to have completed the circle. The stigma of losing a boat…I didn’t want to, you know, once is an accident, twice is a habit! So, I really wanted to get Bayanat back and I can tell you, Bayanat got me back,’’ Abhilash said. Asked about the impact of his podium finish in India, Abhilash pointed out how small the number of yachts in all of India was. From that backdrop, if he could think of a circumnavigation race and complete it, it meant the youngsters of India can do a lot. Comparing the two solo, non-stop circumnavigations he has done so far, Abhilash said that the INSV Mhadei was a big boat, one that kept you safe as long as you made sure that nothing happened to it. It didn’t demand a lot. “ But a small boat with wind pilot and no GPS is a hundred times more difficult. But at the same time, I want to say that if that circumnavigation had not happened, I would not have dreamt of coming for GGR. So, they are important in their own places but a GGR is a hundred times tougher than what I did in 2013.’’

The Puffin adrift at sea following the rescue of Ian Herbert Jones (this photo was downloaded from the Facebook page of 2022 GGR and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

The second major mishap of the 2022 GGR happened on day 218 of the race (around April 10, 2023) in the Atlantic Ocean. According to the first report on the incident on the GGR website, Ian Herbert Jones of the United Kingdom and his boat Puffin, found themselves in ` extreme weather and confused seas.’’ Ian was unable to launch his drogue (a conical / funnel shaped-device towed behind a boat that is used to reduce speed and improve stability) to keep the boat stern to the waves and avoid being rolled. In the extreme conditions, he had been washed out of the cockpit twice. With communication, including via satellite phone, rendered erratic by the prevailing conditions, Ian had activated his Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). Things appear to have escalated fast.  A few hours later, the Puffin’s distress alert button was activated and with it the rescue coordination centre in Argentina was informed of the emergency at sea. Soon thereafter, a text message from the Puffin said that the boat had been rolled and dismasted, there was two feet of water within and its skipper, having injured his back was finding it “ hard to move.’’ Ian got the water ingress under control but by then, he had also gashed his head. On day 219 of the race, Ian was rescued by the Taiwanese fishing vessel Zi Da Wang.

Storms and freaky weather conditions aren’t the only things that trigger retirement in endurance races. In solo, non-stop sailing, the boat he / she is in, is every sailor’s floating house. It is what shields sailor from the elements. Its maintenance is a constant job. Equipment aboard may malfunction or break down. The hull may gather barnacles and slow down the boat’s progress in water. Monitoring, cleaning and repairing – it keeps going on. Depending on what is available and what isn’t, one may require to be creative on the repairs. The paradigm of a race, enhances the importance of these aspects. In solo sailing, all this has to be done by oneself. Limits reached on any of these fronts or quite simply the mind declining to sustain its appetite for such life, can lead to people pulling out.

A summary of the race would be incomplete without a picture of the finish. A circumnavigation is a hell of a lot of distance covered, long enough for people to be separated by vast margins at sea. Yet by the time, Abhilash and Kirsten Neuschafer entered the Atlantic for the second time in their long voyage (this time on the way back to Les Sables-d’Olonne), it was clear that a tight finish was on the cards. Around the equator, the lead separating the two had reduced considerably. At times, they seemed almost parallel to each other on the race’s live tracker. Eventually, Kirsten finished first, Abhilash placed second. For most observers, given a whole planet circumnavigated, both represent endurance sailing at its best.    

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai. This wrap-up is the extended version of two articles by the author published in Telegraph and Rediff.com)

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AT A GLANCE / MAY 2023

Aleksandr Sorokin (this image was downloaded from the athlete’s Facebook page and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

Aleksandr Sorokin breaks own 100 km world record by six seconds

Aleksandr Sorokin, ultrarunner from Lithuania, set a new 100-kilometre-world record by running the distance in six hours, five minutes and 35 seconds.

He achieved this new record at the 2023 World’s Fastest Run event in Vilnius, Lithuania, on May 14, 2023.

He improved upon his own previous world record by six seconds at this event. He had set the previous record of 6:05:41 at the Centurion Running Track 100 Mile in Bedford, United Kingdom in April 2022. In a social media post, after breaking the world record, Aleksandr said the new 100 km world record is extremely important to him as it happened in Lithuania and his family and friends were there to watch his performance. “I was promised that this run would be the fastest in the world. That’s how it was, a promise made is extremely important to me,” he said.

Parul Chaudhary (this photo was downloaded from the Facebook page of Athletics Federation of India [AFI] and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

Three new national records

A clutch of national records was rewritten over the first weekend of May 2023.

At an event in Havana, Cuba, Praveen Chitravel jumped 17.37 metres to top the podium. In the process, he bettered the earlier national record of 17.30 metres set by Ranjith Maheshwari in 2016. Chitravel achieved the record breaking distance in his fifth jump at Preuba de confrontacion 2023 with a headwind of -1.5m/s, a report on olympics.com said. According to it, the permissible wind assistance for official records is +2.0 m/s. All national records are subject to ratification by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

With his record breaking effort, Chitravel has qualified for the World Athletics Championships 2023 due in Budapest over August 19-27. The qualifying mark for the event was 17.20 metres.

Same day, at an event in Los Angeles, USA, Indian athletes, Parul Chaudhary and Avinash Sable, overhauled national records in the 5000 metres for women and men respectively. Chaudhary who clocked 15:10:35 took down the previous national record of 15:15:89 set by Preeja Sreedharan (13 years ago at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China) while Sable improved his own national record of 13:25:65 (set at the Sound Running Track Meet in San Juan Capistrano in 2022) with a new timing of 13:19:30. Sable finished twelfth at the meet, a World Athletics Continental Tour silver event. Chaudhary finished ninth, the report on olympics.com said. According to it, Sable also participated in the 10,000 metres but registered a DNF.

All three athletes are from the Inspire Institute of Sport funded by the JSW Group, a report in Times of India said.

(The authors, Latha Venkatraman and Shyam G Menon, are independent journalists based in Mumbai.)

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2022 GGR / ABHILASH TOMY FINISHES IN SECOND PLACE

Abhilash Tomy (this photo was downloaded from the Facebook page of GGR and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

Abhilash Tomy has completed his voyage as part of the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR).

He and his boat Bayanat crossed the finish line at 04:46 hours Universal Time Coordinated (UTC), on Saturday, April 29, 2023 to place second in the race. The GGR entails a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the planet.

In a video posted on the GGR Facebook page, Abhilash could be seen saying soon after his arrival at Les Sables-d’Olonne in France that this is the first time an Asian is securing a podium finish in a round-the-world race of any format. “ It’s a big moment for me,’’ Abhilash, a former officer with the Indian Navy, said. April 29 was the 236th day since the commencement of race on September 4, 2022. Responding to a message from Admiral R. Hari Kumar, chief of the Indian Navy, congratulating him on his achievement, Abhilash recalled the support he had received from the senior officer when in 2018 he put in his resignation because he wished to attempt the GGR and was unsure he would be able to do that through the navy. The admiral was at that time, head of HR in the navy. “ He understood the importance of GGR and he pushed the boundaries of a lot of rules to make sure that I was here,’’ Abhilash said, adding that when he had the accident in the 2018 GGR (his boat, Thuriya, was dismasted and he suffered serious injury in a storm in the southern Indian Ocean), the admiral had been in the operations room directing the rescue.

“ I am happy to have completed the circle. The stigma of losing a boat…I didn’t want to, you know, once is an accident, twice is a habit! So, I really wanted to get Bayanat back and I can tell you, Bayanat got me back,’’ Abhilash said. Asked about the impact of his podium finish in India, Abhilash pointed out how small the number of yachts in all of India was. From that backdrop, if he could think of a circumnavigation race and complete it, it meant the youngsters of India can do a lot. Comparing the two solo, non-stop circumnavigations he has done so far, Abhilash said that the INSV Mhadei (in which he did his first circumnavigation) was a big boat, one that kept you safe as long as you made sure that nothing happened to it. It didn’t demand a lot. “ But a small boat with wind pilot and no GPS is a hundred times more difficult. But at the same time, I want to say that if that circumnavigation had not happened, I would not have dreamt of coming for GGR. So, they are important in their own places but a GGR is a hundred times tougher than what I did in 2013.’’

The 2022 GGR was won by Kirsten Neuschafer of South Africa. She reached Les Sables-d’Olonne at 19:44 UTC on April 27, 2023 becoming the first woman and the first South African to win a round-the-world race. Kirsten, Abhilash and Michael Guggenberger of Austria (he is yet to finish) were the only sailors remaining in the event’s solo, non-stop category. The rest had retired or slipped to the race’s Chichester Class featuring one stopover. Simon Curwen of England, sailing in Chichester Class, was the first GGR participant to get back to Les Sables-d’Olonne with circumnavigation of the planet done. He arrived at 10:38 UTC on April 27.

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.)

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2022 GGR / KIRSTEN NEUSCHAFER WINS

Kirsten Neuschafer (this image was downloaded from the Facebook page of GGR and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

Kirsten Neuschafer of South Africa has won the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR).

She reached the finishing line of the event at Les Sables-d’Olonne in France (from where the race entailing a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the planet had commenced months ago), at 19:44 Universal Tine Coordinated (UTC) on April 27, 2023. In the process, she became the first woman to win a round-the-world race by the three great capes across the solo / crewed and solo / non-stop categories. She is also the first South African sailor to win such an event. Her voyage as part of the 2022 GGR included the rescue of fellow GGR participant, Tapio Lehtinen. The rescue happened in November 2022. Lehtinen’s boat had suddenly sunk in the Indian Ocean. Neuschafer was awarded the Rod Stephen Seamanship Trophy by the Cruising Club of America for the rescue.

The 2022 GGR had got underway on September 4, 2022. The first among the 2022 GGR participants to reach Les Sables-d’Olonne after a full circumnavigation done, was Simon Curwen of England. He had led the race by a considerable margin for much of the voyage before the need to repair his boat forced him to halt in Chile, relegating him to the Chichester Class (sailing with one stop) of the race. Simon nevertheless caught up with the competitors who had gone past him during the halt, overtook them and finished ahead of all at 10:38 UTC on April 27, 2023.

Checked at 17:55 hours Indian Standard Time (IST) on April 28, Abhilash Tomy of India was 78.8 nautical miles from the finish line. As per an update on the Facebook page of the event, he was expected in Les Sables-d’Olonne in the late morning of April 29. Abhilash is currently in second place.

As per information available on the GGR website, Kirsten Neuschafer (she has been ““sailing dinghies since her childhood) has been sailing since 2006, as a profession. From training people to sail to delivering sailboats, she has built a diverse set of skills and experiences, the website said in its profile on her. According to it, her longest single-handing prior to GGR was a delivery from Portugal to South Africa.

Please find below the link to a video shared by GGR celebrating the arrival of Kirsten and her boat Minnehaha in Les Sables-d’Olonne; solo, non-stop circumnavigation done. The song in the video – On the Minnehaha – has been written and performed by Lennie Gallant.

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.)

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2023 TOKYO MARATHON / LONG WAIT FOR SIX STAR WORLD MARATHON MEDAL ENDS

Illustration: Shyam G Menon

Rosemary Wanjiru tops among women, Deso Gelmisa among men. Around 38,000 runners participate. Record 3033 runners get their six star medal.

The full-fledged version of the Tokyo Marathon, one of the six World Marathon Majors, was held on March 5, 2023, after a gap of three years.

Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya and Deso Gelmisa of Ethiopia won the women’s and men’s race respectively, at the World Athletics Platinum Label race.

In the men’s race it was an Ethiopian sweep with Gelmisa crossing the finish line in two hours, five minutes and 21 minutes. His compatriot Mohamed Esa finished alongside in the same timing to place second by the narrowest of margins. Tsegaye Getachew, also of Ethiopia, finished in third position, a mere three seconds behind the lead pair.

In the women’s race Rosemary Wanjiru won with timing of 2:16:28. Tsehay Gemechu of Ethiopia (2:16:56) finished second and her compatriot Ashete Bekere (2:19:11) finished third. According to Runner’s World, this was Rosemary Wanjiru’s second career marathon and her first major victory.

Japan is among countries where running is a very popular sport. About 38,000 runners from around the world participated in the 2023 Tokyo Marathon. Included in these numbers were those running to complete their six World Marathon Majors. Runners completing the circuit of these marathon majors are awarded a six-star medal at the end of their individual sixth marathon.

The 2023 Tokyo Marathon secured place in the Guinness World Records for having the highest number of runners finishing for a six-star medal at a single marathon. According to Abbott World Marathon Majors website, 3033 runners earned the six-star medal at Tokyo Marathon. This was a massive rise from the previous high of 732 runners at the 2019 edition of the Tokyo Marathon.

Runners who had finished five of the six World Marathon Majors in 2019 had to wait for three years until 2023 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, to complete their sixth marathon.

Returning after three years, Tokyo Marathon had mandated that runners download a health app and upload temperature details daily for a few days in the run-up to the marathon. Also, they were required to do a couple of rapid antigen tests. They were also mandated to carry their smart phones to the start line of the marathon. This rule was tough for many runners as they do not normally train carrying their mobile phones. Runners were also disallowed from carrying their own water bottles during the run. The rule impacted the hydration plan of some runners.

Another rule that did not sit well with some runners was the requirement to avoid discarding layers along the marathon route. This is possible in many international marathons. Later, the rule was partially relaxed but runners were allowed to discard layers only at the start of the run.

We spoke to a few of the runners from India about their experience running the marathon and completing the six-star World Marathon Majors.

Kavitha Reddy / 2023 Tokyo Marathon (photo: courtesy Kavitha)

Pune-based marathon runner Kavitha Reddy was to participate in the 2020 edition of the Tokyo Marathon but the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent travel restrictions put a pause on her plan of completing the six-marathon cycle.

“A major challenge was to keep up the fitness level for at least one more year,” Kavitha said. At that point in time, the pandemic was an unknown entity and the world was clueless when it would end.

Overall, the lockdown and the absence of races helped runners to focus on their strength training. “I was able to keep up my fitness level throughout the three years. The lockdown period did help,” Kavitha said.

In October 2022, Kavitha ran the Melbourne Marathon finishing in 3:07:13 and also securing a second position in her age category.

“At Tokyo, my target was to maintain the same pace as Melbourne – 4:21 per kilometre. Instead of focussing on the finish time, I decided to focus on pace,” she said.

Although there were anxieties about the various rules that Tokyo Marathon had mandated there were no hitches on the day of the marathon. “From the point of entry to the race and the finish, everything was well-organised. It is an extremely disciplined country,” Kavitha said.

As it was quite cold, Kavitha approached the start line with layers, which she discarded at the start line. “Normally, I would have discarded the layers once I am two kilometres into the race. It was cold but during the race I was zoned out about the weather difficulties. Only after I finished the race, I realised that my shoulders had frozen. I could not lift my arms,” she said.

She finished strong with a new personal best of 3:05:08.

Going forward, her focus will continue to be on the marathon. She is confident about chopping some more minutes from her time to finish but at the same time is aware of limitations to potential improvements in timing.

Ambuj Kumar / 2023 Tokyo Marathon (Photo: courtesy Ambuj)

Bengaluru-based Ambuj Kumar started recreational running as recent as 2018. A year later, he commenced attempting the six Marathon Majors with the aim of completing all six within 365 days.

For him, the year 2019 entailed a schedule that packed in many marathons. The year started with Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon in January. This was followed by London Marathon in April, Berlin Marathon in September, Chicago Marathon in October and New York City Marathon in November.

“I wanted to be the first Indian to do all six Marathon Majors in a one-year period,” he said. The plan was to do Tokyo Marathon and Boston Marathon in 2020. But that was not to be because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, he completed Boston Marathon in 2022. “Two months before Boston, I contracted COVID-19. Nevertheless, Boston Marathon for me was a good race,” he said.

Ambuj ended up training for Tokyo Marathon three times – once in 2020, then in 2021 and finally in 2023.

Japan, according to Ambuj, is an amazing country. On race day, weather in Tokyo was quite cold prompting runners to wear layers ahead of the run.

“For me, it was a wonderful race. Though, my best experience was at the Boston Marathon,” Ambuj said. He finished Tokyo Marathon in 3:29:57.

Having completed his six-star World Marathon Majors, he may consider looking at distances beyond 42.2 km. In the meanwhile, he is due to run the 2023 edition of Berlin Marathon, his second time there.

Ramanjit Singh Oberoi / 2023 Tokyo Marathon (Photo: courtesy Ramanjit)

Ramanjit Singh Oberoi started casual running in 2009 when he found he had the time for it. In 2011, he heard about the Delhi Half Marathon and enrolled for his first half marathon in 2013 at the same event.

During the 2017 Mumbai Marathon, Ramanjit, 64, heard about the Boston Marathon and its stringent qualification norms. In 2018, he ran the New Delhi Marathon and qualified for Boston Marathon in his age category. This, set in motion the process to start the six-star World Marathon Majors journey.

In 2019, Ramanjit ran many races including Boston Marathon, Berlin Marathon, New York City Marathon and the Comrades Ultramarathon. After a two-year gap due to the pandemic, he did the London Marathon and Chicago Marathon in October 2022.

For Ramanjit, Tokyo Marathon went off quite well until the 34th kilometre. “After about 34 km I got a back ache and I had to take walk breaks to keep going,” he said. He finished the Tokyo Marathon in 3:40:24.

During the pandemic months, he also got into long-distance cycling, including one trip from India Gate in Delhi to Gateway of India in Mumbai and another from Delhi to Manali.

Ashoke Sharma (Photo: courtesy Ashoke)

Having lived in Japan for eight years, Ashoke Sharma, now a resident of London, was not unduly perturbed by the rules mandated by the Tokyo Marathon.

“Japan is a rule-based society but I know the psyche of the people of the country,” he said.

In 2018, Ashoke ran Berlin Marathon and in the process qualified for the Boston Marathon but he ended up doing the latter only in 2022. He followed it up with the New York City Marathon in the same year. In 2019, he completed the London Marathon and the Chicago Marathon.

In January this year, Ashoke shifted to London on work and took up residence near Kensington Park. “My training went off quite well. It was fantastic, running in the park and very safe,” he said referring to a recent incident in Mumbai when a runner was fatally knocked down by a speeding car.

In Tokyo, Ashoke suffered an ankle-twist around the 10th km mark. “Thereafter, it was tough, running. I had to walk the last 16 km. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it as it was my last one among the World Marathon Majors,” he said. He finished the marathon in 4:02:48.

Going forward, he may look at attempting a triathlon. “I am divided between focussing on the marathon and the triathlon. Now that I am based in London, I may opt to run some of the marathons in this part of the world,” he said.

Sunil Chainani (Photo: courtesy Sunil)

“In Tokyo, rules were strange but eventually everything worked out fine,” said Sunil Chainani, a Bengaluru-based runner.

He was one among the many runners waiting to finish his six-star World Marathon Majors. Some of the rules mandated by the Tokyo Marathon gave anxious moments to runners.

“We were asked to carry our mobile phones to the start line of the Tokyo Marathon. I don’t run with my phone normally,” he said adding that there were many issues such as crowded expo, cold weather and the requirement to fill out details in a health app.

Also, the course, though largely flat, had many U-turns and was constantly crowded with runners. Overall, the run went off quite well. “Japanese people are extremely helpful. There were many aid stations,” he said.

Sunil said his training for the Tokyo Marathon was inadequate. He finished the marathon in 4:22. “This was my fifth marathon in 10 and a half months,” he said. He plans to take a break from running marathons now.

He had run Berlin Marathon for the first time way back in 2008. He went back and ran the same marathon in 2018 to start his six-star World Marathon Major journey.

Pervin Batliwala / 2023 Tokyo Marathon (Photo: courtesy Pervin)

Waiting to complete the six-star World Marathon Major circuit, Pervin Batliwala, runner from Mumbai, trained quite well for the Tokyo Marathon.

Despite good training ahead of the race, some of the stringent rules mandated by the organisers of Tokyo Marathon did perturb Pervin. “The rule not allowing us to carry water bottles during the run was tough. I am used to taking gels during the run and I usually drink water after consuming gels. At Tokyo Marathon, I could not take as many gels as I had planned,” she said. Nevertheless, the overall experience of finishing the pursuit of the six World Marathon Majors and running a very well organised race in Tokyo was quite satisfying. She finished the race in 4:33:09.

Pervin had commenced her World Marathon Majors journey with her 2017 Boston Marathon race. In 2015, she ran the Comrades Ultramarathon and the next year she did the 72 km Khardung La Challenge in Ladakh.

Pervin now wants to attempt doing a triathlon and also focus on swimming events.

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

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AT A GLANCE / MARCH 2023

Camille Herron (This image was downloaded from the athlete’s Facebook page and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

American ultrarunner Camille Herron sets new 48-hr world record

Camille Herron, ultrarunner from the US, set a new 48-hour world record at the 2023 Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival held at Canberra, Australia from March 24 to 26, 2023.

Camille ran a distance of 435.336 kilometers (270.505 miles) during the stipulated period beating the record of 411.458 km set in February 2023 by UK’s Joasia Zakrzeski at the 2023 Taipei Ultramarathon.

Camille completed 1088 laps of 400 metres each at Canberra.

Only two athletes have covered distances more than Camille during 48 hours, both men.

Andrew Tkachuk, from Ukraine, has covered a distance of 435.466 km. Greek runner, Yiannis Kouros, holds the men’s world record of 473.495 km.

Following her record breaking-run, Camille noted on her Facebook page: “ Through all the pain, I found joy in knowing I was fulfilling a purpose in life. I had to keep going, keep pushing through every challenge and find out what’s possible…This was my 3rd try for 48Hrs. I finally got it right. Don’t give up on your goals and dreams, no matter how many times it takes.’’

Indian ultrarunners qualify for IAU 24-hr World Championships at Chinese Taipei

Several Indian ultrarunners qualified recently for the IAU 24 Hour World Championships to be held later this year in Chinese Taipei.

At a recent stadium run in Bengaluru, four male runners and two female runners qualified for the upcoming championships.

Amar Singh Devanda, Velu Perumal, Badal Teotia and Geeno Antony qualified with mileages in excess of 220 km, the qualifying mark set by Athletics Federation of India, during the 24-hour period. Amar won the race with a distance of 234 km. He was followed by Velu (232 km), Badal (223.6 km) and Geeno (222.8 km).

Among women, Shashi Mehta won the race with a distance of 196 km. The qualifying mark for women was set at 180 km. Aparna Choudhary also qualified with a distance of 180.8 km.

At the Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Track Festival held at Canberra, Australia, on March 24-26, 2023, an additional two Indian runners qualified for the Taipei Championships. Running a 24-hour race, Ullas Narayana covered a distance of 220.636 km during the 24-hour period. Priyanka Bhatt of Mumbai covered a distance of 184.577 km during the stipulated period.

Record three finishers at Barkley Marathon this year

Barkley Marathons, a gruelling ultrarunning event held every year, typically sees few finishers or no finishers at all.

For the second time in its history, a record three athletes completed the 2023 edition of Barkley Marathons. The race is held every year in Tennessee, USA.

The three finishers were John Kelly from USA, Aurelien Sanchez from France and Karel Sabbe from Belgium. John Kelly was also a finisher in the 2017 edition of the race.

Barkley Marathons had three finishers in 2012.

The race held in Tennessee’s Frozen Head State Park is made up of five loops of about 20 miles through brushy mountains with an elevation gain of around 63,000 feet. The race is to be completed in 60 hours.

The race did not have any finishers for the past five years.

2022 Golden Globe Race / Race leaders complete their second equator crossing

The race leaders of the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR), Kirsten Neuschafer of South Africa and Abhilash Tomy of India, have completed their second equator-crossing of the race, this time on the way back to the start / finish line in France. GGR entails a solo, nonstop circumnavigation of the planet. On the event’s live tracker, as of March 31, Kirsten with 2840.1 nautical miles to the finish continued to be in first place; Abhilash with 3137.8 nautical miles left to cover, was in second position.

Interestingly, Simon Curwen of the UK, despite having halted in Chile for repairs and relegated thus to the race’s Chichester Class, had caught up with the race leaders and was in the same region of the Atlantic. He had 2927.4 nautical miles remaining to the finish line. Given the weather conditions known to characterise these parts, progress has been slow. It is hoped that the trio should now gradually exit the Atlantic’s doldrums.

For Gopi, a setback at 2023 Seoul Marathon

Elite Indian marathoner T. Gopi had a setback at the 2023 Seoul Marathon held on March 19. During the run, he experienced a problem in his hamstring. He finished in 26th place with timing of 2:18:53. According to him, the race was progressing well and he was maintaining a pace of around 3.12 when after the 32nd kilometre, he suddenly felt a catch in his hamstring. He had to stop, stretch and jog the remaining distance.

In January 2023, Gopi had won the Tata Mumbai Marathon in 2:16:41, signalling a return to good performance after knee surgery and months of the sporting calendar impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

(The authors, Latha Venkatraman and Shyam G Menon, are independent journalists based in Mumbai.)

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AT A GLANCE / FEBRUARY 2023

Illustration: Shyam G Menon

Man Singh, Jyoti Gawate win 2023 New Delhi Marathon

Indian elite runners, Man Singh and Jyoti Gawate, won the 2023 New Delhi Marathon held on February 26, in the national capital.

Man Singh finished the distance in a personal best of two hours, 14 minutes and 13 seconds. He also qualified for the upcoming Asian Games for which the qualifying time set by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is 2:15.

Jyoti Gawati defended her 2022 title, winning the race in 2:53:04 but way outside the qualifying timing for women at 2:37 set for the Asian Games.

In the men’s race, A.B. Belliappa won the silver in 2:14:15 and Karthik Kumar, the bronze with timing of 2:14:19. Both of them qualified for the Asian Games due to be held in Hangzhou, China in September-October 2023.

In the women’s race, Ashvini Jadhav won the silver in 2:53:06. Jigmet Dolma secured the bronze with timing of 2:56:41.

The race went off well for Man Singh. “I was able to get a personal best and also qualify for Asian Games. I could have done better but I continue to carry the fatigue from the Tata Mumbai Marathon, which was held on January 15, 2023,” he told this blog.

His training for the 2023 New Delhi Marathon went off well. His training was mostly in Ooty. “ The weather was very good and the route was conducive for a strong run,” he said.

Belliappa shifted to the full marathon in October 2021. In December, he had participated in the marathon in Valencia covering the distance in 2:16:51. He failed to manage the pace evenly there, he said. For the New Delhi Marathon, he too trained in Ooty. “ I trained well and had faith in my training. On race day I was able to more or less sustain a 3:10 pace throughout,’’ he said.

He nolw plans to take a brief break and then  return to training, where his focus would be on the next edition of the Asian Games. According to him, the quest is to cover the distance in anywhere between 2:14 (hours and minutes respectively) and 2:13.

The 2023 New Delhi Marathon commenced at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It was flagged off by well-known Kenyan middle-distance runner David Rudisha.

Abhilash Tomy (This photo was downloaded from the Facebook page of GGR and is being used here for representation purpose. No copyright infringement intended)

Abhilash Tomy rounds Cape Horn

Indian sailor, Abhilash Tomy, got past Cape Horn on February 18, 2023, an update on the website of the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR), said. He continued to be in second place. As of February 28, he was well past Falkland Islands and steadily reducing the gap between his boat and that of race leader, Kirsten Neuschafer of South Africa. The GGR entails a solo, nonstop circumnavigation of the planet.     

2022 GGR / Kirsten Neuschafer is first to get past Cape Horn

A tight race is on in a remote part of the world.

On February 15, 2023, South African sailor Kirsten Neuschafer became the first participant in the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR) to sail past Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and enter the Atlantic Ocean for the final long stretch home.

Abhilash Tomy of India was not far behind. He continued to be in second place and by February 18 (in India), the live tracker of the race showed him quite close to Cape Horn. However, the long voyage – the participants have been sailing since early September 2022 – along with the testing weather systems encountered therein, have taken their toll on both boats; Kirsten’s and Abhilash’s. The last storm they tackled was in the southern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Chile. According to the race website, Abhilash had thereafter informed of a failed wind vane pendulum rudder on his boat, ` Bayanat.’ Options for repair onboard were limited. Given he had been facing wind vane issues since the Atlantic, he had used up all his spare blades and had ended up cutting the boat’s chart table to make blades.

To compound matters, during the most recent instance of wind vane trouble, his course was taking him towards the Chilean coast; he needed to make repairs in time and veer off to the path he should be on. Consequently, there were some anxious moments during which, Abhilash is said to have wondered whether he may have to seek repairs on land and thereby join the Chichester Class. Eventually, he managed to do the necessary repairs by cutting a blade from the boat’s main emergency rudder, the race website reported. Although close to three quarters of the GGR’s circumnavigation appears done by the leaders (a race update of February 7 said that 70 per cent of their voyage stood completed), a good distance still remains from Cape Horn to the race’s start / finish line at Les Sables-d’Olonne in France. Both Kirsten and Abhilash will have to manage the remaining portion of their voyage keeping in mind the state of their sail boats. The afore mentioned GGR update from February 7 had informed that Kirsten suffered a broken spinnaker pole and could no longer fly her twin headsails.

What made the race seem a tight contest by was that Austrian sailor, Michael Guggenberger, sailing in third place was also just 1100 miles away from Cape Horn as per the race update of February 16, 2023. Importantly, he had faced mostly fair weather all through, implying his boat was likely in good shape still. At the time of writing, that made for three boats not significantly apart from each other, in the vicinity of Cape Horn. With a big stretch of the Atlantic remaining, anything can happen in that pecking order.  

The GGR entails a solo, nonstop circumnavigation of the planet.

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.)   

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JOANNA ZAKREZEWSKI SETS NEW WORLD RECORD

Joanna Zakrezewski; this photo was taken in July 2022 at the IAU 24-Hour Asia & Oceania Championships held in Bengaluru (Photo: Sunil Chainani)

British ultramarathon runner Joanna (Joasia) Zakrezewski has set a new world record for the 48-hour run.

She covered a distance of 411.458 kilometres in the stipulated time, at the 12th Taipei 48-hour Ultra Marathon on February 12, 2023.

She broke the previous record of 403.32 km set by Polish runner Patrycja Bereznowska.

Patrycja had set the record at Poland’s UltraPark Weekend 48-hour race on May 15, 2022.

Patrycja, running in Taipei this weekend, was able to cover a distance of 363.728 km during the 48 hour period.

In July 2022, Joanna was among participants at the IAU 24-Hour Asia & Oceania Championships held in Bengaluru.

At the event, she ran in the open category and placed first in the women’s segment.

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

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BHARAT PANNU / THOUGHTS FROM AHMEDNAGAR

Bharat Pannu; from 2022 RAAM (Photo: courtesy Bharat)

It was the tenth day of his participation in the 2022 edition of Race Across America (RAAM) and things were not going well for Bharat Pannu.

He had developed a mild fever and was feeling chilly during daytime. It wasn’t a sudden onset. A vague sluggishness had been threatening to derail plans since race commencement. It wasn’t the predicament Bharat Pannu deserved. Since 2017, the ultra-cyclist had been trying to participate in and complete the 4800 kilometers-long Race Across America (RAAM). He had done the needful diligently, including crewing for the participating team in 2018 so that he would understand what went into a successful completion of the iconic race. In 2019, with much preparation done, he reached the US for his shot at RAAM. Unfortunately, he suffered an accident while cycling in the US, ahead of RAAM. It left him with a broken collar bone. His plan to race had to be abandoned.

Late 2019, the first cases of what would eventually come to be called COVID-19 were reported. By early 2020, it was a full-blown pandemic, and the world was forced to shut down. Sport went into hibernation; sporting events dried up. The year’s RAAM was cancelled. However, a major development of the pandemic phase featuring people loving the active lifestyle trapped indoors, was the spurt in virtual formats of sport. In cycling, the use of trainers (the device replaces the rear wheel of the bike and allows it to be used as a stationary bicycle that can be pedaled indoors) was already a reality. High end trainers, computers and digital apps used in combination allowed races to be simulated. RAAM debuted a virtual race. Bharat who had been training for RAAM, grabbed the opportunity. Pedaling from an apartment in Pune and enduring the challenges of covering simulated ultra-long distance from a parked bike, Bharat achieved something remarkable – covering 4086 kilometers, he placed first in his age category and third overall in the competition.

The virtual RAAM was followed by attempts to set new records, cycling along India’s highway system called the Golden Quadrilateral and the popular high-altitude road linking Leh and Manali. In both instances, he made it to the Guinness Book of World Records. Beneath the record-breaking effort, there was a niggling worry. Bharat knew that his performance could have been better. In the happiness of podium finish in virtual RAAM and new Guinness records established, introspection got postponed. Correction happened in the 2021 edition of Ultra Spice, among prominent endurance races in India. “ I did this self-supported race and had a good time,’’ Bharat said, adding that the run up to the event and the actual race gave him space to rectify the shortcomings he had noticed in 2020.

By now he was feeling good and ready for another shot at RAAM. But COVID-19 was still out there haunting the world in repeated waves of infection. Overseas travel continued to be plagued by uncertainty and the requirement for extra care and quarantine. RAAM is a supported race; every cyclist has a crew. Anyone of them falling sick would suffice to upset plans; worse, if that happens in the US or during the race, it could mean much investment wasted. For participants from India, RAAM is a costly affair. “ In 2021, RAAM didn’t appear viable to me owing to the restrictions still in place,’’ Bharat said. So, he rolled over his eligibility to participate, to 2022. Following the decision to postpone his RAAM attempt; in October 2021, he cycled in nine days from the west of India to the east – from Koteshwar in Gujarat to Kibita in Arunachal Pradesh.

Within India, events in sport were slowly regaining tempo and normalcy. Bharat had his basket of events to choose from and stay busy. But there were other developments to cope with. An army officer, Bharat’s interest in endurance cycling and his competence in the sport, was noticed by the establishment. In July 2021, the aeronautical engineer aligned with the Indian Army’s aviation wing, was transferred from Bengaluru to Ahmednagar (a major base for the army’s armored corps) and put in charge of the Indian Army’s Cycling and Rugby teams. While that no doubt ensured a scenario in which, a person’s favorite sport became the stuff of his regular work, the new responsibilities – he was now overseeing the training and performance of whole teams – may have deprived Bharat of the level of attention he should have shown himself to be in good shape for RAAM. “ I got involved in so many things,’’ Bharat said. He made the best of what his predicament offered and reported to RAAM’s starting line in California in June 2022. There was no shortage of confidence, he and his crew were looking forward to a good outing, he said.

As its name denotes, RAAM entails a ride across the United States, spanning its east-west sprawl. In races, Bharat is known for his ability to fare strongly in the second half. When in the initial part of 2022 RAAM, Bharat trailed other participants, it didn’t bother him or his crew. It seemed to fit his style and known pattern of performance. On the fifth day however, it suddenly struck home that the team may find itself in trouble. Till Durango, the progress hadn’t been too bad; the lag was manageable. Then it began to get warm impacting Bharat’s progress. Decisions were taken and a sincere attempt made to improve progress. It yielded result. The rest of day five wasn’t bad. Day six too was good. “ At this point, I was only slightly short of the average speed required to complete the race within the stipulated cut-off period of 12 days,’’ Bharat said. The turnaround in fortunes was short-lived. Four days later, on day ten, that mild fever manifested and along with it, chills, and shivering.

Bharat Pannu; from 2022 RAAM (Photo: courtesy Bharat)

Bharat’s performance started to fall. His average speed began to decline. His crew got worried. It was clear that if Bharat didn’t rest adequately, he risked damaging his health. The team decided to exit the race. It was a tough decision to stomach. “ I didn’t have any saddle sores. My fingers were fine. My nutrition was perfect,’’ Bharat said. He thinks that the initial lag may have cost him dearly. Aside from requiring him to push later to make up for the lag, it also brought him to some of the portions of the course susceptible to bad weather, just when the conditions turned bad. He got hammered. “ I now understand that you must push from day one itself,’’ Bharat said.

Another reason for his disappointing exit from RAAM in 2022, could be the deficit in training. It wasn’t as good as it was for the races, he previously participated in. And yet, it isn’t all about likely deficit either. In the best of times, to be good in ultra-cycling and fit enough for RAAM, Bharat was training at least 20 hours a week. That is three to four hours daily atop regular office work. “ For the body, office time and sleep time became the only periods for recovery,’’ he said. So, was there an element of too much done over several years, also contributing to the outcome at 2022 RAAM? That’s a tricky slope to set cyclist’s drive, on. Bharat admitted that he had been physically active and challenging his limits for a long time. He maybe in need of a break. On the other hand, too long a break may make return to form, a longer haul. On the question of returning to RAAM, he said, the mind must decide on that subject. “ All said and done, it is a race that requires a fit mind above everything else,’’ Bharat said.

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai. This article is based on a conversation had in October 2022. Its publication got delayed. Apologies for the delay.)