Geeno Antony sets new course record for the 90 km-race at Ooty Ultra

Ultrarunner Geeno Antony set a new course record for the 90-kilometre-race at the 2024 edition of Ooty Ultra, held on March 31, 2024.

He finished the 90 km distance in nine hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds, a new course record. The previous best finish timing for 90 km race at the event was 10:29:11, set by the winner of the 2023 edition, Sugourav Goswami.

“ It is a superb event in every respect – the route, the hydration support, volunteers. I did not know it would be so good. There was hydration support every four km,” Geeno Antony said.

The route was a constant progression of inclines and declines, sometimes very steep, he said.

According to information on the Ooty Ultra website, the 90 km race route has a total elevation gain of 2642 metres.

“ Weather was slightly cool in the early hours of the race. It did get quite warm later,” Geeno said.

New course records were set for both the men’s and women’s 30 km race. The men’s race was won by Josh Fisher of Australia (2:33:38). The women’s race was won by Tim Tim Sharma (2:48:47).

The 60 km men’s race was won by Paras Khushalani (6:02:10) and the women’s by Dolly (8:14:49). Paras holds the course record for the 60 km race (5:52:02) set during the 2023 edition of Ooty Ultra.

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

Gopi Thonakal, Ashvini Jadhav win 2024 New Delhi Marathon

Gopi Thonakal, among India’s leading marathon runners and owner of the best timing in the discipline since the late national record holder Shivnath Singh, won the overall title at the 2024 Apollo Tyres New Delhi Marathon.

He covered the distance in two hours, 14 minutes and 35 seconds to secure the gold medal, which was however quite distant from the Paris Olympics qualifying mark of 2:08:10. Srinu Bughata, the winner of the 2024 Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM), finished three seconds behind Gopi. Akshay Saini finished third with a timing of 2:15:24 (please note: all the timings have been taken from the results available on the website of the official time keeper for the race).

Mid-January at the 2024 TMM, Srinu had won in 2:17:29 with Gopi taking the second spot with timing of 2:18:37.

Among Indian women at the 2024 New Delhi Marathon, Ashvini Jadhav was the winner with her finish of 2:52:21. She secured a personal best in this race. TMM’s winner among elite Indian women, Thakor Nirmaben Bharatjee, finished in second position with a timing of 2:55:44. In third position was Divyanka Chaudhary, who crossed the finish line in 2:57:03.

The open category race of the marathon in New Delhi was won by Amit Khanduri in a timing of 2:29:20. The women’s race was won by Saraswati Rai with a timing of 3:02:46.

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

Tirtha Pun wins 2023 Vasai Virar Municipal Marathon

Tirtha Pun of the army’s Gorkha Regiment took top honours at the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon held on Sunday, December 10, 2023.

He won the marathon, covering the distance in two hours, 21 minutes and 48 seconds. Defending champion Mohit Rathor (2:26:43) had to settle for the second position after he suffered cramps at around the 30th kilometre. Tadakhe Sikandar Chindhu from Uttarakhand finished third with timing of 2:28:36.

Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon was organised by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation and the Vasai Taluka Kala Krida Vikas Mandal.

M D Nurhasan was the winner of the men’s half marathon. He covered the distance in 1:04:45, eight seconds outside the course record of 1:04:37 set by Anish Thapa in 2022. Puneet Yadav finished second with timing of 1:04:49 and Arun Rathod finished third in 1:04:53.

In the women’s half marathon race, Prajakta Godbole was the winner with timing of 1:18:12. In second place was Tamsi Singh (1:20:09) and in third place, Phoolan Pal (1:20:28).

In the open category, Manoj Kumar Yadav was the winner of the men’s race with timing of 2:27:25; Ashvini Jadhav (3:06:38) won the women’s race.

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

2023 New York City Marathon / Tola and Obiri win

Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola topped the men’s category of the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon with a new course record of two hours, four minutes and 58 seconds.

The women’s race was won by Kenya’s Hellen Obiri; she covered the distance in 2:27:23.

Tola, the 2022 world champion in the discipline, was followed to the finish line in New York by Kenya’s Albert Korir (2:06:57) and Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata (2:07:11). In the women’s category, Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey (2:27:29) and Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi (2:27:33) placed second and third respectively.

More than 50,000 people participated in the 53rd edition of the New York City Marathon. As per the report on the event published by Runners World, Tola, who was part of the lead pack from the start, began putting distance between himself and the rest of the pack at around 25 kilometres. For some time in this evolving separation he had the company of fellow countryman Yemal Yimer but at about eight miles left to go, Tola started to pull away from Yimer too. The new course record at run’s close was an improvement on the old by eight seconds.

The women’s race threw up no new course record. But it was more tightly contested than Tola’s passage to victory. Here, the top three finishers battled each other right into the last mile and it was over the last 600 metres or so that Obiri sprinted ahead to take the top spot. Gidey finished close behind. Obiri is the first athlete in 34 years to win both the New York City Marathon and the Boston Marathon in the same season, Runners World said in its report.   

According to Wikipedia, Hellen Obiri is the only woman to have won world titles in indoor and outdoor track and cross country. As of November 2023, Letesenbet Gidey held the world record for both the 10,000 metres and the half marathon.

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

Asian Games: Sable gets gold in 3000m steeplechase, three days later adds a silver in 5000m

Avinash Sable has become the first Indian man to win a gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the Asian Games.

On October 1, 2023 (Sunday), at the ongoing edition of the Games in Hangzhou, China, he completed the race in eight minutes, 19.50 seconds, a new Asian Games record. The previous record of 8:22.79 was set by Iran’s Hossein Keyhani at the 2018 Jakarta Games. Following Sable to silver and bronze respectively were Japan’s Ryoma Aoki (8:23.75) and Seiya Sunada (8:26.47).

“ Unlike his energy conservation strategy at the Budapest World Championships, Sable raced ahead to build a distance between himself and the rest of the field and won the race by a massive distance. In the final 50m, Sable turned around to see no one close to him as he approached the end and celebrated as he crossed the finish line,’’ Sportstar noted while reporting Sable’s win.

Three days later, on October 4, Sable treated himself to a silver in the men’s 5000m. Defending champion, Birhanu Yemataw Balew of Bahrain, won the competition by in a new Asian Games record of 13:17.40. Sable followed in 13:21.09 while Dawit Fikadu Admasu of Bahrain secured the bronze in 13:25.63.

Sable holds the national record in the 3000m steeplechase – 8:11.20. That mark was set at the Commonwealth Games in Brimingham in 2022, where Sable took silver. The first Indian to win a gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the Asian Games was Sudha Singh. She struck gold at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.

In addition to his prominence in the steeplechase, Sable holds the national record in the men’s 5000m (13:19.30). He also holds the national record in the half marathon – one hour, 30 seconds (1:00:30) set at the 2020 Delhi Half Marathon.

Parul Chaudhary gets gold in women’s 5000m and silver in women’s 3000m steeplechase

India’s Parul Chaudhary secured the gold medal in the women’s 5000m at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

On October 3, 2023, she clocked 15 minutes, 14.75 seconds to win the race. She was followed to the finish line by Japan’s Ririka Hironaka (15:15.34) and Kazakhstan’s Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui (15:23.12) who took silver and bronze respectively. This was the second track medal for Parul at the current edition of the Games.

Earlier on October 2, 2023, she had won the silver medal in the women’s 3000m steeplechase competition. She finished the race in nine minutes, 27.63 seconds (9:27.63).

Parul holds the women’s national record (9:15.31) in the event. Her compatriot Priti Lamba (9:43.32) placed third in the women’s steeplechase in Hangzhou.

The gold medal went to Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi (9:18.28). The reigning world champion, her timing was a new Asian Games record.

Among India’s versatile distance runners, Parul has a portfolio of disciplines that spans the women’s 3000m steeplechase, 5000m, 10,000m and the marathon.

New course records at 2023 Spartathlon

The 2023 Spartathlon witnessed new course records in both the women’s and men’s races.

American ultrarunner, Camille Heron, who won the women’s race finished in 22 hours, 35 minutes and 25 seconds. This was an improvement in the women’s course record by over two hours, Canadian Running Magazine informed. The previous record was held by Patrycja Bereznowska; 24:48:18 set in 2018. Finnish runners Noora Honkala (23:22:56) and Satu Lipiainen (23:48:28) finished second and third respectively.

In the men’s section, Fotis Zisimopoulos (19:55:02) won with a new course record. The previous record was in the name of Yiannis Kouros (20:25:00) set in 1984, the magazine said. Second place went to Simen Holvik of Norway (22:17:17). Uruguay’s Andres Fernando Roman Martinez (23:32:53) placed third.

Held annually in Greece, Spartathlon has a course length of 246 kilometres.

(The authors, Latha Venkatraman and Shyam G Menon, are independent journalists based in Mumbai. The 2023 Spartathlon timings quoted herein have been taken from the results provided on the race website.)

Courtney Dauwalter, Jim Walmsley win UTMB 2023

American ultrarunners Courtney Dauwalter and Jim Wamsley claimed the top spots at the 100-mile Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc (UTMB) held over August 28 to September 3, 2023.

Jim Walmsley is the first American man to win the 100-mile race; he did so in his fifth attempt.

He also set a new course record with his finish in 19 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds, setting aside Killian Jornet’s course record of 19:49:30 hours.

Courtney Dauwalter won with timing of 23:29:14.

AFI names 12 ultrarunners for IAU 24-Hour World Championship Taiwan

The Athletic Federation of India (AFI) has named the team of 12 ultrarunners to represent Indian at the IAU 24 Hour World Championships to be held in Chinese Taipei in December this year, AFI said in a circular.

The team includes six women and six male runners. Women runners chosen include Anju Saini, Aparna Choudhary, Preeti Lala, Shashi Mehta, Meenal Kotak and Priyanka Bhatt. The men’s team includes Velu Perumal, Saurav Kumar Ranjan, Amar Singh Devanda, Geeno Antony, Badal Teotia and Ullas Narayana.

The selection criterion for the World Championships mandates that male runners complete 220 km or more during a 24-hour race held between July 1, 2022 and August 10, 2023. Women runners are required to cover a distance of 180 km or more.

As proof of fitness, runners are required to have run a 12-hour or a 100 km event during the period January 1, 2023 and August 10, 2023, AFI had said in an earlier circular.

In another circular, AFI said it plans to send a team of six female and six male runners for the IAU 50 km World Championship to be held in Hyderabad in November 2023.

The qualifying cut-off timing for male runners is completing a marathon in 2:50 hours and for women 3:20 hours in a race held between November 5, 2022 and August 10, 2023.

Courtney Dauwalter smashes women’s course record at Western States, Hardrock 100

Courtney Dauwalter, American ultrarunner, smashed course records at two major ultramarathon events in a period of three weeks.

At the Western States, a 100-mile endurance run and the world’s oldest trail run, Courtney broke the women’s course record by nearly 80 minutes. She finished the race in 15 hours, 29 minutes and 33 seconds. The race was held on June 24-25, 2023.

Three weeks later, she broke the course record at Hardrock 100, also a 100-mile race. She finished the counter-clockwise course in 26:14:08, smashing the course record by an hour and four minutes. (Hardrock alternates the circular course every year). She already holds the course record for the clockwise direction.

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

Mumbai’s Zarir Balliwala wins age category podium in 5 km swim in Bali

Mumbai’s Zarir Balliwala won in his age category in a five kilometre-swim at the Oceanman Asian Championship, held in Bali from July 7 to 9, 2023.

The 62 year-old placed first in the men’s 60-69 years age category with a finish in two hours, 19 minutes and 24 seconds. He finished 75th from among 175 swimmers.

The championship featured races over 1 km, 2 km, 5 km and 10 km. Zarir participated in the 5 km-race.

“It was a hard course, turbulent in parts and windy. On the return leg it was slightly difficult. Overall, the experience was wonderful,” he told this blog.

This performance helped Zarir get a direct entry into the World Championships in Phuket in December this year.

Indian team for IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships 2023 announced

Ten ultrarunners have been chosen to represent India at the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships to be held in Bengaluru on July 30, 2023.

Three women and seven men have been named to participate in this event.

The three women are Jyoti Gawate, Gunjan Khurana and Shashi Mehta.

The men’s team includes Vipul Kumar, Om Prakash Saran, Saurav Kumar Ranjan, Nishu Kumar, Kartik Joshi and Amar Singh Devanda. Binay Kumar Sah has been named as a stand-by athlete.

Vipul Kumar holds the national best in 100 km for men at seven hours, four minutes and 52 seconds. Jyoti Gawate holds the national best for women at 8:20:07. Both Vipul and Jyoti had set their records at the 32nd IAU 100 km World Championships in Bernau-Berlin on August 27, 2022.

Asian Athletics Championship / Jyoti Yarraji, Ajay Kumar Saroj, Abdullah Abubakar strike gold

India bagged three gold medals on the second day of the 25th Asian Athletics Championship (July 12-16) in Bangkok.

In the women’s 100m hurdles final, India’s Jyoti Yarraji finished first in 13.09 seconds to claim top honours. In the men’s segment, Ajay Kumar Saroj claimed gold in the 1500m covering the distance in three minutes, 41.51 seconds (3:41.51). In the men’s triple jump, Abdullah Abubakar stood first with a gold medal-winning jump of 16.92m.

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

India’s Meenal Kotak wins 72-hour ultra-marathon in Milwaukee, USA

New Delhi-based ultra-runner Meenal Kotak has emerged the overall winner of the 72-hour ultra-marathon race at the Six Days in the Dome event held at Pettit National Ice Centre at Milwaukee from June 18 to 24, 2023.

She covered a distance of 235.3199 miles or 378.3107 kilometres during the stipulated 72 hours.

The six-day ultramarathon has races of differing distances such as six-day run, 72 hours, 48 hours, 24 hours and 12 hours.

In the 72-hour category, Lisa Georgis from the US finished second overall with a distance of 206.6627 (332.5914 km). The third finisher in this category was Ian Maddieson from the US with a mileage of 150.1749 miles (241.6831 km).

Runners were required to run in a loop of 443.445 metres.

World Mountain & Trail Running Championships / Two Indian runners, finish

Indian trail runners, participating in the World Mountain & Trail Running Championships held at Innsbruck-Stubai, Austria, finished at 139 and 140th position in the short trail event.

Sampathkumar Subramanian covered the distance of 45 kilometres (3200 metres of total elevation gain) in six hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds. Sannat Sachdev finished the distance in 6:36:49 as per results on the race website.

The event was held from June 7 to 10, 2023.

Som Bahadur Thami, Indian runner for short trail, was listed as “did not show up” on the results website. Another Indian runner, Hemant Limbu, scheduled to do the long trail, was listed as DNS (did not start) on the website.

“ The trail run was quite tough but a great experience, running in the Alps,” Sampathkumar told this blog. He had earlier participated in the World Mountain & Trail Running Championships held in November 2022 in Thailand.

2023 RAAM / Race enters final stages

As of June 23, the year’s Race Across America, with three Indian cyclists in the solo category, was into its final stages.

Checked at noon, June 23, nine days since her solo cycling across the US commenced, race leader Isa Pulver of Switzerland, hailing from the female 50-59 age category of the event, had covered 2973.8 miles and was headed to the finish at Annapolis.

Lionel Poggio, also from Switzerland and belonging to the male 50-59 age category, was in second place having covered 2802.4 miles.

The Indian trio of Kabir Rachure, Srinivas Gokulnath and Amit Samarth – all slotted in the male under-50 age category, appeared to be doing well in terms of covering ground in the race.

With 2720.3 miles covered, Kabir was placed sixth overall among solo cyclists at 2023 RAAM (when checked at noon, June 23) and second in his age category. Interestingly, the top six was evenly divided between the genders. In 2021 Leah Goldstein of Canada had become the first woman to be overall winner at RAAM. 

RAAM requires a solo participant to pedal roughly 3000 miles across the continental United States, from the west coast to the east. The cut off time is 12 days. Solo riders have support teams trailing them in a vehicle, making sure they and their cycles are looked after.

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

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.

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.)

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 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.)