Nihal Ahamad Baig, triathlete and runner, recently completed the Valencia Marathon in two hours, 21 minutes and 48 seconds. It was a new personal best. The timing should rank high among recent performances by Indian amateur marathon runners.

The Pune-based recreational athlete has been a podium finisher in many road races as well as triathlons over the past few years. At the 2024 Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, held on October 20, 2024, Nihal had finished with a personal best of 1:10:12 wining his age category (30 to 34 years) and securing overall sixth position.

He spoke to Latha Venkatraman about his training and the factors that helped him secure a new personal best at Valencia Marathon. Here’s Nihal’s account:

In April of 2023 I had to undergo a hernia surgery. I went off training initially for three months. I resumed training in a limited way but my mileage in running remained low until December 2023.

I decided to sign up for the 2024 Valencia Marathon mainly because it is known to have a flat course and as it is held in the December of every year the weather is expected to be good. It is also a popular race among Europeans. Given all the ideal conditions, it made sense to sign up for this race. Also, the December race is good for training for us runners in India. The Berlin Marathon takes place in September but that would entail training through our summer and monsoon months which isn’t ideal to achieve peak performance.

I started training for the Valencia Marathon in April 2024. The initial focus was to build strength and work alongside on my running form. Building strength was crucial for me as I was off serious training for almost a year. Working on the form is also essential to improve time efficiency. From April to July 2024, I focussed on strength training and my running form. I gradually built mileage up to about 120 kilometres per week in August.

My last full marathon was at the 2023 New Delhi Marathon where I was able to secure a personal record of 2:24.12.

As part of my training for Valencia I decided to sign up for the 2024 Hyderabad Marathon. I wanted to run it as a practice run. It was a decent outing. I was able to finish in 2:40 hours. Following this race, I began to focus on race pace running. I also signed up for the 2024 Delhi Half Marathon as a build-up to my training. I finished the race in 1:10:12, also a new personal record for me in the half marathon.

My initial plan at Valencia Marathon was to focus on a sub-2:20 finish but I had to revise it to 2:22 to 2:23 as I had developed shin splints during the Hyderabad Marathon which interrupted my training for six weeks.

I had six weeks from the Delhi Half Marathon to Valencia Marathon. In terms of training it was a perfect block of time. During this period, I did a 5 km time trial and was able to secure a personal record. I was confident going into the race. But just 10 days before the race I picked up an ankle sprain in my right foot. I had to go to the physiotherapist. He asked me if I had tripped or suffered a fall during my training. I rested for two days and resumed my last stretch of training before I flew to Valencia.

I travelled to Valencia four days ahead of the race. While there, I did a couple of easy runs. I felt the pain in my ankle but I did not want it to impact me negatively.

On race day (December 1, 2024) the weather was good. At the start of the race it must have been around 12-13 degrees Celsius. I wore a singlet and arm sleeves and wore a sleeved t-shirt over it. At the start of the race I took off the t-shirt. It was cold but I was able to push my pace and heart rate. I was in the first corral of amateur runners. We were right behind the elite runners. The first two kilometres were crowded. From the third kilometre I was able to hit my target pace of 3:20 and hold on to it. I caught up with a Spanish elite runner and ran along with her for 15 kms.

At around the 18 kilometre-mark I felt a slight stiffness in my right leg and that affected my running form. I tried to hold on to my pace till the 32 km-mark. Until here, I was on track to get my 2:20 finish but I had to slow down a bit at that kilometre mark.

At Valencia, the route is mostly flat but there are many turns and a couple of ‘u’ turns. I had no problem with the left turns but I had to be cautious with the right turns. For a few moments I did feel the pain in my ankle more than I could handle. The roads were broad and runners had to veer away from the blue line to get hydration, which was available every five kilometres. They were offering 330 ml bottle. I was able to have 200 ml water every five kilometre. I took one 45 gm gel every 30 minutes.

The most amazing aspect of this race was the cheering of spectators’ right from the first kilometre to the last. This was my first international marathon. There were hundreds of people all along the course.

What helped me get a personal best were a few factors including my training with a mix of strength workout, working on my mental strength, maintaining a positive attitude, weather, running along with so many fast runners from Europe and the flat course.

At the end of this race, I felt confident that I could use this experience to positively work on my next training block and aim to improve further.

(Nihal spoke to Latha Venkatraman, an independent journalist based in Mumbai)

For ultrarunners world over, Spartathlon in Greece, is a coveted event. The footrace, which traverses a mix of road, trail and mountain path for 246 kilometres commences in Athens and ends in Sparta. The race traces the footsteps of the Greek messenger Pheidippides, who ran from Athens to Sparta to convey the news of the Greek victory over the Persians, at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

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

For the 2024 edition of the race, four Indian ultrarunners had registered but only two completed. Two runners had to give up midway due to injury and ill health.

Ashok Singh completed the race in 30 hours, 14 minutes and 24 seconds and Shakti Singh in 35:08:49.

So far seven Indian runners including Ashok and Shakti have completed Spartathlon. Others who have completed this iconic race are Kieren D’Souza (2016), Munish Dev, Amit Kumar and Rakesh Kashyap (2022) and Jeevendra Singh (2023). Of these seven runners, Ashok Singh has finished the race in the fastest time yet by an Indian.

Ashok Singh

Ashok Singh, 32, from Ganeshwar village in Neem Ka Thana district of Rajasthan, started running during his college years when he ran 10 kilometres and half marathon distances.

“ I was good at running and that helped me to go through a gruelling physical exam to gain entry into the army,” Ashok said.

After joining the Indian Army, Ashok veered off regular running. “ A few years later I resumed running mainly to cut the weight that I had gained. I kept running and then went on to do a half marathon and a full marathon at some local running events,” he said.

In 2023, Ashok Singh did the 12-hour run at the Dharamshala Stadium Run where he emerged winner with a distance of 137.2 km covered. During this run, he learnt about other ultrarunning events.

In the same year, he ran the 100 miler at Border Ultra, finishing second with a timing of 17:15:58 hours. Earlier this year, Ashok Singh did the 24-hour stadium run at Tuffman 24-hour Stadium Run Chandigarh 2024. He was the winner with a distance of 230.23 km covered. Shakti came second with 196.09 km.

When Ashok learnt about Spartathlon he wanted to attempt it. He had already qualified for this ultra-distance race at the Border Ultra. Runners wanting to try Spartathlon are mandated to do a 100 mile (160 km) race within 21 hours. Ashok had done the Border Ultra 100 miler in a little over 17 hours, well within the cut-off.

“ I was told by other ultra-runners that as practice for Spartathlon I need to do a lot of hill runs. My village is surrounded by the Raoli Mountain Range. I did my 45-day training on these hills. I did not do any strength training,” he said.

Financial help in registering for Spartathlon, visa cost and air travel to Greece came from Ashok’s community group back home in Rajasthan. “ I was also given two pairs of running shoes and money for local use while there,” he said.

At Athens, Ashok started his race well. He finished 45 km in three and a half hours.  “ After a while I got knee pain and was not able to walk. I had to lie down. I thought my race was over. I felt very dejected. My friends back home had gone to town over my Spartathlon attempt on social media. Thoughts about how I am going to face my friends and my community group, which had offered a huge financial help, kept haunting me,” he said.

According to Ashok, after a while, Munish (one of the four Indian ultrarunners participating in Spartathlon 2024) came along and goaded him to start walking. “ I slowly started walking. At the next aid station one volunteer gave me her knee cap. I also took a pill containing Paracetamol. This helped me. I started running again,’’ he said.

At Spartathlon, runners have to experience varying weather conditions, including the morning chill, warm and sharp sun and cold wind in the mountains. During the daytime, Ashok suffered nose bleeds because of the severe heat and sunny conditions.

“ The mountains were very tricky. For about 30-40 km it is a steep climb through narrow mountain paths. But I was able to make up for the lost time in the last 25 km, which is mostly downhill,” he said. Ashok did not change his shoes throughout the race. “ After my 185th km I did change my clothes to feel fresh for the remaining distance,” he said.

Post race, though Ashok has been able to recover from the gruelling race, sleep has been eluding him for several days even now.

Ashok has been doing a number of ultra-running events but he is yet to figure out his hydration and nutrition needs during ultra- distance runs.

His preferred ultra-running events are stadium runs. Going forward, he wants to focus attention on the marathon to improve speed running.

Shakti Singh Hada

Shakti Singh Hada is a more recent entrant to running. His first event was the Delhi Half Marathon in the year 2016.

A former army official, Shakti, who now runs an educational consultancy company, was a regular at a gym where he would run on the treadmills. “ At the gym, a person asked me to join Kota Running Club,” he said.

In 2017, Shakti ran the 63 km Chambal Challenge. “ During this run, I met Kieren D’Souza, who was the brand ambassador for Chambal Challenge. He told me about Spartathlon,” he said.

Shakti went on to do other ultra-running events, including the 111 km at La Ultra – The High and the 74 km La Ultra – Garhwal, which is the qualifying race for the main La Ultra runs in Ladakh.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought formal running activities to a halt but Shakti decided to challenge himself by running 10 km daily for 100 days without a break. Once the pandemic died Shakti continued his ultra-distance running, attempting various races including Backyard Ultra and Stadium Runs.

To train for Spartathlon, Santhosh Padmanabhan, manager of the Indian ultrarunning team, drew up a 90-day training plan for him. Shakti had to resort to running up and down apartment building staircases in the absence of hills in Kota, Rajasthan, where he lives. “ I did a number of training runs as chalked out by Santhosh sir. I did 6-hour, 7-hour, 10-hour, 12-hour and 20-hour training runs in the run-up to Spartathlon. I could say that my training was very good,” he said.

At Athens, his race started well but after 21 km he deviated on to a wrong path and lost some time. “ At one of the check points, I arrived with just 19 seconds to spare. But subsequently, I made up. After 24 hours of running, I changed my clothes and shoes to experience a fresh lease of enthusiasm,” he said.

“ I was a bit worried about cramps. Every hour, I ate salt tablets. Through the entire mountainous stretch, I walked as did most runners,” he said, adding, “ there was a lot of cheering along the route closer to the finish line in Sparta. There were many local music bands along the route.”

Shakti finished in 35:08:49 hours.

“ At the finish line, I cried. I was so happy to finish. Also, my brother was at the finish line. I got emotional seeing him. Many runners told me that it is not possible to complete Spartathlon in the first attempt,” he said.

“ Having finished Spartathlon, I can say that it is a very tough race. Intense hill training and understanding hydration and nutrition needs are extremely important. Training has to be intense,” he said.

Shakti’s recovery has been quite good. He now plans to do 24 hour stadium run.

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

Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya set a new world record in the women’s marathon at the 2024 edition of the Chicago Marathon held on October 13, 2024.

She finished in two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds.

Ruth lowered the world record by nearly two minutes from the previous mark of 2:11:53 set by Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa at Berlin Marathon in 2023. Her timing at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday was also a huge improvement in her personal best, which stood at 2:14:18 previously.

In the men’s race, Kenyan runner John Korir was the winner with timing of 2:02:44.

Ruth later said she was dedicating her world record win to her compatriot Kelvin Kiptum who holds the world record for the men’s marathon. He had set the record at the 2023 edition of the Chicago Marathon. Kelvin and his coach Gervais Hakizimana died in a car accident in February 2024.

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

Having finished third in the women’s category at an earlier edition of the Khardung La Challenge, Corina Van Dam (Cocky) decided to try the 2024 Silk Route Ultra (SRU). She had to DNF (Did Not Finish). But she came off happy, with no sense of unfinished business in Ladakh and clear reasons for aborting her race.

A bus trip to Nubra Valley with 60 kindred spirits, including accommodation, entertainment, and food. The only catch is that you have to walk back to Leh across Khardung La’.

That was my description of Silk Route Ultra (SRU) from Ladakh Marathon before the 122-kilometer-long race started.

It wasn’t that I didn’t take it seriously. Not at all. Though the Khardung La Challenge of 2022 was not too hard on me – I finished third in the women’s category in 11.10 hours – I knew that SRU wouldn’t be a fair comparison. Add 50 kilometres to an already challenging ultra……!!

I registered late because I was stuck in the Netherlands due to visa issues. The first thing I did when I reached home was signing up for SRU. From that moment on, all my efforts (I am a triathlete) were geared towards this unique race in the Himalaya. In May, I increased my mileage, which had dropped in the Netherlands where I had to combine odd working hours, meeting friends and follow up on stressful bureaucratic processes. When I returned, Mumbai was hot and humid. That was a shock after the Dutch rain and cold. In June, I started doing back-to-back long runs with midweek half marathons. July was for six-hour runs, ultras and weekend night runs in the colony where I live. In August, I started tapering and enjoyed local races as ambassador and race mentor with one mid-term exam ` The Mumbai Ultra’, a 12-hour race in which I scored a good grade. The only exacerbation in the whole process was a 12-hour swim a few weeks before the final exam…. But as this was a low impact activity, I did not think that would do much harm.

I flew in to Leh on the first day of bib-collection, the absolute minimum for acclimatisation. I found it hard. I had travelled overnight and it was actually only the Sunday after SRU that I felt that I had acclimatized to Leh’s altitude (my Garmin was correct!). I enjoyed the morning run / walk that focused on getting used to the altitude and the climate; I also enjoyed meeting ultra runners from across the country. The bib collection was like a school reunion with our friendly but stern principal Chewang Motup Goba who exemplifies what Ladakh Marathon stands for: personal commitment, respect for the mountains, respect for each other, fairness and sports(wo)manship.  The excitement, anticipation and camaraderie at Ladakh Marathon’s ultras is unique. As part of the preparations in Leh, I went with a group for a run up and down Khardung Top and a car ride to Umang La, now the highest motorable pass in the world.

For me, a lot had changed in two years. In 2022, I was an unknown runner but now ` strangers’ shouted ` hey champ!’ at me across Leh Market and added that they followed me on Instagram / Strava. As the only ` Athlos athlete’ participating in SRU, I was invited to lead Athlos’ shake-out sessions before the races. Seventy people turned up for the run, coffee and cookies at Metta Café. Expectations were high and my co-runners assessed that SRU would be “ easy for me.’’ No doubt about that.

On the day of the race – after a long night’s sleep, a cultural programme and meals that allowed us to load plenty of carbs -, doctors came to check our vitals. I had been nervous about the race. This had now turned into nervousness about the test results. Out of the blue, I had high blood pressure – as did many of us as this seems to be quite usual in the mountains. I tried to relax and make jokes but my blood pressure went up even more. Three of the biggest pieces of garlic I have ever seen and a couple of glasses of lukewarm water, did the trick: my BP came back into normal range. My nervousness was gone, I was just relieved that I could participate.

So, I was a happy woman at the start, without any worry. The race started at 7 pm. Just before sunset. The inhabitants of Tiggur came out of their houses to cheer us on. Pictures were taken, sponsors shot their last videos with willing participants and then we went: off to Leh….! The first 27.6 kilometres are relatively flat and led us through several communities where the villagers welcomed us with apple juice and high fives. As it got dark, we left the villages behind us and each of us got into their own rhythm. I ran ahead of some runners, then they overtook me, I overtook them and settled in running alone as the evening got darker and the stars brighter. The first cut-off was Khalsar. I reached well in time and was happy to have cleared the first hurdle which I knew that not everyone would be able to take.

From Khalsar, the 22.4 km climb towards Khardung village started. The first 12 kilometres were tough as the road was under construction. This slowed me down but there were volunteers with lights at corners and unexpected dark spots, motor bike support and aid stations at seven-kilometre-interval. The temperature was reasonable and when at some point of time, my headlamp refused duty, I enjoyed moving on in the dark under a clear sky. The white lines on the roads were easy to follow and my thoughts drifted while my feet kept on track. I could see Khardung Village from far. It took forever to reach it though….

I arrived in Khardung Village before the Khardung La Challenge was flagged off and with half an hour in hand before the cut off. The otherwise quiet village was bustling with nervous runners. I knew the feeling. I managed to stay ahead of the KC crowd. Behind me I could see a long line of headlamps on the mountain. At some point, the first KC runners started overtaking me: local participants, army personnel and just before K-Top, the elite amateur runners. I cleared the 17.1 km to the unofficial cut off at North Pullu with 45 minutes in hand and even more at the top of Khardung La (another 15.1 km further). After the top, it would be down towards Leh. I knew it would not be easy but soon I would see Leh and then it was just a matter of finishing. I had plenty of time.

My experience in 2022 told me that running from K-top to South Pullu is challenging. Gravity pulls you but the air is thin. Your legs want to go fast but your lungs don’t like it at all. So, I opted for power walking. The sun was shining, my legs felt good, I had enough fuel in the tank and I enjoyed the company of KC runners who slowly caught up with me. Every now and then I had to stop myself because my body had the tendency to move downwards at a faster pace than my legs could carry it. One of my Mumbai Sea Swimmers group members overtook me and that is when I realized that I had a problem. He warned me that my body was tilting to the right. What was he talking about? I walked perfectly straight, I thought. The thought that my brain was not able to register the state of my body was unsettling. He suggested that I adjust so that I would not be taken out of the race. I was not worried about that. My concern was that I could not observe what he observed. In the meantime, I reached South Pullu (14.3 km) and took some rest.

When I peed along the roadside (yes, that is what we do…) I noticed that I was not able to balance myself. Usually during ultra runs, when I squat, I am limited by my rather painful calves, hamstrings and glutes. This time they felt great but I was not able to coordinate my movements. This is when I had my vitals checked. Of course, my oxygen level was lower than usual and my blood pressure a bit higher. But there was nothing that got the army doctors worried. I continued the race but I was not comfortable at all, descending a mountain without being in full control of my body. In front of my eyes, I saw one of the female marathon runners from the first Olympic women’s marathons in 1984. She had zigzagged through the Olympic Stadium and refused support because she felt great. I certainly did not want to finish like that. There and then, I DNF-ed.

On my way down in the doctors’ car, I noticed that there were many runners with the ` leans’ (it had an unofficial name) and everyone felt fine. I stand behind my decision to withdraw from the race. In the meantime, I have spoken to several other runners. Some have sent me articles; others are still investigating. So far it seems that there is no consensus about what is behind this phenomenon: peripheral fatigue, loss of central motor control because of increased core body temperature, Exercise Associate Hyponatremia (EAH), lack of oxygen, lack of nutrition / hydration. I was surprised that the army doctors in Ladakh did not have an explanation.

At the finish there were people waiting for me, patiently, while I entered Leh through the ` backdoor.’ Some were even more disappointed than I was. They asked me if I have ` unfinished business’ in Ladakh. No, I do not have. I had a great experience and – to be honest – the best part was the climb in the dark……! Signing up for KC or SRU is a commitment. For four months, my life had been about ` running in Ladakh’. Training for an ultra means a huge investment in time and an ultra in the highest mountains, takes even more. And I am not even speaking about the mandatory 10 days holiday that you ` have’ to spend in Ladakh… But these are all thoughts….

In the end, there is nothing better than running the ultras of Ladakh Marathon….!

(The author, Corina Van Dam [Cocky], is a triathlete and a senior official at an NGO, based in Mumbai)

Determined army officer finally achieves his goal

For Lieutenant Colonel Bharat Pannu, it was third time lucky.

Long fascinated by Race Across America (RAAM), his engagement with the event is a study in perseverance.

Bharat is among the top endurance cyclists from India. Many people from the world of ultracycling in India, gravitate towards RAAM, which is a gruelling ride across the continental United States. RAAM tests both rider and his / her support crew. To get a ring side view of the race, Bharat served as a member of the support crew for one of the teams (Team Sea to See) in the 2018 edition of the event. He also acquired a US-based coach – Tracy McKay, who had completed RAAM as part of a two-person team in 2002 and been team strategist / crew chief for Chris MacDonald, who cycled solo and finished second at RAAM in 2005. After qualifying for RAAM at races in India, Bharat – he was posted in Nashik at that time – made his first attempt in 2019. That year, while in the US for RAAM, he suffered an accident just ahead of the race and broke his collar bone. He had to pull out of the race.

Less than a year later, the world was in the grip of COVID-19. As the pandemic spread, lockdown enveloped the world, sporting activity came to grinding halt worldwide and events were cancelled. There was no RAAM in 2020. Fed up of being indoors and inactive, humankind kicked off the virtual version of sports like running and cycling. RAAM hosted a virtual version of the race (VRAAM) in June 2020. Bharat participated in the event. He cycled at an apartment in Pune; his bike fitted to a smart-trainer. After 12 days of cycling, on June 28, Bharat emerged winner in his age category and third overall in the race. It was a major milestone in his career in cycling.

The 2020 virtual RAAM was followed by two rides – one along India’s Golden Quadrilateral highway system and the other from Manali to Leh – both ending up in Bharat finding a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the timing he obtained. Meanwhile, the pandemic’s grip on the world continued into 2021. It made traveling overseas for RAAM and participating in the race, difficult. In July 2021, the aeronautical engineer working with the Indian Army’s aviation wing, was transferred from Bengaluru (where he had moved to, from Nashik) to Ahmednagar and put in charge of the Indian Army’s cycling and rugby teams. Although what he loved to do became the stuff of office work, this phase may have deprived Bharat the ultracyclist, of the personal attention he deserved. He had many things to take care of. He made the best of what was available, trained and reached the US in time for the 2022 physical edition of RAAM for a second shot at the race.  Unfortunately, yet again, it wasn’t to be a successful outing.

RAAM has a cut-off of 12 days. That’s the time allotted to cover the nearly 4900 kilometres long, west to east span of the US from Oceanside in California to Annapolis in Maryland. Bharat is known to be a strong cyclist in the second half of the races he participates in. So, when the 2022 RAAM commenced with Bharat not doing too well, he and his crew took it in their stride. Alarm bells however started ringing on the fifth day, for by then the lag Bharat had grown had become tad serious. He and his team hunkered down and covered some of the lost ground. But on the tenth day of the race in June 2022, Bharat experienced fever and along with it, chills and shivering. The crew felt he risked damaging his health if he continued. The decision was taken to pull out. Once back in India, Bharat decided to take a break from ultracycling. He had been training and racing at events for several years. Body and mind sought rest. Further, races like RAAM, which are set overseas, require a support crew with transport infrastructure. These events also have a dedicated, long training period. Simply put, RAAM consumes resources. Bharat knew that his purse needed replenishment. Rest made sense. He stayed off competitive cycling for much of 2023.

In June 2023, Bharat’s posting to the army’s cycling node in Ahmednagar concluded and shortly thereafter, he was transferred to Suratgarh in northern Rajasthan. Freed of his responsibilities at the cycling node and returned to his regular schedule (the sort in which, he used to train for ultracycling), the idea of attempting RAAM again, returned. Suratgarh is part of the northern reaches of the Thar desert. According to Bharat, Suratgarh is predominantly flat. Perfect for cycling. More important, summer temperatures run quite high and winter is cold. “ These extremes made it a good ambiance to train for an endurance race like RAAM,’’ Bharat said. One approaches RAAM through stages of preparation and with smaller races in ultracycling done. In October 2023, Bharat decided to participate in the annual Indian ultracycling race, Ultra Spice. “ I met the targets I set for myself at this race,’’ he said. Following this, the decision to participate in RAAM 2024 was taken.

Bharat trained under the guidance of Tracy. As mentioned earlier, participating in RAAM is a resource-intense exercise. Bharat’s tickets to the US were sponsored by a Pune-based travel company. He had no other sponsors. He used to have an association with bicycle manufacturer, Scott. But it had ended. So, the rest of the expenses for 2024 RAAM, he bore it himself. He had a support crew of nine people; seven from India and two from the US. He reached the US, four days before the race. In the time available, he did the necessary final preparations, including two trial rides that totaled about 100 miles. For RAAM, he banked on three bicycles – a Scott Foil (lightweight road bike), a Scott Plasma (time trial bike) and a Trek Emonda (endurance bike).

For Bharat, RAAM 2024, started off better than in 2022. “ The initial phase went off quite smoothly. We reached the half way point of the race in five days and nine hours,’’ he said. Then things began to get challenging. For two days continuously in Kansas, he faced cross winds and pedalling in such conditions drained his energy. Within RAAM’s ecosystem, Kansas is notorious for its weather-related challenges. Thanks to this predicament, Bharat’s average speed reduced. Compounding the challenges was a second problem. Noticing his strong cycling in the early part of the race, his crew had allowed him to cycle for longer hours with resultant less downtime for sleep. In that phase, his sleep pattern used to be 15-20 minutes once or twice during the day and 45 minutes to 90 minutes at night. Compared to this aggregate, the original plan had been to get at least three hours of sleep. But then, Bharat had been cycling well and allowing him to eat the miles had appeared the sensible thing to do in that early part of the race (particularly given the experience of 2022). Consequently, the planned three hours of sleep in the original race strategy, got overlooked. For body and mind, sleep denied doesn’t disappear. It accumulates.

Sleep deprivation is one of the known challenges in ultracycling. Especially so in races like RAAM, which run like a single stage from start to finish, leaving sleep management entirely the onus of rider and crew to manage. For Bharat, past the half-way point, sleep deprivation began to make its presence strongly felt. “ The tenth and eleventh days were pretty bad,’’ he said. However, to his luck, although cycling at night continued to stay challenging, things improved as regards his daytime cycling. He was fine when the sun shone. “ The period between midnight to 6 AM remained very difficult,’’ he said. Eventually, Bharat made it to the finish line in Annapolis within the stipulated cut-off period of 12 days; he covered RAAM’s 4928 kilometres in 11 days, 23 hours and 36 minutes. The final figure included an hour added as penalty for a impeding traffic. Besides completing RAAM successfully on his third attempt, Bharat also won the race’s Armed Forces Cup. “ It took me three attempts and more than five years to achieve this. I feel content, satisfied,’’ Bharat said. In retrospect, he believes that had things gone well, he could have completed the race in 2019 or 2022. But then, such is endurance cycling, such is RAAM.

Many people who finish RAAM nurse the hope of returning to improve their timing. Bharat shares the aspiration. It is on the cards although he hasn’t decided when it should be. Closer to the present, he intends to participate in Dunes, an ultracycling event set to debut in Rajasthan this December.

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

At 808 ITRA points earned, Nimsang Limboo now tops among Indian ultrarunners in this regard

Devarao Choudhari finishes Comrades with the fastest timing yet by an Indian runner

On April 6, 2024, Nimsang Limboo, an ultrarunner from Sikkim, ran his first international trail race of 54 kilometres at the Manjushree Trail Race in Nepal.

He finished in second position with a timing of seven hours, 18 minutes and 11 seconds, less than a minute behind the winner of the race, Harilal Singh of Nepal (7:17:25). By the end of the race Nimsang had secured the highest ITRA (International Trail Running Association) score among Indian runners. He had accumulated 808 points.

On June 9, 2024, Devarao Choudhari ran the Comrades Marathon, an ultramarathon held annually in South Africa. He smashed existing Indian timings at the event to record a new high. He finished the 88 km race in 7:04:10.

Nimsang (22) has been running for the last three years. His journey in running commenced with a six km race for which he practiced six days. “ I finished the race in 46 minutes,’’ he said. Soon, he began to discover the world of running, especially trail running.

Nimsang comes from a village in West Sikkim known as Darap. The terrain is mostly hilly. “ The area where I stay is full of trails. I am quite used to running on trails,’’ he said. He also does the occasional road race. In 2023, he ran the Kolkata Full Marathon and secured fourth position overall and first in his age category with a timing of 2:47:56.

“ My focus is trail running, at the moment,’’ he said. He has also been doing the Jumping Gorilla events, which include trail races in the Sahyadri Ranges, the Buddha Trails in West Bengal and BRUTE (Basar Running Ultra Trail Experience) in Arunachal Pradesh.

Manjushree Trails, according to Nimsang, was quite challenging. “ The route was tough with some parts of it being technical. Support along the route was very good. There were aid stations every 6 km,’’ Nimsang said.

Devarao, who hails from Pusad in Maharashtra, started running in 2017. “ I used to see young boys preparing for enrolment in the police and armed forces. I took a cue from them and started running,’’ he said.

In 2017, he ran the half marathon at the Amravati Marathon and finished in 1:32:38. “ At the end of the race, I noticed that some of the runners who finished ahead of me were in a bad shape but I was absolutely fine. I realised that I could do better,’’ he said. At the 2019 Vasai Virar Mayor’s Marathon, he met Anil Korvi, often a podium finisher in marathons and half marathon races. “ I started to take guidance from him,’’ Devarao said.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, he took to trail running and started participating in trail races including the Jumping Gorilla, Mahabaleshwar Endurathon and SRT Ultra among others. Alongside he was also doing road races. As may be inferred from the events mentioned, Devarao and Limboo know each other; their paths have crossed.

Having finished his graduation, Devarao helps his father in farming. The family cultivates oilseeds, pulses, soyabean and other crops. “ I had heard about Comrades and was quite keen to do it,’’ he said. As he was a podium finisher in many of the local running races, he found support in certain quarters. “ Financial help to enrol for Comrades, travel to South Africa and participate in Comrades came from local institutions and people,’’ he said.

“ In South Africa, food was an issue. I am not used to eating food other than Indian cuisine,’’ he said. He normally has a tendency to start the race aggressively. But at Comrades, he took a conservative approach. “ Hydration was quite good along the route. I consumed five GU gels. I also had oranges, potatoes and Coke during the run. My run went quite well until the 67th kilometre when I saw some runners collapsing from exhaustion. I slowed down my pace but eventually I felt strong and went for it,’’ he said.

Devarao, 26, felt he could have done better. He was hoping for a sub-7-hour finish but lack of proper food to his liking in the run-up to the race may have impacted his plan. “ I had not followed any systematic training or diet plan for this run. Therefore, I am happy with my performance,’’ he said. Following the run, his recovery has been quite good.

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

Meenal covers over 680 kilometres in 6-day category, finishes second at event in US

Arun Bhardwaj (810 kilometres) finishes fourth in 10-day category

Delhi-based ultrarunner Meenal Kotak has set a new mark in ultrarunning for India. She covered a staggering 680.2249 kilometres over the stipulated six-day period (144 hours) at the Six Days in the Dome event held at the Pettit Centre, Milwaukee in Wisconsin, USA. The event was held from June 13 to 23, 2024.

She finished second among women in the six-day event behind Megan Ekbert of USA. Megan was also the overall winner covering a distance of 846.9994 km. In overall ranking, Meenal finished fourth in the six-day event. David Johnston of USA finished second with a distance of 740.5702 km and Tatsunori Suzuki finishing third with a distance of 713.5194 km covered.

India’s Arun Bhardwaj placed fourth position overall in the 10-day category at the same event covering a distance of 810.1927 km.

Meenal has been running since 2013. Starting with 10 km, she progressively upped her distance and finally got into ultrarunning.

“ I had earlier done the three-day event at Milwaukee. The next practical move was to do the six-day event,’’ she told this blog after the race.

Training for a multi-day event does not entail merely increasing mileage and working on strength training. It is a lot more. It requires managing a whole lot of things – training, mental conditioning, overall fitness, recovery, sleep, nutrition and hydration – in the run-up to the event.

“ I did a lot of endurance runs, hour-based runs, mileage-based runs. But more than all these, doing a multi-day event is understanding the challenge mentally and physically and hoping that one’s gut works properly,’’ she said. “ There are many aspects to consider – when to take a nap during the run, when to eat, taking measures to prevent chaffing injuries, blisters,’’ she said.

In April 2024, Meenal was one of the Indian ultrarunners representing the country in the IAU Asia & Oceania Championships held in Canberra, Australia.

“ I was not able to do well in Australia. But coming to Milwaukee I was in a much better place, both fitness wise and mentally,’’ she said.

For Milwaukee, she had worked out a plan. “ I went according to the plan perfectly for the first two days. But on the third day, I went into a low phase due to lack of sleep. I could not sleep and I could not run either. If I was giving 100 percent of mine in this event, my husband as my support was giving 200 percent. I finally managed to get some sleep and felt some sanity returning,’’ she said.

As a seasoned ultrarunner, she was aware that the second and third days of multi-day events would be excruciatingly difficult.

The Pettit Centre is an indoor ice-skating facility. The course was open for the entire 144 hours with temperatures maintained at 6 degrees Celsius throughout. Runners were required to run on a 443 metre-track.

“ It was quite cold for the runners and doubly so for the crew supporting the runners. Because of the enclosed space it was claustrophobic. We don’t get to see the sun or skylight and that can take a toll on our sanity,’’ she said.

Many runners, she said, were hallucinating and cracking under pressure.

“ I ensured that I took breaks, sometimes short ones and sometimes for a couple of hours to catch up on the sleep. I ate proper food. My husband arranged for Indian food at least once a day, other times I ate food available for the runners. Hydration and nutrition were well-taken care of,’’ she said. Physically, she faced some niggling issues but the worst aspect of the multi-day running was lack of sleep.

“ It was great running alongside Megan, the winner. She was so full of energy. On the first day she took a lead and then never looked back,’’ Meenal said.

Of the 144 hours, Meenal ran most of the time but resorted to walking in the last 5-6 hours of the event.

In her ultrarunning journey, Meenal lost three years to a back injury. “ It was tough getting back. I had to start with 5 km runs and progress to ultrarunning events. I owe a lot of gratitude to my husband, my family, friends and the running community,’’ she said.

Meenal’s physical recovery following this event has been quite good. “ I am good to go. I am now in New York and have been walking around the city quite a lot. But mentally, I continue to feel the circling motion, especially when I sleep. I guess, it will take some days to recover,’’ she said.

She plans to take a break of a couple of months before resuming running.

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

April is the month of two World Marathon Majors happening back-to-back. Boston Marathon is often held on Patriot’s Day, which falls on the third Monday of April. The London Marathon takes place on the following Sunday. This year, Boston Marathon was held on April 15, 2024 and London Marathon on April 21, 2024. We spoke to a few Indian runners who ran these two World Marathon Majors.

For Surat-based Dhruv Trivedi, Boston Marathon 2024 was his first World Marathon Major. His training for this event spanned six months during which period he did the Ahmedabad Marathon and the Tata Mumbai Marathon apart from Boston Marathon.

He curated a training schedule that comprised hill runs, interval training, long runs, strength training and one day of swimming and cycling.

Dhruv has been running since 2015. An ayurvedic doctor by profession, Dhruv soon realized that he was getting into a bad lifestyle. “I started walking. Soon after I heard about a 10 km night run and registered for it,’’ he said. He then pursued it with diligence. In 2016, he did the Comrades Marathon, the downhill version of the ultramarathon held every year in South Africa.

Thereafter, in 2018, he ran the 12-hour stadium run in Mumbai. In 2022, he finished in second place in the 60 km Ooty Ultra.

His training for Boston Marathon was with an eye on a finish timing of 2:48-2:50. He had run the Tata Mumbai Marathon this year in 2:50:53, his personal best.

“ First, the Boston route is quite brutal. Second, the whole process of dropping off the bag at the finish line and then hopping on to a bus that heads to the start line is quite irritating and tiring,’’ he said.

He commenced the race well but after 6 km he realized he could not meet his target of 2:50. “ The second half of the race is much tougher. There was a huge crowd throughout but the overall experience was very good. The hydration support was excellent,’’ he said.

He finished Boston Marathon in 2:59:21.

Mumbai-based Uday Bobhate has been running for over 40 years, having started in 1984. “ Those days, I would run a distance of 3 km, 5km or 7 km, mainly for fitness,” he said.

In 2004, the year when Mumbai Marathon made its debut, Uday had registered but could not run because of injury. “ In 2005, I straight away went for the full marathon,’’ he said.

The 2024 edition of Boston Marathon was Uday’s first World Marathon Major. His training was not up to the mark as he suffered an injury during a fall in a race in the run up to Boston Marathon. “ I lost 8-10 days of practice because of this fall,’’ he said.

Uday left for the US two weeks before the marathon, which was on April 15, 2024. “ My sister lives in Westborough, very close to Hopkinton, the start line of Boston Marathon,’’ he said. This gave him a chance to acclimatize to the weather conditions there.

“ I started the race very fast. Soon I realized I was lacking stamina. By the time I reached Heartbreak Hill I had to walk. My strategy was wrong, I should have started slowly,’’ he said. He finished the run in 3:20:39. His personal best is 3:14:56, which he set during the 2024 edition of Vadodara Marathon.

Krishna Sirothia, a Pune-based recreational runner, got to know of Boston Marathon sometime in 2016. He had started running in 2013.

“ In 2018, my goal was to qualify for Boston Marathon. I qualified in 2021. But the absence of a window for visa interviews for travel to the US made it difficult to travel for a couple of years,’’ he said. In 2019, he completed the Berlin Marathon. The following couple of years were lost to the COVID-19 pandemic when races around the world were either postponed or cancelled.

His training for Boston Marathon was well planned, according to him. He opted for six days of running, combining easy runs, interval training, long runs and recovery runs. But mid-way through his training, an injury in his tendon prompted him to go for some physiotherapy sessions and also change his schedule. Krishna has been running full marathons since 2015 when he did the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.

On race day, he had a good run for 21-22 kilometers. Following that, his injury started to act up and he felt the pain. “ I had to slow down,” he said. Krishna finished the race in 3:40:52, against his target of 3:10. His personal best in the full marathon is 3:02:46 achieved at the New Delhi Marathon, 2021.

“ I am not in a hurry to do World Marathon Majors. I want to do them with proper training,’’ Krishna said. He plans to resume running sometime in mid-May as he wants to give time for recovery from the injury.

On March 3, 2024, Sunmbul Rahman ran the Tokyo Marathon. She had six weeks between Tokyo Marathon and Boston Marathon. The intervening period also coincided with the Ramzan month of fasting.

“ It was quite a challenge training under fasting conditions,’’ she said.

Her coach, Ashok Nath, tweaked the training program to suit her fast. That included running on a treadmill with an incline.

“ The first half of the Boston Marathon course is downhill and the second half is hilly terrain. We have to approach the run very mindfully,’’ Sunmbul said.

“ My run started at 11 AM. It was quite warm with no shade along the route. Many runners were in bad shade because of the heat. At Newton Hill, I felt strong. But I had to take many water breaks,” she said adding that her timing suffered during the second half of her race. Sunmbul finished her run in 3:44:03. With this she has completed her six World Marathon Majors.

Kolkata-based Sunmbul started her World Marathon Major journey with the 2022 edition of the Chicago Marathon. In about one and a half years, she has completed her mission.

Following the 2024 Boston Marathon, Sunmbul headed to Yosemite National Park for solo hiking. Walking and hiking can be a very good way to recover from the fatigue of road running, she said. She now plans to focus on hiking and climbing, and getting more fit.

Dixon Scaria, the 71-year-old runner from Changanasseri, Kerala, was quite happy with his training for the Boston Marathon.

He follows a strictly formulated training plan that includes six days of running and one day rest. “ I do one day long run, one day interval training, one day tempo run and three days of recovery run. I follow this plan all year around,” he said.

While most Indian runners found the Boston weather warm, Dixon found it quite cold. “ Also, the route was quite hilly. I had a finish target of 3:45 but could not meet it,’’ he said. He finished the race in 4:25:35. Boston Marathon was his first World Marathon Major.

Dixon has been running for several years. At Tata Mumbai Marathon 2024, he secured an age category (70-74) podium win with this 3:49 finish.

He will be running some of the key marathon races later this year including the Hyderabad Marathon, Tata Steel Kolkata 25 km and Delhi Half Marathon.

Two marathons in less than a week. R.K. Murthy ran the Boston Marathon as well as the London Marathon, held just five days apart from each other.

Murthy’s training was well planned but in retrospect, he felt he was less prepared for the Boston Marathon. “ Boston requires proper training as the second half is completely rolling hills,” he said.

At Boston, the weather was a dampener. “ It was very warm. During the second half of the race, I got severe cramps and had to resort to walking. It was a real struggle,’’ he said. Murthy finished in 4:21:03, a relatively slow finish compared to his personal record of 3:12:04.

However, the London Marathon proved to be a much better race for Murthy. He finished the marathon in 3:26:34. “ London was quite cold. And there is an ocean of people all around you,’’ he said.

Qualifying for and completing the Boston Marathon offers a satisfying feeling, according to Murthy. Having done both Boston Marathon and London Marathon within a week, Murthy is of the opinion that such a feat should be avoided.

Subhojit Roy had tried getting a berth for the London Marathon six times via the ballot route but never made it. Eventually, he decided to go through the tour operator route to experience the London Marathon.

His training for London Marathon was well charted out and executed fairly diligently. But a month before the race, Subhojit’s father fell ill and passed away after a few days. That was a setback and his training had to be stopped. “ I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go and do the race. I eventually decided to go,’’ he said.

At London, the cold weather conditions made things tough. Subhojit did not hydrate well fearing that he may lose time at the mobile toilet stops. “ My plan was to run under 3:05. I was on track for this target until the 32-33 km but could not maintain the momentum after that,’’ he said. He finished the run in 3:13:47.

“ I was ready to do well and am therefore disappointed with my timing.  I had a better performance timing wise at New York City Marathon,’’ Subhojit said. At the 2023 edition of NYC Marathon, he had finished in 3:12:31.

Subhojit is yet to do Tokyo Marathon to complete the World Marathon Major six-star circuit.

Vandana Arora, Bengaluru-based recreational runner, completed her six-star World Marathon Major (WMM) journey at the 2024 edition of the London Marathon.

Earlier this year, she did the Tokyo Marathon. Her WMM journey commenced in 2018 at the New York City Marathon.

Last year after Chicago Marathon, she came down with a hamstring injury. This impacted her training for the Tokyo Marathon as well as for the London Marathon. Ashok Nath, her coach, had already charted out a training program with the injury in mind.

“ I wasn’t pushing too hard. I had reduced my mileage during training,’’ she said.

At London Marathon, Vandana took a shot at improving her personal record. “ Weather was perfect but the course was gently rolling. I did the first half of the distance in 1:37 but during the second half, the injury started creeping up,” she said. Vandana finished in 3:22, a little over a minute over her personal best (PB) of 3:20:54, which she had set at the 2023 Boston Marathon.

“ I was able to get close to my PB because of my coach. Only he could make an injured athlete race close to her potential and fulfil her dreams,” Vandana said.

Tamali Basu, originally from Kolkata, now in Mumbai, began her fitness journey in 2013 when she enrolled at a gym. “ There is an obesity problem in my family. I was also gaining weight. At home, there was no concept of exercise,’’ she said.

At the gym she heard about somebody starting a running club and also about a 5 km run.

“ In 2019, I enrolled for a 21 km in Salt Lake. I struggled to finish within three hours. I spoke to a runner about my inability to improve my speed in running. He asked me to do blood works to check by hemoglobin levels. My test showed that I was deficient in iron. After I started iron supplements, within a month I could see a difference in my speed,’’ Tamali said.

Soon thereafter the world entered a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tamali started ramping up her mileage during this period doing around 120-130 km on a weekly basis. The long mileages did help her improve her timing but also resulted in injury. In March 2021, Tamali ran the Kolkata Marathon and finished overall second among women with a timing of 4:01:51, against her normal finish of 5:15.

Subsequently, she decided to look for a coach to train under. Initially, she trained under Amit Yadav. While under his training, she ran Comrades Marathon, an ultramarathon that takes place in South Africa. She did this consecutively for two years.

Later, she joined Bengaluru-based Ashok Nath for training.

London Marathon was her first World Marathon Major. “ I trained as per Ash’s (Ashok Nath) plan. But I could not meet his target of a 3:45 finish,’’ she said. She finished in 3:48:14.

“ At London, I found the cheering very good. There were spectators all along the route. But the hydration support could have been better,’’ she said.

She has enrolled for the Berlin Marathon, which is due to be held on September 29, 2024.

After Tokyo Marathon this year, Atul Godbole ran the Boston Marathon as well as the London Marathon.

“ There was very little time between Tokyo Marathon and Boston Marathon. During this period, my focus was mainly to maintain the fitness levels I had attained during the training for Tokyo Marathon,’’ he said.

Atul’s plan was to race Boston Marathon and run London Marathon at an easy pace. “ But Boston did not go as per my plan. I had set a target of 3:20 but I could not meet it. The weather was quite warm and not conducive to racing. I lost it both mentally and physically,’’ he said. He finished Boston Marathon in 4:09:54.

“ It is a privilege to run the Boston Marathon. It is a goosebump moment when you cross the finish line,’’ Atul said.

Six days later Atul ran the London Marathon. “ The vibe at London Marathon is very good. There is loud cheering all through the course. The course does have some rolling hills and the roads are sometimes narrow,’’ he said of London Marathon. Weather, according to him, was perfect for racing.

He finished London Marathon in 3:34:39. He has two more World Marathon Majors to finish – Berlin Marathon and New York City Marathon.

In under a month Atul will be heading to South Africa to run the Comrades Marathon. “ I won’t be doing any intense training for Comrades. I am hoping for an easy finish,’’ he said.

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

Amar Singh Devanda sets new national record

Four Indian men in top ten

Indian ultrarunners stole the limelight at the Canberra (Australia) IAU 24-hour Asia & Oceania Championship held over April 6 and 7, 2024.

The India’s men’s team put up a sterling performance with a combined mileage of 758.248 kilometres for the three leading Indian runners at the event.

This is the second consecutive team gold for India in IAU 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championship. The Indian men’s team had won the gold and swept the individual men’s podium positions at the 2022 Championships held in Bengaluru.

Amar Singh Devanda, already a national record holder for the 24-hour category, bettered his performance substantially in Canberra. During the allotted 24-hour period, Amar ran a distance of 272.537, breaking his own national record of 257.62 km set at the IAU 24-hour Asia & Oceania Championship held at Bengaluru in July 2022. He had also won an individual gold medal at that event.

In the men’s team performance, Australia earned the silver with a combined mileage of 719.560 km and New Zealand bronze with a mileage of 636.679 km.

In the individual race for men, finishing behind Amar was Phil Gore of Australia with a mileage of 265.653 km. In third position was India’s Ullas Narayana with a mileage of 245.574 km.

In the women’s team category, home team Australia outshone other teams to win the gold medal with a combined mileage of 666.580 km for its top three athletes. New Zealand women finished second with a mileage of 568.401 km and Chinese Taipei took third position with a mileage of 551.686 km.

In the women’s individual performance, it was an Australian sweep. Australia’s Cassie Cohen won honours with her mileage of 227.803 km. She was followed by Maree Connor (221.347 km) and Jennifer White (217.430 km).

Runners were required to run on a 400-metre synthetic track inside AIS stadium, Canberra.

According to Amar, weather did pose some worries initially. “ Our race started in rain and we had to wear raincoats for the initial period. We were tense about the rain situation. But rains eased after about four hours,” Amar told this blog.

Amar ran continuously for 17 hours without taking a break. “ This time the race went off quite well. I did not face any major issues. Nutrition and hydration went off well, though I did feel quite sleepy after 18 hours of running,” he said.

This time around he had trained differently, stepping up mileage considerably. In the last three months ahead of the race, his training mileage topped 2,700 km. “ I did a lot of long night runs and also 12 hour runs. This time, I did time-based training instead of mileage based,” Amar said.

Following the IAU 24 Hour World Championships held at Taipei in December 2023, the team met to discuss some of the weak areas in running this format of ultrarunning, according to Santhosh Padmanabhan, Indian team manager.

“ As a team manager I got involved with their training closely and observed where they needed to change and what they needed to do differently. We worked on longer runs for more mileage and also night runs to deal with the fatigue,” he said.

The training approach was scientific.

“ As we progress, more runners will understand that training for an ultrarunning event is not the same as training for marathon distances,” Santhosh said.

For Cassie Cohen, the Australian ultrarunner who won the women’s race at Canberra, the race went off better than her expectations.

“ I was hoping to make the podium, but to come first was a dream come true,” she said in response to this blog’s queries.

“ My personal best coming into the race was 214 km. I was hoping to run somewhere between 225 and 230 km. Very happy to get to 227.8 km,” she said.

Her training helped her, she said. “I was doing pretty high volume, nine consecutive weeks of runs in excess of 100 km. I was also running to work and doing more strength workout including Pilates and gym work which seem to have helped,” she said.

Cassie, a resident of Canberra, had the home advantage. Also, ahead of the December 2023 World Championships held in Taiwan, she lived in Tonga. “ Tonga is much hotter and more humid. Also, training was not allowed on Sunday (as per Tongan law exercises are not allowed on Sunday). At the Bengaluru IAU meet, Cassie had finished with a silver medal covering a distance of 214.990 km during the stipulated 24 hours.

Four Indian male runners were in the top ten. Saurav Ranjan (240.137 km) finished fourth, Badal Teotia (220.80 km) finished ninth and Velu P (211.611 km) finished in 11th position.

Shashi Mehta had the highest mileage among the Indian women runners. She covered a distance of 190.772 km, finishing in eighth position. Meenal Kotak finished in 13th position and Preeti Lala in 14th position, both doing a mileage of 168.291 km.

Leading six male runners

Amar Singh Devanda (IND) – 272.537 km

Phil Gore (AUS) – 265.653 km

Ullas Narayana (IND) – 245.574 km

Saurav Ranjan (IND) – 240.137 km

Luke Thompson (AUS) – 231.753 km

John Bayne (NZL) – 229.447 km

Leading six women runners

Cassie Cohen (AUS) – 227.803 km

Maree Connor (AUS) – 221.347 km

Jennifer White (AUS) – 217.430 km

Shannon Leigh-Litt (NZL) – 213.609 km

Carol Robertson (NZL) – 209.642 km

Allicia Heron (AUS) – 203.531 km 

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