• In the first week of February 2026, ultrarunner Aparna Choudhary ran Vineyard Ultra’s longest distance, a 338-kilometer race. She wrapped up the distance in 64 hours, 16 minutes and 36 seconds, finishing third overall. But this is not the first time she was running this distance. In 2025, she ran the same distance at Vineyard Ultra winning the race in 68:02:51 hours. Though she could not defend her 2025 title, she improved her timing in the 2026 edition.

• Two months earlier, in December 2025, Aparna set a new course record for women in the 100-mile run at Border Ultra finishing the distance in 18 hours, 52 minutes and five seconds. She broke her own course record of 19:47:31 hours, which she set during the 2024 edition of the race.

• In October 2025, Aparna, representing India at the IAU 24 Hour World Championships at Albi, France, had finished second among Indian women and also surpassing the women’s national record at that time. At the end of the stipulated 24 hours, she had covered a distance of 210 kms.

Aparna Choudhary started running in 2004-2005 at a time when Mumbai Marathon had just arrived, spurring an amateur running culture in the country.

Those early days her distances were small – about 5 or 6 km. This was in Bengaluru, where she was doing her MBA at ICFAI.

Shortly, thereafter, she had started working in Bengaluru. Her daily runs continued until she was posted to the U.S. At Norristown in Pennsylvania, where she stayed, she continued her runs. While there, she ran the 5-miler Valley Forge Run. She also did an 18-mile run in New Jersey.

Running was not her first foray into sport. She used to play field hockey during her schooling and college days.

At the end of 2009, she was back in India and was posted in Pune. She signed up for her first ultra run a 100 km event at the iconic Bangalore Ultra. An ultra run or an ultramarathon is any foot race that is in excess of the marathon (42.2 km).

“I had no clue what an ultrarun entailed. In the early years I would just train during the week preceding the race day,” she said. Although, she registered for 100 km at Bangalore Ultra 2010, she quit the race at 75 km as she had to head back to Pune to get to work the next day.

Her first ultrarun was a DNF. In runners’ parlance DNF means “did not finish”. DNFs in ultramarathons are not uncommon. In such long foot races anything can go wrong, ultrarunners say.

More than ten years ago, Shyam G Menon, (who started this blog website and ran it till he passed away on August 31, 2025), had reached out to Aparna for an interview but to no avail. By then, Aparna was already a well-known name in the niche world of ultrarunning.

Years later when Shyam and me (Latha) got to know her through multiple interactions, we realized that Aparna was not stonewalling us. Her life’s pattern was quite set. Appear at the start line of ultrarunning events and at the end of these events disappear back into her personal life – her job, her training and her sketches (She is also an artist). At present she works at Cognizant.

Sketches by Aparna

At the end of an ultrarunning event, irrespective of the outcome, she seems quite equanimous. She is not the one to make any claims of her accomplishments at a time when social media platforms are exploding with posts boasting about the tiniest of achievements.

“It is an exhilarating feeling, when I complete an ultrarunning event. The feeling is indescribable. And more so, if my run has gone as per my plan. I don’t like to dissipate the excitement by chatting with others. I like to savour it and enjoy the day,” says Aparna.

Over the years, she has done a multitude of ultrarunning events – Border 100, Comrades Marathon, Goa Ultra, Malnad Ultra, 24 Hour Stadium Ultras, Run of Kutch, Vineyard Ultra 338 km to name a few. In October 2024, Aparna set the national record for women in Backyard Ultra at Pune, running for 27 hours with a mileage of 180.9 km. Aparna’s record has been subsequently rewritten by Ashwini Ganapathi, a Bengaluru-based ultrarunner, in May 2025.

The backyard ultra, also known as the last runner standing, is a format of ultra running in which runners are required to run a loop of 6.7 km within an hour. Every new hour runners who have completed the 6.7 km in the previous hour continue their running until the last surviving runner is declared the winner. This winner is also the sole finisher of the race.

The concept of backyard ultra was founded by Gary Cantrell of Tennessee (also known as Lazarus Lake). He is the founder and race director of Barkleys Marathon.

For a couple of years Aparna took time off to do her MBA from Oxford University.

Aparna has represented India in IAU ultrarunning events including the 24 Hour run as well as the 100 km, both at home and overseas.

At the IAU 24 Hour World Championships 2025 held in October in France, Aparna covered a distance of 210.537 km, surpassing the then national record of 204.314 km and improving her personal record by a huge margin from her previous best of 192 km. (The national record for women’s 24 hours stands with Sunita Subba at 217.327 km).

The Indian team at IAU 24 Hour World Championship at Albi, France

Aparna’s training for the World Championship was consistent but “nothing extraordinary”. In the run up to the Championships, Aparna took part in the 120 km Goa Ultra 2025 in early August. She won the women’s race with a finish timing of 14:51:19 hours. She saw it as a training run for the Championships.

“I do not let my mind be in the clouds about my training or my ability to perform on race day,’ she had told the blog in an earlier interaction.

There is a method to her approach. In her own mind, she draws up plans for each of the ultrarunning races she does. “If plan A falls through, I go for plan B, Plan C, D, etc). When all plans fall by the way side, I just keep running,” says Aparna.

Two months later, in December 2025, she set a new course record at the 100-mile run of Border Ultra 2025. She smashed her own course record that she had set in 2024.

Another two months later, she was at the start line of the 338 km Vineyard Ultra 2026 at Nashik, Maharashtra. Barely 16 km into the race, Aparna had a nasty fall and hurt her knees. More than halfway into the race, she started to feel a searing pain in her left foot but she continued running and completed the run.

“In these really long ultras I tend to get really dark and negative thoughts. But my mind also urges me to go on,” said Aparna.

Running ultras are not without their share of adventure on the route but sometimes, these can get out of hand.

During a 220 km ultra run at Saputara Summit 2023, in Gujarat, runners were required to first do a loop of 100 km and two loops of 60 km each to complete the distance. “Part of the route goes through a hilly forest area. I heard someone behind and I presumed it was one of the runners. The footsteps came closer and the person put his hand on my mouth. I tried to scream but couldn’t because he had gripped my mouth tightly. I then managed to bite into his finger. He loosened his grip and ran away,” said Aparna.

She won that race with a finish of 41:10 hours.

At Uttarkashi during an ultrarun, there were mild landslides along the route. “Once at Spiti during a ultrarun, there were falling rocks on one side and a river on the other side. During one of Uttarkashi 135 miler, it started pouring very heavily. I just went and laid down under one of the support vehicles, of course, reminding the driver that he needs to look below before he drives off,” she said.

If ever she feels the urge to sleep, Aparna just lays down on the side of the road or path to catch a few moments of sleep before she resumes her run.

On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led a Salt March from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi to protest against British regime’s salt monopoly. The 24-day march covered a distance of 387 km, prompting many Indians to join in the civil disobedience movement.

In 2012, Aparna along with Piyush Shah, Bhupendrasing Rajput and Vishwanathan Jayaraman did a self-supported multi-day run from Dandi to Sabarmati. “We ate local food, slept in temple premises, dharamshalas (rest houses for travellers) and at homes of some kind friends along the route,” she said.

Aparna along with co-runners of the Dandi to Sabarmati multi-day run

Ultraraces that are in excess of 200 km are among Aparna’s favourites. “Every ultrarunning event exacts its hardships. None of these ultra long events go easy,” she said. She is usually not daunted by the distances or the complicated routes of her ultraraces. “Sometimes, a 24-hour stadium run daunts me. Running around a 400-metre track for 24 hours can be quite intimidating,” she says.

In July 2023, Aparna was part of the team of ultrarunners representing India at the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships, held in Bengaluru at the sprawling Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra. Runners were required to run a loop of 5 km for 20 times to complete the 100 km distance.
It was surprisingly a warm day for July in Bengaluru. Most of the runners at the end of their run said the weather was too tough. Aparna kept running the loops and stopping occasionally at the aid stations to nibble on some food or sip some drink. As the hours went by the number of runners on the route was steading declining as runners were either finishing or exiting the race. Aparna continued running. At the end of the 12-hour cut-off time, Aparna had completed 90 km, 10 km short of the 100 km. Though a DNF, Aparna remained unperturbed. There was neither any sign of disappointment, nor was she complaining of heat or fatigue. This was the second time we were seeing her in action. After the run, she briefly dwelled upon the run and soon moved to other topics of interest.

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

(All photos courtesy Aparna Choudhary)