Arun Bhardwaj makes history in ultramarathon

Arun Bhardwaj of Delhi rewrote history on Sunday to become first Indian athlete to run non-stop 186.4 kms in 24 hours, eclipsing his previous mark of 161 kms.

Bengal Olympic Association’s officials, who monitored the ultramarathon, said Arun completed the 186.4 kms in 24 hours, short of 13.6 kms of his 200 kms target.

The 42-year-old father of a daughter, Arun, began his run at 2:30 pm from Netaji Indoor Stadium in central Kolkata on Saturday and ended his non-stop run at 2:30 pm near the Medica Superspeciality Hospital at EM Bypass on Sunday.

After being greeted by West Bengal Sports Minister Kanti Ganguly, who all along supported the cause of the long distance runner, and many celebrated sportspersons at the finishing line, Arun Bhardwaj was rushed to an emergency medical facility for routine health check up.

East Bengal coach Trevor James Morgan and his striker Ozbay Togay were among other soccer players who greeted Arun on his finishing line.

He was also given physiotherapy assistance to avoid muscle contraction.

Arun Bhardwaj, a Planning Commission employee in New Delhi, had successfully ran 161 kms in 24 hours but his latest 186.4 kms is the best and first for any Indian runner.

His run covered almost entire part of the his metro and during the night he was all alone on the city streets to make his goal achieved.

According to ultramarathon rule a runner could take rest for ten minutes in every hour after completing 10 kms.

The runner can take food and relieve himself/herself within specific time or four hours in 24 hours.