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Uphill climb for the only Indian on the highly taxing international circuit
Three days a week, Arun Bharadwaj avoids taking a bus to his workplace. He opts to runs the 40 kilometers separating his home from office. For the 41-year-old ultra marathon runner, this unconventional commuting method is merely a part of his hectic training regime.
Much longer than the usual 42 kilometers, the ultra marathon requires an athlete to run 67.5 kilometers each of the six days that the event lasts. On the highly competitive circuit, Bharadwaj has created several firsts. He got initiated into this highly taxing sport in 2000 when while on a pilgrimage to Haridwar, he covered 180 kms in 33 hours on foot. Out of curiosity, Bharadwaj browsed the internet and found he was better than many professional ultra marathoners.
That's what started his career as an ultra marathon runner and very soon Bharadwaj was hooked. Having already run 270 km in 33 hours, winning the George Archer Six Day race in South Africa this year, and recording more than 550 kms in Australia to set a first South Asian record, he is now targeting 200 km in 24 hours and 500 miles in a six day race. Preparing for the event is a tough task.
"To fight sleep while running I train at midnight for three hours. Most foreign athletes I meet ask me how many marathons I have raced. They are surprised when I say 'none. Only honey and juice do the trick for me, I am no athlete who eats 10kg of almonds," he says.
In a country where its unimaginable for most people to think about pursuing this sport, finding a coach is impossible. Seeing Bharadwaj's international results, many foreign coaches offered to train him online for half their fee but he says anything quoted to him in dollars was unaffordable, until he found Australian Ultra Runners Association, vice-president Phil Essam.
Having observed him compete at the Colac (Australia) 6-Day race, Essam not only started coaching him online for free, he even offered Bharadwaj a tempting deal. "He told me that his association will take care of all my training and help me be among the top ten ultra runners in the world if I immigrate to Australia. Till date, a lot of people tell me that I should have taken up the offer, but I thought if I go there I will be just another runner while India will lose their only man in this field," he says.
While other runners are accompanied by helpers and managers, Bharadwaj has to replenish himself with energy liquids, change his kit, unstrap his gear all on his own. A government employee, funding to participate in international races has always been a problem area but he is not willing to stop or even complain. "Don't write anything negative, I don't want people to get discouraged," he says.
"There is no monetary benefit, it is just a desire to surpass human capacity and prove that the human body has no limit. For footballers, their sense of ecstasy lasts through that one goal and ends with it. For me, it's a six day war between the mind and the body which becomes a constant source of energy," he ends.
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