INDIA GOES ULTRA
Joining the International Ultra- running Association will allow India to send teams for global competitions
While every selection trial is important to a runner, Indian ultra-runner Kieren D’Souza is particularly thrilled about an upcom-ing one. Having become a member of the Inter-national Association of Ultra-running (IAU), the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) can now select a team to compete in the 2017 Trail World Championships in Italy, on June 10. The race runs through national forests in the central Apen- nines (between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna) for 49 kilometres.
“India’s membership is a big boost to ultra-runners,” says 24-year-old D’Souza, who became the first Indian to participate and finish the Spartathlon—a 246-km race from Athens to Sparta in Greece that ranks among the most competitive ultras worldwide. “I am sure this will help the Indian presence in the global ultra- and trail-running map,” he adds.
Female competitors could benefit in particular, says Delhi’s Meenal Kotak, another of India’s leading ultra runners. “India does not provide the best condi-tions for women to train effectively,” says Kotak. “That might change with this inter-national recognition.”
Some ultras are races over a set distance. Others are races to cover the most ground within a time limit. Some are road races and oth-ers run over hills and rivers, through deserts, forests, and snow. Despite the sport’s gru-elling nature, ultra-running is one of the fastest growing adventure sports in the country, with nearly 1,500 people taking part in races held across India, and some competing abroad as well.
That enthusiasm was what drew AFI to the sport, points out AFI president Adille Sumariwalla.The membership also grants the AFI the authority to organise ul-tra-marathons and mountain trail runs in the country and promote Indian endurance runners abroad. For that reason, some see the develop-ment as a mixed blessing. “As of now, ultra-running is pure and corruption-free. But no one knows if that’ll last once a government-run federation takes over,” says an ultra-runner who did not wish to be named.
THE ATHLETICS FEDERATION OF INDIA CAN NOW SEND A TEAM TO COMPETE IN THE 2017 TRAIL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ITALY, ON JUNE 10