Sikkimese athlete wins third position in international ultra running championship

TENZIN NORYANG

GANGTOK,: Sikkimese athlete Pritam Rai brought laurels for his State by bagging the third position in the 12-hour open category international men’s race held at Kanteereva Stadium, Bengaluru.

The marathon was among the several categories under the 2022 edition of IAU 24^th Asia and Oceania Championship held in association with the International Association of Ultra Runners (IAU) and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). It was being held in India for the first time.

Runners from India, Chinese Taipei, Australia, Poland, Lebanon, Mongolia, and the UK participated in the championship which concluded on July 3 after a 24-hour journey.

In the 12-hour men’s race, the winner was Harikumar K. L. with a distance of 115.632 km covered followed by Charudutt Mishra in second position (112.128 km) and Pritam Rai in the third position with 110.36 km. As the lone participant from Sikkim, Rai covered the distance with 252 laps in total, beating over a hundred runners in the category.

The race started at 8 pm onwards in the stadium and concluded at 8 am in the morning after.

The format of the race consisted of runners pausing after 5-6 hours for medical checkup after which they would change their direction and continue running for the next 6 hours and so on. 

Speaking to SIKKIM EXPRESS about his preparation, Pritam thanked his coach Amar Subba and said: “I used to run along the Silk Route Road from Yuksom to Khecheopalri and also did some laps whenever I could in college. Due to a little health setback I came in third place but it is still deeply satisfying and a matter of pride to bring Sikkim's name to the forefront.”

As runners-up, Pritam now qualifies for the upcoming marathon which is going to be held in Mumbai this December. He remains resolute in his aim to break the national record of the 12-hour-race.