Iten-based Guinness World record holder chasing Paris Olympics qualification

Ghanshyam Sudani, a 27-year-old ultra-distance runner has set his sights on representing his country at next year’s Paris Olympics.

The Indian World book of Records holder in 72 hours non-stop running has been training at the High-Altitude Training Centre (HATC) in Iten, Kenya while working on hitting the qualification time to be in Paris.

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Not new to setting records, Sudani who is the first Indian ultra-runner to race from Somnath to Ayodhya, a 1726 Kms distance by road, says he is looking to lower his personal best time of 2 hours and 23 minutes to under 2 hours and nine minutes to book his place in Paris for the Summer Games.

“I believe that as an athlete what you put in is what   you get out. If I commit all my effort into this then I can be proud of whatever result I achieve. I belive in competing with self. I know what I want to achieve and I am working hard towards that.

I am embracing the process, it is important for me. Being able to persevere through the highs and lows and having a robust, positive attitude while doing it is ssential for my success,” said the runner whose other ambition in the near future is to enter the Guinness Book of World Record for running the longest in 100 hours.

In his latest event, the NBC Dodoma Marathon held on 23 July, he finished 10th clocking 72 minutes. “I fell short of my target of clocking 70 minutes but I believe I am still on track for my targets,” said Sudani who few weeks before then had participated in the Nairobi marathon.

The athlete says training in Iten where there are better and quicker runners has been a blessing as he gets to work with some of the best in the classic distance and gauge his progress with how he does in his non-competitive runs.