On January 26, Pune resident Ashish Kasodekar, 50, finished his 61st marathon in 60 days, making it to the Guinness World Records for running a full marathon for the most consecutive days in the ultra-dynamo category. Not surprisingly, Kasodekar’s life motto is ‘die to live’ and he feels that his life’s work is setting out to accomplish hardcore endurance feats and finishing with a smile.
“It has been a festival of run and every run is a learning process,” said this long-distance running and cycling enthusiast and travel entrepreneur. He embarked on this project on November 28, 2021, with a scheduled end date of January 26, 2022.
It was a unique way to celebrate his 50th birthday. “The idea was to do something different. The record is 59 marathons in 59 days and so, I decided to attempt 60 marathons consecutively for 60 days,” said Kasodekar.
His record will erase the one held by Italy’s Enzo Capororaso. The Italian had set the record in 2019 by running daily full marathons from September 14 to November 11.
For Kasodekar, the adrenaline rush comes from being involved in sports, be it basketball or running long-distance. He has been a sportsperson from the get-go, starting from the Vimlabai Garware School and then the Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC).
“I think of celebrating each day in my life as an event, trying to push myself to accomplish the most rigorous task. My first run was the Pune Marathon in 2013, running 15 kms, followed by the 21km Mumbai Marathon, which inspired me to run 42 kms in Mumbai again in 2016. I realised that when you are running, the cheering and running with the others adds to that extra energy and it is fantastic,” said Kasodekar.
He believes in celebrating life and his style is energetic and pushing his limits – on 11/ 11/11, he cycled from Pune to Goa, on 12/12/12 he completed a 100km walk from Pune–Panchgani–Goa and on 11/12/13, he rode his Harley Davidson bike for 2,400 kms in 36 hours in a race aptly called ‘Bum Burner’. Similarly, on 20/02/2020, he attempted ‘Everesting’ – trying to scale a height the equivalent of Mount Everest by climbing the Sinhagad Fort 16 times non-stop.
When he heard about the La Ultra, held every year in Ladakh, he wanted to push his limits and first ran 72 kms. “I was hooked on running in the Himalayas, and learnt a lot in the process. I kept on going back, running longer distances. I completed the 111km run in 20 hours, then 333 kms in 72 hours and the 555 kms - the most difficult race in 132 hours.”
According to Kasodekar, each race teaches you a lot as each one poses a different challenge, where one deals with oxygen levels, temperature variations of 10 to 42 degrees, the elevation of the route and meeting the most important of them all - the cutoff timings.
The La Ultra, known as the cruellest marathon in the world, is renowned for putting an individual’s limits to the test and each of Kasodekar’s marathon runs are accompanied by a story.
“I believe in the journey and enjoy the process of being part of a marathon without specialised training, being mentally fit and coming out of my comfort zone,” he says. For practice, Kasodekar would run up the Sinhagad Fort in the afternoon or even run from Pune to Panchgani to get an idea of long-distance terrain.
His dream is to participate in the Badwater Marathon in the US, where marathoners run in 50 ° C temperatures, for which Kasodekar had to first qualify by participating in the ‘Brazil 135’, a race which is tough but one he finished in 44 hours, becoming the first and the only Indian to finish.
What is his mantra when he is participating in these ultra races? “When you are in such situations, having to choose between love and fear, choosing love and life becomes beautiful. Whatever you do, do it with love and maintain the discipline to do it, so that it helps you achieve your goals, long or short.”
