The whole world may think what a 58-year-old can possibly do.
Someone getting ready to join senior citizen club prepares mentally to make frequent visits to hospital. As the retirement age approaches, expense towards medical bills heads north. Career comes to an end after decades of service leaving a void which many find hard to accept.
A few brave souls in their late fifties will even think of testing their mettle and create a whole new future for themselves.
This is a story about the passion, determination and consistency of a 58-year-old gentleman named Harinath Sastry.
For someone running his very first 10 KM run at the tender age of 54 may seem like a very late start.
Many don’t even dare to run in their entire life with the thinking that running may spoil their knees as they grow older.
Despite a late start, nothing seems to meddle with his mettle. Can you even think of a 57-year-old doing 99 half marathons (HMs) and one full marathon (FM) on 100 consecutive days?
He was ranked 34 among more than 14,000 runners in the 2021 edition of HDOR (Hundred Days of Running) event. In his age category (55-59 year), he secured 4th rank with astounding distance of 2,267 KM. He did 173 HMs in the year 2021 alone.
There is no better example than Rahul Dravid, best known as The Wall of Indian Cricket who epitomised the word consistency. Hari has followed a similar path and allowed his passion to find the way forward during times of uncertainty.
During 100 days of running in 2021, his work took him to 4 different places. But that didn’t deter his spirit as he ran 5 HMs in Goa, 2 HMs in Tumkur, 2 HMs in Mercara and 3 HMs in Bagalkot.
He has 104 HMs in 2020 and 66 HMs in 2022 to his credit taking his total tally of HMs to 264 (till 26th Oct 2022). Till date he has completed more than 10 FMs. Age is just a number. Isn’t it?
The age at which most people think of retiring from active work life and leading a quiet life, Hari seems to have just got started.
In the last two years he has progressed to become an Ultra Marathoner. He has run 60 KM at Vagamon Ultra, 50 KM at Malnad Ultra and 50 KM at BISON Ultra events.
Despite such incredible feats, Hari comes across as a humble human being. He credits his astounding success to the support received from Mohan Devegowda, Team RunAddicts, Narayana Swamy, Pradeep Senapati, Team Run2Rejuvenate, Rajesh Jana, Sambit Routray, Dr. Girish, Dr. Anu, Dr. Manjunath, Shankar Biswas, Preyasee, Sriniwas, Manoj Bhat and many other runners who have contributed to his running journey.
Till date he has covered more than 15,000 KM. Last year alone he clocked more than 5,000 KM by running and walking.
What’s the secret behind his incredible running expedition without even a single injury over these 4 years?
“8 hours of sleep every single day”, he says happily.
If you liked the story, please follow my page Build Your Range for such inspiring stories.
It was 9:00 pm and I suddenly felt an urge to order food from my favourite restaurant. I opened a food delivery app and browsed the menu to select the desired food. I selected a few items and made the payment. The app showed that food would be delivered in 45 minutes.
I wanted to wait patiently, but kept looking at the app from time to time as my hunger was steadily increasing. Those 45 minutes seemed like ages.
The food got picked by a delivery partner after 30 minutes. I kept checking his movement through the app.
For a few minutes it seemed he wasn’t moving at all. Did he stop on the way to deliver food to any other customer? Did his bike break down on the way? All sorts of questions were popping up in my mind and trying to make me frustrated.
After a few minutes, he started moving. He arrived at my apartment within the stipulated time. As soon as I approved the notification on an app to approve his entry within the apartment, he arrived at my doorstep quickly. .
He might have manoeuvred treacherous traffic, braved broken roads and potholes, navigated through dust and constantly thought about delivering food on time. All this for earning an honest living in an expensive city like Bangalore.
I thought of giving something to him. As soon as he handed over the food packets, I gave him two KitKats.
His face lit up with a beaming smile. He tried to thank me for this act, but I was thankful to him for ensuring timely food delivery in spite of whatever he might have encountered on the way.
In today’s fast paced world where most of the things are now available online, human interaction is steadily on the decline.
I remember a time back in 2003-04 when we had BSNL landline at home. I used to go once a month to the BSNL office and spend 2-3 hours in the queue just to pay the bill. As there were no mobiles back then, people had time to speak to complete strangers for hours. That was lots of fun.
Things are turning out to be more transactional these days. We are reducing opportunities for expressing human emotions. Be it ordering food, grocery, medicine or paying bills for utility services, everything gets done instantly without any human interaction.
These days I keep some chocolates inside a blue box which I call the Happiness Box. Whenever a delivery boy comes to my home to deliver some item, I handover a chocolate. I can’t change a whole lot of things in their lives, but a small token of appreciation for their effort goes a long way to build that human connection.
Happiness in our lives compounds when we share it with others. It’s the way to build our own happiness.
This World Kindness Day, let’s make a better and kinder world.
Next time a delivery partner comes to your doorstep, unbox happiness. Share a chocolate.
In spite of all the negativity that has of late engulfed the beautiful city Bangalore, there is one thing that even entire Europe would envy. It’s the weather. Most Bangalorians consider it a matter of great pride. Except for a few weeks in summer, the weather remains extremely pleasant throughout the year.
If you are a runner, you would enjoy such beautiful weather during morning runs. And if one has absolutely no inclination towards running or any kind of physical activity, it’s a pure bliss to catch up on more sleep during the morning. The city has something to offer to everyone.
If you are a non-runner and you have a change of heart, the greatest challenge that awaits you is getting into some kind of routine. Comfort of a warm bed is so tempting that waking up itself may seem like the most difficult task. Running may seem like a distant dream which is beyond your reach.
Puneet Kaur hails from Punjab and currently lives with her husband Amandeep Singh in Bangalore. Aman is a gym buff and loves workout sessions. For many years, he tried to encourage Puneet to start some kind of exercise, but all his words fell on deaf ears. As Aman persisted, she tried running a few times, but she could barely continue it for a couple of weeks. She was happy to keep herself busy in the household chores and exercise regimen could never make any place in her daily ritual.
They moved to a new apartment in Whitefield earlier this year. She came across a few runners in her apartment and made a fresh beginning in early 2022.
It took her absolutely no time to fall in love with running. Within a few months she became an obedient disciple of the sport. She was keen to learn each day and test her own limits.
Few months back she registered for an event called “Hundred Days of Running” also known as HDOR. This is an event where you are supposed to run for 100 consecutive days. Although she was a newbie in the world of running, she was excited about the challenge. She was driven by a deep desire to put her best effort each day until the event was over.
When you dig deeper within yourself, more likely you will find hidden treasures that are lying undiscovered. Such a voyage is not easy. To say that it’s difficult may also be an understatement. But if you hold your patience and are willing to put yourself under the grind, you will discover goldmine. And Puneet was just about to stumble upon such a momentous occasion in life.
Even after 79 days of continuous running, she showcased outstanding passion and supreme commitment for the remaining three weeks of the HDOR challenge. For the next 21 days, she did something which is simply unthinkable.
Day 80 – 21 K
Day 81 – 35 K
Day 82 – 32 K
Day 83 – 12 K
Day 84 – 27 K
Day 85 – 50 K
Day 86 – 21 K
Day 87 – 21 K
Day 88 – 33 K
Day 89 – 30 K
Day 90 – 28 K
Day 91 – 26 K
Day 92 – 42 K
Day 93 – 35 K
Day 94 – 28 K
Day 95 – 39 K
Day 96 – 32 K
Day 97 – 42 K
Day 98 – 34 K
Day 99 – 42 K
Day 100 – 76 K
Can you believe that she finally completed her 100 days expedition with a 76 K run?
For someone who didn’t even do a 5 K run until 2021, it sounds beyond belief that she ended up being the best runner in her age group (40-44 years) and overall 6th top women finisher in the event.
A couple of weeks later, she showed up for a daunting race at Nandi Hills on the outskirts of Bangalore. She shined as the third best women runner in this event called “The Bull Run”.
It’s my privilege to witness and write about a champion in action.
If you are wondering how she managed to run so much without getting injured, I would soon publish another story that would contain everything she does to remain injury free. From diet and strength training to practicing gratitude everyday make her what she is today. And she finds her husband’s unflinching support as the most important factor that shaped her transformation.
If you are someone who is still finding it hard to find inspiration, I hope this remarkable story of a humble human being would help.
I started regular running in 2014 and until 2019 I had run few marathons. But my dear friend Bikas nudged me to try for 50K – Ultra Marathon.
I took his guidance and prepared for 3 months for Bangalore Ultra scheduled for Dec 2019 at picturesque GKVK agricultural campus. But two weeks before the run, my shoulder had developed nagging pain bringing my practice to a grinding halt.
As the pain didn’t alleviate after trying home remedies, I met Dr Ashaf Ali, cofounder of Curolive Multispecialty Centre, Bellandur.
I followed his advice for a week and the pain seemed to reduce significantly. But the moment I resumed running, the pain resurfaced and crushed my confidence. With just 5 days to go for the run, I completely gave up the hope of running my first Ultra Marathon. I spoke to family members and friends, and everyone suggested to give complete rest to body and skip upcoming event.
I revisited Dr Ashaf for further consultation. I asked him “Sir, what are my chances of running?”
He replied, “Sambit you still have 5 days before the event. You have practiced so hard in the last few months. Focus on your recovery. Don’t give up at this moment. Take the final call on Saturday based on your recovery”. His simple words were enough to bring me out of despair.
For next 4 days, my mind crisscrossed through various emotions. It was like all unwanted emotions Zumba dancing in front of me. It’s easy to listen to motivational talks but keeping the head high when the chips seem to be down is a different ball altogether. I lobbed a silent get-me-out-of-this expression.
I got lot better by Saturday and decided to run the next day.
On 22nd Dec 2019, I successfully completed my first Ultra Marathon.
It has been almost 2.5 years since that day. But those 14 days of pain and anguish taught me something very special.
“There will be times in life when we may not have an iota of confidence on ourselves. During such times, some people come as guardian angels and give us hope. They make us believe. They help us to regain our lost confidence”.
I am really thankful that Dr Ashaf didn’t give up on me when I went through such phase. That experience helped me to write the book “Anybody Can Run”.
It was indeed a great pleasure to meet him yesterday and present a copy of my book.
Have you experienced such magical moments in life? Do share your thoughts in comments.
Do you know what’s the best time in the 4 years of pursuing engineering studies?
Well, it’s the phase when you have got campus placement in the third year and you are left with the entire 4th year to enjoy time with friends.
I got placed in one of the top IT companies in India in 2004 and for the next 1 year, I had a gala time with friends. But no good time lasts forever. It was May 2005 and we were left with just another month in college. We had no idea of what kind of future was waiting for us after joining the company.
We wanted to live in that moment of bliss forever. The best way you can capture a moment is by writing. A friend named Subhra suggested to write a Souvenir for our batchmates. In no time, 13 people got together for this short assignment. Some of us locked ourselves in Subhra’s home for a week and went on with the job in hand.
I had no interest in doing anything about Souvenir. Even till today, I don’t know why they chose me to be a part of the writing team. The rest of the folks in the group were better in terms of studies and I thought they were more suited for the work which was about to start.
The only reason I stayed back with them was I would spend a few days with friends for one last time.
For the first two days, there were heated debates about the content, structure and formatting of the book. As expected, I had nothing to add to the discussion. By the third day, everyone was up to something and I was sitting idle. There were still 3 to 4 days to go and it started to get a bit mundane with nothing to do as other friends started going about their business.
On the fourth day, I picked a pen and paper and started scribbling some random thoughts. After few hours, I wrote something which finally made some sense to me. It was a four-line poem about a friend. When I showed the poem to friends, they loved it. I wrote a few more and they liked those poems as well. So, I decided to write poems for all 93 friends in my class.
When we departed from Subhra’s place after a week, I was feeling really happy and accomplished. For the first time in the entire 4 years of college, I felt I had done something worthwhile. When the Souvenir got released, all the friends were really happy to read the poems. I thought probably it was the beginning of a new journey.
I joined my first job in a prestigious organization a few months later and soon forget about writing as the focus shifted to learning new technology and other skills. This was in July 2005.
One fine day, in mid-2008, some random thought pushed me to write again. This time, I enjoyed writing articles and those were well-received by friends and colleagues. I was an active member of the environment club of the company that worked on various sustainability initiatives. Some of my writings got published in company newsletters. I got an opportunity to meet the Chief Sustainability Officer of my organization. I sent him some of my articles and he really liked those.
For one article, he complimented, “This article is of International standard.”
I was on cloud nine and brimful of confidence. I was determined to write every day and push my limits. I fancied writing my first book in 2009. But there were days when no new thought came to mind and I couldn’t write anything. The more I wrote, the more I encountered such lean spells. Slowly, a fear crept inside my mind that probably I would run out of ideas and I won’t be able to write good articles. Then came a moment when I completely stopped writing.
10 years went by just like a whisker and I didn’t write anything during that time.
In all these years, only one person was the custodian of my dream and she is none other than my mother. She was the happiest person when I told her about my intention of book-writing for the first time. When I stopped writing altogether, she reminded me from time to time to start writing again.
I was still far away from being a regular writer, rather I was someone who had a distant dream of writing a book one fine day.
In Jan 2019, my brother Sujit gifted me a diary and a pen on the occasion of New Year. I asked him why he wasted money on such things as those were of no use to me. I kept both the things on my desk and forgot about them.
After two weeks, I was about to close my laptop after a long day at work when my eyes caught sight of the dairy. That left me steady and unblinking for a couple of moments. I thought of writing something as my brother had gifted it with so much love. But there were no thoughts in my mind that were worthy of writing on a fresh new diary. So, I started writing a to-do list for the very next day. On the next day, I again opened the diary to write the to-do list for the subsequent day. In the next couple of months, I became more regular in writing my daily activities.
Thanks to running, I started to pen down few running experiences on social media. Initially, I used to write short notes of 4 to 5 lines about my running. One day, I wrote a longer story about running a particular event and a friend named Sudheer Gopidi complimented on Facebook, “You write very well. Gripping. You must consider authoring a book soon”. That day, my dream of writing my first book back in 2009 got rekindled after a decade.
In October 2019, coincidently I joined a three-month seminar by Ravi Kumar Sapata about fulfilling life’s goals. One of my goals during that time was to write regularly. The structure of the program helped me to get back to writing after a break. Thanks to Amit Mathur and Ugo Ogbonnaya who held me accountable to complete my assignments. At the end of three months, I was writing more frequently than any previous time.
In 2019, I completed TRORT Marathon, Bengaluru Marathon and Bengaluru Ultra Marathon and these experiences helped me to write more often. During the COVID-19 lockdown, running and writing were the greatest tools that helped me to deal with anxiety, depression, loneliness and every other thing that didn’t work for me.
I appeared for a job interview in the later part of 2020. During the managerial round discussion, most of my answers were excerpts from the articles that I had written 5 to 6 months back. The thoughts were original and I could be just myself while sharing my ideas. That resonated with the interviewer and I finally cracked the interview.
I started running and that inspired my writing. My upcoming book “Anybody Can Run” is a result of the effort that has gone in the last five to six years towards running.
But it started back in 2005 when the friends showed faith on me and that made all the difference. That marked the beginning of this wonderful journey of being a writer.
The Gold Dust
Running is much more than just a fitness program.
Pen down your thoughts after each run.
The more you write, the more it will heal you.
A pen is mightier than a sword. Isn’t it?
Otherwise, how could I have connected with you sitting thousands of miles apart?
