D’Souza manages to finish race despite getting inflammation in leg.
Kieren D’Souza from Nagpur became the first Indian to complete the Spartathlon, an annual ultramarathon from Athens to Sparta in Greece covering 246.6 kilometers. One of the toughest marathons in the world, D’Souza covered the Spartathlon circuit in 33 hours, 2 minutes and 25 seconds.
The 23-year-old runner finished 86th among the 370 participants. D’Souza, who had been training to participate in the race from 2012 onwards became the first Indian to participate in the world-renowned ultramarathon.
D’Souza said he developed inflammation of a tendon after about 195 kilometers, making it difficult for him to reach the finishing line within the expected time.
“It was only about 50km from the finish when the pain around my left shin developed, that I felt I would take longer than expected to reach the finish line. Over the next 50km, I kept setting small targets and finally reached with more than 2 hours 35 minutes left for the cut-off,” Kieren told The Times of India.
D’Souza had maintained comfortable speed throughout the stretch before developing inflammation. He was in 98th position at checkpoint 28, which was at a distance of 100km and had managed to reach 60 at the 60th checkpoint.
Only 50 percent runners have successfully completed the run held annually by the International Spartathlon Association. The participants who successfully complete the marathon are crowned with an olive wreath and a drink of water from the river Eurotas.
To participate in Spartathlon, runners have to complete any of the tough ultramarathons held around the world. D’Souza secured his entry after winning Salomon Bhatti Lake’s 160km Ultra in 2015, in which he set an Indian record of 20 hours 32 minutes.
Last year, D’Souza had completed the 222 km La Ultra in Ladakh to become the first Indian to finish the ultramarathon.
The runner developed an interest in the marathon after participating in a half marathon while he was pursuing his college education.
“To be honest I didn’t know what marathon running was till college. I was always heavily into sport, but my choice was never running. I signed up for a half marathon and found myself to be decent and also able to push my body. Since then, I’ve just tried to be a better runner,” D’Souza told Sportskeeda.
“For me, it’s more like breathing, one can only run more than 100 km, if they are not as comfortable with it as living one’s everyday life. That’s always the target to be comfortable with it. If I’m not running on the road, I’m questioning my own existence,” he added.