Great display of sportsmanship by Indian Ultra runners at Bengaluru Stadium Run

Great display of sportsmanship by Indian Ultra runners at Bengaluru Stadium Run

At the 100 K event of the recently held 24 Hours Stadium Run in Bengaluru, India, there were some record breaking performances and amazing display of sportsmanship by two Indian athletes. At first, in the night slot starting 5 pm to 5 am, Lt. Cdr. Abhinav Jha from The Indian Navy broke the Indian national record for 100 km with a mind blowing time of 7:57:38. The current Indian national record for 100 km is held by Deepak Bandbe who had clocked 8:04:00 at the IAU Asia Oceania held in Jordan in November 2019. This was only beginning of the great running at this event. Jha’s record performance lasted only a few hours. On the same day, at the same event but at the 5:30 am to 5:30 pm daytime slot for 100 km, Sandeep Kumar from Surat clocked 100K in 7:56:23 (results under national ratification process). It was a close cut for Kumar, but what helped him make the cut is the real story. Jha stayed back post his own run at the event, motivated and crewed for Sandeep Kumar after finishing his own record-breaking run. Later, when Kumar broke Jha’s record performance, Jha actually carried him on his shoulders to take a 400 meter lap.

It was a great display of sportsmanship and brought in joy to those who witnessed this winning moment.
Both these runners will be representing India at the IAU 100 K Asia Oceania Championship held in Bengaluru in September 2021.

It was a historic moment to witness such stellar performances post the lull caused by the pandemic. Over 360 runners participated in this event with 50 runners in the 24H, 16 runners in 100K, 65 runners in 12H categories, and 37 Relay Teams.

24H Bengaluru Stadium Run is an ultra run event organised by NEB Sports in association with Athletics Federation of India, Karnataka Athletics Association and supported by Aegeas Federal Life Insurance. This event is IAU Bronze Label race certified by International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU).

Shibani Gharat

IAU Communication Committee