Participation in maximum running marathons

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Participation in maximum running marathons

Participation in maximum running marathons

Ms. Manisha Srivastava of Gurugram, Haryana has set a record for participating in the most marathon races. Born in April 1972, Manisha participated in several marathon races including the Virtual Marathon, and from December 2013 to April 2022, achieved a total number of 101 certifications, including 31 for the Half Marathons and 8 for the Virtual Marathons.

Manisha was earlier an HR professional in different multi-national companies. She is also the first woman from North India to complete the Ultraman Challenge. In November 2019, when the Ultraman Challenge, which is considered one of the toughest endurance triathlons in the world, was held in India for the first time, a dozen athletes completed the race. Manisha was the only woman among them. The race was of three days duration, consisting of a 10 km swim followed by a double marathon run of 421 km. This race was won by only a few people from India and except for Ms. Anu Vaidyanathan of Bengaluru, Karnataka, they were all men.

It is interesting to know that Manisha did not even start running till the age of 40. Initially, she used to run 5 km. Then did well in the half marathon and the timing was also good, so her courage kept increasing to try her luck for more challenges. She dropped the idea of ​​working in the office to focus on raising her two daughters. Then she started running in 2014 and soon, it became her full-time work. She said, in 2016, after doing a few marathons, she wanted to try something new, so tried triathlons. She was not an expert swimmer and at the time, she wanted to do this to face her fear of the depths. She did it somehow. This inspired her to go for triathlons for longer distances.

When she was in the 7th grade in school, she had participated in a 100-meter race and fell only after running 70 meters. After the birth of her first daughter, she started running to cure her asthma. However, she stopped running after her asthma was cured. What is her routine on a normal day? She gets up at 4 in the morning and drinks a big glass of warm water. After that, she takes a cup of black coffee with two slices of toast, a teaspoon of peanut butter, a pinch of cinnamon, and a teaspoon of organic honey.

After taking a bath, she goes for a daily run. Around 10.30 am to 11 am, she eats three boiled eggs, some fresh fruits, and a handful of dry fruits. Sometimes she likes to chew on microwave-roasted peanuts in her spare time. Before swimming, she drinks masala tea at 11.30 am and at 3 pm. Tea is one of her favourite drinks. She takes normal lunch and dinner but eats dinner early. In Delhi NCR, pollution has been a big challenge for her as she couldn’t go out for her running and cycling. She confined herself to indoor training mostly. The second challenge was cycling on road, because of both traffic hazards and safety issues as a woman.