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.
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