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Prayagraj runner completes 24-hour stadium run in Bengaluru
Major Farah Deeba, 41, an ace long-distance runner from Sangam city and an administrative officer of 6 UP Girls National Cadet Corps (NCC) Battalion, has successfully completed the 24-hour stadium run, organised by NEB sports at Kanteerava stadium, Bengaluru
Major Farah Deeba, 41, an ace long-distance runner from Sangam city and an administrative officer of 6 UP Girls National Cadet Corps (NCC) Battalion, has successfully completed the 24-hour stadium run, organised by NEB sports at Kanteerava stadium, Bengaluru.
It is a kind of endurance run for the marathoners and long-distance runners.
She ran for 125.2 km, which was 313 laps of the stadium. She started the run at 8am on March 18 and completed the run at 8am on March 19. In between, Maj Deeba, like other runners in this category, were medically checked after six-hour interval and were allowed to take a break for 15 minutes.
Prior to taking this challenge, she has done 12 hours stadium run, twice; first at Chandigarh and second one at Bengaluru in 2021. Maj Deeba has also completed the 100 km Border Hell race at Jaisalmer in December 2021. Along with this, she has participated the full marathon at Lucknow in November 2022 and had secured second runners-up position in open female category and second in age category. This year, this officer of the Indian Army took part in the New Delhi Marathon on February 26.
“The 24 hours of stadium run at Bengaluru was a totally different experience of being on the same 400-metre track for several hours which was also monotonous. In between, we were allowed to stop for few minutes to rehydrate ourselves”, said Maj Deeba, who is an alumna of Allahabad University from where she has also done her PhD.
“I also had nausea in the wee hours, but I looked down and kept running as quitting was not an option for me”, said the runner while talking on phone from Bengaluru.
Although my body wasn’t prepared for this run as I was still recovering post Influenza attack which I suffered at New Delhi marathon, I am happy I could complete this run as well, she added.
The lady officer suffered from leg cramps, rashes and a few other complications but, “the charm was to keep moving”.
“There is a lot to learn and pick up from any adversity and I am still learning and yearning for new experiences, that’s what perhaps matters,” said Maj Deeba.
The run started at 8am of March 18 and the time period from 11 am to 4pm was quite challenging in terms of heat and dehydration.
“My strategy was to be slow during the day and pick up speed at night since I am quite used to night running,” she added.
The challenges were there in their changed forms as it started drizzling and she took a short break to change her clothes.
Talking of challenges, she informed that due to wet feet, blisters had developed on her feet including huge ones on both toe nails. The painful part was to continue with the blisters. “One of the blisters got punctured so I quickly sprinkled medicine on the wound and continued the run. The body started rejecting any supplements, liquids, drinks etc. But I completed the challenge,” said Major Deeba.
