The run machine

Running a marathon requires immense stamina and willpower — the strength required to do 10 marathons in 10 consecutive days can only be imagined. Hyderabad-based Soma Jagan Mohan Reddy has achieved this tremendous feat.

Jagan, who participated in the recently-concluded 10 in 10 Telangana Runs, completed a 42-km marathon each day in record time, and ended up topping the table of participants, covering 422 kms in 35 hours 34 minutes, averaging 3 hours 33 minutes 4 seconds for each marathon.

Elaborating on his passion for running, Jagan, who heads the Physiotherapy Department at Care Hospitals, Nampally, says, “My earliest experience of running was at school when I was in Class 12. In 1998, I represented my college, Rajiv Gandhi Health University, Bangalore, at a university meet where I participated in 400, 800, and 5 km runs and won three gold medals.”

Jagan, who holds a PG Diploma in Health, Fitness and Lifestyle Management from the University of Hyderabad, ventured into full-fledged running from 2013. He represented Telangana State in the National Masters Athletics of 2015 and 2019 and won three bronze and one silver medals in various categories. He got three gold medals each over three years at the National Masters Athletics Championships held in 2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2019-2020. Even during lockdown, Jagan participated in the virtual Chicago marathon and clocked a time of 3 hours in solo running.

Talking about the experience of being a part of the 10 in 10 Telangana Runs, he says, “Running continuously for 10 days is no mean feat, especially marathons. My first day’s timing was 3 hours and 22 min, as I was fresh. Soon, the running started to take a toll on my fitness, and my timing went down to 3 hours and 41 min on the seventh day. That’s when I started to be more careful and motivated myself to push harder but with care. One can’t risk pulled muscles.”

Sharing that after each day’s run, he massaged his legs with oil, had a cold bath and ate a lot of fruits, besides drinking a lot of water and energy drinks, Jagan says despite all that, on the last day of the run he did not feel fully fit, and that it impacted his podium timings.

Jagan is planning to apply for a spot in the Limca Book of Records as no one in India has gone below a timing of 4 hours for 10 days in the 10 in 10 timed conservative marathons.