“The journey started with different activities. I started celebrating different days, like, whenever we had special days like 11/11/11. In addition, in 2012, we had 12/12/12. So, I decided if I am celebrating, why not do something for myself.” With an idea so inimitable, Mr. Ashish Kasodekar started his journey onto the tracks of marathoning. He hails from the city of Pune and thrives on adventure. Today he has moved miles ahead, including the La- Ultra Marathon of 555km in Ladakh, to make it the first and only Indian to enter the ultra-dynamo category in the Guinness Book of World Records. When asked what motivated him to accomplish such feats, he said, “We always do something where we expect something, that we might get some certificate or some money. But I believe you have to do some activity where the answer should be happiness. And I kept on doing that.” Mr. Kasodekar has scaled the height of Everest by climbing the Sinhagad Fort 16 times non-stop, aka Everesting. From 28 November 2021 to 26 January 2022, he completed the challenge he undertook to run 60 full marathons in 60 consecutive days. Mr. Ashish firmly believes it is all a mental game of how much you can push yourself. He has not stopped at that but is giving it back to the city, also. He organizes marathons for kids from the ages of 6-14 in various places in Pune; according to him, marathoning is an activity where everyone wins. “When you do things for yourself, it becomes easy, but when you do things for others, it becomes difficult.” He says that this feeling of accomplishment brings you to the race. His commitment and passion in his arena indeed leave one inspired.
10 Jan 2022
Pranjal Nangare
