Passion flamed with necessity, ignites a fire which makes difficult tasks achievable. One such goal was set by Team Himalayan Knights, a conglomeration of runners, and fulfilled by setting a world record for the longest non-stop relay run in the world. The team will soon feature in the Guinness Book of World Record after all the verifications and formalities are complete.
20 persons, including four girls and one parathlete in the age group of 15-40 participated in this relay which touched each state in India covering 9,490 km in 960 hours in 40 days.
The non-stop relay run which began on November 10 from Raj Bhavan, Haryana, at Chandigarh culminated on December 20, 2022 at the India Gate, New Delhi. It continued non-stop for 40 days with each runner running an average of 11-12 km for an minimum one hour.
There were five runners from Haryana, two from Himachal, two from Uttar Pradesh two from Rajasthan, two from Madhya Pradesh. Some of them are teachers, some are from the Indian Army and some are international mountaineers.
The team members include Sandeep Arya, Lalit Yadav, Vikas, Baljeet Kaur, Priyanka, Narendra, Saurabh, Keshav, Karan, Rakesh, Kuldeep, Kapil, Ravi, Babli, Dipanshu, Rajan, Govind, Sonu, Dinesh, Sunil, Ratnesh, Mehak, Manish, Kunal and Pradeep.
CityWoofer caught up with the deputy team leader, Lalit Yadav.
How do you select athletes who are good enough for a long haul?
Besides their athletic abilities, our primary aim is to watch out for the attitude of the relay runner—how well is he/she able to adjust with a team and his sportsmanship ability. We cannot provide luxury as we have limited resources. We look for people who are flexible with their needs as logistics are scarce, we arrange for food, lodging, everything on our own, so sometimes you might just have to go on without the basic requirements.
Some of our athletes are from poor families, They don’t throw tantrums and are flexible enough to lead their life in any kind of adversity.
What is the most important achievement of the relay run?
Team Himalayan Knights has broken the record of the world’s longest relay race established by European countries. The 6,460 km was the original world record till November 2022 which was the longest. This record was broken this November by a European team who covered 7,767 km in 960 hours with around 1,000 participants. Our team covered this distance in 790 hours with just 20 relay runners.
How did you arrange for the logistics?
We had two traveller buses accompanying the team in which the players slept and rested. They survived on normal dal-roti–sabji, supplements, no special diet, 30 pc logistics we arranged through our own links.
What was the aim of the relay run?
Our aim was not only to create a world record, but also to do something for the society, so we introduced this theme of Run Against Depression. After Covid, many people and their families were struggling with their mental health, so we decided to create awareness through this run. The team went across India meeting school children, college students and people and and created an awareness against depression.
What is your next target?
We aim to do a relay run 15000-16,000 km across the world.
