Lucknow: Army veteran shines in virtual Boston marathon

LUCKNOW: Brimming with the energy of youth, 60-year-old army veteran Col (retd) Bajrang B Singh, the only and first from Uttar Pradesh, finished first in the above 60 age-group among Indian participants in 2020 Boston Marathon Virtual Experience.
Singh made the cut for the prestigious Boston marathon scheduled in April, but was deferred and converted to a virtual experience due to the pandemic.To realise his dreams on the American turf, he will be running the 2021 Boston Marathon in April next year.
On Monday, Singh ran the marathon in Lucknow and clocked 3 hours 38 minutes and three seconds — his best so far. “As I crossed the finishing line, I realised that I smashed my earlier record by more than two minutes,” Singh told TOI.
Unaware of Covid curbs, Singh touched down in the US on March 4 to practise on the tortuous tracks of Heartbreak Hill on Boston marathon route, only to suffer a heartbreak after the marathon was put on hold.
Singh returned to Lucknow on August 28, and quarantined himself for 14 days and this gave him hardly two days for the virtual run. Apart from the time, the hot and humid weather posed a challenge.
“While in America, I could practise anytime of the day as almost all roads had sidewalks and weather was cool. In Lucknow, the weather is dreadful. High temperature and extreme humidity made running difficult. It slowed me down, sapped my energy. And absence of sidewalks didn’t allow practice on any time of the day,” Singh said.
The most difficult aspect was the route and time selection, he said. An out-and-back route was what he preferred. He kicked off his race as early as 3.30 am to limit exposure to sun and remain fit.
Tackling the blinding darkness to avoid stumbling, Singh decided to do loops, which is a to-and-fro journey on a route, which was a 7km stretch near a point at Kalindi Park in Vrindavan Yojana on Rae Bareli Road. He ran this loop three times and a little more.
Another challenge, Singh said was to remain hydrated and avoid exhaustion. At this point, he sought help from his wife and friends who made water available every 3.5km. “Till about 28km, I felt strong, and then I began slowing down. The heat and humidity took its toll but I just couldn’t give up on my dream. I kept moving my legs,” Singh narrated.
An ex-serviceman, Singh discovered his passion for running after retirement. He ran his first race in 2016 in Pune, when he was 56 years old. It was a 10km run. What started as a small step ended up becoming the beginning of a long journey, recalls Singh. He later ran his first full marathon in Goa, followed by a half-marathon in Pune again. Four years later, he has 70 competitive races with 30 half-marathons (21.1 km), 15 full marathons (42.2 km) under his belt. His best timing in a full marathon is 3 hours 40 minutes at a Hyderabad event.
Born in Parwarbhar village in Sultanpur district, Singh did his schooling from a government-aided school and engineering from Kanpur’s Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI), followed by an MTech from IIT-Roorkee. While pursuing graduation, he was selected in the Army and joined the engineer corps. Serving in combat role, he was part of anti-insurgency operations between 1996 and 1997.