HYDERABAD:Seven half-marathons in seven continents in seven days!
Believe it or not, Hyderabad-based couple, Uma and Krishna Prasad Chigurupati have completed the World Marathon Challenge by running seven half marathons on seven continents in six days, 18 hours and 30 minutes.
With this amazing feat, they have become the only couple in the world to complete such an event whereas Uma has become the first woman in the world to achieve this milestone.
Uma and Krishna are well-known as the fastest couple to have run a marathon on every continent and the North Pole; and thus part of the Marathon Grand Slam Club. The Guinness Book of World Records had recognised them for this achievement which they completed in 2011.
While participating in the latest challenge, Uma and Krishna ran 148 km over a period of seven days, spent 59 hours in the air and flew approximately 38,000 km. The global route for the World Marathon Challenge was - Union Glacier (Antarctica), Punta Arenas (South America), Miami (North America), Madrid (Europe), Marrakech (Africa), Dubai (Asia) and Sydney (Oceania) starting from January 16.
Krishna who turned 60 last October said, ‘’I was yearning to do something more challenging than what I had attempted earlier. What better than to run seven marathons in seven continents in seven days? This was the first time that something like that was being organised.’’ Ten other participants from eight countries had also taken part. ‘’This was a physically and mentally exhausting challenge. We had to really push ourselves to run every day and complete each run within the prescribed time frame. We had to literally run from airports to the run sites and back to the airports. In all, we slept only two nights in proper beds. Lack of sleep and proper food took a toll on us,’’ explained Uma.
Krishna is the founder, chairman & managing director, and Uma is the co-founder and executive director of Granules India, a pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Hyderabad. Both of them are also the founders of KRSMA Estates, a boutique winery in the Hampi Hills.