In a rare achievement, Sachin Ashok Sharma, Secretary to General Manager of Mumbai-headquartered Western Railway, has accomplished a remarkable feat in the recently-concluded Comrades Marathon 2024 in South Africa.
The Comrades Marathon is one of the world's most challenging long-distance races.
Sharma completed this 86 km ultra-marathon, which runs from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in South Africa, in 11 hours and 24 minutes.
The Comrades Marathon, known as the oldest and one of the toughest marathons globally, saw participation from 20,000 runners from various countries, marking it as the largest marathon in the world.
This historic race, established in 1921, involves a grueling uphill run with an elevation gain of 1,800 meters.
Sharma’s accomplishment is a testament to his dedication and endurance as a regular fitness enthusiast.
“I would like to thank my coaches Girish Bindra, Adil Mirza, Vinay Upadhyay and the support and encouragement from my family, friends and colleagues,” said Sharma.
He gives the credit of introducing him to distance running to Naresh Lalwani, who retired as General Manager of Central Railway.
In Mumbai, Ashok Kumar Misra, General Manager of Western Railway and Prakash Butani, Additional General Manager of Western Railway, felicitated him for the achievement.
With the successful completion of this Comrade Marathon, Sharma is now targeting to participate in the Silk Route Ultra (122 Km) to be held in Ladakh in September 2024, Hell Race Jaisalmer to Longewala (160 km) in December 2024 and Pune Ultra (160 km) in November 2025 as well as the Ironman Australia in 2025.
He has been actively involved in sports and outdoor activities since his school days - The Scindia School, Gwalior - with special interest in athletics, cricket, football, boxing, skating, badminton, and shooting.
In college, he pursued Weight Training and short distance running. During his Civil Service preparation days, he continued to jog daily and while in the Academy, he won the Gold Medal in Cross Country. Shri Sachin continued with regular strength training in Gym as well as some amount of running in spite of his hectic work schedule. He took up Yoga and kickboxing during the Covid-pandemic lockdown days.
Sharma has participated in numerous 10k runs, Half and Full Marathons, Ultra Marathons, Triathlons. Some of the notable ones are Ladakh Full Marathon, Tata Mumbai Marathon, Vasai-Virar Marathon, Tata Ultra (50 km), Kaas Ultra (65 km), Khardung La Challenge (72 km in High Altitude), Pune Ultra Trail Run (100 km), Goa IronMan (70.3 km), Bergman (113 km), Bergman Olympic Distance. He has even participated & completed Open Sea Swimming viz. Sunk Rock to Gateway (5 km) - National Level, Malvan Sea Swimathon (3 km) - National Level and Juhu Sea Swimathon (3 km) - State Level.