Abhishek Tunga, an ultra marathon runner and an assistant professor of an engineering college in Kolkata, has covered a 80km stretch from Yuksom to Goechala and back to Yuksom in 24 hours.
Tunga who has applied for a certificate from the Sikkim government kept his journey recorded on a GPS tracking device to claim his feat. Ultra running or ultra marathon is a footrace that is longer than the traditional marathon length of 42km. Apart from road races, ultra running also involves trail running or mountain running.
Known for its treacherous nature, the six-day Yuksom-Goechala route involves acclimatisation apart from a high level of endurance. “I completed ultra running on the Yuksom Goechala trek route in two days along with a team of six members in May. I decided to give it a try in 24 hours since then,” Tunga said.
Tunga started his journey at 4.30am on May 29. “The trek trail was getting difficult as I chose the wrong season. It was windy and drizzling, making the rocky surface slippery. I had energy bars, energy gels and rehydration tablets stacked in my backpack,” Tunga said. He crossed the fourth bridge in two hours and took one more hour to reach Tshoka. The tougher and steeper terrain started after that.
“Apart from fatigue, one needs to acclimatise as you gain height constantly,” said Debraj Dutta, a Mount Everest summiteer. By the time Tunga reached Goechala around 3pm, he was feeling dizzy. “I took a break for 30 minutes and started climbing down. Rocky surface got more slippery and I lost balance twice. I decided to slow down. I had planned to reach Yuksom by 10pm, but I could finally make it by 1am,” he said.
“Ultra running is becoming popular in West Bengal. Like mountaineering, it requires a high level of endurance. I was with Tunga when we covered the Goechala stretch in two days. I knew that he was planning the route in a day. I am happy that he could make it,” said Debabrata Ghosh, an ultra runner at Siliguri.