In A First, Woman Beats 23 Men in 24 hr Stadium Run Mumbai

Preeti Lala, a yoga instructor and a social studies teacher won the first place at the Ageas Federal Life Insurance 24-hour Stadium Run. Preeti won the race with a whopping 193.60 kms, taking the first place by beating 23 men for the first time in India, while the second spot was bagged by Parwinder Singh, who finished it at 154 kms.

A 24-hour stadium run is a run along a 400-metre athletic track, often set up with tents and resting place for runners to take a breath in-between. Talking about her experience of setting a record win, Preeti said that although she had run 24-hour runs earlier, but could never manage beyond 100 km. This time she thought it would be no different. However, with announcements being constantly made in the course of the marathon, Preeti knew that was faring well than others. One factor that kept her worrying is the time span between 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. when athletes are hit by sleep deprivation. After noticing that she has already covered 100 kms in 12 hours, nothing could stop her from being confident about those extra 50 kms.

"Once I had 100 km in my bag, I knew I would run, walk or crawl for another 50kms easily," she said. While growing up Preeti had never imagined being an athlete. For her, sports day in school meant a holiday. However, it was after when she had a daughter, she decided to start taking care of her health. Since then the young mother has been actively involved in sports and fitness actives. She ran her first 10-km race six years ago and since then, she has run quite a few 12-hour and 24-hour runs.