Bangalore all set for India’s first IAU 24H Asia and Oceania Championships at Kanteerava Stadium

The
2022
edition
of
the
IAU
24H
Asia
and
Oceania
Championships,
which
is
in
association
with
the
International
Association
of
Ultra
Runners
(IAU),
the
Athletics
Federation
of
India
(AFI)
and
Ageas
Federal
Life
Insurance,
and
organised
by
NEB
Sports
will
see
participants
from
several
countries,
including
Australia,
Chinese
Taipei,
Poland,
Lebanon,
Mongolia,
UK
and
India.

In
the
previous
edition
of
the
Championships,
held
in
December
2018
in
Chinese
Taipei,
the
Indian
Men’s
team
had
secured
the
bronze
medal
by
jointly
covering
645.936
km
in
24
hours.
They
will
hope
to
not
only
repeat
that
performance
but
also
do
one
better
as
they
run
shoulder
to
shoulder
with
international
Ultra
runners
on
their
home
turf.

“This
is
a
historic
moment
for
India
and
I
am
glad
that
we
will
be
able
to
mark
it
through
one
of
the
youngest
and
most
dynamic
athletic
disciplines:
Ultrarunning,”
AFI
president
Adille
Sumariwalla
said
during
a
press
conference.

“We
are
delighted
to
support
the
IAU
24H
Asia
and
Oceania
Championships.
We
hope
the
Indian
team
takes
advantage
of
the
event
taking
place
in
the
country
and
will
qualify
for
the
IAU
24H
World
Championships,”
Karthik
Raman,
CMO
of
Ageas
Federal
Life
Insurance,
said.

“For
the
very
first
time
in
thirty-eight
years,
IAU
is
coming
to
India
for
a
major
championship.
This
has
been
a
culmination
of
several
years
of
hard
work.
We
are
very
excited
to
bring
this
event
to
India
and
appreciate
the
fact
that
this
will
further
elevate
the
sport
in
the
country,”
Nadeem
Khan,
the
IAU
president,
said.

India
will
field
a
strong
team
of
12
ultra-runners,
led
by
Amar
Singh
Devanda,
who
had
secured
a
personal
best
distance
of
240.8
km
in
a
24-hour
run
during
the
Bengaluru
Stadium
Run
in
August
2021.
He
also
logged
the
fastest
time
of
7
hr
32
min
by
an
Indian
in
the
100
km
Ultra
Marathon.
Other
India
participants
include
Saurav
KR
Ranjan
(PB:
230.16
km),
Geeno
Antony
(PB:
227.2
km)
and
Preeti
Lala
(PB:
193.6
km).

Among
the
international
Ultra
runners
participating
this
weekend,
the
ones
to
watch
out
for
include
Australia’s
Stephen
Redfern
(245.566
km),
Matt
Griggs
(244.087
km),
Joe
Ward
(242.627
km)
and
Poland’s
Tomasz
Pawlowski
(248.097).

The
Ultra
Distance
Race
will
begin
on
Saturday,
July
2
at
8:00
am
IST
at
the
Kanteerava
Stadium’s
400m
synthetic
track
and
will
continue
till
8:00
am
on
Sunday,
July
3.
Participants
will
change
the
running
direction
every
4
hours
and
individual
distance
lists
will
be
declared
on
an
hourly
basis.

Source:
Media
Release