When the Mumbai Marathon kicks off this Sunday, all the runners will be facing forward, except one. Deepuk Kanal will attempt to create a world record by running the entire 21-km half marathon sideways. And he will carry the Indian flag as well.
A software engineer by profession, Mr. Kanal knows a thing or two about running with a difference. He already has a national record in running backwards in both 10-km and 21-km formats. Incidentally, the current world record in running sideways is held by the Indian Army’s Major Nitin Joshi, who ran 10 km last year, also with a flag in his hand.
Mr. Kanal says, “I did a practice run of 15 km at Gorai as part of my preparations for the Mumbai Marathon.” The Mira Road resident has till date participated in six half marathons and nearly a dozen other runs of smaller distances.
Last month, while participating in the Vasai-Virar Mayor’s Marathon, he set the national record by completing the half marathon running backwards in three hours 27 minutes. The previous record of four hours three minutes was held by Major Joshi. Mr. Kanal has set a similar record for 10 km, when he completed the Adidas Uprising run in one hour 27 minutes.
“You need to enjoy running, which, as such, could be very boring. Even when I practise with friends, I talk a lot,” says the a 33-year-old runner, who regularly practises with a group called Mira Road Marathoners.
Mr. Kanal, who grew up in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, got hooked to running in college when his friends were training to get into the defence services. After completing his BCA from the Vellore Institute of Technology, he moved to Mumbai in 2006 to join ICICI Bank.
The move to Mumbai was also so that he could take care of his disabled aunt. “For almost five to six years, I did not run as I was bogged down by the daily struggles of life. Then I realised I need to do something to break the monotony and decided to run again,” he says.
He met like-minded runners in Mira Road and resumed his running activities. He follows a strict regime, getting up at 4:30 a.m. every day and starting his day with herbal tea, amla, dates and chawanprash.
He does not limit his preparation to running; weight training, cycling and ground workouts are also part of his training routine. When running backwards or sideways, one uses more muscles, and hence it requires enhanced strengthening.
“I do not want to compete with anyone else, but myself. My aim is to just better my own personal best in every run,” he says, while reiterating that one needs to really enjoy running to enhance the performance.
Soon after he set the record in the Vasai-Virar Mayor’s Marathon, he got an invitation to participate in the Pink City Marathon. His firm, Transerv, a digital payments company, was cooperative and even arranged for the air tickets to Jaipur.
A regular runner in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, he also tries to spread a social message through his running. He has highlighted the Swachh Bharat mission in the past, and will support the cashless initiative this time.
