Guwahati: Assam police constable Abhijeet
Baruah on Tuesday entered the Guinness Book of World Records by
running barefoot more than 150 km in 24 hours in Jorhat.
The 22-year old constable achieved the feat this
afternoon at 3:43 p.m and ran 156 km and 200 m till 4:00 pm.
The run was flagged off yesterday at 3:56 pm by the
Indian observer for the Guinness Book of World Records BK
Chandrasekhar Tiwari at the approach to the Tarajan bypass
on the western outskirts of Jorhat town.
The run concluded at the same spot from where it began
and after Baruah completed it, he ran upto a nearby temple and
offered his prayers before being whisked away to the hospital.
The route included running to and from along the
Tarajan Bypass on the eastern outskirts 19 times, the distance
from one flank to another being 10 km.
The route was marked every 100 metres in accordance
with the guidelines of the global records body.
Tiwari, who also represents the Indian Book of
Records, said, "the record will be first of its kind in the
world, as the Guinness Book of World Records does not have any
record of any individual running such a distance barefoot for
twenty four hours."
He said the entire documentation and video and still
photo recordings of the event would have to be sent to the
London-based headquarters of the organisation, which, after
detailed analysis and study, will decide whether Baruah had
actually made the cut or not.
Members of The Great Run Club, a body formed with
Jorhat MLA Rana Goswami as President to promote the event,
senior district administration officials and staff and police
officials were also present on the occasion.
Policemen were deployed not only to control the crowd
and regulate traffic, but also to egg on their colleague.
A vehicle accompanying the runner played music to
encourage Baruah and keep him in good spirits.
"By the blessings of the Almighty, my parents,
friends, well-wishers like the club members and my department,
I have been able to complete the run and make my country and
state proud," Baruah said.
Over 100 officials from government departments,
sportsmen, lawyers, medical staff with an ambulance and
another hundreds of volunteers were involved in recording the
event and to assist Baruah in providing him with water, food
or clothes during the run.
On May 28 last year, Baruah, who is also a black belt
in karate and kickboxing, had attempted to enter the Limca
Book of Records by covering 150km in 26 hours 31 minutes,
which is still under consideration.
PTI
