Endurance Queen completes epic journey for Guinness World Records

MUMBAI: The Endurance Queen of Indian long distance running, Pune woman Michelle Kakade, achieved another landmark in her illustrious career when she completed the Indian Golden Quadrilateral Run of 5970 kms in a record time of 194 days (167 Stages) across the four metros Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and 56 towns and reached the Gateway of India on Sunday morning.
The 46-year-old, who already has two entries in Limca Book of Records recognising her splendid achievements, tried to achieve an entry this time in the Guinness Books of World Records for “The Fastest Time to Travel the Indian Golden Quadrilateral on foot (female)”.
A big crowd of city’s running enthusiasts joined Michelle in her last leg from Siddhivinayak Temple at Prabhadevi onwards and cheered her all the way till her finish line at the Gateway when she had started this epic journey on October 21, last year.
“It was an incredible journey which I took to prove that women are capable of doing anything. This run is dedicated to the millions of women in our country who are battling every day for survival purely on the basis of their gender,” Michelle told TOI.
Running about 35 kms on an average every day over 194 days, Michelle had, with only 27 rest days, done the equivalent of running 142 full marathons. One of biggest achievement for Michelle was to complete her run without a major injury. “This was possible thanks to Dr. Mohsin Khan, sports physiotherapist from Heal Institute. He ensured I get right treatment to recover well every day after running Also my trainer and well known runner Raj Vadgama kept guiding and motivating me,” she informed.
Her routine consisted of starting her run at around 3:30 am each day and ending by 8.30 am and again start from the same spot next day. This ensured Michelle get enough time for recovery.
The organisers of her run, YouTooCanRun, employed the latest in GPS wearable technologies to record her run location, heart rate and pace and made it available in real time basis on her website. Geo-tagged photos as well as videos were also uploaded on daily basis to strengthen her claim for the Guinness record.
“I did not make much fuss about food. I ate almost everything that was available at roadside dhabas or hotels where I stayed overnight for rest,” said Michelle.
Michelle, who emerged from the ashes of an over-protective motherhood and mundane homemaking to take up running for a healthy lifestyle, had become the first Indian to complete the Marathon Des Sables in 2010. In 2012, she became the only Indian to win membership into the elite 4 Deserts Club.
Later in 2012, Michelle set another record by running the longest time on a treadmill at 171.2 kms in 25 hours.