A Facebook post about a run at his birth place Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, got an anesthesia specialist – incharge of Critical Care Unit (CCU) at Meenakshi Mission Hospital in Madurai, Tamil Nadu – into the ultramarathon world.

A late entrant, then 54, Dr KS Anand competed in his first ultra run – Andaman Ultramarathon 50km – in 2018 and since then he is a regular in the circuit. 

“My introduction to ultra running was through Tuffman. I saw a post on Facebook and there were 50km & 80km runs and I signed for 50km. I wanted to start ultramarathon and incidentally the event was from my place of birth (Port Blair), I thought it’s the best place to start,” says Dr Anand. “After that there was no looking back. In 2018, I participated in all the races of the Tuffman and even got ‘Tuffman of the year’ award.” 

“Because of heading the CCU, I don’t get much time to run long distances during the training. But it’s the will power and mental strength that keeps me going during the ultra events.” 

Fascination for Khardungla

In 2019, Dr Anand took part in three endurance races in Ladakh with a day gap between each of the event – 72km ultra run Khardungla Challenge, Ladakh Marathon (42 km) and duathalon (cycling 65km, running 10km).

“Going to Khardungla was in my bucket list as it was then the world's highest motorable road. It got accomplished when I was an official member of ‘Raid De Himalaya’ (as a navigator for the first time and then as a part of the Life Saving Ambulance in the next three editions). After that I thought of running on Khardungla Pass, so participating in the 72km Khardungla Challenge became my ultimate challenge. As I reside at an altitude of 331 feet from sea level, going to run at 18,380 feet within 5 to 6 days of acclimatization is a big challenge for the southern state residents,” says Dr Anand, who has resumed his running last month after hibernation for seven months because of the foot injury (plantar faciatis).