During his days as a PhD student, Amit Gulia spent endless hours holed up in a laboratory, tirelessly working on experiments in the hope of arriving at some results. Once home, he had just about enough energy to hit the sack and ready for another rigorous day at work. On a few occasions, he tried the odd game of badminton, but fitness was never a priority back then given his workload.
It was a local run in Chandigarh around six years ago that got things started for him. Though it was a short distance, it showed Gulia the independent nature of running. He soon started doing laps inside his campus when he had time away from his tight schedule and found distance running to be effortless. Two half marathon followed and on a practice run with aspiring marathoners, he pulled off the 38-km distance with ease. When a friend suggested he sign up for his first ultra marathon, Gulia had his doubts given his inexperience, but decided to join him nonetheless.
While most started out tentatively on the 80km run, Gulia was off the blocks at a pace that had the organisers in awe. A few thought he would burn out soon after, but by the end of his first ultra marathon, he had taken top spot and there’s been no looking back ever since. Till date, Gulia has never run an official, timed marathon, making ultra distances his forte. He has represented India at the IAU 24-hour World Championships and WMA 24-hour World Championships held at Belfast, Ireland in 2017, besides qualifying for Spartathlon on two occasions. In addition to competing, Gulia also raises funds for various charities each year through running.
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