100 km for 100 days: Meet Mumbai's 44-year-old road runner

As the clock strikes 4 in the wee hours of the morning, a 44-year-old puts on his partially worn out running shoes and heads out to Marine Drive from the city suburbs of Khar.

Once there, he runs till 8.30am, takes a half-hour breakfast break and continues his run till 11.30am. He then heads back to Khar, refuels himself with some fruits, and then ventures towards Juhu Beach at 1pm to complete the remainder of his run.

How often does he do this? Every month? Every fortnight? Every week? No.

Every single day.

Samir Singh, an ultra-marathon runner in the city, has set out to run 100km for 100 consecutive days. He started his journey on April 29, and is 49 days closer to kissing the finish line.

Singh's dream isn't born out of a financial necessity or the ambition to jump into the limelight, it's purely due to his passion for running and an urge to see his country's name in the record books through to his jaw-dropping feat.

The desire hit him ever since he moved to the city from a village in Madhya Pradesh, and started working in a market research company. Asked to conduct a survey on the public response to city marathons, Singh fell in love with the product himself.

In any case, he was a swift runner as a child.

"Every day I would hit someone and start running. Even two-three kids together could not catch me," Singh looks back with unmistakable pride.

"I would think back then that I could easily run marathons, but did nothing about it for many years. But the love for running was rekindled when I moved to the city and did that survey," he adds.

Slowly but surely, as he ran his first Mumbai Marathon in 2009, that passion started taking over his profession as well. Singh quit his job, and became a trainer for aspiring marathon runners and fitness freaks in the city.

Once his minimal daily needs were taken care of by that as well as the prize money he collected by winning various ultra-marathons across the country over the years, his passion transformed into the 100x100 dream.

"I needed something to push myself more, and I wanted to take India to the top in ultra-marathon. I thought why not attempt something that has never been done before," Singh says.

It wasn't an overnight decision, though. Neither did he have the money to make one.

"I started training for it about two years ago. I was used to running barefoot, but I suffered a couple of brutal knee injuries. So, I bought a pair of shoes from the chor bazaar and accustomed myself to it.

"I have some well-wishers in my training group, who chip in with the money. One person brought me a watch, while one took care of my medical needs with a specific budget. People are supporting me because they want me to fulfill the dream for myself as well as for the country," he says.

Singh hasn't officially applied for the record in any platform, because he doesn't know how to do so. He hopes someone will help him with that, even if it doesn't happen in these 100 days.

"I'll try again," Singh says. "I'll treat this as a warm-up. I'll take a short break and start running again for 100 days."

Singh's daily routine

4am: Goes to Marine Drive from Khar and starts running
8.30am: Breakfast break
9.30am-11.30am: Continues his run
11.30am-12.30pm: Heads back to Khar from Marine Drive
12.30pm-1pm: Lunch break
1pm onwards: Completes the remainder of his run, either in Juhu or Marine Drive depending on the kilometres left each day