Mumbai Marathon 2018: When first-time marathoner came third

Srinu Bugatha had never seen sports shoes before joining the army, three years back. His childhood was spent playing around in slippers at his hometown Vijayanagram in Andhra Pradesh.

On Sunday, despite a third-place finish in the Indian men's category of Mumbai Marathon, his first every run in full marathon, he was a dejected man. For, he could not finish within a time that he had fixed for himself.

Bugatha bagged the bronze medal with the timing of 2:23:56s and will walk home with a purse of Rs 3 lakh.

"It feels good and comfortable to wear sports shoes," he says when asked how did he feel after wearing them for the first time.

Sports was accidental for this 12th class drop out. He got into the Army and there he was introduced to running.

He became a cross country runner with three national medals and also runs in 5,000 and 10,000 metres races.

Sunday's marathon was a test of his capacity. "I expected to win. But I wanted to clock 2:15 or 2:14. I had practiced a lot for the same and had worked very hard for the event in Dharamshala. I ran 50 kilometres every day," said Bugatha.

"This is not my event, I just wanted to test my capacity and see how much I can run."

A regular in the half marathon, Bugatha had missed out on six to seven races. "I had suffered a hamstring injury and so, had missed out. Before that I ran half marathons week after week," he said.

Bugatha's father is a farmer. He did not tell them that he would be coming on TV, thus they were not aware. "No, I didn't tell them," said the shy runner, who however, loves attention.

"I love it when people clap for me. Hence, I am hungry to achieve something."

Bugatha has eyes set on Asian Games. "I have ran 25 kilometres in 1 hr 17 minutes, 10,000m in 29min and 5,000m in 14 min. I am looking to qualify for the Asian Games," said Bugatha, who works in Madras Engineering in Bengaluru.

However, his lone-term aim is to get into marathon so that he can compete in 2020 Tokyo Olympics. "To get qualification in 10,000m or 5,000m in Olympics is difficult, but in marathon the chances are high. Let's see."