Watch| Som Bahadur Thami wins 65-km Buddha trails in 7 hours 21 minutes

A man from Darjeeling, whose only experience of a marathon was trekking from his village to reach a faraway motorable road, has surprisingly stood first in the 65-km The Buddha Trails. Identified as Som Bahadur Thami, the man won one of the toughest races in the country in just seven hours, 21 minutes and seven seconds. The 27-year-old farmer took part in the Trails that crisscross West Bengal’s highest point Sandakphu, which is situated at an altitude of 11,929 feet. For the sprint event, Thami did not have any basic gears that were needed for such a physical competition. While, most of the runners were well equipped for the marathon. Thami was captured running in dark-colored shorts and a hoodie with simple black shoes. He was also not carrying any hydration pouches like the others, who took part. But he stopped at specific water stations on the roadside to quench his thirst when needed. During his run, Thami only had a basic phone with him to time his speed and pace. Check Thami’s running video here:

Som Bahadur Thami, from Darjeeling, whose only experience of a 'marathon' is trekking from his village to reach a faraway motorable road, won the 65 km Buddha Trails in just 7 hours and 21 minutes.#Darjeeling #running #ViralVideos #marathon pic.twitter.com/ZvCEmlErJj

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“I once ran a 30km marathon in my area, Rimbick, in 2019. For which, I had stood first. Apart from that, I had never run anywhere,” Thami told The Telegraph. According to reports, Thami earns a living by working in agricultural field and collecting grass and firewood for his family. Having spent most of his life in his village Gurdung, Thami has never ventured out of Darjeeling. So far, his only tryst with long-distance running was the daily trek of one hour to reach a motorable road and a competition that he took part in three years ago. While this year, the young man “just felt like” participating in the May Day event. For this mega event, there were around 121 runners who had enrolled themselves for the competition. However, only 66 participants completed the difficult run. After the marathon, Vik-Run Foundation founder Vikram Rai gifted Thami a pair of running shoes and other items. While speaking to the media, Rai said that after the race, the foundation realised that the young sprinter was not even wearing proper running shoes, which is a basic requirement.