Kieren D'Souza is one of the best ultra runners from India. It is difficult to put a tag like Ultra runner on him. He is much more than that. He finished 2nd in his category UTMB CCC in 2015, he is the first Indian to complete the 246km Spartathon in 2016, he finished 7th in Eiger Ultra and set course record at LA Ultra the High a 111km race in Leh Ladakh in the Himalayas. He is the first Indian to finish in top 100 at the Trail running World Championships where he finished 98th overall in his second appearance at the event in 2018. More recently he has been making his own races by setting FKTs or Fastest Known Times with speed ascents of many peaks in the Himalayas. In 2020 he set a speed ascent record of 5287m Friendship peak in 11hours 45m 50 secs, 6000m Deo Tibba in 19 hrs 38mins, Tripple Trouble course of 126km in 18hrs 58mins. He then went on to finish summit 10 peaks all of which were over 6000m in 26 days. We will probably need a separate episode to just list out all of accomplishments. But, he is someone who doesn't like to talk about his past accomplishments but wants to focus on contributing to the future of sport in India. We recorded this when he was in Bangalore for a few days just before he was to fly off to take part in 2022 Trail running world championships in Thailand. I'm glad we could make it happen. I hope you really enjoy this conversation. 0:00:00 Intro 0:05:00 His relationship with sport growing up! 0:07:10 His start in running 0:10:00 Jumping from half marathon to a 100k 0:15:15 Giving up work and focusing on running full-time. Frugal living, passion for the outdoors 0:23:30 Ultra races in Europe in 2015-2016, Spartathon experience, the last part is never physical, getting to the pain cave 0:31:40 Mountain climbing, speed ascents of Friendship peak, Deo Tibba, Triple trouble course etc 0:40:00 Climbing 10 peaks all over 6000m in 26 days, the planning and logistics of the project 0:48:30 Next goals and projects 0:53:05 Representing India at Trail Running World Championships, what does preparation for it looks like, 0:59:00 His typical training cycle and nutrition in training, racing and speed ascents etc 1:07:50 Closing remarks! Some Links Below: Working Athlete Community on FB. Link to Anchor Voice messages About the Podcast The working athlete podcast is a podcast with and for working athletes from all walks of life and various sports. The goal is to provide inspiration, training tips, mental hacks, time management and life-style advice through conversations with some of the best in sport, from athletes to coaches. If you think you can benefit from this, please consider subscribing so that you don't miss the weekly episodes in future. If you like this, share with friends who could be interested. For the visually inclined, a video version of the podcast can be found here: YouTube Other Places you'll find the podcast on: Anchor | RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google podcasts | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | Breaker

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