Krishnan Padmakumar from India, runs full marathon inside his house

The 21-day lockdown amid coronavirus pandemic, people are driving crazy but they are somehow finding hacks to keep themselves active and fit. However, 46-year-old- Krishnan Padmakumar has gone to the next level by running a full marathon inside his house. Krishnan clocked an impressive 4 hours and 26 minutes to cover 42.2km, probably a first-of-its-kind feat in the country.

An engineer by profession and an avid runner, Krishnan is an active member of ITEN runners club, a group of city-based runners. The Thiruvananthapuram resident has in the past run many marathons with the latest being the Berlin Marathon. It was the idleness amid the nationwide lockdown that prompted him to attempt a marathon within the four walls of his house at Kowdiar.

In an interview with Times of India, he said “On a normal week, I run around 60-80km and also cycle in between. The shutdown made me stay away from my regular activity, that’s when I decided to do full marathon inside my house. It was also a way to overcome the boredom. A few of my friends staying abroad have also done similar run.” He has also video recorded the ‘apartment marathon’ partly and logged the timings on a fitness app.

He started the marathon by 4:15am on March 31, and he looped the run through the corridor, living room and dining area of his house and after around 1,200 loops of 35 meter each, he managed to complete the marathon by 8:40am. 

“By the time I woke up around 5am, he was already running. He had told me the previous night that he would be finishing the run which he could not, in the previous attempts. I supported him by giving him water and cheered him,” said his wife Sreedevi Gopalakrishnan.

While Krishnan was about to reach his target, Ambika, his 11-year-old daughter, made a handcrafted medal for him, with the slogan ‘Stay home, Stay safe’ on it. His son Aditya, who couldn’t witness the achievement, woke up with amusement knowing that his father had completed a full marathon inside the house.

posted Monday April 6th
by Md Imtiaz