Fifteen-Year-Old Boy Plans To Run 100 Miles
- By Duncan Larkin
- Published Aug. 16, 2011
- Updated Aug. 16, 2011 at 10:12 AM UTC
His mother has been his ultra-running role model all along.
Just 15 years old, Nishad Singh of Saratoga, California plans to put his endurance to the test by completing his first 100-mile ultra. Singh will be armed with blister packs, GUs, and salt tablets.
According to his coach, if Singh completes the feat, he will be only the second person younger than 16 in the United States to run 100 miles.
Singh says ultras are a natural fit for him. Due to asthma, he’s never been able to run at sustained speeds. ”I got demoralized when I tried to run fast,” he said. “But running for a long distance is a different kind of goal.”
The 15-year-old runner has been motivated to do ultras by his mother, Anu, who began racing distances greater than 26.2 miles with a running club several years ago. She completed her first 100-miler in South Dakota in 2009. Singh begged his mother to come along during that race. He ended up helping her during her “lowest point”, which was from miles 50 to 75.
For More: Mercury News
FILED UNDER: News TAGS: 100-miler / asthma / demoralized runner / Endurance / Gu / running fast / salt tablets / Speed / teenage runners / Ultra Marathon / ultramarathon record / youngest runners
Duncan Larkin
Duncan Larkin is the news editor at Competitor.com and a freelance journalist who’s been covering the sport of running for over five years. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. His first running book, RUN SIMPLE, was released last July.