- 01
Fact 1: India's Olympic running story begins in Pune
The Pune International Marathon's history page says Deccan Gymkhana - founded in 1906 - hosted the first Indian Olympic Association meeting here in 1918, and that Pune organised India's first national marathon a year later: a long-distance race of about 25 miles, run by athletes used to running barefoot on hard dirt and macadam roads, with times said to compare with Olympic marks. Watching was Sir Dorabji Tata, who then funded Indian athletes at his own expense; P.F. Chaugule ran the marathon at Antwerp 1920 as part of the first Indian team sent to the Olympics. (India had appeared once before, in 1900, through the lone athlete Norman Pritchard.)
sources: marathonpune.com (opens in a new tab) · deccangymkhana.co.in (opens in a new tab) · indianexpress.com (opens in a new tab) · en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)
- 02
Fact 2: Pune has been running a marathon since 1983
The Pune International Marathon's first edition ran on 25 September 1983 - the organisers bill it as India's first international marathon. Its first champion, in 2:24:15, was Sweden's Tommy Persson, remembered in the organisers' roster as a Swedish school teacher who beat all opposition to the finish line.
sources: marathonpune.com (opens in a new tab) · marathonpune.com (opens in a new tab)
- 03
Fact 3: Pune ran the 2010 Asian Marathon Championship
In 2010, the Pune International Marathon doubled up as the Asian Marathon Championship - the continent's marathon title race, run on Pune roads.
sources: marathonpune.com (opens in a new tab) · en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)
- 04
Fact 4: Before Olympic gold, he won in Pune
At the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, a teenage Kirani James of Grenada won the 400m. Four years later he won Grenada's first-ever Olympic medal: 400m gold at London 2012, aged 19.
sources: en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab) · olympics.com (opens in a new tab) · en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)
- 05
Fact 5: Pune staged the Asian Athletics Championships at the eleventh hour
The 2013 Asian Athletics Championships moved to Pune after Chennai refused to host Sri Lankan athletes. Pune's organisers say they pulled the entire continental championship together in a record 22 days. It ran 3-7 July 2013 at Balewadi.
sources: marathonpune.com (opens in a new tab) · arabnews.com (opens in a new tab) · business-standard.com (opens in a new tab) · en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)
- 06
Fact 6: Pune has an ultra that strings together four forts
SRTL is the route: Sinhagad, Rajgad, Torana, Lingana - four Sahyadri forts in one annual trail ultra. The 2024 edition was listed on ITRA at 97.8 km with 3,220 m of climbing and a 24-hour limit; December 2025 marked its eighth edition.
sources: itra.run (opens in a new tab) · tribuneindia.com (opens in a new tab)
- 07
Fact 7: There's a monsoon trail race through Sinhagad's battleground valleys
The Sinhagad Epic Trail sends runners through the four valleys around Sinhagad Fort - wind, fog, rain, up to 42 km and 2,200+ m of climbing - on the ground where the 17th-century battles for the fort were fought, including the 1670 night assault in which Tanaji Malusare was killed.
sources: wgrf.in (opens in a new tab) · en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)
- 08
Fact 8: A Pune entrepreneur ran 60 marathons in 60 days
Ashish Kasodekar ran a full marathon every day from 28 November 2021 to 26 January 2022 - 60 in a row at Savitribai Phule Pune University, conceived for his 50th birthday and recognised as a Guinness World Record for the most consecutive days running a marathon distance.
sources: indianexpress.com (opens in a new tab) · indianexpress.com (opens in a new tab) · ashishkasodekar.com (opens in a new tab)
- 09
Fact 9: An Olympic finalist won her first national gold in Pune
Lalita Babar won her first U-20 national gold at Pune in 2005. Eleven years later at Rio 2016 she ran a national-record 9:19.76 in her 3000m steeplechase heat - becoming the first Indian in 32 years to reach an Olympic track final - and finished 10th in that final.
source: en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)
- 10
Fact 10: Pune's monthly run started with 13 people
LSOM - Last Sunday of the Month - began in 2011 to fill the gap between the Mumbai and Pune marathons, founder Nikhil Shah told The Bridge Chronicle. Thirteen runners showed up the first time; by 2018, Shah said in the same interview, a thousand or more were running it each month.
source: thebridgechronicle.com (opens in a new tab)
- 11
Fact 11: Pune's highest point is a forested hill inside the city
Vetal Tekdi, at 800 metres, is the highest point within Pune's city limits - a forest hill of trails and an observation deck, crowned by the Vetala temple. A mini-mountain inside the city, for the price of a morning alarm.
source: en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)
- 12
Fact 12: Pune's classic running loop is older than the Olympic marathon
Pune Race Course was built in 1830, spread across 118.5 acres in the cantonment - 66 years before the first modern Olympic marathon at Athens 1896. A nineteenth-century horse track, still doing duty as a running track.
sources: rwitc.com (opens in a new tab) · whatshot.in (opens in a new tab)
