Correspondent
Abhijit Baruah (left) receiving a cheque from local MLA Rana Goswami at Jorhat on Tuesday. – UB Photos
JORHAT, April 17 – Jorhat town was rocked by a festive glee today after the news spread throughout the town that the great run by Jorhat youth Abhijit Baruah was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘longest barefoot run in the world ever’.The official declaration was made by the authority of Guinness Book of World Records on the basis of the observation of the run in which Abhijit covered 156.2 km in 24 hours.
Talking to this correspondent, Abhijit said that this was declared by Manu Gautam, Records Manager at Guinness Book of World Records, this morning. He said, “BK Chandrasekhar Tiwari, the Indian observer for the Guinness Book of World Records, who monitored the run, rang me up at about 4 am today and informed that my name was included in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest barefoot runner”.
Abhijit Baruah, a 22-year-old youth from Jorhat, began his attempt on January 30 this year. He started his run at 3.56 pm and ended it at 3.56 pm the following day, covering a total of 156.2 km to instill his name in the Guinness Book of World Records.
“I am very happy as my dream has come true,” said Abhijit. “The news that I was officially certified for the record has given me great satisfaction that I have done something for the State.” On May 28 last year, he ran 150 km in 26 hours and 31 minutes and entered his name in the Limca Book of Records. He also revealed that he was preparing himself for further records.
A procession was taken out by his fans in the town today.
