Devarao Chaudhari’s journey from Army aspirant to fastest Indian at Comrades Marathon

On this day last month, Devarao Chaudhari made his second consecutive appearance at the Comrades Marathon and recorded the fastest time ever by an Indian. He completed the grueling 90km ultramarathon in 7 hours and 3 minutes.

While doing so, Devarao also etched his name in history by becoming the first Indian to win back-to-back silver medals at the 90km Comrades ultramarathon.

“Last year, I broke the record by 22 minutes. This time I completed in 7hr 3 mins. My target was to finish in 6 hours and 30 minutes. My time is good but I am not satisfied,” the ultra runner who hails from Pusad in Maharashtra told The Bridge.

Despite a strong start, the race turned physically gruelling after the 60km mark. As fatigue set in, tough wind conditions made the race more challenging.

“Until the 60km mark, everything was going according to plan. But after that, I went down. It’s hard to predict how the body is going to react at that stage in the race. I was told there won’t be much uphill after 60km, but the conditions were in stark contrast. The air was pressing from the opposite direction and I had to maintain my pace. I kept pushing and managed to finish. It was very challenging physically,” he recalled.

The Comrades Marathon is the oldest ultramarathon in the world held in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Every year, the direction of the race changes –one year it goes ‘uphill’ from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, and the next year it’s ‘downhill’ from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

The 2025 ultramarathon was the 98th edition and was a down run.

Mother’s motivation

His mother’s words just before the race ‘Tu kar lega achche se’, worked like magic for Devarao as he battled the gruelling conditions.

“I have been away from my family for the past 4-5 months. I was repeatedly telling myself I can do it. I belong to a middle class family and I try to put in my best in whatever I set out to do. I just wanted to make my parents proud,” he said.

After crossing the finish line, Devarao quietly returned to his hotel, climbing 16 floors on foot and still feeling energetic.

“Everyone was congratulating me for winning two back-to-back silver medals. But I just picked my bag and went straight to my hotel. My room was on the 16th floor and the lift was taking time, so I took the stairs. After the ultra, one only wants to drink water for the next two days. I was surprised that I still felt fresh,” he added.

Army dreams to ultramarathon reality

Coming from a farming background, Devarao began running casually in the fields in 2014. He got more involved when he joined army aspirants and started training seriously for army recruitment. He, however, never managed to clear.

“Sometime in 2014, while running in the fields, we saw young runners training for the army. We joined them and started enjoying it. I also appeared for army recruitment, I cleared the physical and medical tests, but failed the written exam,” he said.

“Meanwhile, people encouraged me to run more. During the lockdown, I ran my first ultra marathon. Runners often collapse at the end, but I always stayed fresh,” he added.

Devarao entered the Jumping Gorilla Ultra Trail Race (35km) and finished 3rd using road running shoes on a trail. He etched his name in Asian Book of record, completing 137km run in 13 hours.

His journey inspired young boys from his village and surrounding areas, some even landed a job in the army. Devarao calls it the proudest moment of your career so far.

“Some boys joined me in my training, five of them got recruited in the army. They touched my feet and thanked me. Thye were just 2-3 years younger than me. That day my mother felt proud of me and that is my proudest moment till date,” he concluded.

Devarao will now be competing in the 100km race in Thailand and he aims to shatter records and bring laurels for the country.