One of the sweetest conversations I have had in the longest time was over a video call. All of my 16-inch screen displayed pure love and joy. The joy of running and the love that the power couple, our stars of the day Ashutosh Soman and his better half, Girija Soman, have for each other is unparalleled. They are the true definition of a "better half".
They have a little bundle of energy, a 4-year-old, for whom her father is a hero. Indeed, he is, as she looks up to him, observes him during his workouts, and is already on her way to becoming a little champion.
Ashutosh may have difficulty communicating, but his eyes speak a million emotions. His smile is as contagious as his energy. Throughout the entire conversation, his smile never faded away, and his eyes kept twinkling. Just talking about his running escapades and his Triathlon experiences made him so happy; one can only imagine his state of mind when he is actually doing these events.
A National level gymnast during his school days and a born runner, he has enjoyed running since childhood. Apart from this, he plays tennis and has been an Inter College Level basketball player. The icing on the cake is that he works for a French MNC, the largest sporting goods retailer. He truly loves sports and lives for them.
A runner at heart, he has completed more than 30 half marathons and 3 Full Marathons so far. Since swimming and cycling were not his strong areas, to overcome the fear in his mind, he started exploring Triathlons. He believes that running in Triathlons is the best way to have mind and body in sync.
In 2019, he was struggling with a bit of weight gain and Pre- Diabetics, and his sibling recommended he join Dr. Kausbubh Radkar’s group (Radstrong). Since then, there has been no looking back for him. He has made lifelong friends with whom he goes for his long runs, practice runs, and cycling sessions. They support and communicate with him normally, making him feel inclusive. The goodness of the people around him in this group motivates him to do better and better.
The planning and schedules given by the coach have been so meticulous that the knee injuries which he used to experience often before 2019, never happened again.
He completed the Ironman Triathlon in 2022 at Tallinn, Estonia, 0n 06 August, for which he holds the India Book of Records. This was despite having a nasty head injury requiring 16 stitches, 17 days prior to the event after having trained hard and waiting for two years due to the COVID pandemic.
Currently, he is training to compete in his second Full Ironman event in Sweden.
Achievements
Runs:
NIO Vision Marathon all Editions in 2013-2022
Official Virtual Boston Marathon in Oct 2021 in 3:38:30 hours
Tata Mumbai Marathon- Half Marathon 1:38 hours in 2023
Triathlon:
NEF Mountain, Pune- Sprint Distance in 2014
Pune International Triathlon and Duathlon - Olympic Distance in 2017
Ironman Tallinn in August 2022 13:19:24 hours
Ironman 70.3 Goa in Nov 2022 6:37:30 hours
Bregman 70.3 Kolhapur in Jan 2023, securing 6th positions in Age Group-(30-35) 6:15:30 hours.
Trekking/mountaineering:
Basic Snow Skiing course in 2009 from Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali.
Basic Rock-Climbing Course, GGIM 2012
Quote:
“MY PASSION FOR THE SPORT ALLOWS ME TO MAKE IT TO THE END”
Runner - Ashutosh Soman, Pune
Have been following Ashutosh since long. Anagha and Ajay Soman,parents of Ashutosh are great pals of mine. Have met Girija also in Soman's Pune residence. I have only one line for Ashutosh, " Nabhah Sparsh Dwiptam, Choroibeti, Choroibeti!