ATUL Kumar Choukse, city’s International Ultra-Marathon Runner, will begin his sojourn across the tough Thar Desert in Rajasthan on December 31.

 

Choukse, who will be attempting to cross the desert in 27 days, will leave the city on December 27 for Ahmedabad by train. From there on he will arrange some local transport to reach Nada Bet, a far area in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat by Dec 29. His actual, the 1200 km journey, will begin from there on last day of the year.

 

Choukse will run through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab to reach his destination at Bhatinda in Punjab by January 26, 2021.

 

Choukse will be carrying a survival kit in a trolley that he will alone pull with the belts tied to his shoulders and waist. Some main items that he will carry include water can, small solar panel to charge his gadgets, sleeping bag, tent, food and medicines.

 

Choukse also runs a foundation ‘Atulniya’ which helps people fight depression and superstition and on his run he will attempt to educate people to fight those.

 

During his journey, the runner will make an attempt to showcase the life and culture of some remote places in Rajasthan in a documentary that will be broadcast on You Tube channel with a title ‘Fakir Ki Duniya’.

The project is proposed to be registered with World Record, Asia Book of Records, India Book of Records and the Limca Book of records.

 

“For this challenge, my colleagues in the Orange City Runners Group and some friends have provided me some survival kits but I have still to arrange funds for registration with the institutions that confirm the record. I will have to submit the registration fees soon after completing the event,” said Choukse.