While having the honour of having a world record in one’s name is once in a lifetime achievement for most people, amazingly that is not the case for marathon runner Rakshit Shetty. Proving the proverb ‘ Where there is a will, there is a way’ true, he has entered the Guinness Book of World Records once again by taking part in Half-Marathon Category organized by Shriram Properties Bengaluru Marathon 2019/Bengaluru Marathon 2019, running in the attire of a Barrister. He has now achieved his 19th world record by breaking the previous UK world record of 1 hr 48 mins and 01 seconds.
Born in the city of Mangaluru, he had his early education at Sacheripete-Virajpet (St Ann’s High school), and PUC at Gurupura PU college and attended Degree College in Kateel College. But while he regularly took part in sports, due to lack of encouragement, support and financial difficulties, he had to put a full stop to his dreams. It was after he moved to Mumbai for his job that he once again started dreaming through his interest in marathon running. The Mumbai marathons brought back his dreams to be involved in sports again.
The concept of costume marathons, which is popular abroad, was an idea that caught his eye when he came across it online. Starting with one marathon in the beginning, today he has participated in several costume marathons. His record making marathon was in 2014 when he ran a 10 km marathon in 43 minutes, dressed up as a leopard and that was just the beginning for him, becoming the first Indian to hold a record in costume marathons. His other records are for the marathons he ran in costumes as a vegetable, as a heart, as a musical instrument, as a playing card, a costume of measuring tape, and a cushion costume.
However, while the society should be encouraging and appreciating his unique achievements, their lack of recognition is quite disappointing. He believes that this lack of support is due to his economic status which is making people hesitate from coming forward to provide him more support for his sport. But in such a situation we can only hope that this will not make him stop going on and having more world records in his name, continuing to be a pride for the country. It is sure that there will always be some who support him and look forward to more of his achievements to fill the news and let’s hope that they will be his strength to reach more heights and fulfill his dreams.
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