Delhi Half-Marathon: Budhia eyes Guinness Record

New Delhi:

Three-and-a-half-year-old phenomenon Budhia Singh is all set to take the Delhi Half-Marathon by storm this Sunday. Budhia is all set to enter the Guinness Book of Records for becoming the youngest to run a full 42 km marathon race. "I want to become a big player. I want to make my country, my state Orissa, my parents and my judo hall proud," said Budhia. 'Speedkid' Budhia maintains a speed of 10-15 kmph over several hours and runs almost seven to eight hours everyday. While things have gone perfectly for him so far, he must beware of the precedent of another girl who was once hailed as a wonderkid at a similar age, but now suffers from arthritis, due to prolonged periods of running. That's exactly what his mentor and foster-father Biranchi Das is trying to avoid by conducting medical checks every week. Sponsorship woes Das adopted the orphan and now hopes to make him a world champion. But as usual there is a problem with sponsorship. "My daily expenditure on him is around Rs 400-450. This includes his food, his shoes, his travelling expenses etc. We still haven't found a sponsor for him. How can I train him and provide the requisite infrastructure and training, unless someone comes up with the funds?" said Biranchi Das, Budhia's mentor. His pluck at this tender age can be seen from the challenge he threw to legendary Decathlete Daley Thompson, who had some sage advice for the little star. "He challenged me to a race, so I challenged him to a swim. He can't swim, but then I can't race either!" said Thompson. "He must try and maintain this over the next decade. He's got it all going for him right now, but then again, it's easy to fall away," he added. It's easy to be cynical, but hopefully Budhia is an exception.