RAAM participant Samarth wants to promote endurance sports

Amit Samarth, who along with Armyman Srinivas Gokulnath became the first Indians to complete the world's toughest endurance cycling race yesterday, said the human body has an amazing capacity to do anything, which needs to be explored by all.
"The human body has an amazing capacity to do anything. It is important for everyone to explore this potential in them," Samarth, a qualified doctor specialising in public health, told PTI from the US today.
He also said he wants to use his victory to drive and promote sports in his hometown Nagpur and Central India.
"The entire purpose of participating in the RAAM was to promote sports in Nagpur and Central India by creating a success story," he said without elaborating on the plans.

Samarth and Lt Col Srinivas Gokulnath created history yesterday by becoming the first Indians to finish the over 4,900-km Race Across America (RAAM), the world's toughest cycle race that covers the entire width of the US from the west coast to the east.
"I am experiencing a feeling of achievement and also a feeling of emptiness (emanating from lack of purpose) as the tournament has concluded. I have been pursuing a very serious schedule of training from last year. I practised 1,500 kms per week. It was a very hard race," is how Samrath describes the race.

Among the nine men who finished, Gokulnath stood 7th, while Samarth was right on his heels at 8th, finishing the race in 11 days and 21 hrs. The race was won by Christoph Strasser.

Unlike a stage race like the famed Tour de France, the clock is constantly ticking at RAAM, and the riders have to pedal over 400 km a day to finish the race in the stipulated 12 days. They can rest for only a couple of hours a day at best; extreme fatigue, sleeplessness and hallucinations are not uncommon.
Starting from temperate climes on the Pacific Coast, the RAAM enters the furnace-like Mojave Desert, passes through arid Arizona, cold mountain passes in Colorado, windy plains in central America, and finally the Appalachian Mountains, test the riders before they reach the Atlantic coast on the east.

In its over three-decade history, only three Indians had attempted RAAM solo, but no one could finish.
This was Samarth's maiden RAAM attempt. He has done schooling from Nagpur and his MBBS from IGGMCH, Nagpur. He later did his Post-Graduation in Public Health from John Hopkins University, in the US.
Samarth is a regular at many endurance events, and has completed several Ironman triathlons and marathons.