70-year-old Indian-origin Irish man covers 40,075 Km in 1500 days, eyes world record

A  70-year-old business consultant from Limerick is seeking the Guinness World Record for walking equivalent distance to the Earth’s circumference in under 1500 days without leaving this neighbourhood Castletroy for over four years. Vinod Bajaj, an Indian origin man from Ireland submitted an application to the Guinness World Record for covering 40,070 km in the city of Limerick, a milestone no one on Guinness’ official record database beat yet. 

Vinod used a pacer activity tracker on his smartphone to record the progress of his exercise regime that he began for weight loss, he told sources of local run media outlet Limerick Leader. He had started his walk on August 18, 2016, in order to shred up to 20kg weight until he realized that he had covered a mind-blowing distance of 7,600km (4,722, miles), an estimated distance between India and Ireland.

Continuing his regime further, Vinod achieved close to 15,200km (9,445 miles) distance walking every single day without fail until he covered the equivalent distance to the moon’s circumference (10,921km/6786miles). In an interview with The Limerick Post, Vinod said that it made him wonder what his next target was going to be, Mars? And that gave him the clarity to go for the circumference of the Earth (40,075km). 

In his statement to the Press Trust of India, the 70-year-old enthusiast said, “During the first three months of my walking seven days a week, I lost 8 kg by having a deficit of 700 calories per day. Over the next six months, I lost a further 12 kg.”

He added, “I started walking early in the morning and completed mostly in two intervals, the first one was always for a longer duration. There were many times I did the entire walk in a single attempt.” 

Read: Texas Teen Breaks Guinness World Record For Longest Legs; Says 'height Is A Gift'

Read: 'Holy Cow'! Bull Gets Guinness World Records Title For Longest Horns Measuring Over 8 Feet

Would walk for 10 hours

Having achieved the goal to cover the circumference of Mars (21,344km/13263miles), Vinod would sometimes walk for 10 hours, staying only within a 10km radius of his house. Further, he started a healthy eating regime that included nuts and bananas, or sandwiches in his breakfast before his walks. Vinod continued his goal until coronavirus lockdown last March and hit his target after the tracker recorded almost 40,107km on September 21. He would start at 5:30 am about a 5km radius. Bajaj's application with the Guinness World Record is currently under process. 

The retired engineer and business consultant moved to Scotland in 1975 to pursue a Master’s in Management from Glasgow from Chennai India about 43 years ago. He has been staying at Castletroy, a suburb of Limerick, and aims to bag the Guinness world record title with his newly achieved goal. 

Read: COVID-19 Has Resulted In Largest Global Economic Contraction In 80 Years, Say World Bank And IMF

Read: World Bank To Propose Additional $25 Bn To Help Poorest Countries Amid COVID-19 Pandemic