Storm Breaker

48 years old but looking a decade younger, Abimanyu Shunmugam loves the challenges of ultra-trail running.

Abimanyu Shunmugam isn’t a person to do things by halves. An employee of the Singapore Police Force, the ultrarunning enthusiast remembers signing up for his first ultradistance trail race in 2012, a 100km run in Sabah named The Most Beautiful Thing, just because it was there.

“Back then, after many years of concentrating on my career, I had gained considerable amount of weight despite having a regular exercise routine,” he says. “A close friend of mine, Premkumar, suggested that we try an ultra-marathon. Without knowing anything about training or racing gear we signed up for the race in Sabah. We decided that we should go all out and do the 100km distance. During the preparation stage, I vividly remember attending a trail running talk conducted by Ben Swee, as we had no clue what to expect from a 100km race and needed all the help we could get. Ben advised runners that had recently completed afull marathon to take it easy and not to attempt the 100km route, and instead should settle for the 50km route in Sabah.”

Abimanyu, or simply Abi to his friends, wasn’t the type to back down from a challenge and despite actually having completed a full marathon recently, he proceeded to stick with the 100km route with his two friends, VJ and Premkumar, who had done the same.

He recalls, “It was a painful experience! I hated climbing and descending. After that, I could not walk properly for almost a month. From an ill-fitting shoe to being overweight, I suffered big time. I was glad to finish, but at 72kg I was carrying a lot of excess weight. After that experience I vowed to train properly and run a better ultra.”

The Great Outdoors

Being an outdoor enthusiast since he was a student and a regular in the armed forces after that gave him the base level fitness to go the distance, and after his first race in the wilds, Abi knew that he had found a new fitness passion.