“Going that extra mile”

About 200 men and women from all over the US participated in one of the country’s most challenging ultramara­thons — the grueling Vermont 100 — on July 20, 2002. Among them was Firdaus Dotiwala who was the 87th to finish the 100-mile run which began at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning and saw participants trickling past the finish line by late Sunday morning, informs Theodore Orsher in his pre and post event reports in The Riverdale Press (July 4 and August 1, 2002).

Dotiwala achieved his stated goal of completing the 100-mile loop in 24 hours with 42 minutes to spare. The winner clocked 14 hours and 12 minutes but "not everyone who started the hilly course, finished,” observed Orsh­er. Monitored by support teams, the runners are weighed at two check-posts along the route to ensure that they do not lose more than seven percent of their weight at the start of the race. A higher weight loss disqualifies the participant, informs the article.

It is said to be especially important to rehydrate and eat something during the middle sections of these rigorous ultra races. Dotiwala eats a small peanut butter and jelly sandwich and other carbohydrates for energy while still running and keeps a couple of bottles of water around his waist.

Dotiwala: "an aggressive approach to everything”

The son of Zareena and late Feroze Dotiwala was born in Nimach in India’s Madhya Pradesh. He lost his father in a motorbike accident when he was three years old. The staunch self-discipline that has enabled him to achieve this remarkable running feat within three years of starting the sport was inculcated by his mother, a major in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) at a time when there were very few women in India’s armed forces. A product of Panchgani’s Billimoria High School and Bombay’s Podar College where he graduated in the commerce stream, Dotiwala was an average student who enjoyed outdoor sports, the favorite being football (soccer), notes Zareena who was subsequently married to Shapur Cy-ru­si. She now works as superintendent of Bombay’s Masina Hospital.

Always keen to live abroad, Dotiwala got the opportunity for a nine-month stint in New York on a project from his company in Bombay. A year later he was back there on his own steam. He joined a soccer team and started running to improve his fitness and health. Watching the New York City Marathon (NYCM) on TV that year, he decided he "wanted to be a part of it.” So he ran 12 miles on his first day of training!

An interview article "A moment with Firdaus” by Earline Smith in the Van Cortlandt Track Club (VCTC) magazine (November-December 2001) notes that Dotiwala ran the November 2000 NYCM (a 26 mile event) for his first race ever. In the "Midpack wrap-up” in the NY Runner Road Club magazine of January-February 2001, Joy Newton had noted, "All he wanted was to finish and experience the glory that is the NYCM. And oh! Did he ever.”

In a report he submitted to the FEZANA Journal (Spring 2001) he noted, "When I finally saw the finish line and crossed it, there was not so much of excitement, but a feeling of containment and relief that ultimately it was over. The legs would not stay still... For it did not matter who won or who lost the race because each and every one won in one way or another.”

In his article, "The Marathon - Sweat, Pain and Glory,” in the VCTC magazine of September/October 2001 Dotiwala had observed, "Of course all the years of playing soccer and having done karate for five years has helped me tremendously in terms of patience and that invisible force that keeps you going that extra mile even though you just want to sit down and give it up.”

Dotiwala described his pre NYCM 2000 training to Smith, "I just ran all the time. My excessive running, in addition to playing soccer resulted in a knee injury and a stress factor to my right leg. I didn’t run for three months after my visit to the doctor. I learned that I had run the marathon with a stress factor.” Assessing his own weaknesses, Dotiwa­la told Smith, "I am not patient with myself. My running philosophy is that I must feel pain. If there is no pain, then I won’t gain anything. I know that my philosophy is not necessarily true all the time. Nevertheless, it’s very difficult for me to control myself. I have an aggressive approach to everything that I do.”

With more professional training at the VCTC Dotiwala has participated in various other events including ultra­marathons (with 30, 50 or 100 mile courses) and half-marathons. While holding on to a job in Giselle Clothing, an Indian firm trading in readymade garments, Dotiwala also finds time to talk and play with children. Football is a favorite spectator sport; collecting rare coins a hobby; long walks, movies and reading a source of enjoyment.