BigFoot Backyard Ultra — Bengaluru

He said remember the name. Thoudam Opendro Singh returned to Bengaluru — the city where he’d already won with 29 — and beat his own standard, going all the way to 31 yards, more than 207 km in 31 straight hours.

This time the runner who dragged him there was Sudipto Roychowdhury, holding on to 30 before falling — the closest, longest assist the series has seen. Back-to-back Bengaluru titles, and a personal bar raised twice on the same course.

Nineteen started; the one who came back a champion left an even bigger one. That is the backyard’s quiet promise — the loop is always there, and so is next year.