India, Aug. 15 -- On the move for 45 hours and 43 minutes, on no sleep at all, making her way across 173 km of mountain trails and rugged climbs...

As 39-year-old Ashwini Ganapathi navigated the Deep Japan Ultra, one of Asia's toughest endurance races, she was just hoping she could finish it. She hadn't expected to set any records. Yet, by the time she was done, she was the only non-Japanese person to complete the trail this year, and the first Indian woman to ever run the full route.

Of the 135 participants, more than half quit midway; only 63 finished. And even they weren't carrying the weight she bore. "As a vegetarian, I can't eat most of the meals served at the checkpoints.They tend to have fish soup in them," Ganapathi says. "So I...