New Delhi, April 3 -- Towards the end of her run, Sujata Sahu realised she was in trouble. She had finished 211km of the 135-mile (217km) category of the White Sand Ultramarathon in Kutch, Gujarat. The effort had required her to be on her feet for over 35 hours in testing conditions, with little time to rest to meet the race cutoffs. A light in the distance marked the finish. Just that at this point, Sahu could see three lights instead of one. 

"The hallucinations had set in due to sleep deprivation and fatigue. The pain in my left foot was unbearable. It was probably the only time I considered quitting. And then I remembered how no other female had dared to sign up for this race," she says. 

It was enough motivation to get ...