The former Indian Navy logistics officer and mother-of-two is charting new course through marathons and Ultra races  

Navneet Singh

Nearly five years ago, an enthusiastic Indian Navy officer, Priya Khurana, was inducted in off the shore department. “I had to board the Indian Navy ship in 2021,” says Priya.

“The next 13 months were all about being away from family and exploring new things — the deep ocean and rough seas,” recalls Priya.

Away from family on the high seas toughened her mentally. It was an enduring yet excellent opportunity to explore new boundaries in life, says the 45 years old Delhi based mother-of- two children.

These days Priya is busy exploring new boundaries on the land. After serving the Indian Navy as a logistics officer for 22 years, she is passionate about testing her mental endurance over Ultra races.

Border Race

The big test so far was during the 160 km Border Race in December 2024. The two-day event has tough terrain, including the desert region. It starts from Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) to Longewala (Punjab). The race is divided into three categories—100 miles (160km), 100km and 50km. The cut off time for each event is 28 hrs, 16 hours and 8 hours, respectively.

Priya opted for the toughest race —100 miles. “Running 100 miles was good fun,” she says nonchalantly.

“Covering 100 miles(160km) in two days was more mental than physical,” she adds.

Priya was born and brought up in Rohtak. During her formative days of education, she hardly got a chance to explore the local environment due to orthodox culture in Haryana.

Indian Navy

Joining the Indian Navy through SSC (Short Service Commission) in early 2000 as a logistics officer turned out to be a turning point in Priya’s life. The Indian Navy was an excellent platform for the young mind to grow and explore the globe.

Right from day one at the Indian Naval Academy in Goa, she grabbed the opportunity with both hands to learn and explore. During training of the140 odd cadets, she finished overall seventh. “A combination of fitness and academics gave me time to learn more about my abilities,” says Priya of her early days in the Indian Navy.

Marathon race

She also got a chance to test her endurance over a marathon event (42km) in 2019. The Vizag Navy Marathon held under the aegis of Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam turned out to be a good platform.

“Since I was posted in Visakhapatnam I wanted to take part in the marathon race. Moreover, it was being organised by our department, I was more excited,” says Priya of her marathon debut. She cleared the test comfortably, covering the distance in 5 hours 24 minutes. 

In 2022 she was posted in Delhi. But she continued to passionately follow distance running. The most significant move she made in 2023 was tracking of a local running club (Dwarka Xpress Runners) in Dwarka (South West Delhi).

Running club

“The running community further gave me the opportunity to enjoy and make progress in distance running,” she adds. “There has been significant improvement in my marathon time in the last six years. This year I’ve improved my time to 4 hours and 36 minutes for the marathon race, which was nearly 48 minutes better than my marathon debut time of 5 hours 24 minutes.”

“I’m not getting younger,” she chuckles. “But I’m getting faster and feel stronger on long runs.”

Ultra races

In the last four years she has competed over several marathons and Ultra races. She is hungry to add more to her profile.

“I’m enjoying testing myself each day,” she told Sportsbackstory.com after one of her morning practice runs.

A big chunk of time is devoted each day to prepare her mind and body to improve endurance, but she also spends quality time with family. After a morning training, she often has to rush back home to prepare breakfast and lunch for her teenage school going son. Her elder daughter is doing a professional course and husband, a former Indian Navy official is working with a corporate office. “Apart from hard work, support from family and well-wishers has been key to achieving goals in distance races,” she adds. 

 Despite a hectic lifestyle, it doesn’t stop Priya from exploring new things both on and off the track. “I’m back to academics,” she tells Sportsbackstory.com of her new project.

 “I’ve enrolled myself for an online logistic certificate course. The course will sharpen my brain and keep me mentally strong to tackle more marathons and ultra races,” she explains.

ENDS