Punjab-born Irish man eyes Guinness record for walking the Earth

A 70-year-old man, born in Punjab and based in Ireland for over 40 years, has applied for a Guinness World Record after completing what he calls his Earth Walk covering over 40,075 kilometres or equivalent of circumference of Earth in under 1,500 days without stepping out of his home city of Limerick.

Vid Bajaj began his journey in August 2016 with a humble goal of losing some weight and getting fitter. As he shed kilograms, his enthusiasm for walking only multiplied and led him to chart out varying routes, including through indoor malls to overcome wear constraints.

“During first three months of my walking seven days a week, I lost 8 kg by having a deficit of 700 calories per day. Over next six months I lost a furr 12 kg. loss of weight was almost entirely due to walking and I did t have to change much of my eating habits,” said Bajaj.

“Typically, I started walking early in morning and completed mostly in two intervals, first one was always for a longer duration. re were many times I did entire walk in a single attempt. Starting early allowed me to finish up by early afteron, which gave me plenty of time to do things such as shopping, bank work, house and garden work,” he said.

retired engineer and business consultant grew up in Chennai and moved to Scotland in 1975 for a Master’s in Manment from Glasgow before work took him to Republic of Ireland 43 years ago, where he has been living with his family at Castletroy, a suburb of Limerick, for 36 years. It was local Irish and world news that kept him company during his long walks, which fell within a 10 km rius of Castletroy. He also downloed Pacer activity tracker app on his smartphone to keep a complete track of his steps and its records flagged his major milestones along way.

“By end of first year I walked 7,600 km and to my surprise I found that in fact I walked to India from Ireland. I continued walking and by end of year two, I walked a cumulative total of 15,200 km and I found that in fact I walked more than circumference of moon (10,921 km). This motivated me furr and I decided to walk circumference of Mars (21,344 km),” he recalls.

“ difference between Mars Walk and Earth Walk was approximately 19,000 km and I knew it was t going to be easy. I continued walking with an aim to complete my ultimate goal,” he says, in reference to his Earth Walk, which he completed on September 21.

His application with Guinness World Record is currently under process as y assess if his walk covering equivalent of Earth’s circumference in 1,496 days and 54,633,135 steps makes cut. Meanwhile, his walking mission continues despite COVID-19 lockdown constraints, which only means he has to repeat his routes a few times a day to meet his daily walking goal.

He also keeps himself replenished with almonds, cashews, walnuts and bananas to keep energy levels up during walks. “My wife and siblings were t impressed initially as y all felt that I was walking too much and my health would be affected. Eventually y came around reluctantly and w hope that I will reduce my walk and t attempt a second Earth Walk, anti-clockwise,” he jokes.

While he awaits a response on his potential world record, Bajaj is keen to spre mess that walking is best form of exercise for all s – "better than running or jogging and it is free". Having run through 12 pairs of shoes, at an aver three per year, during course of his Earth Walk, his central vice is to invest in a good pair of walking shoes and socks.

And, or vice for fellow walkers: “Loneliness will be biggest walking challenge and can partially be overcome by listening to music or podcasts. Make umbrella your best friend so that wear will upset your walk plan and self-motivation, discipline, consistency and time manment are key”.