Pune-based Pritesh Angre recalls weighing 102 kg and mistaking an acidity-related chest pain for what was actually a heart attack he suffered in November 2016. After undergoing angioplasty and spending time in intensive care, Pritesh, then in his early 30s, would often find himself in tears at night, shaken by the shock of facing a serious heart condition at such a young age.

He now wryly admits that during his time in Mumbai, he would casually consume four vada pavs in one go. Today, however, he firmly believes in healthy eating habits and at 41, his commitment to fitness has since reached extraordinary heights. What began as a modest 2-km jog on April 3, 2021, has turned into an unbroken streak of 1,826 days, covering 12,865 km—an average of 7 km every single day.

“I completed five years on April 2 of running every single day without a break,” says Pritesh. An IT professional who grew up in Mumbai and now lives in Pune since 2022, he is also the grandson of Dattopant Angre, who portrayed Sai Baba in the yesteryear Marathi film Shirdi che Saibaba, a role remembered fondly by devotees and cinema lovers alike.

For Pritesh, growing up in Mumbai had its own unique charm. Apart from a love for movies, theatre and roadside eateries, he was also inspired by his cousin’s achievements – especially completing the Comrades Marathon. “I had put on weight and thought it was acidity when I started getting heaviness in the chest. However, since I was just 31, I had never thought it could be a heart problem,” Pritesh adds. Angioplasty was performed, followed by successful stent placement in the affected artery and post recovery and doctor’s advice, he commenced walking.

“Later, I started walking at a brisk pace,” Pritesh recalls. His day begins with work related calls at 6 am but he ensures he finds an hour or so during the day to continue this slow jog. So despite humid Mumbai summers, heavy monsoon downpours, dry Pune winters, domestic travels, family commitments, minor injuries including a fractured wrist and muscle pain, Pritesh never misses a day.

He carries his running gear wherever life takes him. “I do not miss a chance to run,” Pritesh says. Whether it was holidaying in Mahabaleshwar or Ladakh, attending conferences at Mysuru or Nashik each city helped add new kilometres. This relentless consistency also earned him a place in the India Book of Records for the “Maximum Consecutive Days of Running by an Individual” where he completed 1515 consecutive days of running and covered 10,760 km in May 2025.

With no professional coaching and balancing a full-time professional career with family responsibilities, Pritesh’s training involves “Intentional Failures.” “So on days when I target a 10-km run under 60 minutes, I deliberately finish in 62 or 63 minutes as the idea is simple: to train the mind to handle imperfection. By preparing mentally for days when hydration fails, sleep is inadequate, weather turns hostile, or cramps strike unexpectedly, the effort is to build psychological resilience,” he explains.

“Waking up and choosing discipline over excuses. Your body is the greatest gift. Push it. Don’t wait. Don’t look for shortcuts. Until you try something beyond what you’ve been doing, you’ll never discover your true capacity. It’s always mind over body,” Pritesh says. And yes with annual check-up after the heart scare, doctors have also given him a clean chit to pursue running.