During the early days of Chennai Runners (circa 2007-08), when we were huffing and puffing to complete our Sunday run–‘The Chennai Runners Classic Route’–one man used to run from his house at Neelankarai on the East Coast Road (ECR) to the start point at Alwarpet and to join us for a run. When we were discussing running a marathon as an aspiration, he inspired us to think beyond a marathon. His name is Jacob Boopalan but we called him ‘MileMuncher’, as his email handle went by that name.

Born in a small village in Salem district, Jacob describes his upbringing as ‘a usual village kid who runs around with his friends and family.’ It only helped when one of his sisters was pursuing physical education to become a sports teacher, as he got a chance to run with her often. After moving to Chennai in 2002, he started running distances up to 10K. In 2002, when SDAT was organising a marathon, he wanted to give a shot at that distance only not being able to finish it. Staying at Neelankarai, he started stretching his runs all the way to Mahabalipuram and usually got back home by taking a bus. He eventually finished his first marathon in 2003, again organised by SDAT and was hooked to long distances since. He fondly remembers Amri, who was his companion in early days, and In 2005, he started running with Shyam and Satish. They missed the bus in not formally calling themselves ‘Chennai Runners’ even before the group came into force in 2006. After the Chennai Runners started the ECR Runs in 2007, Jacob became a regular fixture with the group.

My first meeting with Jacob was on the eve of the first Auroville Marathon in 2008. Over the conversation, what stuck me was his simplicity which is often exemplified through his running. When asked what attracted him to running beyond a marathon, he casually said, ‘The food man…. You get to eat a lot during the run.’ He doesn’t complicate his run either by filling his talk on running with jargon or proposing complex rituals that one has to follow before starting to run. Whether it is ECR or Dharamsala or Dehradun, running, for him, is only a means to larger ends. He is happy that running has helped him develop personally, meet new friends, and explore new places. Meeting the Van Gujjars while living in Dehradun was one such experience – their nomadic lifestyle and beliefs taught him simplicity and not to worry about material wealth. More about Van Gujjars in this beautiful video,

His upbringing as a son of parents from different castes was an education about the inequalities of society. He credits his mother, who as a teacher in evening school treated all her students equally irrespective of caste differences, as an inspiration. His house was always open for students to come and learn. Despite the opposition from various quarters on allowing students of different castes, his mothers was stubborn in her beliefs. As a professional social worker, he has worked with various non-profit organisations in India and also has raised funds for them through running. Currently, he works full time in a hospital at Nairobi, Kenya, where he moved to in 2012. After hearing about the travails of a poor family unable to afford the treatment for their child’s clubfoot, he started the ‘Jacob project’ – an initiative to raise funds to perform corrective surgeries on underprivileged children with clubfoot. Through this initiative, he has helped over a thousand children. 

It is almost impossible to get him to talk about his list of achievements in running, which can run into pages. He started his ultra marathon journey in 2006 and soon finished first in the 78 Km race at Bangalore Ultra 2007. He pushed himself further and ran the 100K race in Bangalore Ultra 2008. In 2011, he was among the early Indians to finish the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, which he calls as his last road race. He moved to trail running and never looked back. He prefers smaller events as they are more environmentally conscious with minimal wastages. In 2013, he ran the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile Run in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. To sum it up from the e-mail he sent to Chennai Runners, “Finally I finished my first 100 mile run yesterday in 34 hrs and three mins. I have never seen any course as tough as this. Now I got a belt buckle, 8 blisters and plenty of body ache.” Most of his runs, including in places like Bolivia and Argentina, are self-supported solo runs and he enjoys being alone in the wilderness with nature.

Over time, many runners would observe that the identity of being a runner and the true self slowly starts integrating and becomes inseparable. For Jacob, running is not just about accumulating more medals, milestones, presence in social media or promoting products. It is a way of life and a vehicle of change. He has run in all continents except Antarctica and relishes the experiences rather than the accolades that many chase for such accomplishments. Always keen to give back to the community, he organises two ultra marathons in Kenya every year (details below). Having spent a considerable time in India as well as Kenya, he is now eager to build partnerships through running as he sees many similarities. In recent times, Kenya is widely featured in news about running for both good and bad reasons – producing world record holders and athletes getting caught for doping. Jacob wishes to create a running ecosystem that is different from these two extremes in a healthy manner. It is true that road running can produce champions; but trail running can shape character.

The Freedom Ultra

Like many Chennai Runners, Jacob is also actively engaged in organising running events. Since 2022, he is a member of the group Ultra Runners Kenya (URK). With his group, he has been organising a 50K Ultra race with an elevation gain/loss of 3000m for the past 4 years. The race starts at 2400m above MSL, and he says, “if the hills don’t get you, then the altitude will get you.”This year, he organised another event recognised by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA). The event was on December 12–the day Kenya achieved independence from the British–and was aptly called the Freedom Ultra 63K. Kenya has many poor runners who are unable to participate in events recognised outside Kenya, notably the consulates not giving them visas. To help them, Jacob obtained recognition from the ITRA. The ITRA provides points for individual runners based on their performance in the event which can be accumulated for three years. These points also help them get ranked which would help them in getting noticed by events elsewhere. Jacob is actively looking for runners from India to come and participate. The event entry fee is kept low and the event is one for pure ultra runners who believe in running self-supported. Jacob outlines his larger vision through this event, “I am organising so that runners (from India) will be able to interact with local runners and it could be a good opportunity for runners to exchange training plans, or just become friends.”

An edited version of this article was published in the RunDown Magazine, released as a part of the Chennai Marathon 2026. You can view the entire magazine here – https://chennairunners.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Rundown-2026.pdf