"She had previously run for 12 hours non-stop but was unused to running on roads."

Said Dominque Lakra, the coach of the 10-year-old Anastasia Barla, who ran 72 kilometers (45 miles) before stopping out of exhaustion. But the 5-minute break she'd taken after 58 kilometers had invalidated her attempt to beat Budhia Singh, the 4-year-old boy who ran 65 kilometers without a break. "The girl is comfortable on soil, which is soft," the not-so-soft-hearted coach explained. Anastasia is going to give it another try when the weather cools off, in India, where there is a truly crazy craze for long-distance running by children.