‘Born to Fly’ documents Hong Kong-born Rahul Sharma’s world record 566km run across Sri Lanka
Soon after Rahul Sharma began looking for a suitable challenge, he became the fastest man to run the length of Sri Lanka. A new documentary follows his record-breaking feat.
In January 2025, Rahul Sharma ran his first marathon, in Mumbai, India. Months later, he learned of British ultra-endurance athlete William Goodge, who ran across Australia in 35 days, a journey of 3,800km (2,361 miles).
It was all the encouragement the then 24-year-old needed to up his game. Within weeks, the Melbourne-based exercise physiologist had rallied two of his best friends and decided on a goal: he would run 566km (352 miles) from Point Pedro, the northernmost point of Sri Lanka, to Dondra Head, at its southern tip, in six days.
None of the trio – Sharma, Ali Khajeian and Ben Lawson – knew the first thing about ultra-running. But that wasn’t going to stop them.
“I try my best not to be cocky, but it’s just not who I am,” Sharma admits in Born to Fly, a newly released documentary that charts his Sri Lanka run. “I have a big head.”
But why Sri Lanka?
“We didn’t want to follow a blueprint. We wanted to find a country that had never been done before,” says Sharma. Sri Lanka it was then, although, it is not strictly true that no one had attempted it previously; in 2023, Irishman Chris Rickard, assisted by two friends on bicycles, ran a slightly longer route between the same two points in Sri Lanka, in just under 12 days.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Sharma played cricket from a young age, and represented the city’s under-19 team. He stepped away from the sport after a series of injuries.