Budhia during the 65-km run

Bhubaneswar, May 25: A week after the Orissa government moved the high court for a ban on long-distance runs by Budhia Singh, the four-year-old wonder kid quietly left for Bangalore tonight with his coach to run a “marathon” on Sunday.

“Let them stop Budhia if they can. If they stop him here, he will run in other states,” coach Biranchi Das said before boarding a Bangalore-bound train.

The state had sought the ban citing the child’s medical condition after he suffered severe exhaustion at the end of a 65-km run on May 2, having already done 11 marathons between Puri and Bhubaneswar in the past one year.

Das laughed off women and child development minister Pramila Mallick’s warning that he could be arrested if he made the child run long distances again.

“The Bangalore press club has invited us for a marathon. Budhia will run about 20 km there,” Das said.

The press club’s general secretary, Sadashiv Shenoy, however, said in Bangalore that the distance would be only 3 km.

“The club is celebrating its annual day out for women and children. We decided to felicitate Budhia and Kishan, India’s youngest film director. We only want to encourage him (Budhia).”

The child is scheduled to run another marathon in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, on June 18.

The state government, citing a report by a medical board, has told Orissa High Court that further marathons by Budhia “may lead to growth retardation due to damage at the growing ends of the long bones”.

“If Budhia is allowed to run marathons, there may be early onset of osteo-arthritis, which may cripple the child in future. There may be cardiomegaly (enlargement of the heart), which may lead to complications and the wonder kid may become a subject of burnout syndrome,” the petition said.

The court will hear the plea on June 19, when it reopens after vacation. But sources said the government would make a special mention on its petition before a vacation bench tomorrow.

Das was unfazed, saying he hadn’t received any notice from the court or the government.

“Budhia is from Orissa and he should bring glory to this state. But if he is not allowed to run here, going out may be the only option,” he had said a week ago.

“The problem is, the government isn’t thinking about making Budhia a champion. My aim is to make him an Olympian in the next 15 years or so.”

Das has the support of Budhia’s widowed mother Sukanti.