5 from city complete Ironman 70.3 at Bahrain

Nagpur: Till a couple of months back, endurance sports trainer Dr Amit Samarth was the only one from the city to have completed a full Ironman in the city. Today under his mentorship some five persons have been able to complete the half Ironman 70.3 in solo category at Bahrain on December 12.
“All the participants from Nagpur are busy professionals in their late 40s and 50s. They are all self-motivated with an aim to be fit and lead a healthy lifestyle,” says Samarth who completed RAAM in 2017 and Trans-Siberian cycle race in June this year.

“They have overcome their fears of swimming, cycling or running at a stretch and competed with themselves to emerge as their own heroes,” he adds.

Five of the participants from the 18 who took part could complete the race while others participated in different categories and a couple of them could not beat the cut-off timings.

Lifestyle changes, building up on mental strength and overcoming fears like that of swimming in open waters are some of the challenges that the participants undertook. “My mission was fitness and I participated in the event with less than six months of training,” says Sachin Shirbavikar, a 47-year-old businessman and a diabetic for the past 12 years.

“Undertaking such physical challenges improves our fitness because we work towards it by adopting healthy lifestyles, diet and nutrition,” he adds.

For 49-year-old Dr Sanjay Jaiswal competing in Ironman is a very self-disciplining exercise. “I have been training with Amit for the last four years and it involves getting up at 4am, training till 8am and reaching my hospital by 8.30am where I work the entire day. This training has increased my confidence and I have become a better athlete. Being a time-bound event, it requires a lot of mental strength too. I have changed my entire lifestyle to accommodate this schedule,” says Jaiswal who took part in the relay event along with his two sons.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Abhinav Kohner says he enjoys training for Ironman as it involves multiple activities. “I am an outdoor person and enjoy swimming though I am a moderate cyclist.”

The 45 year old surgeon says, “It is under the mentorship of Amit that I have been able to take up this training and have completed the 70.3 version of Ironman.”

Though most of these participants say that the activity underlines the importance of fitness, yet not everybody can afford to participate as it requires an expenditure of around Rs1.5 lakhs. “But a beginning can be made by practicing on an ordinary cycle and increasing swimming and running stamina,” says Kohner.

“Till now these events were taking place outside India and that was adding to the cost. But now Ironman for the first time will be held in Goa in October 2019 and participation will be much easier for aspirants,” informs Samarth.

“Already around seven people from Nagpur have registered for it and they have received 600 registrations from all over the country,” he adds.