GHAC promises full iron event next year

6th Hyderabad Triathlon

The Hyderabad Triathlon could soon make to the international level distance of iron category with the full iron triathlon coming in next year. The announcement came from Founder of Greater Hyderabad Adventure Club founder, Diyanat Ali at the sixth edition of the Hyderabad Triathlon that was held on Sunday.

The event was held at two locations in the twin cities with over 1,700 participants across 9 disciplines While a majority of the flag off, which included categories like ¾ iron, Olympic and sprint levels, happened at Gachibowli stadium, the half Iron event started their day out from the ICFAI campus at Shankarpally. In addition, there was a mini version of triathlon and duathlon targeted towards kids aged 5 and above.

Over the past six years, the Hyderabad Triathlon has evolved into India’s biggest open triathlon event, attracting top athletes from across the country. The toughest of them was the ¾ iron wherein professional athletes swam 2.9 km, cycled 135 km, and then ran 31 km, which took them a good part of the day.

Organised by the Great Hyderabad Adventure Club, the event saw participation from all over the country and some foreign nationals, too, across different age groups, starting with 5 year old kids to the veteran like Laxman Rao (75), who participated in all the editions of triathlons held until now.

Speaking after the event, Diyanat Ali said, “We had to ensure proper safety and support measures, which included ambulances, doctors and first aid stations, were in place as the route for the tougher levels went beyond Chevella. The support action groups along the route ensured that all the athletes were kept hydrated and motivated.”

Participants displayed their strength, stamina and endurance to maximum limits. Director of ICFAI Group, Sudhakar Rao commented on the participation and said, “We have been encouraging athletes and sports organisations to conduct such events in our campus to inculcate the sports culture among the student fraternity, health conscious and sports lovers.”

Event Director of Hyderabad Triathlon, Deepam Morparia expressed delight with the participation and said, “We have seen not just a substantial jump in number of participants from 1,000 to 1,700 but also the quality of their performance.” One of the participants, Anubhav, who is preparing for Olympics format swimming and currently working as Tech Consultant said, “The pool is well maintained and is really matching with the international standards.”