The first Duathlon at the Bangalore Amateur Racing was scheduled to start 7am on 1st September, just outside Hoskote on Old Madras Road. It started sharp on time with twenty four participants being flagged off one after the other with a 30sec gap between each other. They had to ride against the clock for ~27km and then quickly get off the bike, change into their running gear and run 5km as quickly as they can. 

Usually, one is strong in either cycling or running depending on which activity happens to take most of ones training time. Cyclists who are also runners could be making up time in their cycling leg and try to limit their loses in the running segment. Similarly the runners who are also cyclists would try to cover the time they might lose in the cycling leg with a strong show in their run segment. The ones with stronger legs in both the disciplines on the day obviously end up on top in a Duathlon event.      

The biking leg saw some blistering pace from the veterans and the young guns alike. Rajanikanth was the fastest in the bike leg and was ahead of Arvind Bhateja by just one second. However, he managed to gain nearly 2 mins on Arvind with a faster transition and a faster run. His decision to run in just socks seems to have definitely saved him a few seconds in the transition. 

Madhurjya has put in a descent effort in cycling but his strength was clearly the running part where he finished with the fastest time. His combined effort was good enough for a 3rd overall ranking and 2nd in 30-40 age category. 

Dr. Arvind Bhateja’s super show in the bike leg and more than descent run earned him a 2nd place overall and first in 40+ age category.  

The 40+ age category timings showed that the veterans are certainly giving the youngsters a run for the money. Both Arvind Bhateja and Vicki Nicholson on Spectrum racing finished much faster than all the under 30 age groupers and certainly showed why they are an inspiration for many of the younger folk. Ashok Thiruvengadam and Sumar Rao also have put in great timings in this category and finished well.

With the second most number of participants in 30-40 category, it also saw some of the most impressive performances. Rajanikanth who finished first overall and Madhurjya and Gaurav Dwivedi finished 3rd and 4th overall, are all in this age category. 

With more and more young riders participating in these events they are getting better with every passing event. Although a few of the 30+ and 40+ category athletes are still faster than the young guns, we are definitely seeing faster timings from the young legs. With more miles on the legs we are bound to see them drawing closer and eventually dropping the veterans. 

Aditya Kaul finished 1st in the under 30 category while Hussain and MS Sriram finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. They finished 6th, 7th and 8th respectively in the overall standings. Parameshwar Praveen Raju, who was riding an MTB had a very ordinary bike leg but showed how strong he is by putting in a second fastest time in the run segment. He finished 4th in Under30 and 10th overall.

We were nervous about the timing aspect of a Duathlon but we were able to get everything going smoothly with the help of a few volunteers. Yogesh Murthy helped make sure that the cyclists don’t miss the u-turn while volunteers including Dr. Dhanajayen from Spectrum Physio Center helped out with the run segment. Thanks to Hari Menon of Spectrum Racing, Nalla Konar and Venkatachalam Ramakrishnan of Cleated Warriors for getting the results out quickly and making sure everything ran smoothly. 

A big thanks to Happy Tiger for sponsoring T-shirts for winners of all the categories and supporting the event. They are also giving out prizes for best photograph and video from the event.   

Photos: From my camera are here and from Veloscope are here.

What Next: 

Next Sunday, 8th September sees the final ITT of the series. Be there, race hard and have fun! Here are the event details: https://www.facebook.com/events/205845619576195/