The Thonnur Triathlon Extravaganza 2013

I continued at my pace for the remainder of the biking leg, slowly trudging away and enjoying the natural beauty around. It was actually quite relaxing. In fact, considering all the drama that happened in that leg, an average pace of 22.6kmph is okay. It can be way better and eventually it will be, but as a newbie on a dry run, there is no reason why I need to be harsh with myself.

As I got closer to the end of the biking leg, my adrenaline started pumping again. The final leg was my favourite, Run Time. This gave me enough energy to push through the final uphill and as I was climbing the hill, I saw Suma run down. I thought to myself. “I can catch her, I am going to own this run.”

I crossed the finish line. Naveen screamed out instructions about where to park the bike. I ran into the transition area and got ready for my last leg – the Run.

As I ran out, I could feel my legs being super wobbly. Thankfully, the start was downhill, and I was too focused on catching up with Suma to pay any attention to the wobble. And so I ran, the way I do. I caught up with Suma around the 1 kilometer mark. She was awesome and cheered me on.

On the way, I had a lot of people cheering me on and helping keep the energy levels up. By the time I reached the 2 kilometer mark, I had gotten into a nice pace. Again, I saw all my awesome mates killing it on their run loops. Felt like home, as I ran I started picking up people and getting them to break into a jog from a walk or pick up their pace. Soon enough the loop was over, and then before I knew it the second loop was over. It was a good run.

Around the 200m mark, Henna came and joined me advising me to take it easy until the crest and then sprint 20 meters – but that’s not how I roll. It was sprint time now. I saw Sri Ram waiting and cheering me on at the crest with the biggest smile on his face and a few seconds later, I was across the finish line. Ankush was there to greet me – as always. High five!

So, it was a killer event. As expected Madhurjya Borah (2:44) rocked it and finished first in the Male Olympic triathlon, followed by Ironman Nagaraj Harsha (2:51) and closely followed by my brother Ankush Sharma (2:54). I finished the women’s Olympic Triathlon in 3:31 and came in first, followed by Suma Rao and with Hema Rajani Kant in third place.

The sprint and Duathlon finishers were phenomenal and flew through their respective events. Winners included Kiran Kumar (Duathlon) , Sowmya Urs (Duathlon), Somesh Gupta (Sprint) and Kartika Rajaram (Sprint). The event was followed by breakfast, a vote of thanks and winners felicitation ceremony.

A big thank you going out to Mysore Cycling Club, Sunpure, Friends of Runners Max and Eddie, Procycle, Cyclopedia, Safe Wheels. Each individual volunteer who took time out of their busy schedule and came and assisted us each step of the way whether it was in terms of taking down the timings or taking photographs of the event or standing at the U-turns, or standing and cheering the participants on – I cannot thank you enough.

The wonderful celebrities and legends in their own right, who were kind enough to grace us with their presence and provide us with valuable inputs from training, technique and practicals of the same , Madhurjya Borah, Nagaraj Harsha, Suma Rao, Dipankar Paul and Rajani Kant – Thank you.

And finally, each participant who made this event his own, travelled all the way to be part of it, adjusted and accommodated at every step and spread positive cheer among everyone – Thank you. This event would not have been the same and would not have been the success that it was without either one of you. Thank you.

I know I am addicted. I am pretty sure you are too. I look forward to a bigger, better and a more exciting event next year.