The inaugural Adriatica Ionica Race (June 20-24) provides Tour de France participants with one last stage-race hit-out. For many, this will be their last race before their respective national championships the week before the Tour. Sixteen teams, each made up of seven riders, will participate in the new UCI 2.1-ranked stage race, which is based around Venice and the Veneto, on Italy’s northern shores of the Adriatic Sea.

The five-day race has been given 2.1 status by the UCI and includes some of the peloton’s best riders, including Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors). Matteo Trentin will add to the home interest as he makes his comeback to racing by donning the Italian national jersey. Trentin has been out of action since fracturing his spine in a crash at Paris-Roubaix in April. He will be joined by Moreno Moser in the Azzurri jersey of Italy.

Trek-Segafredo bring a well-rounded team with Giacomo Nizzolo for the sprints and Gianluca Brambilla, Jarlinson Pantano and Peter Stetina for the mountains. Others to look out for are Ben Swift(UAE Team Emirates), Damiano Cunego (Nippo Vini Fantini) and Mihkel Raim (Israel Cycling Academy).

The race will open up with a 23km team time trial from Musile di Piave to Lido di Jesolo. The following four stages will be a mixture of lumpy sprint stages and mountain rides, with stage 3 taking the peloton up to a summit finish on the Passo di Giau.

*Information compile from various sources*

It was the first time in history when 5 Indians participated in the world’s toughest endurance challenge – The Ultraman Florida.

While the whole country was ecstatic when Milind Soman, a celebrity running enthusiast successfully finished the Ultraman Florida 2017 race, there was an unsung Indian hero, Dr. Kaustubh Radkar, who did not receive the attention he deserved. He lead the Indian contingent of five runners and was the fastest Indian to have completed the 84.4KM run in 3 hours and 17 minutes ahead of Milind Soman and stood 34th in the overall race.

Ultraman marathon is a three-day event held between February 17 to 19^th every year. It includes:
Day 1   : 10KM swim and 149KM cycling
Day 2   : 273KM cycling and
Day 3   : 84.4KM run

Each day has a cut off of 12 hours by which the participants have to complete the race. The participants who did not make the cut were not allowed to start the next day. The course is an extremely difficult terrain and the participants also experience rough weather conditions.

Kaustubh Radkar, a 20-time Ironman finisher from Pune, who completed the race in 31 hours and 29 mins, says “For all of us this was a challenge beyond Ironman and hence why we undertook it”. He goes on to add “The key of this race is that it is self-supported which means anything from water to food to bike help has to be done by the support crew each athlete has”.

Apart from running, the 34-year-old avid runner is the CEO of Radrx, a company that specializes in sports medicine, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and healthcare consulting. He has completed his Masters in Sports Administration at the John Hopkins hospital in the United States.

The self-controlled doctor limits his calorie intake to 2000 per day and ensures he gets 6 hours of sleep in order to do his workout. Kaustubh also runs a triathlete training facility called “Train with Kau” that provides coaching for athletes of all categories from amateur to elite.

Kaustubh made his dream debut in 2008 at Arizona as he became the first amateur to finish the swim in 47.30 mins. He has never looked back since then and he is the only Indian to have conquered the Ironman triathlon in six different continents. He has been a certified Ironman coach since October 2015 and the only Indian to do so.

There are many un-recognized athletes who have accomplished the Ironman and more such marathons but have not been spoken about as much. Kaustubh has continuously pushed himself beyond all boundaries and has inspired the younger generations of his country to take on challenges in life with commitment and persistence.

*Information is taken from news sources*

The Ironman Triathlon is widely touted as the toughest single-day endurance race in the world and is organized by the World Triathlon Corporation across the globe. The race begins with a 3.8km swim, 180km of cycling, followed by a marathon run of 42.2km. The race has to be completed in the very same order and within a time frame of 17 hours – a mammoth task only a few can successfully undertake.

Over the years, many Indians have taken part in the event including Dr. Kaustubh Radkar of Pune, who completed the race, a mind-boggling 16 times and now trains other aspirants. The race gained in popularity after model-actor Milind Soman accomplished the task of finishing the race in Zurich in 2015. Kaushik Mukherjee and Vineeta Singh, a couple from Powai, Maharashtra created history on July 2, 2017, when they became the first Indian couple to complete the grueling triathlon together.

Meet the couple

Kaushik and Vineeta, MBA graduates from IIM, Ahmedabad and parents to a 3-year-old son successfully run a five-year-old VC-funded beauty and personal care company. Vineeta, 33 years old has been an avid runner for the last decade and has completed the Comrades Ultra-marathon thrice from 2012-14. On the other hand, Kaushik, 35 had been a swimmer during his university days. After a lot of thought, the couple decided to meet halfway and contest triathlons, in order to combine both disciplines.

In order to train themselves for the Ironman challenge in Austria, they traveled across India participating in various races in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, and Goa.

Juggling Life

Trying to juggle their lives between being doting parents to their 3-year-old son, running a business and also training for the event of this scale was quite a herculean task. They could never train together and had to split their busy training schedules between early mornings and late evenings on most days to be with their son, so he never feels ignored. Also with the help of their supportive families, friends, and colleagues, they were able to dedicate time and focus on their training. Kaushik adds by saying “Both of us have always been fitness freaks and wanted to test ourselves. This Ironman was perfect in the sense that it was something we could do as a couple.”

Becoming Ironman

A few years ago, right after having their baby, the outdoorsy swimmer-runner couple found themselves lost in their daily routine of changing dirty diapers and sterilizing milk bottles. It was then that their lighthearted conversations around trying out the Ironman “someday” turned serious. After six months of training, which included rigorous planning, strict diet, 8-12 long hours of regular practice and 120km cycle rides on the Mumbai-Nashik highway on weekends, both set off to Austria to compete in the event and finished the race with excellent timings. While Vineeta completed the race in 16hrs 01min, Kaushik came in a 28 minutes later at 16hrs 29mins. According to them, the feeling was surreal when they touched the finishing line.

An important lesson they learned through this run was the importance of physical fitness in India is far less focused on when compared to that part of the world. Cycling and running long-distances was part of their daily routine. Age had no limit there felt Kaushik, as a 60-year-old man had comfortably overtaken them during the race which really inspired him.

A major element checked off their bucket list, the couple is looking forward to participating in the Ironman Triathlon again in the near future. “For now, our aim is to focus on our business and family in the next year or two. But after that, we will definitely do another Ironman in the future,” Kaushik said.

Kaushik and Vineeta’s journey shows us that it is possible to be physically fit and at the same time balance professional and personal lives. Here’s hoping their story inspires us to make fitness an important part of our daily life!

Retired Paralympian Liam Malone is feeling “wrecked” after completing his first, and his last, marathon on his blades.

Malone completed the 42km Hawke’s Bay marathon in four hours and 47 minutes on Saturday morning, placing 256th out of 297 runners.

Better known for his skill in sprinting, the 24-year-old won the 400 and 200 metres in the T44 category at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Read more at https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/103850424/liam-malone-completes-hawkes-bay-marathon-challenge