Goa Triathlon 2017.

The bragging rights!

By Veloscope

March 26^th, 2017

What impressions do you hold of Goa?

Rave parties, Sun burn Fests, night life, beaches and surfing, plenty of yum sea food, Portuguese colonial architecture and so much more. Amidst these quantum of choices, throw in a well-organized triathlon experience to make Goa experience, come a complete one.

A small state on the western coast of India, Goa; prevailing as a legacy of the Portuguese colonial era has always been attracting the most influential and the most youthful energies throughout the country and the world.Farming, fishing, tourism and iron-ore mining forming the basis of its economy, it is fast emerging and developing on the sports based tourism.

Organised annually in the month of February, the most coveted sports event of the year among the triathletes, the fourth edition of Goa triathlon saw a about 500 tri-athletes of Indian and International origin. It features an ocean open water swim in the waters of Bambolim beach, and offers a safe and traffic free route for the athletes to run and bike, with ample aid stations along the route and a lot of Goa to take in, what more can one ask for?

basics.

A triathlon is a multiple-stage competition involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance disciplines. Here, it involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances. Tri-athletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed “transitions” between the individual swim, cycle, and run components. This event had 2 categories –Olympic distance triathlon, Swim (1.5km) – Cycle (40km) – Run (10km) and Super sprint triathlon, Swim (400m) – Cycle (10km) – Run (2.5km), wherein the participants could participate individually or in a team of 3 members.

the bikes!

While it’s known to everyone that triathletes blow up some big bucks on the fitness tracking devices and anything that makes them more aero, one incentive of being a spectator or being in the cheering squad is that you get to check out a universe of some really fast and aero bikes that look everything from comfortable, versatile to the aerodynamics serving as the compelling performance component. Dream bikes with fast carbon wheel sets, numerous bike brands, andeverything in between that spells aero and fast caught our attention instantly

the route.

The event started early morning at 7am with the swim covering a distance of 1.5 km in the calm waters of Bambolim beach followed by a 200 meter dash to the start of the cycling leg. Starting from the beach and consisting of multiple laps, the circuit takes one past the shaded roads of the University Library, the Taleigao plateau and terminates near the Shyama Prasad stadium Bambolim, a distance of total 40 km. Participants, then complete the final leg of the competition running 10 km to the finish line back again at the Bambolim beach, thus completing the entire event.

early to work.

Coast guards and the support boats arrive first and secure the ocean route.

chapter 1- AGAINST THE CURRENT!

OCEAN ISN'T YOUR FRIEND, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE SWEET.

Swimming in general is a demanding activity, swimming in rough open water is another beast altogether. Ocean isn't kind and waves aren't your best friends. The first leg of the triathlon had it's share of early retirements and recuse to deal with. This was serious business.

But then, you are only as weak or as strong as you think.

chapter 2 - chasing legends.

chapter 3-running on the sun.

CROWD-full power!

Triathlons extract the best out of you. But what makes up for a great race experience is the crowd support. Spectators and locals lined the streets to watch the competitors who would swim, bike and run in the event. Cheering from the locals and the crowd was huge that made the atmosphere amazing and encouraging for the athletes. The competition was tough and the results differed marginally by few seconds/minutes amongst the winners.

“By far, one of the very well organized triathlons in India. I really enjoyed racing here. I could feel the adrenaline surge in my veins and racing heart throughout. Kudos to the organisers for giving us a platform of this magnitude to race in India. Anyone in India who is looking to start into triathlons, have a good triathlon experience or even train for a bigger triathlon race like Ironman, look no further to Goa triathlon.” says the runner up Olympic triathlon team participant and 4- time Ironman, NagarajHarsha.

the competition- firece!

Aggressive is the word. The battle for the podium between the competitors, as a spectator was anything that we were ready to pay for. The Indian army made this triathlon a real serious business. The top positions in most of the categories were taken by Indian Army.

In the most eminent Olympic solo men category, although the three time champion Pablo Erat emerged as a winner yet again, with a time of 2:07:26, he was challenged very closely by the Indian Army, who took the second and third position with a timing of 2:09:52 and 2:11:00 respectively. With a neck to neck competition in the swimming section, cycling is where Pablo managed to open up a slight gap, thus making his way to the top prize again.

"you are running late mate!"

the winning streak!4-0!

The registered participant’s number in Goa triathlon has increased every year since its inception. Among the dynamics, one thing that has remained constant is the podium position that has always been taken by the legendaryDr. Pablo Erat.His wife Lucia won in the women’s category. Talk about a power couple!

A successful social entrepreneur at the age of 34, Pablo discovered endurance training and became a passionate triathlete.Despite a demanding job, he is a well accomplished amateur Ironman with a personal best of 8 hours and 50 minutes.Over the past 10 years, Pablo has completed 20 full distance Ironman races, participated 5 times at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships, became European Champion in long-distance triathlon and – together with his wife Lucia – became Swiss Champion in ultra-marathon cycling.

“The crown is there for the taking, but I am definitely not giving it away easily”, says Pablo Erat.

TRI MINDS AND BODY.

Triathletes are very performance oriented beings and very fussy over their Garmin data and are extreme gadget freaks. They take pride in their sweat and salt but make the most attractive of all the human species- ask any girl!

Training for a triathlon takes a little bit of planning and self-analysis. Its three sports put together in one place. Traditionally, for any race preparation you need to do some base training, focus more on your skills and then ramp it up by working on speed, strength and improving your cardio vascular system. Here, it literally takes over the triathlete’s life to prepare for the event with three skills. It requires discipline, lot of commitment and training for long hours with social life going on hold.

Triathlons can teach you very important human lessons.That there are actually no limits, once you are on this path, you discover you are stronger than you ever thought you were – both physically and mentally.

“Goa Triathlon is one of my favorite events. It’s well organised and has a great potential to be a top tri event in Asia& the World!” Says Madhurjah Borah, Elite National and International Triathlete.

While the conditions were so challenging to race with heat and humidity playing its crucial role, the timings of the winning teams and solo participants were fantastic – Data don’t lie!

“I’ve done this event two years in a row and it just keeps getting better and better!” says Tom Broun, well-travelled sports enthusiast.

Everything said and done, all that matters is that the after party; post event should be kickass. And there could be no better place than Goa in India to bring down the curtains to the most loved triathlon in the country – the intent is clear and exactly how it should be.