In 1978, U.S. Naval Commander John Collins and his wife Judy issued a challenge. They proposed combining Oahu’s 2.4 mile swim race, 112 mile bike race and 26.2 mile marathon. On February 18, 1978 fifteen competitors, including Collins, travelled to
Waikiki to take on the first-ever IRONMAN challenge.

“Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles- BRAG FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.“
– John Collins, IRONMAN co-founder.

The history of ‘IRONMAN’ as a sport takes us back to 1978 to Hawaii where it actually originated and is considered a holy grail for the world Triathletes. Since then approximately two dozen Ironman events are conducted across the world every year which sees the most excited and the most prepared participation from the amateur and professional triathletes across different age groups of both the genders from all over the world.  In India, where we historically lack the fitness culture, in recent years it has been changing rapidly, it has taken decades to produce just a handful of Ironman Triathletes who have actually been making
India proud with their regular participation and brilliant performances on the international circuits.

‘Ironman Triathlon’ conducted by the World Triathlon Corporation is the most iconic and challenging single day endurance event in the world consisting of 3.84km open water swim, 180.25 km bike and 42.2 km run, raced in the mentioned order without a break and within a strict time limit of 17 hours!

Most Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the race. The race
typically starts at 7:00 a.m.; the mandatory swim cut off for the 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim is 9:20 a.m. (2 hours 20 minutes), the mandatory bike cut off time is 5:30 p.m. (8 hours 10 minutes), and the mandatory marathon cut off is midnight (6 hours 30 minutes). Any participant who manages to complete the triathlon within these timings becomes an Ironman!

Dr. Kaustubh Radkar is the first Indian to finish an Ironman (3.8 km swim, 180 km cycle, 42.2 kms run) in Arizona on Nov 21, 2008.  Since then he has successful Ironman finishes in Canada 2009, Lake Placid 2010 & 2012, Couere D’alene 2011, Australia 2013, Wisconsin 2013. He is the only Indian to qualify and finish the Ironman European Championships held in Frankfurt, Germany on July 6th 2014, as well as Ironman Malaysia on September 27th, 2014 and Ironman Brazil on November 9th 2014, thus creating a record of being the only Indian elite athlete to do so.

On March 29th 2015 after finishing Ironman African Championship, Dr. Radkar has joined a select group of people in the world to have finished as an Ironman on all 6 continents. Dr. Radkar is the only Indian to be raked top 5% in the world for his age group for the year 2013 as well as 2014, by Ironman.  An Ironman race is considered to be one of the toughest sporting events in the world.  Recently he became the First and Only Indian to be an Certified Ironman Coach.

Kaustubh “Kau” Radkar, is another one of India’s Elite swimmers and Ironman athletes. Kaustubh Radkar is considered to be one of India’s elite athletes. A former Indian swimming national champion, he started swimming at the age of 9 and then went on to win medals for Pune, Maharashtra and his University.  He has also represented India in several Asia Pacific
Swimming Championships.

The poster boy of IRONMAN in India, he finished his first race in Arizona in 2008 with a smashing time of 11 hrs 41 mins and 36 secs, the fastest debut for an Indian.  After that he set his sights to finish an Ironman on all 6 continents and achieved this goal on March 29th, 2015 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Kau is the First and only Indian to be an Ironman Certified Coach (Oct 2015), his Tri team RadStrong Tri is the only Tri team from India to be accepted by Ironman. Kau wants to give back to the sport he got so much from. Besides regular coaching for amateur, elite as well as professional Triathletes, He offers a short format skill sharpening clinic “Train with Kau” based on his own experience of racing and training, to help Triathletes  become better. The demand for this workshop in India & 39 best country clubs and swim teams is growing day by day and receiving front page attention in the media.

Kau’s is one of the most inspiring story – and he tells it very well, holding audiences as much with his intellect and wit as his he genuinely easily connect with people. So it is not surprising that with motivational talks in schools, colleges and corporate events, Kaustubh has a diary full of requests for talk based events.

Kaustubh is India First Ironman Certified Coach If you are hoping to take your Triathlon goals to the next level!  Or a runner / cyclist hoping to  finish a triathlon or Half / Full Ironman this program will expose you to the intricacies of the Triathlon.

Besides rigorous training for one weekend, we will also cover different topics such as strength training, nutrition, hydration etc. The Open water training weekend camp gives you an opportunity to learn from one of Ironman’s best swimmers the art of tackling open water swim, how to sight, how to keep calm.  You get to explore clean open water in the backdrop of the Sahyadri Mountains.

The pool based weekend camps are for people to improve on their technique and master the art of transitioning from one sport to another.  He also has a lecture series on topics such as strength training, nutrition, hydration etc.

Athletes looking for world class leadership to support achieving personal best goals and exploring athletic limits can access Kaustubh’s 1-1 personal coaching and consulting.

Coaches can work with Kaustubh to expand their knowledge and experience engaging in coach to coach discussions on best practices’ in athlete preparation across a range of topics that nclude swimming, triathlon or overall
fitness. A&W

source: asia.ironman