Triathlon
Chronicles Of The Ironman And Triathletes
If you haven’t known real-life superheroes before, meet these top Pakistani Ironman triathletes and marathon runners.
Much is changing in a country where successful people meant sizable middle-aged guys in expensive suits, and roadblocks would usually just mean another political procession. One refreshing change is the Ironman contest – an increasingly popular yet the most difficult one-day sports competition in the world.
Pakistan – with more athletes participating and more clubs to train them – shows immense potential to have a strong community in the years to come.
Participants from Pakistan at Istanbul Marathon
© Istanbul Marathon
Much of the heroism of the Ironman comes from the triathletes covering impressive distances during competitions and pushing their limits to shatter their way through the finish line. Triathlon is both a competition and a confrontation. You fight at a distance, and the joy of overcoming an impossible challenge for most people lasts for a long time and motivates you to new goals and plans.
Ironman has particularly attracted the youth, and while some see it as an opportunity to extend their hobbies, many are set out to make history on the land, water, and wheels.
Recently, eight marathon runners participated in the Istanbul Marathon 2021 and made their presence felt.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT PACERS
Founder Wednesday Night Pacers, Danish Raza has been running the club for the past three years and has participated in several international Marathons and Ironman. He finished fourth for Pakistan at the recently held Ironman 70.3 Turkey. While he went for the Marathon with eight other runners from his club, only Ammar Amin was beside him in the Ironman.
The Ironman 70.3 triathletes go through intensive bouts of three non-stop stages, including 90 km cycling, 21.1 km running, and 1.9 km swimming, all in the same suit. Swimming in the sea is not easy, but quite enough a cardio to put your heart on fire. For Danish Raza, this was something that he could not practice in Pakistan, especially Karachi.
Karachi doesn’t see winters before the competition, which makes it challenging to train in the real environment.
"The sea is too rough in summers and not fit for training. By the time the sea settles, it's way past the dates of international competitions.”
While it might seem easier to train for cycling, Danish Raza couldn’t find any facilitated infrastructure to make it any easy. Trainers have to go on the 12 km long road towards the sea to cycle in loops, which breaks the flow. Within the city, the only slot open for daily routine training is between 5 am to 7:30 am. Missing this slot means missing a day.
Danish Raza - Wednesday Night Pacers
© Istanbul Marathon
Danish Raza also explained how the law-and-order situation in the city affects the cyclists who often lose their expensive gadgets to the snatchers. Thankfully, running is the easiest part to train in Pakistan.
When we talked about the future of triathlons in the country, Danish Raza mentioned a small-scale local tournament to be held in Gwadar. Seven to eight triathletes will compete for the title. He thinks that the success of this tournament will tell a lot about the tendency of the country towards this sport, and determine if we will see other higher-level tournaments in future.
Danish Raza
© Danish Raza
Danish Raza thinks that with proper support, upcoming Pakistani stars like Amin can become an internationally acclaimed player for Pakistan.
WHAT DETERMINATION LOOKS LIKE
If you want to know what determination looks like, watch the 20-year-old runner Amin Muktay killing it in the Marathons. If you had seen Muktay five years ago, when he first started running to shrug off his 110kg weight, you wouldn’t believe that he’d run a marathon. Something he started doing to get in shape took him to meet WNP, a running group led by Danish Raza.
Muktay was just 15 when he set out to lose weight with his friend and tried out different sports, including CrossFit, gym, running, and kickboxing. For some reason, he got hooked to running. It was just another day of routine running in the park when Danish Raza, his mentor, picked him.
Danish Raza asked if he wanted to join the runners who aim to participate in the international events, and Muktay has shared their vision of global participation since then. He started off with a 5km race, then 15km, then 21km and finally reached 42km running. In his words, it was his destiny that led him to this journey.
While Muktay is yet to run in international Marathons, his muscular body is bold evidence of all the practice he has been doing, including gym, CrossFit and kickboxing.
He recently took part in his first international event, N Kolay Istanbul Marathon, and thanks to all the practice he did in Karachi, he performed better than he did in the local event. His time of 2 hours 59 minutes and 55 seconds led him to the qualification of the Boston Marathon, which is the dream of every marathon runner.
Danish Raza with Amin Mukaty at Istanbul Marathon
© Danish Raza
The Istanbul Marathon exemplified his true sportsman spirit. His legs gave up to cramps after running 30 km, but Muktay kept running to finish the race. He was then unable to walk for four days after the race, but to him, it was worth it. He is still recovering from the muscles injury.
With Danish Raza’s support, Muktay is now preparing to participate in the 2023 edition of the race. He is planning to begin training six months before the Marathon under a USA-based coach.
THE MARATHON FINISHER
A 25-year-old female Marathon Runner Anum Jahangir, who has been working out for the past five years as a hobby, describes it as a warm steamy bath on a cold winter evening,
"You never really feel like doing it, but when you do, you don't want it to end. It's always that good.”
Anum Jahangir is a business consultant at Aga Khan University, and her first run was during her work tour to Africa in February 2020. Her African colleagues requested her to join them for a run in the forest. She decided to take it as an opportunity to test herself, but after five minutes into the run, she thought she was going to collapse. More than a forest adventure, it was a reality check for Anum that made her question her physical fitness.
This is how her remarkable journey began, leading her to become an expert runner. In early 2021, Anum Jahangir decided to take part in the 5 km racing event in Karachi organized by Sports in Pakistan.
"Obviously, I didn't do well that day but managed to complete my first 5 km run by taking several walking breaks.”
She later joined a group, 'Seaview Runners Club (SVRC)', in mid-2021. She met people who were preparing for the year-end races. After training with them for two months, she managed to run her first half marathon (21 km) at a racing event on August 14th. She soon decided to get out of her comfort zone and sign up for a Marathon.
"Initially, I was just tempted to test my potential and see whether I had in me to become a part of that 0.01% of the world's population who have completed a marathon.”
There were several ups and downs during her training period of six months. She often questioned herself if she is doing the right thing and will it go as planned? Showing up to the runs every single day, stepping out at dawn – all of this isn't easy. She constantly reminded herself that she was doing it for herself, and she must trust the process.
She participated in her first international Marathon N Kolay Istanbul Marathon which she remembers as the best day of her life and the day when she fell in love with this sport.
"The most challenging part of this sport is to keep your head right and trust that it's going to come around for you at the end, and it did on November 07, 2021.”
Describing her experience, she said that the atmosphere, energy, and being amongst 40,000 people running 42.2 kms on a Sunday certainly felt euphoric.
"When I say I smiled my way through the Bosphorus Bridge all the way towards the finish, I really mean it. If time froze and my muscles could keep going, I would probably just keep going. I was happy for crossing the finish line of the Istanbul Marathon. I had a huge smile knowing I just finished my first ever Marathon, and that too in a great time," said Anum, who completed in 4 hours 44 minutes and 11 seconds.
She also highlighted some of the challenges that women runners face in Pakistan. She said that she can't even remember the number of times she has been interrupted in unpleasant and sometimes frightening ways during her long runs. "It's always best to run in a group or with a male runner. Running alone on the roads is not even an option for us.”
This is not the stop for her. She wants to learn from the takeaways from this event to keep going and do better. She is now more focused on her new goal, which is time-based and no more distance-based.
"Never say never. Maybe one day, I'll be running my first Ironman. Who knows?"
THE NEW IRONMAN
Ammar Amin, the first runner-up triathlete for Pakistan at the Ironman Turkey 70.3, says he has been preparing for the Ironman since last winter since the sea is rough during the summers. Champions find a way around the problems, and while we mentioned the swimming in the sea issue earlier, Amin avoided the problem by getting a hold of the sea a year before.
Ammar Amin at the Ironman Turkey 70.3
© Istanbul Marathon
The 28-year-old triathlete had his first Ironman, and he knew from last year that he would participate in the 2021 edition. He made the best use of the three-month period he had in 2020 and practiced swimming in the sea.
While Ammar Amin pointed to the same challenges as Raza and Muktay did, Amin feels that there’s always a way around the problems if you’re determined and willing to dedicate yourself to it. Hearing out his interesting remarks makes you wonder one thing – this is a winner’s mindset. Finding solutions to complex problems is the way to win, and overcoming these challenges is what sets you apart from the crowd. Otherwise, how are you even different?
Ammar Amin with Danish Raza and Dawar Sultan
© Istanbul Marathon
Ammar Amin had his mind set to it a year before, and he stayed committed to the goal. He knew he had to be a part of Ironman Turkey 2021, so he prepared himself in advance. After the three-month practice in the sea, he used all the learning in the pool and built his skills accordingly.
Although he is a Chartered Accountant who is running a family business, Ammar Amin is determined to take part in Ironman once a year to keep his passion alive.
Hasan Tajdar, Dawar Sultan, Ammar Amin, Danish Raza & Shahrukh Qureshi
© Istanbul Marathon