GREATER NOIDA: "Just a few moments before crossing the finishing line, I unfurled the Indian flag and ran holding the flag high. It was one of the greatest moments of my life with people cheering 'India, India'" claims an exhilarated Abhishek Raj , a resident of Stellar Jeevan Apartment Greater Noida West. The senior consultant and unit head of medical oncology at a private hospital (Sarvodaya Hospital) in Faridabad, Raj 38, who returned to India on Wednesday, was one of the 10 participants from India (others from Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, and Hyderabad etc) and first from Greater Noida, out of a total of 2400 individuals from 77 countries who took part in the Ironman Triathlon held in Copenhagen , Denmark, on August 18.
A gruelling multi-sport competition, the Ironman Triathlon is the litmus test of one's grit at fitness and consists of 3.8 km of open water swimming followed by 80 km of cycling and 42.2 km of running all of which must be completed within 17 hours.
Raj completed the feat in 12 hours and 54 minutes. For this, he underwent months of rigorous training of nearly 10-15 hours a week, including online coaching from UK's Daniel Lanigan. Usually, Raj worked out early in the morning around 4-4.
30 am or late at night around 8 o'clock. His primary motivation for participating was to champion the cause of health awareness and a fit life. "I'm a staunch advocate of a healthy lifestyle and consistent exercise is fundamental to enhancing the quality and longevity of life.
Through this participation in the Ironman competition, I sought to convey the message that with determination and effort, any individual can transform the seemingly impossible into a reality," Raj told TOI. One who did his MBBS from the Maulana Azad Medical College, MD from the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS), and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTB) and doctorate of medicine (DM) in medical oncology from AIIMS, all from Delhi, Raj has been always been attracted to sports from early days. "I have been an advocate for inculcating sports into a regime of every child.
Even while doing MBBS, I used to play lawn tennis, badminton, squash and cricket," said Raj who works in Faridabad and lives in Greater Noida West. His inclination towards fitness began due to health issues faced during residency and specialisation at AIIMS New Delhi. "Due to workload and study pressure, I got obese.
My weight went up to 105 kilos at AIIMS. It's a vicious cycle, when you don't work out, you tend to eat unhealthy and you are more stressed and depressed leading to unhealthy diet and lifestyle habits. I started having lifestyle problems like frequent migraine episodes, gastrointestinal reflux, frequent viral infections and borderline hypertension.
In 2016 I decided to take up running to lose weight. I ran my first half marathon in 2016, but after maintaining consistency for a couple of years, I again relapsed into the same vicious cycle of more work, more stress, and less workout and got obese again," said Raj. In 2020, when the Covid pandemic hit India, Raj began home workouts and lost 25 kilos in 6-7 months.
Since then he began looking for different challenges. "I realised that I needed some short-term and long-term goals to keep myself motivated to work out. I knew about the Ironman Triathlon thanks to Milind Soman having done it in 2016.
It immediately caught my attention as it was a true test of endurance, grit and mental toughness. I watched a few videos of the Norseman Triathlon in Norway being the toughest in the world and it inspired me so much that I decided to undergo training for it," he said. But the problem was that Raj didn't know how to swim at all.
"I was afraid of going in the water. I joined swimming classes, but when I didn't make any progress, I stopped. Meanwhile, I continued cycling and running.
Last year, I registered for a half-distance Ironman in Goa and devoted myself to learning swimming. I took 5 lessons a week. But that didn't help much," said Raj.
He goes on, "Swimming in a pool is one thing, but swimming in open water like lakes, oceans or rivers is a different kind of challenge altogether. To train for open water swimming, I went to Goa with coach Indrajeet Khadilkar and finally learnt to swim in July last year and completed my half-ironman in Goa later that year in October 2023. That's when I registered for the full-distance event in Copenhagen," said Raj.
The full Ironman Triathlon is a true test of mental fortitude and physical limits. For this, Raj began taking online coaching from UK-based coach Daniel Lanigan, a triathlete himself. "It required me to train nearly 10-15 hours a week.
Usually, I work out very early in the morning around 4-4.30 or late at night around 8 o'clock. You have to make adjustments in your life to be able to find time to train.
It's all about priorities. I would still do my usual hospital work and give time to my family and my beautiful daughter. Sometimes, I would train at bizarre hours even at 2 am.
On weekdays, I would usually train for 1-2 hours. On Sundays, I undertake long 6-7 hours of cycling and running workouts," said Raj. After 9-10 months of intensive training and the support of his family especially wife, Dr Ritika Gulati who looked after their 6-year-old daughter in his absence and coach Lanigan who was a mentor and a friend, Raj was ready.
He reached Copenhagen on Aug 14, 5 days prior to the event to acclimatise himself to the cooler temperature and to get used to swimming in colder water. The race went well, the crowd support was amazing and it seemed like the entire city of Copenhagen was out on the street supporting all the athletes. "There were 2400 athletes in total from 77 nations.
I finished my 3.8 km of swimming in the sea in 1 hour 45 minutes, 180 km of cycling in 6 hours and 7 minutes and 42.2 km of running in 4 hours and 38 minutes completing the whole event in 12 hours and 54 minutes," said Raj.
He goes on, "Just a few moments before crossing the finishing line, I unfurled the Indian national flag and ran to the finish line holding it high. That was one of the greatest moments of my life with people cheering India India." While the Greater Noida West neighbourhood hasn't stopped rejoicing his triumph, citing him as an inspiration for the area, in his free time, Raj likes to play the drums and listen to Indian, Western classical and metal music.
Son of a child specialist in Bihar and a housewife mother, Raj has a younger sister..
