Utimate Survival: Growing charm for Triathlon as adventure Sport Among Indian Women

Today, women are defining new ways of exploring the world, they are leaving behind trails to different undiscovered aspects of the Earth. They are pushing their boundaries and have left no corner untouched, be it leisure solo travel, adventure sports like scuba diving, running, biking, river rafting or even record-breaking Triathlons. We have Anu Vaidhyanathan, Anju Khosla, Kopal Goyal from India to have completed national and international Triathlons be it Ironman, Ultraman etc.

Triathlon is basically a multirace with three continuous races i.e. running, cycling and swimming. Transition areas are set up for the participants to change gears for the next segment. This is one sport that requires tremendous mental strength and expensive strength training.

Though the triathlon championships like Ironman and Ultraman began and held internationally, Ultimate Survival Campsite founded by Major RC Sharma ( Retd) is one such orgainisation that is fostering the spirit of this adventure sport in India given the dynamicity of Indian geography, from mountains to beaches, rivers to oceans, islands to desserts, to offer to its fun-loving and adventure-driven tourists.

They organise Kangra X-country run, Shivalik Ultra run, biking etc. This is the first time they are organising Triathlon.

Increased women participation 

We receive participation from 400 people annually out of which 35-40 are women. Pleasant to watch rise in female participation and enthusiasm in India offlate, observes Major RC Sharma (Retd), director ultimate survival campsite. Like every other adventure sport even this sphere had male dominance. But many movements and activities worldwide have given women a fair chance to compete in triathlons.

The hashtag activism initiated in 2015. It was named 50womentokona, a movement that called for the Ironman World Championship to change its practice of unequal distribution of pro spots in the race, where 50 spots were reserved for men while just 35 for women. The movement was able to bring about a positive change.

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games looming, 2019 turned out to be a promising year for triathlon. This is particularly as more and more women are embracing the sport, comprising 32% of the triathlon community in 2018 compared to just 26% as recently as 2013.

According to TIA's (Triathlon Industry Association) research showed female triathletes raise more fund for charity. You will be glad to know that according to the research women are more likely to participate in a training camp or overseas training holiday than their male counterparts.

Indian Women Triathlon Stars

Anu Vaidyanathan was 34-year-old woman when she became the first Indian Triathlete to compete in the Ironman and the first Asian to complete Ultraman Canada triathlon. She backed this up with the Ironman Canada, three weeks later, becoming the only athlete to do so in the history of the race. She describes her ordeal of the training period. She would wake up before the sun to get to run on empty roads and after the training sessions, she had to cover herself fully in a sack as people used to throw ugly comments. Her book titled 'Anywhere But Home: Adventures in Endurance' (Harper Collins) talks about how Vaidyanathan stumbled upon triathlon and the various struggles she had to face as a woman to continue in the sport.

Anju Khosla has achieved what is very rare. On July 1st, she completed the Ironman Triathlon in Carinthia, Austria and became the oldest Indian woman ever do to so, at the age of 52. Anju Khosla completed the extremely difficult event in 15 Hours, 54 minutes and 54 seconds. Khosla has been doing triathlons for a while now and plans on continue doing so in the future, albeit with her husband at her side.

New Delhi based Kopal Goyal, a filmmaker by profession pursued rock climbing as she was driven towards the thrill associated, and is helping broaden the scope for women in extreme sports with her pet project called Wild Women. Kopal is a member of the alternative and adventure sports community in India. With the help of her cross-country project, she is celebrating the achievements of women in these sports that people often have failed to spot and notice. The mission of Project Wild Women is to give voices to female athletes and advance their lives., says Kopal.

So, if you are a woman who is a bit crazy to let go of your age and where you come from, it's about time to plan to be a part of triathlon and experience your own power. It is safe, exciting and accessible simultaneously. You learn how to survive in the given circumstances and enjoy the scenic beauty of Himachal Pradesh. Ultimate Survival Campsite is organising back to back three events in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, in April 2020.

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