Jhansi:

A Jhansi youth completed the gruelling Ironman Triathlon held in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Last year, Bollywood actor Milind Soman had completed the same event in Zurich.

Rajat Pratap Singh, 26, participated along with 960 other contenders from all over the world with a physically demanding 21.1km running, 1.9km swimming in sea and 90km cycling — all in a back-to-back sequence in 80% humidity in the event held on April 3. He was one of the 400 finalists who completed the event in less than 8 hours, earning him the title of Ironman.

He is the only person from UP to have done it so far with a time of 7.07 hrs, almost a hour ahead of the stipulated time. Milind Soman had hit headlines last year for completing the same event in Switzerland at the age of 50. “Six months of hard practice and a strict diet control was what was required to achieve the feat in uncompromising weather conditions, with humidity ranging above 80% in Malaysia during the event,” Rajat told TOI.

Rajat said he could have improved the timing but for a ligament tear half way through the event. “Though doctors advised me to quit the race, I was determined to finish it. I had to do an ice message after every kilometer which spoilt my finish timing,” he added.

Son of a police officer of UP cadre posted in Jhansi, Rajat had left the city in an early stage for studies. He is a hardcore mountaineer who has opened an office in Pune to facilitate trekking enthusiasts.

After his graduation, he worked for a number of media houses but his passion was to “concur the heights”.

“During one of my business trips to Switzerland, I came in contact with some mountaineers who helped me change track in life. Till date I have climbed a number of peaks with the highest one being the 7,400 mts Mt Kabru in Nepal.Now I target Mt Everest or Mt Kanchenjunga if someone can sponsor me,” said Rajat.

His father Sharad Pratap said, “We never wanted our only son to go into adventure sports… we were against Rajat participating in the Ironmman contest, but after he qualified we gave a second thought.”

Rajat now aims to be a fitness icon for the youth. and to climb Mt Everest at the earliest

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kanpur / by Arindam Ghosh / TNN / April 14th, 2016