When the Hyderabad ran

A host of events that involved running were organised in the city on Sunday. While two of the events were conducted simultaneously A host of events that involved running were organised in the city on Sunday. While two of the events were conducted simultaneously at People’s Plaza, Necklace Road, the other event, the Hyderabad Triathlon, spanning over nine disciplines, was held at two locations, Gachibowli and Shankarpalli. The events saw participation from people from all walks of life and of various ages, with some as young as five.

Run For Unity

The southern sector of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) organised a half-marathon themed 'Run for Unity' at Necklace Road. The event was held to commemorate the diamond jubilee celebrations of the force, which was first raised in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, back in 1939. Today, it occupies reverence as the world's largest Central Armed Police Force.

IT minister KT Rama Rao graced the event.

The race was open to men and women over 18 years of age. It stretched to 21 km around Necklace Road. Adding to the excitement and to ensure participation of children and senior citizens, a side event 'Fun Run’, which covered a distance of 3 km, was also conducted concurrently.

Triathlon 2014

The fifth edition of the Hyderabad Triathlon was held at two locations in the twin cities with over 1,100 participants across 9 disciplines. While a majority of the flag off happened at Gachibowli stadium, the Half Iron Triathlon event started their day out from the ICFAI campus at Shankarpalli. The triathlon event involves swimming, cycling and running one after another and the duathlon involved running, cycling and running in the orders mentioned respectively.

Over the past five years, the Hyderabad Triathlon has evolved into India’s biggest open triathlon event, attracting India’s top tri-athletes from across the country. The toughest of them was the Three-Fourth Iron which took a good part of the day. Organised by the Great Hyderabad Adventure Club (GHAC) and sponsored by Association of Private Security Agencies (APSA), this flagship event saw participation from different age groups, starting with six-year-old kids to veteran Laxman Rao, who is 75 years old and has taken part in all the editions of triathlons held till now.

“We have seen not just a substantial jump in number of participants but also the quality of their performance,” says Deepam Morparia, event director the triathlon. “We also introduced timing chips for the top level variants so that participants can get the exact timings.”

According to Diyanat Ali, founder of GHAC, “We also had to ensure that safety measures were in place as the Three-Fourth Iron participants had to cycle all the way beyond Chevella. The support action groups along the route ensured that all the athletes were kept hydrated and motivated.”

Diyanat added that the triathlon event will see addition of the Full Iron Triathlon next year making it to international level distance of the Iron category.

All participants who completed their set events received a medal and certificate.