Sandeep Patil during the cycling leg of the Ironman Copenhagen 2025.
Sandeep Patil, Inspector General of Police for the Karnataka State Reserve Police, completed the Ironman Triathlon in Copenhagen, Denmark, on August 17. Among the world’s toughest one-day endurance events, it includes a 3.8 km swim, 180 km cycle ride, and a 42.2 km run. It was Patil’s first attempt, and he finished it in 14 hours and 45 minutes. “My wife was there at the finish line, but since it was late at night in India, I couldn’t call my kids to tell them I had completed it,” he recalls.
He began training in January this year and recalls swimming as the most challenging part. “Recreational swimming and endurance swimming in open water are two very different things,” he says. In addition to training in the pool, he also had monthly sessions in Gunjur lake. For cycling, he set out on the airport road past the toll booth — his training was disrupted twice after he was hit by two-wheelers. For running, he headed to Cubbon Park and Kanteerava Stadium. Getting used to energy bars and gels to sustain stamina for 13-14 hours on the race day was another challenge, he shares.
In Bengaluru, curd rice was his go-to recovery meal after training. But in Copenhagen, he turned to pasta.