<p>India’s first duathlon on its longest elevated highway also raised a toast to the growing appetite for the event among Bangalore’s running and cycling enthusiasts. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Sunday’s event saw the men running 2.5 km to start with and then take their bicycles out for a 18 km ride and round off the event with another 2.5 km run. <br /><br />In the men’s corporate relay, one member of the team took the 2.5 km run first and returned to hand over the bib to his team-mate, who then bicycled on the 18 km course route. After the completion of the ride, the first runner anchored the final 2.5 km to cap off the event. <br /><br />Participants at the competition were all for the lesser heralded event and yearned for more in the coming days. <br /><br />Neera Katwal, the duathlon women’s winner, patted the organisers for hosting the not so well-known but emerging event. “It’s a very good start as far as duathlons are concerned. There are lots of people like me who would love to be a part of this and we need to encourage it,’’ Neera, who stood second in the women’s event of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon early this year, added. <br /><br />“In fact, we should gradually move into holding triathlons since there are athletes in the city who are keen on competing there as well,’’ she said. <br /><br />Deepak Kaushik from Delhi echoed Neera’s thoughts saying it was a wonderful concept. “I had never seen or heard anything like this before so it was quite an experience for me,’’ the 32-year-old Wipro engineer added. <br /></p>
<p>India’s first duathlon on its longest elevated highway also raised a toast to the growing appetite for the event among Bangalore’s running and cycling enthusiasts. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Sunday’s event saw the men running 2.5 km to start with and then take their bicycles out for a 18 km ride and round off the event with another 2.5 km run. <br /><br />In the men’s corporate relay, one member of the team took the 2.5 km run first and returned to hand over the bib to his team-mate, who then bicycled on the 18 km course route. After the completion of the ride, the first runner anchored the final 2.5 km to cap off the event. <br /><br />Participants at the competition were all for the lesser heralded event and yearned for more in the coming days. <br /><br />Neera Katwal, the duathlon women’s winner, patted the organisers for hosting the not so well-known but emerging event. “It’s a very good start as far as duathlons are concerned. There are lots of people like me who would love to be a part of this and we need to encourage it,’’ Neera, who stood second in the women’s event of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon early this year, added. <br /><br />“In fact, we should gradually move into holding triathlons since there are athletes in the city who are keen on competing there as well,’’ she said. <br /><br />Deepak Kaushik from Delhi echoed Neera’s thoughts saying it was a wonderful concept. “I had never seen or heard anything like this before so it was quite an experience for me,’’ the 32-year-old Wipro engineer added. <br /></p>
