Pune: The youngest participant of the Ultraman Triathlon Australia, best known as endurance challenge, is 20-year-old Shubham Kajale from Pune. Shubham completed the 515 km race triathlon on Sunday.
Ultraman Australia is a series of races that is divided into four stages over three days (10 km of swimming and 140 km of cycling on first day, 280 km of cycling on second day and 85 km of running on the final day) and each day has 12 hours of cut-off time.
“It is thrice tough than Ironman and true challenge of endurance. I managed to complete the Triathlon in 31 hours and 32 minutes in total of three days,” said Shubham.
“My training began eight months back after I received the invitation of the Ultraman race in November last year. I got to know how tough the race is when I saw the course map, which showed the presence of many steep hills, rolling climbs and crosswinds. Thankfully, the climate was sunny and good during the race,” he said.
He further added, “I was also trained to be comfortable with crosswinds and had increased my stamina, strength and patience to cope up with steep hills and rolling climbs. It included interval riding, strength training, interval and aerobic run and also twice in a month I covered one-fourth of the distance of Ultraman.”
Shubham suffered from ‘IT Band Syndrome’ for last two years and had to face a lot of challenges with the pain while running. Dr Avijan Sinha helped him with physiotherapy and cured him. Sinha said, “The syndrome occurs when the iliotibial band that is the ligament that runs down the outside of the thigh from the hip to the shin, is tight or inflamed. The IT band attached to the knee helps to stabilise and move the joint. When the IT band isn’t working properly, movement of the knee and therefore running becomes very painful. Shubham continued his treatment for the last two years and was suggested to put a rigid tape and taper his knees during the run to prevent pain during the race.”
Jyoti Kajale, Subham’s mother said, “It was a proud moment when he completed the event and it was the best Mother’s Day gift that he gave me this year. Moreover, experiencing the race as a crew member and team leader of Subham and his mother is not less than an achievement for me.”
Sanjay Kajale, Subham’s father, said, “Though I missed this event, I am a very proud father of the son who was holding India’s flag in the international grounds for his achievement.” Presently, Shubham is a second-year commerce student of Savitribai Phule Pune University and said that he aspires to become a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and also wants to be a part of some more international races in the future.
