"Overall fitness, running and triathlon is a way of life for me and I am constantly racing and training,” stated Delhi based Adil Nargolwala who had signed up for 27 marathons, big and small, national and international in 2023. As compared to him, KurushWadia and Burzin Engineer participate in fewer events.
"Last month I ran the 40th edition of the Athens marathon. It’s the original race run on a route set for the First Olympic games in 1896.” Starting at Marathon (a coastal town on the east coast of Greece) and ending at the Panathenaic Olympic stadium in Athens, he covered the 42.4 km distance in 4 hrs, 28 mins, 21 secs ranking 7,115 among 17,073 runners. "It’s a tough race. Starts at 9 a.m. and has 25 km of ascent with direct sun over most of the route. The temperature is in the low to mid 20s. I am happy with my performance considering (I was) holidaying across Greece for the previous two weeks. A very emotional finish being cheered by thousands who gather to greet the runners,” mentioned Nargolwala in his Facebook post.
Adil and Rinchen Nargolwala
Kurush Wadia
Burzin Engineer
Possibly the only Parsi who had signed up for this race, the venue was of special significance to Nargolwala. According to him, the origin of this race lies in the Persian-Greek war that the Persians lost. "Legend has it that Pheidippides, an Athenian, ran from the town of Marathon to the city of Athens in 500 BC bringing in the news of victory in battle against the Persians and then collapsing from his Herculean effort and dying. Being the original marathon, it’s the Holy Grail for over 60,000 runners across various distances who came to run from across 140 countries and was on my bucket list for a while. For me it was a special race as I am Persian by descent and this loss in battle started the decline of the great Persian empire which was further routed 150 years later by another Greek, Alexander.” Adil’s wife Rinchen completed the 10 km run in Athens.
"I am the only Indian who has done the Ultraman, Ironman, six major world marathons and seven marathons in seven continents including the Antarctica,” added Adil. The toughest of them all, the Ultraman challenge that he completed in 2019, involves 10 km swimming followed by 424 km of cycling and 84 km of running.
As compared to the Ultraman, the Goa Ironman in which he participated on October 8, 2023 involves 1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km running "(It) is a very grueling race considering the tropical hot and humid climate, hilly route and coastal winds.” Ranking sixth in his age group of 50-54 years, he completed the race in 6 hrs, 42 mins, 9 secs giving him an overall ranking of 141 among 1,440 participants.
Having already signed up for half a dozen events in 2024, including the Goa Ironman challenge, the vice president of the Delhi Parsi Anjuman mentioned that he is the only Parsi from Delhi to participate in marathons and sees a handful of others from Bombay participating in the events. For Adil, "Training never stops.” While it is mainly self-training and discipline that keeps him going, he occasionally avails of guidance from a professional who helps him plan.
Participating in his fourth Ironman 70.3, Wadia completed the Goa Ironman in October with a total time of 6 hrs, 43 mins, 37 secs. The swim took him 49 mins, 12 secs, the bicycle ride 3 hrs, 3 mins, 55 secs and the run 2 hrs, 39 mins, 14 secs. He ranked 26th in his age group of 40-44 years. His gender rank was 138 and his overall rank 149. He too commented on "Goa’s hot and humid conditions.” He has participated in triathlons of this distance at Ironman 70.3 Colombo and Turkey in 2018 and Ironman 70.3 Goa in 2022. He plans to attempt a couple of more such Ironman 70.3 challenges in 2024.
Engineer completed the course in 7 hrs, 36 mins, 52 secs, ranking 65 in his 30 to 34 age group, and 317 out of 1,440 participants. In the previous year his timing was 7 hrs, 56 mins, 31 secs and he stood 471 out of 1,550 participants. "Beating my own record… gave me a different kind of high and it doesn’t stop here,” commented Engineer. Running his fitness company Tyro Transformation, he said, "There were days when I started work at 5 a.m. and ended at 9.30 p.m. and then trained till midnight. There were days when my body would yell ‘enough for today, just go home.’ But as they say, ‘triathletes don’t quit.’ No one’s coming to push you. It’s you vs you on every day of your training. Your mindset is your biggest weapon. Your results don’t decide if you’re a winner or not, your hard work does.” Beginning January he will be training for the Ironman World Championship to be held in one of the European countries which involves 3.8 km swim, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km running. Being called to the podium with the flag of his country "will be the biggest achievement of my life,” he believes. "I would like to thank my parents for pushing me and also my therapist Dr Rohann Bokdawala,” acknowledged Engineer.