Ghumakkad in Hindi means 'the wanderer'. That is what I am. On the move any time anywhere! This blog chronicles Ghumakkad's travels/teachings/learnings around the globe as picture stories. In addition, there are Picturesque Quotes (PQs) created using my pictures. Enjoy it. If you have also been to the places/topics described here, please feel free to add to the content. Your comments/ suggestions are welcome.
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Ironman- Who Did Not Finish
Friday, 5 September 2025
2nd Time Ironman Ki Kahani - Ankush Ki Zubani
2nd time ironman! That is Ankush, our son. We had posted the story 'When the Buoy Dunked An Ironman' the same day. But the official pictures came later along with the story by Ankush himself. Sharing his Four part narration which is gripping as well as inspiring. Thanks Son and keep it up. Over to Ankush.
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Ironman Tallinn Race Chronicle. I finished my second full distance Ironman (3.8km swim + 180km bike + 42.2 km run) at Tallinn, Estonia on 23rd Aug 2025.
Covering the journey across four posts as Pre-Race, Swim, Bike, Run.
Pre-Race
The start of this one dates back to 2024 when I looked at Tallinn to be the place where I aimed at my first full-iron finish. But guys at Sweden and Estonia embassies had different thoughts. Rather than a first Ironman finish, I got my first visa rejection, and from not one but 2 countries 😃. End of the dream at least for 2024
Anyways, signed up IM NZ 2025 next day where the magical first ironman finish happened in March 2025 at Taupo! (Ed: You may browse the story of Ankush's finish at New Zealand Ironman here)
On the side, Ironman guys at Estonia were grateful enough to consider the visa rejection and give a FREE slot into Ironman Tallinn 2025 which I grabbed without any hesitation. After all, who would not love two full Ironman’s in a year!
And so after Taupo was done in March, and the broken ribs suffered there were healed by end of May, I started training with full gusto for Tallinn. Overdid it and ended up with a knee injury (Patella Tendon) that would sideline running for the next 10 weeks all the way up to race day!
Thankfully it didn’t hamper swimming at all, and only partly the bike. Was able to put in a few long rides in Training and was confident of a steady pain-free ride. So here I was landing up at Tallinn in August with ZERO running training!
The first impression upon reaching was – COLD! Didn’t anticipate such cold weather and after soaking in one day and night, it was clear that the biggest challenge would be the weather than the course itself. Did a recee ride of one loop of the course, which was good and also a 10k controlled run+walk to get a feel of the course. A couple of chilly swims over the next two days and it all looked set!
Time to visit the expo, finish check-in formalities, setup the Transition Bags and prepare for bike racking!
With the man who got us to hear about Ironman - Milind Soman and Ironman Rockstar Ankita!
The wet suit
All Bags!
My trusted steed 🙂
Swim course being readied. Took eternity for the marker buoys to be positioned.
Just after racking the bike on the eve of race day, we got intimated that the race start had been delayed by 3 hours from 6.30 am to 9.30 am due to the morning temperature prediction of a mind-numbing 5 degrees! Helped feel a little better with a mid-morning start at 9.30 am but the weather stayed cold through the day.
More on that in the individual reports below. But what an Ironman finish really brings to the fore is how and where you derive your energy from.
In my case those sources are:
1. Prayers - Hanumanji was summoned multiple times 🙂
2. The feeling of mum watching from above. Like protecting her child always!
3. All the countless training hours that have been clocked and backing yourself up with that
4. The loved ones waiting at home for you to finish
5. Biggest of all - your own WHY!
Swim
Lining up at the swim start of an Ironman is always a goosebumps moment. At Taupo it was the Maori Haka, here it was arms around each other, eyes closed and thinking about WHY you are here! And then the battle-cry!
Swimming is my weakest discipline, from a speed and comfort perspective (inherent fear of water!). Somehow I’ve never really developed comfort in swimming with tens of swimmers splashing around me. Got a kick on my face that put me off-rhythm in Taupo, and similarly got smothered at the first turn here by some athletes to the extent that I was gasping for air and had to get to a kayak to pause and get my breath back!
And from there the real trouble started. Fogging up of my swim goggles. I couldn’t sight any buoy at all and it panicked me further. All I did in lap 1 was swim 100m, look for the next kayak, hold on to it, lift the goggles, see the next buoy and aim for it. Repeated this eight times! Timing went for a toss.
I had another mishap in lap 1 when I got stuck under one of the Red-turn buoys while swimming around it. It floated over me and each time I changed direction, it stayed over me. Scary moment where I somehow pulled myself from under it and got some much wanted air! Took a painstaking slowest-ever 1h6m to complete just lap 1 (1900m) and for the first time I got the gutting thought if I would even make the cut-off of 2h20m.
Thankfully at the lap change on the pontoon, fortunes turned. When I went in for the second lap, I was among the last 5 athletes left in the water (Yes! last 5 out of 1088!) but that meant just calm all around 🙂 also cleaned the goggles once and they stayed good.
Swam a lonely second lap but with a very relaxed rhythm and completed the remaining swim in 54 min plus the walk to transition in 4 min, in an overall disappointing time of 2h4m, but very relieved that it got done. My pre-race target for swim was to better my Taupo time of 1h48m. But that's for next time now.
And It Starts!
Hundreds of swimmers splashing!
After an as-planned transition of 18 grand minutes 😃, in which I took on a buffet of bananas, a croissant, gels, peanut chikkis and had conversations with Saif, Ankita, Milind and said Hi to Prabhjoth Bhargava over a video call too 😃 , It was now time for my favourite part of the race, the Bike!
Had planned to conserve the ailing knee and not go all out but maintain a steady 24kph, that meant each 60k loop in 2h30m, and I stuck precisely to that. The cold, wind and rain made the arms shiver on the bike especially on downhill sections, and that shivering translated onto the handlebars too 🙂 Each time the course went into the village section, I would start praying to god to keep me safe from a puncture! The roads there were chip-seal type. But amazing landscape and picture perfect surroundings.
Having learnt the very hard way at Taupo of how NOT to throw garbage off a moving bike 🙂 , I stopped once every lap to dispose off empty gel pouches and take on fresh bottles of electrolytes and nutrition!
So 3 prayers, 10 Gels, 4 bananas, 5 electrolyte bottles, 180kms, and lots of shivering later, I finished the bike in an exact planned time of 7h32min. Legs were fresh, HR was averaging around 140bpm and I was ready for the run.
Picture perfect village roads in Tallinn
Stuffed till the brim as i headed out for the 180km bike!
Aero!
More Aero!
Pushing Hard!
And harder!
Run
This was where I was getting into the unknown and was most nervous about.
I hadn’t run since June 14th and whatever little I had tried had not lasted beyond 12-13 mins before unbearable knee pain would take over. The plan was to have a go at the start and see till where it lasts pain free, and if the pain comes, then drop to a walk + run or just a walk in the worst case. But there would have to be sufficient time at hand to walk (hated the idea of walking itself though since the ironman is swim bike RUN!!!)!
The course was 4 loops of about 10.5 Km each. I ran (<10% walk) the first 20K in 2hr30m and was very happy. Was getting hopes of a sub-5h run. And then the pain came from the 21st Km onwards. I didn’t take any chances and dropped to a 50% walk+ 50% run combo. It also had become very cold and dark by now and I picked up a woolen pullover to add to my tri-suit and a skin-tight layer that I was already wearing. 3 layers in all along with cycling gloves which i held on to for the run!
Completed the next 21 Kms in 3 hours for an overall 5h30 min marathon time. To me this was a huge accomplishment in context of where I was on my running training!
Crossing the finish line (at 1.40 AM) and hearing "Ankush, You are an Ironman!!" was a different level of satisfaction unlike Taupo where it was first-timer’s elation. Here it was about how a measured and controlled effort can still get you the perfect result and how to listen to your body! Overall Time 15h41m31s
Overall I was very happy with the post-race energy levels. Showered up at the venue, had a salad bowl and walked home with the bike at 3 AM. Was back at 9 AM cheering our 70.3 friends 🙂
That's a wrap up! Can’t wait for the next – IRONMAN Hamburg on June 7 2026! Pictures follow:
Started the run a bit before sunset that happens so late in those parts!
Before darkness fell and got freezing cold!Four laps of 10.5Kms
And the run up the red carpet!
Finished!
Sunday, 2 March 2025
Ankush Does It! The Ironman
"Ankush Bhargava You Are An Ironman" blasted the speaker over and above the loud music at the Finish Line of Ironman New Zealand 2025 (IMNZ-2025) at Taupo! The sweetest six words ever! It couldn't have been more thrilling than this.
"Well done, well done, Son! Superb," is all I could say! He completed the gruelling Ironman 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42.2 km run in 15 hours 57 minutes! No mean feat. See the short video clip below.
Ankush is now an Ironman!
Two years of even more gruelling workouts and practice (and missing out on an event in Talin in 2024 due to visa challenges). 5AM onwards every day. Even earlier on the weekends.
Every week, 150-200 kms of swim, bike, run besides strength training. All this along with his job and parenting tasks (his spouse Prabs has been away setting up her venture in Hyderabad). That is Ankush for you at 46 years of young age!
After the finish, his reaction: "It was a different experience" with teary eyes!
Starting the swim at 8 am in Lake Taupo, he crossed the finish line three minutes before mid night! Most of us can't even walk for 16 hours at a stretch leave alone swim, bike and run consecutively! But Ironman athletes are a tougher variety. They keep going.
Near Miss
Ironman (IM) athletes don't give up even after accidents or injuries. Of course, IM athletes receive God's blessings for their persistent hard work. As the Hindi couplet by Sant Kabir Das goes:
जा को राखे साइयां मार सकै ना कोए
बाल न बांका कर सकै जो जग बैरी होए
Roughly translated it means that one who is sheltered by God, can not be harmed in any way even if the whole world goes against him. We are grateful to God for sheltering and protecting Ankush from all harms. Sharing few incidents both before and after the IM event.
Hit by a Motorbike in Chennai
While preparing for the Ironman, Ankush was doing a long ride on the East Coast Road in Chennai on a Sunday morning. He does it regularly to build up endurance. One day a group of motor-bikers were overtaking him. One of them who was doing a wheely, crashed his motorbike on Ankush. He got injured with a hole on his elbow. He lay bleeding on the road and was helped by a rider passing by. Later my grandson Ansh brought him home. The injury meant loss of few months of workouts. The wound took few months to heal (still healing 8 months after the accident!). God only saved him. But it also gave the ladies in the family an opportunity to dissuade Ankush from participating in such 'dangerous' sport. I had to step in and convince everyone that accidents can happen anywhere. Therefore, we must let Ankush continue.
The Night Before IM
Like any athlete before a major competition, Ankush too had anxiety the night before the race. After an early dinner, both of us hit the bed. After two hours of tossing and turning, Ankush woke me up saying he can't sleep. During Ironman Malaysia too he couldn't sleep the whole night. Result- he couldn't finish the race. Sleep is most important before a day long endurance event like this.
I tried calming him down and also gave one tab each of Dolo and Citrazine. Prayers to God also helped. He managed to catch 4.5 hrs of sleep. Ready to go the next morning.
So, for a Dad there is never a dull moment.
Swimmer's Kick on the Face
Mass start of the swim in deep waters is a melee. During the transition briefing a day before, it was cautioned 'Keep clear of the crowd during the start. You don't want to be in a washing machine with 1000 swimmers!' That is precisely what happened with Ankush. He got an accidental kick on his face during the start. It dazzled him. He was gasping for air and gulped some water. Still disoriented, it took him a while to regain his composure. Result: He went off track and lost a couple of minutes in the starting itself!
Sharing a few pictures of Haka, the Maori dancers who came in a boat and Ankush swimming at a distance.

Swim Tracker Halts
We came to know of his 'deadly' start of the swim later. However, more drama was unfolding earlier. After about an hour of the swim, Ankush's tracker stopped on IMNZ App. It didn't move at all for next 20 minutes or so. A stationary tracker signifies a race abort due to injury etc. Such unpleasant thoughts started flooding our mind. Prabs and Ashi too observed it in India and USA respectively. I then rang up IMNZ number which was busy. Sent an email requesting them to confirm all was well. By then more than 30 minutes had elapsed. Another call. The person answered saying sometimes the tracker chip worn by the athlete may have got stuck or malfunctioned. Still we requested him to check with the teams at the swim site. After a minute or so he called back to confirm that none of the athletes appeared stuck or otherwise. The tracker was still stuck close to the finish line for 40 minutes now. I requested him to once again confirm that all was well with Bib No. 793. After two minutes we saw the tracker moving magically. Same time he called back to confirm that Ankush was nearing the swim exit and moving towards bike transition. Similar confirmation came on email. It was such a big relief. We all know that we should remain positive at all times, but at such junctures negative thoughts sprout like giant mushrooms and cloud our thinking. We appreciate the prompt response of IMNZ teams.
Bike Crash
Ankush was riding the bike steadily through the countryside. In his words, "The countryside is so beautiful with hundreds of cows in adjoining fields. One cow spotted me and all others turned their faces together. It gave its call 'Baunn baunn' as if saying 'all the best' to me". As announced earlier, at any Aid Station, the riders could discharge their gel packets, bottles and other trash in wide trash bins while riding. While discharging an empty water bottle and other trash with one hand, he lost balance and tumbled near the 57th km ais station. He crashed on the road. With bruised right thigh, left rib cage and a cracked carbon handle bar, he was moved by the volunteers to the Aid Station. Equipped with a para-medic, bike mechanic and IM Staff they said "We can't allow you to continue the race with a cracked handle bar." Mercifully the para medic cleared him. With Ankush's reasoning that he will be riding more on the aero bars and not on the handle bar, they agreed for him to continue the race. But his handle bar was taped up around the crack. He lost 15 minutes or so. Our IM tracker app showed no movement. But we did not know that he had a crash. Once again, God saved him. He pressed on. No pictures of the crash, just memories! Once again God saved him from being severely injured and being aborted from the race.
As he crossed at 84km spot, where I used to sit and cheer him, he did say 'Had a crash'! Couldn't record it but a second later as he whizzed past, I asked the volunteer whether he was aware of any crash uphill. He said he also heard the biker say it. Then he added "But he looked fine" and I nodded. We let it be. See the last part of the video clip below.
What Ankush's Son Said
[01/03, 22:54 New Zealand time] Ansh Bhargava (Final year of undergrad in Chennai): Crazy man he is, I slept woke up, ate, ran a 5k, played tennis, slept again and he's still at it😭😭
[01/03, 22:54] Ansh Bhargava: Insane
[01/03, 22:57] Harsh Bhargava (Grand dad in New Zealand with Ankush): Not insane, but passionate 👍
[01/03, 23:00] Ansh Bhargava: Insanely passionate!!
The Medal
A metallic medal so beautifully designed was awarded to all IMNZ25 finishers within the cut off time of 17 hours. The medal could be engraved with the name and time taken by the Ironman for swim, bike and run. See the pictures of the medal of both sides. First picture is taken against the blue sky, a characteristic of Taupo and New Zealand.
We all in the family are so thrilled on Ankush's achievement. He has made us all proud.
On a personal front, it was a challenging outing for me. My brother who had been operated for cancer developed sepsis and was in critical condition when I left Jaipur on 20th Feb. He passed away while I was in New Zealand. I could neither perform his last rites nor attend the Tiye ki Baithak (3rd day rituals after the demise) in Jaipur. But my presence here in New Zealand and Ankush's success as an Ironman, gave me some kind of solace. Thank you God for giving me the strength to cope with the situation.
Those of you wanting to know more about Ironman, please browse our curtain raiser linked below:
Before we close, a special round of applause for the entire org team of IMNZ-2025 including the volunteers and the people of Taupo who came in large numbers to cheer the bikers and the runners. They had pitched their tents with chairs, barbecue and all, to cheer the runners along the lake, late into the night on Saturday 1st March.




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