City forest officer picks offbeat trail, completes Ironman

For the uninitiated, the Ironman event comprises a 3.8km swim, 180km bicycle ride and a 42.2km marathon run.

Bothe finished the triathlon in 13 hours and 22 minutes. “The weather was quite unpredictable and very challenging. The waters were choppier than expected with almost 30 participants giving up in that leg itself. During the cycling leg, I faced crosswinds and headwinds, along with some rain. The final leg — the marathon run — ended late into the night by which time the weather had suddenly turned cold,” he says.

Hailing from Ahmednagar, Bothe did his initial schooling in Pune before moving to other cities for higher studies. He was deputed to Pune as assistant conservator of forests in 2020.

Apart from his friend Deepak Pawar’s motivation, Bothe also gained confidence in his athleticism after completing his first full marathon in Baramati in a little over five hours in December last year.

Bothe trained under coaches Vijay Gaikwad (cycling and running) and Sanjeevan Walawalkar (swimming). Talking about Gaikwad, he says, “Vijay Sir didn’t just train my body; he shaped my mindset. Trust the process, he would say, even on days when my muscles felt like giving up and my mind was filled with doubt. He broke the Ironman challenge into small, achievable milestones.”

Long training hours meant Bothe wasn’t always present for his family, and the physical toll of preparation was immense. “I would survive on just two to three hours of sleep on several days. During the toughest days, my family, friends and seniors (N R Praveen, Rahul Patil, Salunkhe and others) were my anchors. And then there was my silent champion, my wife Kajal, who took on all the responsibilities without a complaint,” he says.

Looking forward, Bothe says he has started training for the 89km Comrades run held every year in South Africa. Bothe will attempt the run in 2026, having decided to devote some time to his his family in 2025.