Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 2 (IANS) For 53-year-old dentist Flemingson Lazarus, his passion for fitness has led him to its zenith as he wrote into record books with his participation in the high-octane fitness IRONMAN 70.3 held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

He was the only Indian in the age category of 50-54 to have completed the event which included 1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km running - all to be done one after the other - and he finished it in 6 hours, 58 minutes and 53 seconds.

Speaking to from Brazil, Lazarus said that he is humbled by his achievement.

“With this, I have taken part in an IRONMAN event on all six continents. I am excited, happy and humbled as my hard work has won me what I wanted to achieve,” said Lazarus.

His dream run started when he finished successfully his first one in October 2019 at the Malaysia Ironman 140.6, then came in June 2022 at Finland Ironman 70.3, November 2022 Egypt Ironman 70.3, July 2023 USA Ironman 70.3, and November 2023 Australia Ironman 70.3.

IRONMAN is a title awarded by World Triathlon Corporation to a triathlete who completes the event within a stipulated cut-off timing, all done in succession on a single day.

A practising dentist based in Bengaluru, Lazarus was a fitness freak right from his school days and had won numerous medals as a student.

A single IRONMAN event costs more than Rs two lakh and apart from that, he has to engage in intensive workouts for three to four months in advance.

He said that the rigorous training regime begins with six hours a week in the first month and by the time it ends, it touches 15 hours every week.

His routine during the training period begins every day around 5 a.m. and by 9 a.m., he leaves for work.

About his diet, he said that he does not take any food supplements, instead, he relies on protein-based foods.

Further, he has two to three different types of fruits everyday and a handful of nuts and dry fruits as well.

Each time he reaches a milestone, he gives full credit to Darren Nash, a South African national who is a multiple IRONMAN finisher and 10-time Comrades Run (90 km run) finisher.