Puritas and Spinner Cycling club kick off first-ever ‘Kimbula Race’

Kimbula Race 1st Edition 2021 Racing Category (men) winner award presented by Youth and Sports Minster Namal Rajapaksa to P.C. Madushan De Silva

• 5 laps around Kimbulawala area 
• Over 100 cyclists competed 
• Strict social distancing rules followed throughout the race 

Puritas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Haycarb PLC and a member of the Hayleys Group, joined Spinner as the official personal protection partner, to launch the inaugural ‘Kimbula Race’ at the Kimbulawala cycling trail. 

Organised by Spinner, the organiser of many exciting cycling events and partners to Ironman 70.3 Colombo, the action-packed criterium race held on 28 January, witnessed more than 100 cyclists test their skills across five laps of the 9.5 km long circuit. Minister of Youth and Sports Namal Rajapaksa declared open the event. The race which is to be hosted annually was held under strict health, and safety guidelines in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and was live-streamed on the Oxypura and Haycarb Facebook pages. 

“If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is the importance of health. Cycling is a sport which is considered to be among the safest forms of exercise that you can do during the pandemic. Exercise in turn is an excellent way to improve your overall health and wellbeing, so even with the challenges in organising an event of this scale, we felt it was vital to rebuild the cycling and athletic culture in the ‘new normal’. We hope this initiative will inspire other athletes to safely continue their training and strengthen their dedication to compete,” Haycarb PLC Managing Director Rajitha Kariyawasan said. 

First, second and third place winners were presented with cash prices. Commencing from the Spinner Cycling Centre in Kimbulawala, the race continued on to the Japan Friendship Road, Ethul Kotte, Bangala Junction, Beddagana Road and Thalawathugoda Road. 

Athletes taking part in the event were also privy to a special panel discussion to discuss breathing techniques for exercises and any risks and training benefits of wearing masks. The team led by Sports Medicine Institute Director General Dr. Lal Ekanayake partnered with organisers to set the health protocols and appoint medical coordinators to ensure stringent health and safety procedures were followed at the event.

The experiences gathered from this event is to be used to establish the Sports Event Health Protocol, a policy document to host safe-events in the future. The document will assess risks and offer athletes and other stakeholders’ guidelines to host future events. 

Cyclists used Oxypura Care masks during the race. The mask contains four layers of protection, including a particulate matter filter and activated carbon filters. The Sri Lankan made product has been tested by internationally recognised laboratories, Nelson Laboratories in the USA and Bureau Veritas in Hong Kong, and has been proven to have a virus filtration efficiency of more than 98%, a bacteria filtration efficiency of more than 99%, and recommended use of 14 wash cycles.

Notably, Puritas also added the SPORTEC mask to its portfolio recently. The mask has been specially designed and manufactured for those with an active lifestyle, especially for those exercising and working out. While it provides the same degree of protection as the Care mask for the wearer, it has been stylishly designed with a one-way valve to assist smooth exhalation and provide comfort during use.

Pix by Ruwan Walpola 

Kimbula Race Racing Category (men) winners, from left: Suresh Tharanga (2nd), P.C. Madushan De Silva (1st) and Sudeera Nilanga (3rd)

Kimbula Race Standard Category (men) winners, from left: M. Sohan Premalal (2nd), A. Anusha Supunsiri (1st) and Shehara Silva (3rd)