Nisar retains Islamabad to Murree Cycle Race title

Nisar Ahmad of WAPDA retained the title of Islamabad to Murree Cycle Race in record time on Sunday. Nisar Ahmad, who had the honor of winning the recently concluded 32km Abbottabad to Nathiagali Race on December 23, last, clocked a record time of 2 hours and 57sec by beating his earlier record of 2 hours and 19 minutes. “I am happy the way I reached the destination after crossing 56km distance, mostly dangerous, zig zag road track by beating my fellow 62 cyclists,” Nisar said. “It was race of my life obviously and my preparations were also there for both the races after becoming the National Champion,” Nisar Ahmad added. Nisar said that his coach Abdul Raza and Amin Sulari work hard with him during the recent years and expressed the hope that he would prove his metal if given a chance in the international outings. He was closely followed by Sabir Ali, also from WAPDA who clocked 2 hours, one minute and 25sec while Ismail Saeed of Army clocked 2 hours 2 minutes and 37sec. The three top cyclists Nisar, Sabir Ali and Ismail were in the same bunch for almost 37 km but after that both Nisar and Sabir got the lead rapidly by leaving Ismail far behind. Ismail Saeed, who is studying in Australia and remained runner-up in the Abbottabad to Nathiagali, struggled hard for covering the distance and reached very near to Sabir Ali, the second lead. The other three cyclists Asad Mehmood of Pakistan Army, Niamat Ali of Sui Southern Gas and Zameer Haider of Sui Southern Gas were in the second bunch behind the top leaders but they have made excellent finish. Asad of Pakistan Army with his clock time 2 hours, 2 minutes and 33sec, Niamat Ali with his clock time 2 hours, 3 minute and Zameer Haider of Sui Southern Gas with his clock time 2 hours, 5 minutes and 32sec got fourth, fifth and sixth position respectively. A total of 63 cyclists took part, among four were dropped out in the Champions of Hill Race started in way back 1989. International cyclists Murad Ali had the honor of winning the race four times and become runner-up for five times. Earlier, the starting point of the race was Rawalpindi, which was 72km in distance. It was the second occasion that the starting point of the race was Jinnah Sports Complex. Secretary Pakistan Cycling Federation said that a team would be selected for the international cycle race to be held in Malaysia from Feb 8 to 18 only after the performance of the players in three races – The National Championship, Abbottabad to Nathiagali Race and Islamabad to Murree Race. At the end, Tariq Alvi, ex-national cyclists, and Vice President of the Pakistan Cycling Federation gave away trophies and cash prizes.