- 5 laps around Kimbulawala area
- More than 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 January 28, 2021, witnessed more than 100 cyclists test their skills across five laps of the 9.5Km long circuit. Minister of Youth and Sports, Honourable Namal Rajapakse 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 Center 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. Team led by Dr. Lal Ekanayake, Director General of Sports Medicine Institute partnered with organizers 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.
Puritas also has several active carbon-based household products, such as FRESKO, Mr. Fresh and Bin Fresh, a 100% bio-degradable eco-friendly activated carbon air purifier pack, which adsorbs and rapidly removes unpleasant odours in the surroundings.
Celebrating a quarter-century this year, Puritas is a specialist in water and wastewater purification. The company purifies 5 million litres of raw water, 9.2 million litres of wastewater and 18 million litres of sewage in Sri Lanka every day. Puritas is in the business of purification on a national level and provides activated carbon solutions for various applications in Sri Lanka such as water and air purification, decolourising applications and deodorising applications.