Twenty-five local athletes took part in the third Spec-Savers half Ironman 70.3 South Africa, in East London on Sunday.
The field of 2 000 entrants included professionals and amateurs to the sport of triathlon, with participants travelling from across the world to take part in the event. The half Ironman is made up of a 1.9km sea swim, a 90km cycle and a 21.1km run.
Twenty-five local athletes took part in the third Spec-Savers half Ironman 70.3 South Africa, in East London on Sunday.
The field of 2 000 entrants included professionals and amateurs to the sport of triathlon, with participants travelling from across the world to take part in the event. The half Ironman is made up of a 1.9km sea swim, a 90km cycle and a 21.1km run.
The conditions were pleasant but the surf at Orient Beach was far from ideal as the waves were choppy so the swim times were slower than expected. By the time athletes moved onto their bikes, the conditions were hot, with strong winds on the way back.
The cycle route took athletes along the N2 towards King William’s Town, turning at Berlin. The run along the Esplanade, late morning for some and early afternoon for others, was hot with a nasty hill in the middle of the route.
The most impressive achievement by a local athlete was that of Richard Hall, who was the first Grahamstown athlete to make it home.
He finished 89th overall out of 1 608 finishers and was 15th in the 25-29 age category. His
total time was 5 hours 2 minutes 14 seconds, breaking the previous best time by a local by almost 30 minutes. Alex Joiner finished in 5:31:54 in last year’s event.
Hall was also the first local out of the sea with his 28 minutes 45 seconds, the only local athlete to break 30 minutes for the swim.
He also achieved the fastest cycle time by a local with his 2:44:28, becoming the first local to cycle under three hours for the tough course. He ran the second fastest time with 1:41:19.
The fastest on the road run was top local woman runner, Terri-Lynn Penney, who finished the run in 1:40:18, setting the fastest running time by a local on the course. This is the second half Ironman that Hall has taken part in, finishing the 2008 event in 5:41:13.
Speaking of his race, Hall said the swim was “probably the worst part of my race due to the increased number of competitors and the aggression of the swimmers in the water, which made it very difficult to get into any sort of rhythm”.
While he was out the water- slightly behind his planned time- he said: “I had a fantastic bike ride, and managed to do the first 45km in the time that I had hoped, and then managed to come home a lot faster than I had expected,while still feeling relatively fresh.
” Speaking of his fantastic run, Hall said he ran a lot better than he expected “although the heat definitely started to become a factor after the first lap”.
He says the highlight of the race was the cycling leg, as he was “managing to catch and pass a lot of the better cyclists in the field, including a number of the pro-women who had started five minutes before us.
It was also great to see so many Grahamstown athletes taking part with almost everyone improving on previous performances,” concluded Hall.
The next local to finish was Kevin Rafferty, who was one of only three locals to complete all three Ironman 70.3 events. Rafferty finished in 5:32:22, over 14 minutes faster than his previous best for the course. The other locals to finish their third half Ironman were Penney and Johan Conradie.
The first local woman home was Kerry Longhurst who finished in 5:47:44 with the fastest swim time (32:24) and cycle time (3:15:40) by a local woman.
She was the ninth finisher in the womens 35-39 age category.
The second woman home was Penney in a time of 5:53:04, as she finished ninth in the women’s 30- 34 age category and had the fastest overall running time in that category.
The local field included 15 athletes who competed in their first half Ironman event, while 11 of the 25 broke the 6 hour mark.
While it’s a goal completed for many, the work has just begun for some as they now prepare for the full Ironman event which takes place in Port Elizabeth on 25 April.
