The eighth annual half Ironman took place in East London on Sunday 25 January.
The eighth annual half Ironman took place in East London on Sunday 25 January.
Known as the Standard Bank Ironman 70.3 South Africa, many participants have called this the toughest of the eight.
The event began at Orient Beach with testing sea conditions with large swells.
Speaking at the race awards ceremony, race announcer Paul Kaye said race director Paul Wolff had met with members of the NSRI before the race about the sea conditions.
Kaye said the organisers were set to change the event into a duathlon (run, cycle, run) when the wind changed direction at the last minute.
This made conditions better for the swimmers, but there were still large swells.
It had been a last-minute decision to keep the event as planned, and stick to the 1.9km sea swim.
The race saw elite athletes off first, with the rest of the field going in groups according to age and gender.
After the rough sea conditions it was on to the bikes for the 90km cycle ride along the N2 towards King William’s Town.
Here, cyclists were greeted by heavy headwinds for the first half.
Heading back to the transition area, many athletes made up time coming back.
With a tail-wind, some of the Grahamstown athletes made up as much as 20 minutes on the second half of the cycle. Many competitors missed the tight 4 hours 10 minute cut-off for the tough cycle and were unable to continue with the run.
For others it was then on to the 21km run, which included the steep Bunkers Hill.
Many an athlete walks that hill. All in all, a hard day for the athletes, with some conditions many would not have experienced during their training over the past months.
To put this into perspective, more than 2 400 participants lined up for the race on Sunday. A total of 1 882 athletes finished the event before cut-off.
Grahamstown athletes did themselves and their town proud. Megan Hobson finished fourth in her age group (40 to 44), Terri-Lynn Penney finished 8th in the 35 to 39 age group and John van Onselen finished 12th in the 55 to 59 age group.
First Grahamstown finisher was Penney in an overall time of 5 hours 57 minutes 4 seconds.
Penney was the fastest local over the cycle route (3:18:18) as well as the run (1:55:49), while Hobson was the quickest in the sea with a 33:15 swim time.
South Africa’s Matt Trautman was the first man home, completing the 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21.1km run in a time of 4:04:34 followed by countryman Stuart Marais (4:06:03).
Britain's Jodie Swallow took the women’s crown in a time of 4:30:53 followed by fellow Briton Susie Cheetham (4:41:48).
“Standard Bank commends every athlete that took part in this year’s Standard Bank Ironman 70.3 South Africa event,” said Jenny Pheiffer, Head of Brand and Sponsorship at Standard Bank.
“The Standard Bank Ironman 70.3 South Africa event encapsulates all the qualities that are universally admired – grit, determination and the desire to succeed in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.
Standard Bank would therefore like to salute each of the more than 2 400 participating athletes who found the resolve to never stop moving forward,” Pheiffer said.
“It is your ongoing dedication that has helped grow this event into one of the most successful 70.3 gatherings on the planet.”
During the awards event (held on the evening after the half-ironman) Kaye announced that there would be a second Ironman 70.3.
This would take place in Durban on Sunday, 2 August 2015 – the Standard Bank Ironman 70.3 Durban.
The official Ironman website reads, "Set in one of the new Seven Wonder Cities of the world, athletes will be welcomed into Durban’s Golden Mile with sun-kissed beaches, a warm subtropical climate and an unrivalled city pulse." sport@grocotts.co.za
Results of Grahamstown athletes at the Standard Bank Ironman 70.3 South Africa: 298. Terri-Lynn Penney – 5:57:04 (34:55 swim, 3:18:18 cycle, 1:55:49 run) 487. Megan Hobson – 6:16:14 (33:15 swim, 3:20:29 cycle, 2:15:35 run) 537. John van Onselen – 6:20:44 (37:33 swim, 3:21:22 cycle, 2:12:38 run) 852. Wim Esterhuysen – 6:45:39 (36:27 swim, 3:34:20 cycle, 2:18:00 run) 1 278. Ernest Sykes – 7:12:59 (45:25 swim, 3:55:40 cycle, 2:16:18 run) 1 448. Catherine Deiner – 7:27:05 (37:33 swim, 4:04:39 cycle, 2:26:22 run)
