IRONMAN 70.3 East London 2021

 There was much excitement again as our embark 70.3 athletes prepared for the second half Ironman to happen after COVID-19. The event that was postponed from January was now happening on the 5th of September and was still going to be held in East London. over the Thursday and Friday the athletes traveled and arrived in Buffalo city to begin the preparation and admin for the race on Sunday.

Most of the athletes registered on the Friday after arriving and then we all met for a team dinner at an Italian restaurant. it was early to bed as first thing in the morning we headed to Nahoon for a quick swim and to settle the nerves in the sea. We then headed back to the hotel for breakfast.After breakfast we changed into a racing kit as a dress rehearsal for the race and we went and rode the run route not only to know what was ahead but also to check that our bikes had traveled and arrived safely with no mechanicals or punctures. Once all the prep was done we headed back to the hotel to pack out transition bags and headed to T1 to rack our bikes. bikes and transition bags will stay in the T1 overnight.

It was up early for breakfast and then straight to T1 full final prep and to put our hydration and nutrition on our bikes. And then queued for the start of our race. The sea was unfortunately quite rough and the organizers shortened the swimming to 700 meters. It was a good decision as even in the protected harbor the sea was still very choppy. The bike route is amazing the surface is smooth and fast and it's incredible to ride on a National Highway with no cars insight. The run course has a 2 kilometer hill elite and we have to run this twice, bunker's hill.

It really was a fantastic day out all of our athletes got over the line some of them for the first time some of them returning for the 5th time congratulations to Markke Mouton and Tina Van Wyk for winning their age groups and bringing home some really beautiful trophies. The day ended off with an off the party at the hotel bar and of course hey jump in the pool to close off the evening.

There rumors that there will be a new 70.3 race in Mossel Bay next year as soon as we get clarity on this we will set up a program so that we can train for this inaugural 70.3. until then if you would like to get involved in triathlon training please get hold of us through the contact page