Pick n Pay pays tribute to: Ironman South Africa

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People often ask what is tougher than Ironman or Comrades. In truth both have their difficulties, however from a preparation perspective, Ironman requires far more time and dedication in preparing for the multidiscipline 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run. These are three sports that all require complete attention.

This is exactly what happened when Victor Temlett, Louis Prinsloo, Bruno Baradas, Nicola Biani and James Curtin, regulars at Virgin Active Glenvista, decided to do this year.

Nicola, an instructor at Virgin Active, was participating in her fourth Ironman at the young age of 22, while the others had just entered their first. Bruno dictated structured training and ordered expert guidance, which had the newbies thrown into months of early morning wake-up calls, sacrificed weekends and around 15 to 25 hour training weeks.

Bruno unfortunately was knocked down by a drunk driver while out on a weekend training ride, and this ended his Ironman 2015 hopes. He was amazingly blessed to come out of the accident alive, and became an inspiration to many when he marched through the gym on crutches and jumped back into the pool to keep himself motivated.

On March 29 Louis, Victor, Nicola and James crossed the finish line at Ironman South Africa in Port Elizabeth to claim their well-earned medals after months of dedication and hard work.

Bruno especially flew into Port Elizabeth to stand at their side on race day, and encourage them to the finish. A new spark of endurance triathletes have ignited in the South of Johannesburg, and there are sure to be many more joining them on their way to Ironman South Africa 2016 to beat their personal bests.

Well done to the finishers from Johannesburg South: Victor Temlett – 11:54; Louis Prinsloo – 12:24; James Curtin – 13:05 and Nicola Biani 14:12.

Written by their proud coach: Mark Wolff – Sports Nutrition and Endurance Coach / Founder of 32Gi