I saw an athlete with a t-shirt that read: “Ironman 100% Mental in both sense of the word. It is so true, you have to be a bit psycho to enjoy this level of pain! The race itself is grueling but it is the months of training that takes its toll mentally and physically. There were many days that Meg and I were delirious with fatigue, in fact Angelo had to come and fetch us one day, as we were just too buggered to get home. In the half Ironman brochure there was an article with the head line “ How to finish Ironman without getting a divorce!” My friends consider a 12 hour training week, a rest week. 90kms on the bike is simply a mid week ride. A 3km pool swim is standard and a 3 hour run is often done following a 100km bike the day before.

The small size of the field is indicative of the toughness of the event with approximately 1600 athletes lining up.

On the actual race day we had the worst swim conditions in my three years of racing. The weather did however clear up and we pretty much had perfect conditions the rest of the day.

South African Tri Hero Raynard Tissink won the Male event. The competition was tough and the other top 10 positions were all taken up by international athletes.  

Simply finishing an Ironman requires relentless dedication and sacrifice. Well done to all! The sense of achievement when you run down that red carpet, with the crowd support, and the announcer calling your name and saying : “ you are an Ironman” is probably the closest I have come to pure elation.

Below are the results of all the FRR athletes. Congratulations to all, especially the Virgins “ Brandon McWilliams and Lisa Gibbon “.

Overall Pos Name Time Age Group Pos in Age Group Pos in Gender Swim T1 Cycle T2 Run
104 Stephen GLYNN 10:23:29 M45-49 4 92 1:07:13 0:04:08 5:18:25 0:02:33 3:51:09
206 Jean BILBROUGH 10:57:33 F35-39 4 19 1:01:49 0:03:31 5:51:34 0:02:26 3:58:11
369 Jeanine WILLIAMS 11:38:41 F40-44 3 31 1:14:25 0:08:50 6:02:37 0:04:53 4:07:53
371 Brandon MCWILLIAMS 11:39:26 M30-34 75 339 0:57:15 0:03:57 5:45:08 0:02:49 4:50:16
428 Stephen OWENS 11:49:38 M35-39 111 393 1:11:04 0:06:15 5:53:09 0:05:25 4:33:43
618 Karen FAIRLEY 12:25:14 F40-44 10 63 1:11:35 0:07:17 6:09:08 0:06:37 4:50:35
939 Warren PORTEOUS 13:19:41 M35-39 218 814 1:15:34 0:07:46 6:15:06 0:17:14 5:23:59
1048 Meghan MCAULIFFE 13:41:26 F25-29 20 144 1:22:34 0:13:59 6:42:33 0:08:47 5:13:31
1531 Lisa GIBBON 16:24:16 F45-49 34 244 1:57:25 0:11:43 7:10:16 0:13:03 6:51:47

 

Best Swim goes to Brandon McWilliams and best Bike and Run goes to Stephen Glynn!!! Well done J

Jeanine Williams