No starting blocks for hotshot pro
Cunnama not fit enough to race the Ironman in PE
LEADING South African professional triathlete James Cunnama will be watching this year’s Standard Bank Ironman African Championships from the sidelines at Hobie Beach on Sunday.
Cunnama, who spent some time in Port Elizabeth while studying towards a degree in Human Movement Science at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2002, had a bad fall off his bike in November last year, and suffered broken ribs.
Although he has fully recovered from the incident, the 34-year-old had to withdraw from the African Champs a week ago, because he is not fit enough to do a full Ironman race.
“I was hoping to race on Sunday, but I am not ready in time so I have actually withdrew from the race last week,” Cunnama said, speaking from his home in Stellenbosch.
“It’s quite frustrating we don’t have home races like these very often, so it’s frustrating when there is a big championship race in South Africa and I have to miss it.
“But, I have big goals for the season and I think I am still on track for those goals. It just means I have to put off the start of my season a little bit. I’ll still be coming up to Nelson Mandela Bay with my son Jack and wife Jodie and we will be supporting the race.
“So, we’ll be there and we’ll be part of it, but unfortunately not racing this year.”
Cunnama, who came fifth in Hawaii, Kona at the Ironman World Championships said his road to recovery went smoothly.
“It was a good 12 weeks of proper recovery for the ribs to heal after breaking them. I fractured my ribs in nine places and I had a collapsed lung.
“However, the hard part was getting back to fitness, because when you can’t do anything for 12 weeks you lose all your fitness.
“So, it’s been a slow process trying to get fit again, but I am getting there. I am getting fit, but I am not fit enough to do an Ironman yet.”
To test his fitness levels after some time off from triathlon, the Maritzburg-born triathlete took part in the MiWay Durban Ultra early last month, but was not happy with how things went. “I did not do it very hard. It went okay, but it didn’t go great, I was not fit enough,” said Cunnama. “My plan is to do some races before the World Champs.”