Hoffman suffers an Epic blow
DEPOSED champion Ben Hoffman revealed that a bad bike accident during the Absa Cape Epic had put paid to his chances of a hat-trick of titles at the Ironman African Championship on Sunday.
American Hoffman was out to clinch a third consecutive title in Port Elizabeth at the weekend, but in the end it was homeboy Kyle Buckingham who crossed the line first in 8hrs, 13min.
A limping Hoffman said yesterday a bike accident during the eight-day, 658km Cape Epic endurance race last month had damaged his lower back and effectively scuppered any chance he might have had of clinching the title again.
Hoffman rode for the Ironman Foundation Team in the Epic as part of an initiative aimed at raising funds for local non-profit communities in areas of the Western Cape.
He said he had felt discomfort at the start of the swim on Sunday but in true Ironman spirit he chose to fight through the pain barrier and complete the race.
“I have been dealing with some back problems for the last three weeks. I had a crash in the Cape Epic and it did some damage to my sacroiliac joint,” said Hoffman.
“I took some time off running and I just had to manage the injury with massages and physiotherapy.
“It was improving each day and I was hopeful that maybe I could do a miracle, but in the end, even when I ran into the water at the start of the swim I could tell it wasn’t right.
“I just tried to fight hard and hoped for the best. But at the end of the day it wasn’t meant to be.”
Hoffman appeared a broken man as he trudged to the finish line among age-group competitors and will possibly think twice before entering the Cape Epic so close to Ironman African Championship again.
Last year the Grand Junction, Colorado professional broke the African Champs course record, finishing in 7hrs, 58min, 40sec.
On Sunday, he bit the bullet to finish at 6.36pm in a time of 12hrs, 6min and 48sec.
He was forced to settle for 651st position overall, the worst finish in his career but probably the most courageous.
Hoffman, 34, was in agony throughout the race and wanted to quit many times.
“But I wanted to honour the race and continue giving my best all day. I can say now even though I am disappointed in the result, I know that I gave my best.
“I would have liked things to go perfectly and win again, but I guess there are always lessons to be learnt from setbacks. Hopefully I can get stronger from this.
“I know it was not the way I had traditionally liked to do an Ironman, but there was a lot of cool energy out there with some of the age-group crowd and to have their support too was good.
He said he would take Sunday’s experience as part of a learning curve. “It was a long day but I think there is something to be learnt from it.
“I think it will make me mentally stronger and teach me about being more adaptable to adversity and overcoming big challenges. I am proud of what I did out there. I definitely wanted to quit many times, but there are too many people who invest energy in my career.”
Hoffman, who heads home in three days, said the Ironman World Champs in Kona, Hawaii were still on the cards for this season.
“Now I go home and I try to figure out how I can get healthy and get this injury fixed, because it’s been three weeks of dealing with it now.
“I just need to have a rest for my body and mind and then regroup and make sure that I am healthy for the rest of the season.
“I will go back to the drawing board with my coach and figure out what races we are going to do, but only once I am healthy and 100% again. I think even with this finish I have enough points to qualify for Kona.”