A rising Ironman lifts all triathlons – just ask the fans

SUNDAY April 15 will forever be etched in many triathlon and endurance sports fans’ minds as a day that marked the rebirth of triathlon enthusiasm in South Africa.

The win at the Ironman African Championship by Nelson Mandela Bay star Kyle Buckingham was a shot in the arm that our triathlon so desperately needed.

I often use the words triathlon and Ironman interchangeably, but in truth they aren’t the same at all.

The example I often use to the unaware is that even though the Comrades Ultra is a type of marathon, a marathon is not the Comrades.

The standard distance, 1.5km swim followed by a 40km cycle and concluded by a 10km run, is the “marathon” of triathlon.

The Ironman, on the other hand, a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run is the ultra-format, equivalent of the Comrades.

The longstanding debate about which is harder, Ironman or Comrades, will have to wait for another day.

The point of this long story is to illustrate to the uninformed and interested that even though we interchangeably use triathlon and Ironman, the two aren’t the same.

Ironman is a private brand of triathlon.

There are many other triathlon brands that offer the same distance, but for obvious reasons Ironman has built a powerful brand that has become synonymous with this triathlon format and distance.

We know the saying that a rising tide lifts all boats.

Same with Ironman – the popularity of the brand has bred popularity of the distance and triathlon in general. No wonder you hear phrases like “iron-distance or half iron-distance” when we refer to other branded races. In August 2017, a few friends and I went to Germany to race an event by the Challenge brand in the city of Regensburg in Bavaria.

Sadly, that race was the last one for Regensburg, but the Challenge Family stable has 40-plus more races to choose from.

Then come to South Africa and you discover the enterprising Ultra Tri series brand. This outfit, which prides itself as being born out of Africa, has been organising all sorts of triathlon distance races for many years across South Africa.

The Midlands Ultra, Sun City Ultra, Cape Ultra and Durban Ultra all have a unique local character that is difficult to compare with the major international brands.

So far all the races are the 70.3 distance non-draft format.

Last year, I raced the Durban Ultra hosted in a very similar location to Ironman 70.3 Durban event but clearly with a lot more local insight.

The race was relatively small in terms of the field compared with the major brands, but that, too, was an advantage.

Small fields tend to get more personal and competitive. I left the Durban Ultra very impressed by its level of competition and safety.

Contrary to some, I still love the rush of a mass swim start even though I am a weak swimmer.

South African triathlon fans will be pleased to know that the Ultra series has now added a new event, the Joburg Ultra.

Gauteng has more triathletes than any other province in South Africa. Taking ultra-distance triathlon to its source market more than makes sense.

I really look forward to racing this event and hope every proud South African will make the journey and support a proudly South African event.