DESTINATION RACE
Blue Lagoon Triathlon, South Africa
NO, YOU’RE NOT likely to see Brooke Shields walking along the beach, but, that said, athletes and fans at this year’s inaugural Blue Lagoon Triathlon did get to see one of triathlon’s biggest names: Tim Don. The former ITU world champion and Ironman record holder, who’s appearance in the mini-documentary The Man with the Halo last year vaulted him into triathlon’s version of celebrity status, surprised race organizers when he entered the race. Don, whose comeback from a broken neck after getting hit by a car a few days before the Ironman World Championship in 2017 was the source of both inspiration and wonder, as he managed to finish Kona last year took the standarddistance race at the event.
So, what was Don doing racing at the Blue Lagoon Triathlon? Here’s the story behind this new event that, in actual fact, is hardly new at all. For over 20 years, the “home of African triathlon” was a small resort called Club Mykonos, which is set on the beautiful Langebaan Lagoon, about 130 km north of Cape Town
on the Atlantic coast of South Africa. Starting in the 1990s until 2011, Club Mykonos was one of the country’s most popular event sites, hosting many African, South African and Western Province Championships. Over the years a who’s who of the sport raced at Club Mykonos, including Xterra world champion Bradley Weiss (who did his first triathlon there in 2008), Simon Lessing, Jan Frodeno and the aforementioned Don.
“It was incredible to hear Tim talk about the race at prize-giving,” race organizer Abré Roux said. “He has a lot of history with this course. He spoke with fond memories of it and was excited to be back.”
After a seven-year hiatus, new roads were built around Club Mykonos, which got Paul Ingpen, the editor-in-chief of Triathlon SBR Magazine in South Africa, excited about getting the iconic race going again. Race weekend started with a junior race that included a 400 m swim, 10 km bike and 2.6 km run. That was followed by a standard-distance triathlon which included a 1.5 km swim in the beautiful waters of the lagoon, a flat-and-fast 40 km bike, followed by a picturesque 10 km run. The first day of racing rounds up with a sprintdistance race. The triathlon events all start at Super Paradise beach and, this year, anyway, featured glassy water conditions and 18.4 C water temperatures. The finish line is on the harbour wall, with the beautiful turquoise waters of the lagoon on either side.
Sunday began with a 3.8 km, one-mile (1,600 m) and half-mile (800 m) open-water swims, followed by a kids’ splash-and-dash.
“One of the highlights of the weekend was the kiddies splash-and-dash on the Sunday,” said Ingpen. “Younger kids, who didn’t have the opportunity to compete in triathlons and the swims, had their own race, which included a beach dash and a foamy slippery slide. It was a standout event of the weekend for kids and their folks.”—KM