Foreword

When I decided to do my own Home Ironman challenge, I checked out the original, pre-Covid-19 date of Ironman South Africa and realised it would have been on Sunday 29 March. With Covid-craziness gripping South African endurance athletes, I wondered whether and real triathletes would be undertaking a Home Ironman on the first weekend of lockdown. It turned out that two did. I was fortunate enough to chat to both – this is the story of the first Home IronMom, Charlotte Raubenheimer.

Charlotte Raubenheimer: The First Home IronMom

Saturday the 28^th of March was day two of the South Africa’s original 21-day lockdown period. Whilst many South Africans spent the day getting acclimatised to lockdown conditions (or figuring out where they were going to store all the food and toilet paper they’d needlessly stockpiled), for Charlotte Raubenheimer it was a day of speculation. Continue reading “Charlotte Raubenheimer – The First Home IronMom”

[MARATHON #175 / UNIQUE MARATHON #92 / 3 February 2018]

The 2018 running year has started really well with two fantastic marathons (Finlime and Volksrust). The first weekend of February seemed like the logical time to escalate to an ultra. This required a flight to the east coast for Port Elizabeth’s Bay Ultra Marathon – 50km around Algoa Bay.

I was surprised that most of the budget airlines don’t fly into Port Elizabeth – and those that do don’t offer good “in-and-out for a marathon” flight times. Therefore, I had to settle for a premium priced airline offering budget rate service. Nothing signifies the decline of the British Empire quite like the experience of flying British Airways. Continue reading “Bay Ultra (See the Lighthouse at the End of an Ultra)”