70.3 from the sidelines

This was the year I had decided to do a bit of running only and give triathlon a break for a few months and focus more on coaching as opposed to racing.
We headed up to East London with 3 bikes – not our own but the Horner’s don’t know how to travel light so we landed up with 3 athletes bikes so they could fly in comfort 
It is always so exciting to see thousands of athletes when you arrive at Orient beach, and that feeling at the pit of my stomach was worse than ever – we call it FOMO – fear of missing out!
This year MTD combined we had 92 athletes on the start line. All the MTD coaches were in East London racing together with their own athletes and along with our funky new red trucker hats, we all looked pretty smart.

From MTD we had Travis holding down the fort in the pro category. We then had a strong AG contingent with the likes of Fred, Richard, Arné, Michelle, Antonelle just to name a few.
Although we weren’t racing, being a spectator was equally as exciting. As we waited for the guys to come out the water there was a nervous silence around the crowd. The loud speaker boomed to life as Fred raced through transition ahead of the rest of the field. I got serious goose bumps as he jumped onto his bike and began his 90km bike. There’s nothing quite like watching the first AG athlete come past in MTD kit. Fred was initially from an Olympic distance background so both Kent & I knew he was super-fast but there was also a possibility he may run into trouble if his pacing wasn’t correct…

Followed closely behind was Rich Lawrie – PE coach and an athlete who has grown stronger and stronger each year. Rich had become an absolute machine on the bike and with tough and windy conditions on a hilly bike course Rich was the biker to watch.
The girls were having a battle of their own with Arné having a fantastic swim out in the top 3 of the ladies. She knew she’d have to get a lead on the bike & swim with some fast runners coming from behind in the run.
Antonelle Saporta has improved amazingly under the watchful eye of Coach Rich – her chances were big for a podium spot.

In the 45-49 AG Michelle Enslin was questionable if she would even start with a tummy bug that landed her in hospital the day before. Nevertheless, she had put on a brave racing face and was giving it a go.
Back to the guys, Fred was giving it a serious go on the bike. Rich eventually caught him at 45km and at the turn around Rich shifted into another gear and gave it a massive effort back home. Meanwhile Rohan “total newbie” Meyer was having the race of his life and was mixing it up amongst the best age groupers.
In the pro field out on the run, Trav moved steadily up the field to finish in an impressive 7th spot. Although Trav races pro we surely can’t call him pro whilst holding down 2 jobs and dealing with a 1 year old little princess!

Onto the run Rich was out ahead and all he needed to do was keep a strong mind and steady pace to finish in 1st place overall and 1st in his AG. At around 16km Fred’s body literally couldn’t take it anymore and he landed up in the medical tent. When I asked him how fast he was running he said “not fast, only 3:50/km”. The Long distance endurance Gods had come to teach dear Freddie a lesson – but he will be back stronger and faster than ever. The cross over from Olympic distance to 70.3 distance is always an eye opener for every athlete!

Rohan just missed the podium in the 25-29AG finishing 4th in his first ever 70.3.
In the 55-59 AG Dave Rosenstein had a fantastic race sneaking into 3rd position.
Great results for the MTD ladies with Arné van Rensburg, Antonelle Saporta & Michelle Enslin taking 1st in their age groups. Arné taking 35 minutes off her time from last year.
Jarryd Cooke & Hein van Der Walt both had fantastic races to finish in 2nd & 3rd spot for the 18-24 AG.
Final mention must go to Karla Lokotsch who never got mentioned on awards evening because a male athlete had entered as a female by mistake!!! So once things were sorted out it was later discovered that Karla got a 3rd spot in her AG. Well done Karla!!
Narrowly missing podiums were Brad Flemming and Ian Eadie – next time guys!

It was so amazing to watch all our MTD athletes race so well. There are plenty of Tri clubs & training groups out there and some incredibly talented athletes, but one thing that MTD has over any other group is team comradery. In MTD’s 11 year, some amazing friendships have been built and some special bonds have been formed.
Hands down MTD most definitely won 1st place at the after party. Thanks to all those MTD athletes for closing the doors of Buccaneers… no names mentioned!
Special mention must go to all our coaches who put in all the hard work & effort. They are all genuinely concerned for their athletes and it is awesome to see this happening in front of our eyes.

Kent & I had a vision 11 years ago as we sat staring at each other on our little green plastic table and chairs in the lounge of our 65 square meter flat coaching 2 athletes each …. We wanted to create an Academy where athletes could feel welcome – old & young, beginner to Olympic hopefuls. MTD is a home away from home, where many call it their family and we definitely couldn’t have done it without Richard, Mandy, Rowland, Travis & JD…. Thanks guys – you’re all amazing!