The Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa has provided nine years of memorable moments and this year marks the big ten. The race, taking place Sunday 29 January 2017 at Orient Beach, East London, has grown to become Africa’s most-entered triathlon and now holds a coveted spot on the global calendar as one of the toughest IRONMAN 70.3 races in the world. The 2017 edition will once again feature some of the South Africa and the world’s best athletes while attracting thousands of amateur hopefuls to East London.
The Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa has thrown up some interesting battles over the years in the professional field. This year the men’s title will be a hotly contested affair between South Africans, James Cunnama, Kyle Buckingham, Stuart Marais and French athlete, Romain Guillaume. Two-time defending champion, Matt Trautman was involved in an unfortunate accident, knocked by a car while training in Franschoek on Saturday 21 January. He is currently in recovery after surgery, a sad and unfortunate set of circumstances for one of South Africa’s best athletes.
The professional women’s field will be Jodie Cunnama’s to lose. After dominating for the last six years, she will be odds on favourite to make it seven from seven. Fellow Brit, Susie Cheetham will provide a tough challenge and will be looking to regain a podium position after falling off her bike and breaking her elbow in 2016. The only South African athlete in the professional women’s field, Annah Watkinson, will be aiming for another podium after she finished third in 2016, her first ever professional podium. She has since gone on to win the Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 Durban and placed third at IRONMAN Barcelona in 2016.
Close to 3000 athletes will be heading to East London from all over South Africa and the world with athletes travelling from 35 different countries to take on the 1.9km swim, 90.1km bike and 21.1km run. South Africa is the most represented country with 2529 athletes and Gauteng once again leads the way coming in with 38% of the field followed by the Eastern Cape at 23% and the Western Cape at 22%. International travelling athletes make up 4% of the total field with the United Kingdom as the most represented international nation with 28 athletes. The African contingent is made up of athletes from South Africa, Botswana Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Egypt and Zambia with Botswana the most represented African nation outside of South Africa with seven athletes. The race also continues its trend of having a high female participation rate with 26% of the total field. Encouragingly, 36% of the total field will be doing their very first IRONMAN 70.3 race while 41% will be racing in East London for the first time.
“Reaching ten years is a big milestone for any event. When we started this event back in 2008 with only 700 athletes, we would never have imagined that this race would become the most-entered triathlon in Africa and one of the biggest in the world. We are proud of how the event has grown both locally and internationally and ten years on, we continue to strive to give athletes the best possible race experience,” said Keith Bowler, Managing Director for IRONMAN in South Africa.
With close to 3000 athletes competing every year for the last five years and a high percentage of first-time athletes, the Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa has become a race of choice for athletes around South Africa. The famous race atmosphere and challenging course has made the race an attractive option for both first-timers and experienced athletes.
“Over the last nine years, the Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa has introduced thousands of new athletes to the sport of triathlon and it is off the back of this continued success that we were able to introduce a second IRONMAN 70.3 race in South Africa,” adds Bowler.
Now in its third year of involvement with the event, title sponsor, Standard Bank has played an important role in the growth and sustainability of the event.
“This is the 10th anniversary of the Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa, and once again, we are honoured to be part of this event and welcome the dedicated, focused and inspirational athletes who will compete. We are proud to be partnering with IRONMAN in this race, and hope the athletes enjoy every part of the journey,” said Hazel Chimhandamba, Head: Group Sponsorship for Standard Bank.
Athlete registration opens Thursday 26 January at the Garden Court East London along with the IRONMAN 70.3 Expo at East London ICC. Entrance to the Expo is free. The race gets underway on Sunday 29 January from Orient Beach in East London starting at 06:45.
