Kura Mazongo by Lerato Lebopo
Inspirational local petrol attendant Kura Mazongo is set to take on his second IRONMAN African Championship event on Sunday, 3 April 2022 in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The 46 year-old Engen Mount Pleasant petrol attendant inspired many last year when he defied all odds by overcoming financial barriers and lack of sporting resources to achieve his dream of finishing an IRONMAN.
He completed the iconic event in his home city in a time of 14h:01:44 in a race that was described as one of the toughest on record as athletes had to contend with rough seas and strong wind conditions on the bike and run courses.
Zimbabwean born Kura moved to South Africa in 2007 and has lived in Nelson Mandela Bay ever since, where he stays with his wife and three children.
Becoming an IRONMAN has been a dream of his and after taking part in four Comrades marathons and four Two Oceans marathon events, he decided to defy the odds and fulfil his dream of crossing the finish line on the IRONMAN red carpet.
He fulfilled this dream on Sunday, 21 November 2021 when he successfully finished one of the toughest triathlon events in the world.
What stood out most to his peers was that after swimming, biking and running for over 14 hours and arriving home at 10 pm, Kura arrived at work at the Engen forecourt in Mount Pleasant promptly the following morning at 06h00 sharp,
"I was so tired, but I was excited to show my colleagues, employers and customers my IRONMAN finisher medal. This was not to show off, I was very proud to have reached my dream and wanted to show everyone who supported me that I had done it."
Having experience what IRONMAN racing is all about, Kura will be better prepared this year, "I am doing a lot more mileage in training to try and better my time. Let's just hope the weather is a lot better than last year on race day. I haven't found a group that I can train with so I'm reading a book to try help and guide me along. It's a triathlon-based book called Going Long [written by Joe Friel and Gordon Byrn]."
