Springbok legend to tackle Ironman for charity

WORLD Cup winning Springbok captain and Sharks CEO, John Smit, is taking on a different challenge this August as he attempts his first ever triathlon, the Standard Bank Ironman 70.3 Durban on Sunday 2 August at Suncoast.

The Bok icon will be competing for a good cause as he races in orange for the Ironman 4 the Kidz Charity Trust, raising funds for children’s based beneficiaries in Durban.

Smit still finds the time to keep fit despite plying his trade in the boardroom these days. The physical nature of rugby is very different to the physical nature of an Ironman 70.3 triathlon where Smit will swim 1.9km, bike 90.1km and run 21.km in under 8.5 hours.

“Staying active is important and after the cycling bug bit me I wanted to try something a little different. The training has been interesting to say the least with time in the pool being the toughest challenge. Swimming bored me at school and it still bores me now [but] thank goodness it comes first so I shouldn’t be that tired! I’ll be okay on the bike but the run is going to be tricky as I have yet to run more than 10km ever! Then there is the swim, which I last did eight years ago before my shoulder surgery [but] I should be fine,” said Smit.

Smit will be racing under the Ironman 4 the Kidz Charity Trust banner and will feature in the popular orange charity racing vests. Participating while making a difference to children in need is an extra motivator for Smit who joins fellow national heroes, Ollie Le Roux, Werner Swanepoel, Ashwin Willemse and Andre Nel as athletes who have represented the charity trust at previous events.

The Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 Durban takes place in the city for the first time and will see a sold-out field of 3000 athletes, 89 per cent of which will be coming from outside of Durban. This makes the race the biggest triathlon ever to be hosted in Durban.