Andrew Martin is a tour de force in the Obstacle Course Racing arena

On the surface, Andrew Martin (51), appears to be your everyday working man, who keeps his nose to the grindstone on a daily basis. A deeper conversation with him will reveal that he is everything but.

Martin recently returned from the Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) World Championships which were held in Kelvedon Hatch, England from October 3 to 5.

According to the avid sportsman, he has always had a deep interest in sports and a yearning to represent South Africa at the highest sporting level.

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“I enjoy sports and simply cannot be still. Since a tender age I had what people referred to as ants in my pants,” he said.

This was his first trip overseas, and a learning experience, which gave him a different perspective.

“This experience brought home to me the fact that we have so much to learn from other countries.”

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The incredibly cold weather did not prove to be much of a deterrent for the Lowvelder, who added, “A number of
local businesses made my participation in the OCR possible, and I worked hard at reaching my peak before the
championships.

“I am a firm believer that with determination, everything is possible and I do not give up easily. My preparation for
the race was under the watchful eye of Tiaan Basson, who is a trainer at CORE 360.

“He made his facilities available to me and I used the trail track at his establishment.”

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After his arrival in Kelvedon Hatch, Martin immediately set to work and competed in the three-kilometre race on the
Thursday. The course consisted of 40 obstacles which put tremendous pressure on the participants. He achieved 14th place against competitors from across the globe.

The second day was no walk in the park either. Here participants were faced with about 76 obstacles over a 15 kilometre distance.

In his own words, the second day of competition was “a tough one”. The next course to conquer was the team event, which spanned a distance of seven kilometres with about 40 obstacles placed throughout the course. With the help of his teammates, Martin managed a decent performance and brought home a medal in this event as well.

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He has become a familiar face on the OCR scene and has competed in the Toyota Warrior Race a number of times. His passion for the sport was awakened after accepting an invitation from friends to join them at a Toyota Warrior race in Pretoria.

“About four years ago, Uys and Michelle du Preez invited me to join them and I enjoyed it so much, completing the Black Ops in 2016 before breaking my leg last year and having to watch the competition from the sidelines.”

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To give a bit of perspective about his recent achievements, Martin competed against 1 900 other competitors in the
15-kilometre race, which only 163 participants completed. This placed him eighth overall in his age category.
His time in this race was 02:59:58 in freezing temperatures.

“The next time I aim to prepare better for the cold weather, which became almost unbearable and slowed me down in the last five kilometres,” he concluded.