Mud Man Purtell shows a clean pair of heels
The hard work is paying off for the triathlete.
IT’S been a pretty busy year so far for Darryn Purtell (25) of Southbroom.
He has graduated, got a job, moved towns … and won the KwaZulu-Natal aQuellé Mud Man Series.
Although Darryn has raced in significantly bigger events, he was more than happy to compete in the four race series, hosted by different schools.
“It serves as a feeder for the schools and is really the only such series in the province. It doesn’t attract the really big names, but still the prize money at the end certainly made it worthwhile,” he said.
The best results in three out of the four races counted towards deciding the overall champion.
Darryn finished first in three of them and fifth in the other one.
“I got lost … ended up riding on the running route, so that was a bit of issue,” he said, seeing the funnier side later on.
Each race comprised of a 700m (or 750m) swim, 20km MTB ride, and a 5km off-road run.
While the distances may have been shorter than some of the bigger events, the pace was quicker at times.
In other events, Darryn finished third in a Tin Man event in Durban, surprising himself with that result.
“I had no expectations coming into the race so was quite excited about that,” – Darryn Purtell
Health wise he has a shoulder concern which he described as a ‘bit sore’, but other than that is fighting fit.
“Not sure what caused that. Maybe too much too fast. I’m working on it,” he said.
He has been selected for the South African team to go to Australia for the World Cross Triathlon (off-road triathlon) later in the year.
In the meantime, he is finding his feet as a financial adviser for Liberty Life in Umhlanga, having recently graduated through Varsity College with a B Com, specialising in financial management.
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