Buffalo City came to the party in every which way possible in delivering a scintillating 10th Standard Bank Ironman 70.3.
Both the men’s and the women’s races went down to the wire with respective winners Romain Guilaume and Jodie Cunnama both hunted down by the chasing pack.
The 1.9km sea swim saw Guilaume of France come out of the Indian Ocean with a fair lead over a chasing pack of four other professional male competitors
The pre-race favourite, James Cunnama, was still further off the pace of the pack and said at the media briefing after the race that his swim had not met expectations.
Guilaume on the other hand was obviously very happy with that aspect and said, “after a good swim I had to make it happen on the bike”. And he did, setting up a solid six-minute cushion over his rivals.
Departing the transition after the swim Mark Threfall of the UK was in second but closely followed by Evert Scheltinga of the Netherlands and South Africans Kyle Buckingham, Stuart Marais and James Cunnama.
East London’s Clinton Gravett came out of the water in fifth place.
The 91.1 cycle was a dogged affair on a seriously tough outward bound route, but the following wind on the way back was a bonus and the fast pace from Berlin to the Orient produced superb racing.
Guilaume was followed off the bike by Threfall, Cunnama and Buckingham.
The latter two, being great runners and well acquainted with local conditions, were always going to make the going tough for anyone up front.
Guilaume on the other hand admitted that he knew the run would be his defining moment and all he could hope to do was dig deep and hang on. He did, but only just enough to record a very pleasing maiden win. His six-minute lead off the bike was cut back to just 2:28 by Cunnama.
Cunnama in suggesting finishing second is never part of the plan said he knew he was closing and just kept on pushing as “anything can happen” in the closing stages of so intense a contest.
Buckingham was third, 5:31 off the winner and a fast finishing Marais finished fourth.
Gravett did East London proud with a 10th place while the other top local contender and amateur contestant, Bradley Birkholtz finished 15th overall and second in his age category.
The women’s race was a major triumph for Jodie Cunnama (nee Swallow) as she recorded her seventh straight triumph in East London, admitting after the race that “it gets harder every year”.
A true champion, however she proved to be.
The reason it was so hard had much to do with her British compatriot, Suzie Cheetham, who produced the run leg of her life and narrowed a significant lead off the bike to just 59 seconds and by two minutes on the second lap.
Third in the women’s event was Polish competitor Jersyk Agnieska, expressed absolute delight at being on the podium.
The East London crowds flocked to the seafront in splendid weather conditions and the competitors responded accordingly.