MULTISPORT control of about 1.5m in front of me. On the track I can bang out four minutes a kay easily, but on the road I’ m lucky to do seven minutes a kay.”
Next Challenge, Please
At 31 Helen felt she needed a bigger challenge.“ I decided to run the Comrades, because that’ s what you do in SA … I did lots of marathons, but for two years I couldn’ t get any faster to qualify. Then in 2012 I began doing speed training, and got my marathon down to 4:30. Starting my first Comrades was a big thing for me, but by 20km I felt exhausted and overwhelmed. I couldn’ t overtake people because I have no depth perception, and then just before halfway I tripped on a cat’ s eye and fell. I was covered in blood and my knee was really sore, but I carried on till Cato Ridge at 68km, where I eventually dropped out. It was only afterwards that I realised I had a broken bone in my hand and torn ligaments in my knee!”
Helen and Caroline cross the finish line in Kona
“ I went back in 2014 and finished the race, but again the start was difficult and I couldn’ t cut across other runners to get water, so I did 30 to 40km without water. I ran it again 2016, but by then I had already decided I wanted to do Ironman, even though I was terrified of the water.” In fact, Helen says just trying to swim in the pool left her literally unable to breathe from anxiety, but she still went to the Ironman in PE to help as a volunteer and see what the race was like.“ I heard people say look at the swimmers at the buoys. I couldn’ t even see the water’ s edge, let alone the buoys … and the people were doing 60 kays an hour or more on the bikes. I thought I could literally kill somebody if I did the wrong thing at that kind of speed!
Down, But Not Out
Feeling devastated, the PE trip made Helen realise she would need help if she wanted to achieve her Ironman goal.“ From a young age I had been told I would never be independent, or live by myself, but I had gained a lot of independence through running. It was therefore a huge thing to accept that I would need a guide and a tandem bike to do Ironman. That’ s when I contacted Derick Marcisz, as I had several friends who had been part of his Dare to Tri programme. He very kindly offered to fetch me in the mornings and guide me in pack runs, and helped me find a borrowed tandem to ride.”
Kona Conquered
The Ironman World Champs race in Kona, Hawaii, is considered one of the toughest sporting events, and when blind triathlete Helen Webb crossed the Kona finish line this October, she added yet another chapter to an already impressive and inspiring story. – BY SEAN FALCONER
“ Now the challenge was to find a female guide, as per the ITU rules, and I needed somebody who could deal with my panic in the water, and also put up with my slow speed on the bike and run. In the end, we made a desperate plea on social media late in 2016 and found Desi Dickinson, an elite age grouper who said she wanted to give back to the sport. From the end of October 2016, she dedicated her training time to me for Ironman 70.3 East London, and then Ironman Port Elizabeth. I had never expected to find somebody of her calibre willing to give up everything for me!”
Born with just 10 % vision caused by albinism, a congenital disorder characterised by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes, Helen Webb has spent her whole life trying to change perceptions of people with disabilities.“ I was bullied at school and told that I was a monster, and even though that stopped when I reached my 20s, I still felt I was not good enough,” she says. However, that all began to change when she set out to show what she could do, both academically( she has a Ph. D. in chemistry) and physically.“ Prior to running and triathlon, I felt like I was not really achieving much in life – it was just about how I viewed myself – but triathlon has helped me see myself as an |
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extraordinary visually impaired person, and I hope my story will inspire others to do the same.”
Helen( 37) was born in London, spent 10 years in the USA and then moved to SA at age 11. Growing up in Johannesburg, she says she was not at all sporty.“ I was actually not allowed to participate in sport, because I had a severe lack of eye-hand coordination, on top of albinism, which meant I couldn’ t spend that much time in the sun. Then in my early 20s a friend took me for a 5km run, and to my surprise, I didn’ t die, so I began running, up to half marathon distance. I found that my eyesight was not an issue, but I’ m not particularly fast, because I’ m only in
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When Helen went to East London in January, she was still panicking about the swim, and to make matters worse, the sea was so rough in the days leading up to the race that she and Desi could only do one short sea swim.“ I did that first swim in a panicked state, feeling like I was going to drown. I was actually incredibly lucky that Desi had lifesaving skills, because after just 300 metres I had physically given up and she had to pull me back in. Once back on the beach I collapsed from shock. That evening at supper I told Derick I didn’ t think I could get back in there tomorrow, but he just said he wasn’ t going to entertain my doubts, and that he knew I could do it … so I thought, why not.” |
Images: Finisherpix & courtesy Helen Webb |
14 ISSUE 101 DECEMBER 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za