She went on to win her age category again , coming home eighth overall and qualifying again for the Ironman World Champs at the end of the year in Kona , Hawaii , and so she decided to see how that went before deciding about the professional route . “ I decided that if I won my age category in Kona , I would turn pro . I didn ’ t have a great race overall , finishing third in my category and 23rd overall , but as Raynard will attest after all his Ironman races , you can train hard , but the perfect day rarely comes , and you just have to push through . At the same time I was having to make hard decisions about work and life , and after a lot of talking , I decided to take myself out of my comfort zone and race in the pro division , but still keep the day job .”

Annah ( 36 ) grew up in Johannesburg , earning provincial colours in gymnastics while at school and went on to study chartered accountancy , then became a CFA ( certified financial analyst ), and is currently

Head of Global Finance for the Coastal Region at ABSA Investment Banking . She says investment banking is a demanding , high-pressure line of work , but she is managing the workload on top of the tri training . “ Fortunately , my job requires deliverables , so I can adjust my working hours as long as I meet deadlines , and can invest time in both careers . Still , people sometimes think things are easy for me , but it ’ s hard to do both full-time , so the cracks are starting to show a bit . Sometimes things are unbearable , but at other times they bring me incredible joy .”

STARTING OUT

Annah was a relative latecomer to triathlon . She only took up running in 2008 , aged 26 , then tried her hand at triathlons in 2011 , completing the Ironman 70.3 in East London . She went back in 2012 and won her age group with an overall top 10 finish , which earned her a slot for the 2012 70.3 World Champs in the USA . In 2013 she missed East London after breaking her wrist and collarbone in a crash near the end of the 947 Cycle Tour , so raced her first full Ironman in PE instead . There she won her age category and earned her first qualifying slot for Kona , but decided she wasn ’ t ready for that yet . She also raced for South Africa at the 2013 ITU Long Distance World Champs in France that year .

In 2014 she once again won her category at Ironman SA , then did the Ironman-distance Challenge Roth in Germany as build-up to Kona and finished eighth ,

giving her great confidence ahead of her Kona debut . However , another bike crash while training in the Cradle resulted in another broken collar bone , just three weeks before Kona ! “ The trip was booked , so I still went and watched my friends compete . It was horrible up to race day , but I actually enjoyed watching the race , and the trip really helped me a lot to find the best accommodation and location ahead of going back in 2015 ,” says Annah .

HIGHS AND LOWS

Having turned pro , Annah says she really enjoyed 2016 , as she was never outside the top 10 in all her races . Besides smaller , local races , she finished third overall at 70.3 East London , placed second on her birthday at Ironman Lake Placid in the USA , was third at Ironman Barcelona , and also took eighth at Ironman SA . She qualified for Kona again , but decided to skip the World Champs that year . “ I decided to wait , because I hadn ’ t been as competitive as I wanted at Ironman SA , even though I did well in very competitive races in Barcelona and Lake Placid , racing some top girls . Kona is so highly competitive , with the top 20 girls all capable of winning on the day , so I first wanted to prepare more .”

Ironically , while a lot of people tell her that 2017 was another successful year , Annah says she feels it was a terrible year . “ I was fifth in East London , but didn ’ t finish the full in Port Elizabeth due to illness . I just couldn ’ t get any nutrition down and was vomiting

Images : Kevin Sawyer / Gameplan Media & Chris Hitchcock