MULTISPORT
rather not race , but Richard says , “ I told him I know how to do it slowly , which I did , under the careful supervision of race doctor Conrad von Hagen , who had been my GP in PE . I was pretty chuffed with my 11:30 finishing time , although I still don ’ t quite know how I did it .” Just five days later Richard was undergoing a spinal tap test , and that resulted in him being booked in for immediate brain surgery . The doctors had found that the tumour had grown and turned cancerous , and was squashing the pituitary gland against the brain , causing the headaches and hormonal imbalance . They had to go in through his nose to remove the tumour .
Richard and his daughters Bailey ( left ) and Mckinnon
In spite of falling ill two weeks before the race , throwing up during the swim and again during the run , even temporarily bailing during the run , Richard still managed to finish 57th overall in a very respectable 10 hours and 20 minutes . Having moved from Joburg to PE after that race , he was back in 2008 and clocked a 9:17 to finish 16th overall and first agegroup athlete , which earned him a coveted slot for the Ironman World Champs in Kona , Hawaii . However , Kirsten had fallen pregnant with their second daughter and Richard decided not to go .
He skipped the 2009 Ironman in PE due to glandular fever , then raced again in 2010 and finished 27th overall to once again qualify for Kona , but by then his divorce was going through , followed by Kirsten moving back to Joburg with their daughters Mackinnon and Bailey . That put paid to thoughts of triathlon as he moved back to Joburg to be close to his daughters , taking up the position of National Training Manager for Pam Golding Properties . “ When I moved out of Joburg , said I would never go back , but when my ex-wife moved back there with my girls , I had to get my head around it and embrace it . The cost of not doing that would have been too high – not being with my girls ,” says Richard .
In 2012 and 2014 he raced Ironman SA at a slower pace to help his CEO , Andrew Golding , through his first few Ironman events , and as a token of thanks , Andrew offered to sponsor Richard ’ s trip to Kona . “ He said , I think you have unfinished business in Kona , and asked what it would cost him to send me to Kona if I could get a slot . It was a massive gesture by an incredible human being .” However , Richard ’ s Kona dream was then dealt a massive blow , one that was to change the whole pattern of his life .
Shocking News
In 2006 , Richard had been diagnosed with very high Prolactin levels , a warning sign that something may be wrong with the pituitary gland . “ The neurosurgeon then found a small lump on my pituitary and started me on medication , and it appeared the tumour responded , so surgery was not required . However , I periodically still got piercing headaches and suffered from fatigue , which I would then take medication for , until October 2015 , when the medication no longer seemed to help . Suddenly I couldn ’ t train in the heat or handle sun , I became really emotional , and it felt like I was falling apart .”
A week before Ironman 2016 , Richard ’ s blood tests showed cancer markers , and the neurosurgeon said he should
Seven weeks later , a scan showed another spot on the pituitary gland , and one on the underside of the brain , and Richard was given the shocking news by the doctors that they believed he probably only had six months left . “ Nothing can prepare you for that , and I fell apart , but then I got really angry , and decided this was not my destiny , that my girls are my reason for living , and that I was going to fight it . I went ballistic on trying literally everything I could find to help my recovery , and miraculously in August , the scans were clear , so I went back to working full-time as well as training for Ironman .”
Training was going well when another curveball arrived in January 2017 – the cancer was back , and Richard says he fell apart once again . “ I thought I had survived it , and was feeling better , only to be told it was back . I started a new six-month chemo treatment – five days on , 23 days off – but decided that I was still going to do Ironman , so I got the doctors to structure it so that the race would fall on the 28th day of the chemo cycle , the best possible day for me to race . I don ’ t think people realise how important Ironman is to me – because I know that if I can do Ironman , I can beat cancer .”
After being cleared by Conrad to start , Richard cruised the swim and bike legs , and then found he was actually able to still run in the final leg – until the second lap . “ I knew it was going to hurt , due to my lack of training , but then my body just clocked out . The tears rolled down my cheeks and I wanted
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