As he started his 180km bike leg on the second day of a personal challenge to complete back-to-back full Ironman distance triathlons , 44-year-old Joburg triathlete Theo Bierman thought to himself that it was strange to see the roads in the Cradle of Humankind so deserted . Normally , the area is full of cyclists and runners , as it is one of the most popular training venues in Gauteng , but now it was strangely quiet . “ The Cradle is an endurance athlete ’ s haven , where all the people in Johannesburg go to do their swimming , cycling and running , so I thought I would see more people on day two , but the Cradle was strangely empty that Saturday ,” he says . |
Theo Bierman during the bike leg on the first day of his Double Ironman Challenge
“ I had put out a note on 702 and on MixFM , and on all my social media posts , to say to people , come and swim with me at Cradle Moon Lake for whatever distance you want to do , or come cycle with me for whatever distance you are comfortable doing , and most importantly , I wanted people to run with me on the second day , because I knew that is when I was going to need help the most ,” continues Theo . “ Then I remembered that the next day , Sunday 20 November , was the Virgin Active 947 Ride Joburg race . I hadn ’ t thought of that , and I was actually quite bummed about it for a while .”
Fortunately , Theo was soon joined by many family members , friends , colleagues and other supporters as
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“ I chose to do day one on a Friday , a workday , because I just wanted to smash the first day out by myself , so that I wouldn ’ t be a burden on anyone . It ’ s easy enough for me to do one Full Ironman , so I wasn ’ t stressed about it at all , and I trained for a long time leading up to the challenge , so I was in the best shape I had ever been in my entire life . Still , I thought it would be much better with company on day two . Luckily , I actually ended up having more people with me on the day two bike and run , and logistically , I had a good crew with me on both days , so it turned out to be an incredible experience . Marriage , children and all those usual things aside , it was two of the most wonderful days of my life , and best of all , I set myself a target to raise R50,000 for the Project , and we ended up raising nearly R110,000 !”
Launching the Cause
Theo helped found the Paige Project 11 years ago with three close friends , Grant Nock and brothers James and David Barson . James ’ daughter , Paige , was born premature and required several complicated operations , and during one the flow of oxygen to her brain was interrupted , leading to permanent damage and cerebral palsy . Theo also has a niece with the condition , and he says this contributed to the four friends deciding to run a fundraiser for an orthopaedic
Joined by various friends and family for the second day ’ s marathon run
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Images : Sportograf & courtesy Theo Bierman , The Paige Project |