Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 76, November 2015 | Page 40

Ma Dare To Tri

NEXT STOP:
GERMISTON

The big triathlon focus this month is the 5150 Ekurhuleni African Championships on 1 November at Germiston Lake, and our
Dare to Tri (DTT) Academy members have been hard at work training for this fantastic ‘must-do’ event… but many DTT eyes
are already looking towards the IRONMAN events of 2016.
The Coach’s Corner
by DTT Coach Derick Marcisz
The 5150 Ekurhuleni African Championships is one of my favourite events, offering a great course and a great venue
– clean water, a fast bike, a lovely run in the park, and very spectator-friendly! DTT always focuses on this event in our
build-up to IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa in Buffalo City and then IRONMAN PE, and this year we will have 58 athletes
competing in Germiston, so look out for our green and blue kit.
DTT has exactly 100 signed up members for this year’s programme. So from 10 members in 2011, we have grown 10
times the size in four years! That’s because this training programme has transformed everyday athletes and even ‘couch
potatoes’ into successful triathletes, as can be seen in our finishing percentage at the major triathlons last season, an
incredible 97% (186 finishers)!
The success of DTT comes from being a manageable, affordable and sustainable training programme that fits in with
your family, social and work commitments, but the BIG success of DTT is the coached weekend group training sessions,
with flexible distances or pacing to accommodate both novices and experienced triathletes! Also, DTT never leaves an
athlete behind, with former novices tasked to help the newbies if they drop off the pace. This is not always the case at
other Tri clubs or training groups.
So, if you have entered 70.3 Buffalo City or IRONMAN PE and want to train with the DTT group, then you
can still join. Go to https://daretotri.canbook.me/e/view/8916 and follow the prompts to register at just
R1100 for the season. You won’t get this level of coaching, including coached weekend sessions, at this
price, anywhere else. It’s time to DARE TO TRI!

DTT SUCCESS STORY

LIVING FOR THE CHALLENGE
“In 2012 I was diagnosed with rectum cancer and at 42 years of age I thought this is
the end of life as I know it. The operation went well, though, and all the cancer was
removed, praise the Lord! I will have a colostomy bag attached to my body for the
rest of my life – some people are embarrassed about this, but I am not.
For the next two years I needed to be careful what I did, as the wound did not want
to heal properly, and my weight ballooned. By February 2014 I was 106kg, until I said
enough is enough. I was scared that if I did not change my lifestyle or habits, I would
end up with cancer once again. So, I decided to go on a diet, and then in June I got
this mad idea that I wanted to do the Comrades, so I signed up. The rest is history –
I completed my first Comrades and I felt great. Now for the next challenge: Triathlon!
The message I want to send out is that anything is possible if you set your mind to
it. Also, to the people that think that cancer is the end of your life, it’s not. I am living
proof of that. Maybe if I exercised when I was a few years younger, I would not have
ISSUE 76 NOVEMBER 2015 / www.modernathlete.co.za
40

had cancer at all... but if someone else reads my story and decides to change their
lifestyle, they might be the lucky ones.
I do this to inspire my wife, kids and everyone around me. I was never an athlete.
Now running is part of my life, and I give thanks to the Lord for the chance he gave
me. Life is precious, but we tend to take it for granted. I did, but not anymore. Life
is grea