Crank met the Racing 29ers at this years ABSA Cape Epic which will long be remembered for its extreme weather. Searing heat in the opening few days was replaced by wet and near freezing conditions into Grabouw, with hypothermia not uncommon, even amongst the most seasoned of participants.

Apart from being the winner of the inaugural Ironman South Africa, Petr Vabrousek can lay claim to the title of “most frequent” competitor, racing up to three times a week. Although he races approximately fourteen Ironman distance races a year, Vabrousek always puts his young family first.

Endurance sports events are always full of surprises and the Totalsports Challenge 2012 was no different. With Dan Hugo the perennial favorite, most expected him to cruise to an easy victory as in years past.

But a plucky dairy farmer from the Eastern Cape had other ideas.

Stuart Marais threw caution to the wind, making this year’s Challenge a “down to the wire” duel, finishing only five minutes behind the better known Hugo, both athletes shattering the previous record by a long way.

“I don’t follow a set training schedule. I try to dictate my training by opposites,” says Jonas Colting, two-time Ultraman champion and one of the world’s top long-distance triathletes.

A native of Sweden, Colting is perhaps one of the most interesting and resourceful professional triathletes around, having developed a successful ‘side industry’ around his athletic career.

Professional athlete, writer, coach and motivational speaker all make up Colting’s daily lifestyle and he was kind enough to answer our questions in between these commitments.

“Steve Hofmeyer!” exclaims Conrad Stoltz with a grin after opening up a copy of Alexander Parker’s book, “50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa”.

“Zapiro is my favourite satirist” he explains, noting the hilarious illustrations of the complexities of everyday South Africa found in this amusing read, which I had bought just prior to our meeting at a Knysna coffee shop.

The Caveman, as he is known, had just finished taking part in the Waterfront Rush, a waterborne obstacle course-cum-adventure race with his fiancé and SA Netball captain, Liezel Wium, and was eager to get warm after a dip in the icy waters of the Knysna Waterfront.

Faris Al-Sultan is the team founder and the leader of Team Abu Dhabi Triathlon. He started his Ironman career at the age of 19 on the island of Lanzarote. Within a few years he became the German epitome of Ironman. In 2005 he was crowned Ironman world champion in Kona, Hawaii.

Crank recently caught up with this Tri Legend.

Our recent chat with Scott Molina highlighted a few things, in particular the innovative Iron Tour in France which, at one stage attracted the “who’s who” of international triathletes.

One of these triathletes was Ben Bright who at the time, was nipping at the heels of the likes of Simon Lessing and Mike Pigg, while based in France racing the lucrative European circuit.

A battle-hardened professional while still a junior in the 1990s, Bright is now a triathlon coach in Great Britain who certainly would fit the description as having “been around the block” in sporting terms.

Ben provides us with an in depth account of his triathlon career with fascinating and informative detail.