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Ironman for all of Africa
Standard Bank Team
Super Contributor

All around the world athletes take on some of the toughest challenges. But there is one challenge that tests even the most hardened athlete: the Ironman events. Swim, bike, run. That’s the format of this triathlon series.

Depsite the name, Ironman is a gender equal sport – the race distances are the same for men and women.

The full Ironman involves a 3.8km swim, 180.2km cycle and 42.2km run. The individual legs must be completed consecutively within a time limit of 17 hours, making the Ironman one of the toughest one-day endurance events in the world.

On the Africa continent, the Ironman events are put on by Ironman South Africa and held in that country. As a result of the new partnership with Standard Bank Group, the World Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman brand, has elevated the status of Ironman South Africa to a continental championship race with the event becoming the Standard Bank Ironman African Championship.

This places the event as one of the top six Ironman events in the world.

Ironman is open to anyone over the age of 18. The shortest of the events is known as the 5150 events and gradually work towards the Ironman 70.3 (previously known as the half-Ironman).

Participation in Ironman South Africa has grown from just 786 entrants in 2005 to 2371 in 2014. The field is limited for safety reasons and events are usually fully booked up to a year ahead.

The events for Africa in 2015 are:
- Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa, 25 January 2015, Buffalo City
- Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship, 29 March 2015, Nelson Mandela Bay
- Standard Bank 5150 Bela Bela Triathlon, 22 August 2015, Bela Bela
- Standard Bank 5150 African Championship hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni, 1 November 2015, City of Ekurhuleni.

Read more about the sponsorship here: http://bit.ly/SBironman.

Get the lowdown on Ironman at www.ironman.com.