Stan powers through Ironman

Stan Andrews is all smiles after completing the Ironman 70.3 that took place in East London last month.

The amputee raced shoulder to shoulder with some of the top athletes in the sport and managed to finish with a total time of 7:14:37.

Stan took part in the competition to raise awareness about his non-profit organisation (NPO) Stand With Stan. The NPO helps amputees from disadvantaged backgrounds to get access to prosthetics.

“Even though I felt intimidated by the fact that Ironman 70.3 was going to be my longest triathlon distance to date, fear was quickly replaced by excitement as I did a pre-race check on my bike in transition early on Sunday morning,” said Stan.

He started early on the almost two kilometre swim at Orient Beach with his handler Zenon Marinschenk by his side to assist him if he needed anything. The sea tossed around the first wave of swimmers but Stan was able to swiftly complete it in 35:19.

After the swim, Stan was back on the beach to take off his wetsuit. The athlete was in the tent for the transition from swim to bike when he noticed that the silicone sleeve for his prosthetic leg was in his swimming bag. Zenon immediately raced down to the swimming bag check-in on the beach to retrieve it. This cost Stan 10 minutes.

It was then off to the 90 kilometre bike race with the challenging rolling hills.

“I really pushed myself because I didn’t want to spend the whole day on the bike. 45km later I reached Berlin Bridge, the turnaround point. On the way back, there was a strong side wind but I managed to increase my speed. It was so moving because every cyclist who overtook me congratulated me, and told me I was an inspiration. Before I knew it I was taking the off-ramp off the motorway, and there was only 5km left. Pushing myself up the last hill I could feel that I’d really worked the bike,” he said.

In the cycling, he made a time of 3:28:28.

After a quick change into his running shoes, Stan was back out of the tent, receiving a good layer of sunscreen on the way.

“Running was most certainly the best part for me. From transition to the five kilometre turnaround point, the entire route was lined with excited supporters. They cheered and shouted my name repeatedly as I ran past them, and some of them even offered me lunch,” he said.

Stan’s goal was to finish under seven hours even though he was reaching his limit.

“I had a certain amount of work to do on the run. By this time though, my legs were killing me. My stump was feeling tender and my good leg was cramping from top to bottom. Knowing that quitting is never an option, I just slowed down a bit and even walked occasionally. On my final run back to the finish, I felt obliged to stop at a group of supporters who had been ultra-supportive every time I ran past them. I actually had a beer with them.

After spending time with the group of supporters, Stan made his way to the finish line and his run was timed at 2:44:39. Once through the gauntlet, his tired body received a boost through the crowd’s cheering and shouts of encouragement.

“I’d made it! I’d done it! It felt so good,” said Stan.

His overall rank was 1330 from 2243 participants.

Stan also took part in the South African Para-Tri Championships a few days later in East London. He came second in the PT4 category, claiming a silver medal.