Iron Man South Africa 2014

It's that time again. Iron Man South Africa 2014 is once again hosted in Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela Bay if we're being politically correct). Yesterday spectators flocked to the beach front to watch the Corporate Iron Man Triathlon, and the Spur Iron Kids. Corporate Iron Man was dominated by East Cape Motors, while Iron Kids was dominated by anxious and excitable parents. As we know, every child is a winner in Iron Kids. 
This year is the 10th anniversary of Iron Man South Africa, meaning that the media and hype usually surrounding the event is multiplied by 10. The event has attracted a number of international athletes, including two Bahraini princes; Nasser and Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. For those of you who are geographically impaired or like most people do not know where Bahrain is, I have Googled it for you. The Kingdom of Bahrain is located just off the west coast of Saudi Arabia, and East of Qatar (See map below). There's a lot of scandal surrounding the princes, I won't go into it much but I'm sure you might have read about the accusations of their torturing political prisoners in their country (follow link to read article). I will talk about the rumors I've heard of their buying some South African lion cubs. If said rumors were true I would have to say that my opinion on the matter is not a positive one. South African lions belong in South Africa, it is their home. 
The main event, the Iron Man triathlon, involves a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, and a 42km run which kicked off this morning with the first wave, consisting of all the Pro Athletes, hitting the water at 6:30am. Most racers have now made the transition from swim to cycle, the front runners having already past the 90km mark. Currently in the lead is German Pro; Faris Al-Sultan, closely followed by Pros; Pedro Gomes, James Cunnama, Miquel Blanchart, Matt Trautman, and Bertrand Billard. Female leader is currently Jodie Swallow who is now approaching the 90km mark. Certain athletes are emerging as strong leaders but it's still early in the day and in the race, with a 90km cycle still ahead and a 42km run to come, anything could happen.

For IronMan South Africa information follow these links to the Live Stream, Athlete Tracker, Facebook Page, or Twitter. Or check out the IronMan website.  

Check out some pics from Corporate Iron Man, and the Spur Iron Kids below  

Bahrain