Mary - King over cancer & a half ironman

Mary King tells Rejoov how she won over cancer and completed her dream on 11th Dec 2016 of doing a half ironman:

"Five years ago I was told that I had a 50:50 chance of surviving 5 years from bowel cancer, so to celebrate beating the cancer I knew I had to do something significant to celebrate!

We (Amy & I) originally planned on Busselton 70.3 in May but with injuries preventing this, we looked for a plan B.

Greta got me back into running after 8 months out of action with my original plan not including a half ironman but just building up running speed. Only 7 weeks prior to the event, we decided on our plan B, which turned out to be Ballarat 70.3 on 11th December. Greta quickly changed tack in my program and set about preparing me for endurance rather than speed!

Arriving in Ballarat, the thing that struck us most was the promise of 16 degree water and 8 degree air temperature. The day before the event we weren’t sure how we were going to keep warm!

Racking our bikes in transition, it all became real…

Entering the water on the morning felt warm (compared to the outside temperature), but soon the chills set in. The swim was in Lake Wendouree, home to the 1956 Olympics rowing – fresh (in theory) water and weed in some points just a few centimetres deep.

Amy came out of the water 1 second in front of me and we were quickly told by the commentator that there was no time to talk…we had a race to do! Without the feeling in your hands from the cold, transition took its time.

We had been warned that the bike course was quick on the way out (slightly downhill and a tail wind) but not to get excited about how fast it was. We discovered why when the average speed went from over 30km/hr to closer to 22km/hr. The cycle was pretty, down Remembrance Drive where a tree has been planted for each man called for service in WW1 – 4,000 trees over 25km. We kept in sight of each other over the course and finished the cycle 7 secs apart.

We headed out of transition together to start our three “run” laps of the lake – 21km. We ran OK for the first 10km, but then started to struggle so continued in a run/walk for the rest of the time.

We crossed the finish line together at 6hrs 41m – happy to have finished!

I couldn’t have done this without Greta’s support and encouragement over the last few months, completely unflappable when I changed my goal at such short notice! I also would like to thank Amy, for her support and training companionship".

Congratulations Mary and Amy, your Rejoov fit fam are thrilled for you both and wish you many more adventures, health and happiness in 2017.