My previous post on Powerman Zofingen 1993 was surprisingly well-received, so much so that contact was made with a few of the SA protagonists of that day. Ian Cocker was one those intrepid South African duathletes and kindly provided an encyclopaedic account of his duathlete life and times. In this first installment, Ian waxes lyrical about his Zofingen experiences.
"That 30km run up the mountain and back after 150km in the saddle made grown men cry for mommy," says Ian Cocker. "The international guys were so strong but Greg (Von Holdt) just took it to them on the bike. And the way Ben Janse Van Vuuren just worked his way up the field on that run was just inspirational. Zofingen 1993 is forever etched in my memory. It was unforgettable."
Ian, a fulltime engineer and father then living in Johannesburg, might not have had the best maiden Zofingen performance (he DNF'ed during the opening 7.5km run) but he sure took away a lot from that first experience.
"It was very easy to get caught up in the pre-race hype and lose focus," he says. "Post-race was a different story and I ended up making lots of great connections. Dr. Matt Brick, the duathlon World Champion at that time, gave me a lot of great advice. I was invited back to our home-stay accommodation for the following year and couldn't wait to get back home to prepare for the 1994 edition."
For Ian (pictured far left in header image), Zofingen 1994 was a much improved performance, albeit until just before T2.
"After losing a bit of time in the first changeover, I managed to hang on to ninth place by the end of the bike leg. Unfortunately for me, I rode over a black cat 5km before T2 so my fate was sealed! I managed to hold around 15th place up that bloody mountain but then died a thousand deaths on the way back down. Kenny Souza and I hobbled across the finish together just inside the top-100. I was gutted!"
Instead of wallowing in misery, Ian once again took away the positive aspects of his performance. Not one to dwell on disappointments, he decided to adjust his focus to shorter – but no less tough – events, becoming a regular fixture on the then-lucrative Powerman world circuit.
"It was back to the drawing board," he says. "I realised I didn't have enough time to focus on the ultra-distance events. Zofingen was great but I never went back there ever again!"
More to follow.
*Note: Header Image courtesy of Ian Cocker.
