Kalan rises to the challenge

He may have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, but Kalan Mazure says the Sunsmart Ironman 70.3 Busselton will still be a huge challenge.

The 20-year-old Busselton athlete conquered Africa’s highest peak two years ago.

“It took four days to climb, but we ran down in one day, ” he said.

“Before, everyone was talking about the altitude and when we reached 4000km, it got hard with the headaches.

“There was a point when I decided to have a sleep on an ice cap and my brother dragged me along. I didn’t think I would make it.”

Mazure has competed in the Ironman 70.3 as part of a team before, but this is the first time he has done so individually.

He discovered a love for running at high school and describes it as his best leg.

“When I was younger, I used to do the State Series in Perth, ” he said.

“It’s always been my dream to do an ironman and you have to start somewhere.”

Mazure says his weakest leg is the swim and his cycling is “average”.

He’s been training hard, sometimes getting up at 4.30am. “After work I go for a 14km run and on the weekends I go for a big run, around 20km, ” he said.

The gruelling schedule is completed by a 90km cycle on Saturday.

“My goal is to go under five hours, but if I have a really good day, it will be under 4.5 hours, ” he said.

“My friends and family will hopefully be there and that’s what makes it more possible.

“As soon as you pass through where all the people are, you get this rush of energy that comes from nowhere.”

The event is held tomorrow.