Images : Courtesy Richard Wright and first age-grouper , which earned him a coveted slot for the Ironman World Champs in Kona , Hawaii . However , Kirsten had fallen pregnant with their second daughter and Richard decided not to go . He skipped 2009 due to glandular fever , then raced again in 2010 and finished 27 th overall to once again qualify for Kona , but by then his divorce was going through , followed by Kirsten moving back to Joburg with the girls . That put paid to thoughts of triathlon as he moved back to Joburg to be close to his daughters , taking up the position of National Training Manager for Pam Golding .
Chasing the Dream
In 2012 he raced Ironman slowly while guiding his COO , Andrew Golding , through his first full Ironman , and they raced together again in 2014 , until the second lap of the run . “ That ’ s when I turned to Andrew and said I don ’ t think you need me any more , and he said funnily enough , I was just thinking the same thing . Then he said , I think you should race it again , because you have unfinished business in Kona , and he asked me what it would cost him to send me to Kona if I could get a slot . It was a massive gesture by an incredible human being .”
However , Richard ’ s Kona dream was then dealt a massive blow . While he and Kirsten had struggled to fall pregnant the first time , they had both undergone testing in 2006 , and he had been diagnosed with very high Prolactin levels , a warning sign that something may be wrong with the pituitary gland . “ The neurosurgeon then found a small lump on my pituitary and started me on medication , and it appeared the tumour responded , so surgery was not required . However , I periodically still got piercing headaches and suffered from fatigue , which I would then take medication for , until October 2015 , when the medication no longer seemed to help . Suddenly I couldn ’ t train in the heat or handle sun , I became really emotional , and it felt like I was falling apart .”
A week before Ironman 2016 , Richard ’ s blood tests showed cancer markers , and the neurosurgeon said he should rather not race , but Richard says , “ I told him I know how to do it slowly , which I did , under the careful supervision of Conrad , and I was pretty chuffed with my 11:30 finishing time , although I still don ’ t quite know how I did it .”
Emotional Rollercoaster
Just five days after that , Richard was undergoing a spinal tap test , and that resulted in him being booked in for immediate brain surgery . The doctors had found that the tumour had grown and was squashing the pituitary gland against the brain , causing the headaches and hormonal imbalance , and had turned cancerous , so they had to go in through his nose to remove the tumour . However , two weeks later a scan showed another spot on the pituitary gland and one on the underside of the brain , and that was
Sheer will to finish , sheer will to live
when the doctors gave Richard just six months , which meant he would make it roughly till the middle of December .
“ Nothing can prepare you for that , and I fell apart , but then I got really angry , and decided this was not my destiny , that my girls are my reason for living , and that I was going to fight it . I went ballistic on trying literally everything I could find to help my recovery , and in August the scans were clear , so I went back to working full-time as well as training for Ironman . I had unbelievable support from family and friends , as well as my company , but then I had to overcome the terror of being held up by gunmen in my house and cleared out of everything I owned – and I had cancelled my household insurance when I thought I had just six months left ! But friends and people were so supportive , and I was signed up by Fluid Lines as a brand ambassador and given new kit .”
Training was going well when another curve-ball arrived in January – the cancer had mutated and was back , and Richard says he fell apart again . “ I thought I had survived it , and was feeling better , only to be told it was back . So I started a new six-month chemo treatment – five days on , 23 days off – which I am still busy with . I also decided that I was still going to do Ironman , so I got the doctors to structure it so that the race would fall on the 28 th day of the chemo cycle , the best possible day for me to race . I don ’ t think people realise how important Ironman is to me – because I know that if I can do Ironman , I can beat cancer . The doctors said I was the most unlikely person they could think of to get this rare type of cancer , but also said if there is one person likely to survive it , is also me . The last time we spoke they gave me three more years , but I am determined that ’ s not going to happen . I believe that ’ s not my destiny .”
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