Kristian Fesel

Kristian Fesel

Ok so I am 43 years old, married to an Ironman triathlete (Renate) and have two kids. A daughter of 9 (Madison) and a son of 7 (Aiden). I am originally from Manchester, England but race under the South African flag.

I am one of only 10 athletes that have completed all 12 Ironman South Africa races in PE and will be lining up for number 13 next week. These have been done consecutively, slowest time 14:53 and fastest time of 10:49

I come from a soccer background (yes the game where someone touched you and you roll around in agony like you have been shot haha) and played soccer for 25 years before taking up triathlon as my main sport/hobby. I'm still fanatical about the game and a big supporter of Manchester City, my moods often determined by them.

My first exposure to triathlon was in the late 1980's though when we use to take part in the old Energade 5FM series (in those days it was The Perm 5FM series). I was part od a social team with a bunch of mates and I ended up doing the swim leg as nobody else would. I was always one of the last 10 out of the water and left it up to our cyclist and runner to make up positions.

Ironman SA will be my 15th full Ironman. I have also completed Ironman World Champs in Kona Hawaii in 2013 and Challenge Roth in 2015. Challenge Roth was one of my greatest finishes as 12 weeks prior to race day i suffered a mild stroke which turned out to be as a result of a brain tumour the size of a snooker ball. I had the brain tumour removed two weeks after Ironman SA in 2015.

I have also finished 7 half ironmans (70.3) including the 70.3 World Champs in Australia in 2016.

I am not one of these athletes that i finicky about calories but do try and eat as healthily as possible. But I have a weakness for chocolate and beer (not together). I play the occasional game of golf and also do crossfit as a form of strength training.

Ironman was one of the items on my bucket list that I got hooked on but still have a long bucket list of events that I want to tick off. Next year i'm hoping to do the Dusi Canoe Marathon.

I started smart tri triathlon club in 2015 and have recently joined My Training Day as one of their coaches in Joburg.

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