In November 2007, Kisharon sent out a team of 23 athletes to take part in the Eilat Triathlon 2007, all of whom were asked to raise funds in aid of Kisharon. The triathlon required our athletes to take a dip in the Eilat waters for a 1 mile swim, followed by a 25 mile cycle, ending with a 6.5 mile run. On the days leading up to the triathlon, as well as after it, Eilat was full of spectators, amateur and professional athletes for this long awaited annual event which this year incorporated the BG Triathlon World Cup.
The Kisharon team returned to England with a sense of tremendous achievement, and rightly so!
These very determined and kindhearted athletes, with the help of their sponsors, managed to raise £82,201 for Kisharon!!
We would therefore like send out a huge thank you to everyone on the Kisharon team :-
Simon Bentley Gabrielle Kobrin
Tanya Bentley Debbie Last
Raphi Bloom Gabriella Lauffer
Lydia Corin Daniella Lerner
Ami Elkus Sasha Lerner
Bernard Fromson Greville Marchant
Robert Goldschmidt Elliot Nussbaum
Ivan Green Abe Rosenfield
David Grossbard Yoni Weisz
Neil Isaacson Darren Stalick
Andy Shiers Marion Weisz
Rob Harvey (Professional triathlete and team trainer)
The following registered but unfortunately were unable to participate for personal reasons. We thank them for their financial contributions to Kisharon.
Andrew Newman , David Nussbaum , Ralph Ben-Tal, Daniel Deitch and
Ilan Preiss
Kisharon would like to especially thank our triathlon committee members who put in so much effort to make the triathlon successful.
Simon Bentley (Commitee Chairman), Ami Elkus, Greville Marchant,Darren Stalick and Yoni Weisz
The following was sent to us by Ami Elkus a member of the triathlon team, to give us an insight of his personal experience whilst racing.
"It was an amazing experience. Exhausting, exhilarating, and a great sense of achievement. Considering I was 'publicly' aiming for a time of sub 3 hours 30 min, I had a pretty good day.
The swim started as badly as i could have dreaded. I'd been told to 'prepare' for the stronger swimmers hitting people on the head, and pulling others' legs with their strokes - even swimming right over others. But after 40mts into the event one swimmer hit my head and accidentally held it under for what felt like an eternity (though probably no more than a second or two). I gulped a mouthful of the salty water, and became completely disorientated. Gasping for air, i was ready to quit the event, before I'd even really begun it. But you can't stop, can you? Floating in the water for a couple of minutes, I then started swimming again. Never quite had a proper rhythm going as the pulling/knocking from others just never ended. For all the hassle, I surprisingly still did one of my better times in the water (compared to training in the pool).
Raced out of the sea, and sprinted to the transition area. Picked up the bike and adrenaline really kicked in - the bike is my event. 20km out continuously uphill, into a hot strong desert wind (25degrees), I loved it. Then 20km back in under 1/3rd of the time. - I clocked over 65km/hr for some periods and it felt great. Averaged approx 31km/hr over the 40km.
By the time I was off the bike, I'd recovered some of the time I'd lost in the water, and had 2:06 on my watch as i exited the transition for the 10km run (4*2.5km circuit). I couldn't believe it. If I did sub 14m circuits, I'd be touch and go for the sub 3 hour time I'd ambitiously (privately!) aimed for. One of my mates had sent me an email just a week ago saying that £300 would be sponsored for the cause if I finished in 3 hours. But every minute over 3 hours, £5 would be taken off. So finish in 4 hours, and I'd raise nothing from him... So 3 hours had to be a real goal now!
First two laps were fine, getting faster each lap. But then I cramped up on the start of the 3rd lap. I couldn't move. I stopped. Desperately rubbing my muscles above the knee, I vaguely heard someone shouting from the sidelines 'don't stop, don't stop, you'll just make it worse'. So I began hobbling/walking, then after about 60mtrs a jog, felt the leg hold, so pushed it. I went at about 60% for the rest of the third circuit.
Started the 4th circuit with 2:47:(40 something secs) on my watch. And two thoughts went through my mind as I went 80% for the first half of the circuit and basically sprinted the last 1+km...
1. Leave nothing in the tank. Absolutely push so far beyond what we think we can do and what our bodies really can do.
2. My mate was going to be sponsoring that full £300!
Raced to the finish line and clicked my stop watch....
2:59! ... and all's well :)
It is absolutely amazing how generous people are, regardless of how many requests for sponsorship arrive in our inbox. For my part, I thank you."