Cancer survivor takes on year-long endurance adventure
Chantel Rall is not one to back off from a challenge. The cancer survivor and sports blogger has completed some of the country’s top endurance events since being diagnosed three years ago.
Now she is in the midst of a massive year-long challenge that will culminate in taking on the world’s foremost mountain bike stage race, the Absa Cape Epic, and then the Ironman SA triathlon.
Chantel recently launched this “#MyEnduranceAdventure” campaign, supported by the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) and its I Play Fair initiative.
As part of the campaign she has already completed the Ironman 70.3 in Durban and the Ironman 70.3 in Pula, Croatia. Among several other events in 2015 that she will participate are; the Tsogo Sun Amashova cycle race, the Old Mutual Soweto Marathon. Then it is on to the big one, the Absa Cape Epic in March 2016, and a month later the Ironman SA at Nelson Mandela Bay.
“Through taking on endurance adventures I want to inspire and motivate all South Africans to set goals and really go for the best they can be,” Chantel explained. “Embarking on the ABSA Cape Epic, which is a gruelling event, will require me to train hard, dig deep and always keep a good sense of humour.”
“These endurance events teach us to overcome immense hardships,” she added.
SAIDS CEO Khalid Galant said the campaign’s primary objective was to promote “healthy lifestyles and perseverance towards achievement in sport”.
“We are very pleased to support Chantel in this challenge and to help us promote the message of healthy living to the public, especially the age groupers who are avid followers of Chantel’s blog and will be following her campaign,” said Galant.
Chantel added: “I will learn from the best, take on massive challenges, ride new routes, find hidden spaces and share this as we go.”
“We want to educate the young ones and hopefully assist them to get on to their bikes, into their running shoes and to take on the open water.”
A strong drive of the campaign will be fair play through Chantel encouraging clean competition: “Although athletes are always the ones being caught we know that others are complicit in cheating such as coaches, trainers, lawyers, doctors, and physiotherapists … a lot of people.”
The campaign plans to tackle cheating with education on the dangers and risks associated with banned substances: “Recreational athletes need to realise the risks and consequences associated with taking banned substances such as steroids and stimulants,” Chantel added.
She also stressed that athletes should get to know what their supplements contain and question their efficacy. “The supplement industry is an unregulated industry which increases the risk of contamination and this could result in inadvertent doping,” she explained.
