"I am thrilled to be racing the Rev3 event in Cedar Point this year. It will be my first major event on the US mainland and I am really looking forward to a great challenge in a great venue. See you in September!"

~ James Cunnama

Bio:

James started life in one of the major centres for endurance sport in South Africa, Pietermaritzburg. Coming from a very sporty family with both parents having completed multiple Comrades Marathons and Dusi Canoe Marathons, James discovered the joys of long distance running at a young age. While most of his peers were staying up late and sleeping in, James was doing the opposite and getting up on cold, dark winter mornings for pre-dawn runs with his mother’s running group (an eclectic bunch of much older runners called ‘The Pukers’) fuelling dreams of Comrades Marathon greatness.

James soon discovered that the longer the race the better he fared, having a talent for endurance sports. James focused on long-distance running, completing half-marathons at the tender age of 16, easily winning the Junior category at a number of local races.

In 2002 James moved to Port Elizabeth in order to study for a degree in Human Movement Science at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, and at the same time turned his attention to middle-distance track in order to improve his speed over all distances. Ironically, it was this move away from Pietermaritzburg, one of the multi-sport capitals of the country, which led James to triathlon.

In 2004 the Spec-Savers Half-Ironman came to PE for the first time and James was drafted into the volunteer ranks to assist in race-day organisation. The next year the real thing, the Ironman, came to town and James became more involved in the organisation. This first-hand encounter with one of the toughest single-day endurance events in the world opened the door to a new world and James was bitten by the notorious ‘triathlon bug’, and the rest, as they say, is history!

2009 Race Results:

RACE	PLACE
Embrunman Triathlon, France	3rd
Alpe D'Huez Triathlon, France	3rd
Ironman Austria	2nd
Challenge Kraichgua, Germany	2nd
Challenge France, Niederbron	4th
Ironman South Africa	6th