Going all out for a great cause
Raising funds for victims of human trafficking
Jun 13, 2011 12:23 AM | By HARRIET MCLEA

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In a bid to raise funds for an organisation that fights human trafficking, Not For Sale, a South African woman will compete in a gruelling 27-hour triathlon in the US.

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MIND OVER PAIN: South African triathlete Paula Heron
She will start the Tri4Freedom fund-raiser with a two-and-a-half hour swim on Saturday morning.

She will then cycle for 13 hours and lastly run for 11½ hours.

The triathlon is intended to help the 27million people who are victims of human trafficking all over the world, she said.

She expects that the blistering Kentucky temperatures will be the toughest part of the triathlon.

“The heat will be the biggest challenge and commonly leads to heat-induced nausea and vomiting, and sometimes gastrointestinal distress,” she said.

But Heron, who represented South Africa at the Triathlon World Championships, in Vancouver, Canada, in 2008, is confident she that she is ready for the ordeal.

“At the peak of my training I typically did long weekends of biking and running of about 150km, followed immediately by a 23km run.”

While training in winter, she cycled on an indoor bike for six hours at a time and ran 46km on a treadmill.

Heron learned about human trafficking and the Not For Sale campaign five years ago.

“I chose to support the Not For Sale campaign because I was impressed with how they tackle the issue.

“They also have a programme called ‘Free2play’ which helps victims of human trafficking, primarily children, through physical activity,” she said.

To help her in the gruelling triathlon, Heron’s focus will be on helping the young victims of trafficking.

“I will be faced with a mental challenge like none I have had to endure. The longer the distance, the bigger the role played by the mind and the more mentally tough you have to be,” she said.

Heron has happy memories of her childhood in South Africa but does not plan to return. She said she is “settled in the US” .

And when Heron is not training for hours, or completing a triathlon raising funds for the anti-human-trafficking cause, she plans to use her academic qualifications to advance neuroscience research in Africa.

Tags: Anti Human Trafficking