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<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThe Epic is about courage and commitment,\u201d says 1995 World Cup-winning flyhalf Joel Stransky, \u201cI think that\u2019s why so many rugby players turn their attentions to it when they no longer have rugby in their lives. You need to be brave out there, but it also takes a lot of hard work just to get to the start line. Rugby players like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robbi Kempson was the first former Springbok to participate in and finish the Absa Cape Epic. Once was enough for him, but he understands the appeal the race holds for retired professional sportsmen. \u201cRugby players, like any professional athletes, are highly competitive,\u201d says the 2008 Cape Epic finisher. \u201cGenerally, we like things that involve grit and determination. I think that most of us have a knack for finishing things we start, so that\u2019s probably why the Cape Epic is attractive to so many former professional rugby players.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Smit, who completed his first Cape Epic in 2014 and who will be lining up at the Prologue<\/a> again this year, says it was his wife who pointed out that he was getting miserable when there were no rugby balls to chase.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I stopped playing I didn\u2019t train, go to gym, or do anything for about six weeks. I got more and more miserable until eventually my wife was telling me to go and find something to do.<\/p>\n I realised then that being competitive is in our blood. Rugby players are always competitive, whether it\u2019s on the field, in training or at the gym. Mountain biking is the closest you can get to that. You have to vasbyt, and there is a competitive edge, even at the back of the field and in training. So many elements of the Cape Epic are similar to rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n