3.8km of open water. 180km in the saddle. Then a full marathon. The Ironman is not a race against other athletes — it’s a race against yourself. Against the voice that tells you to stop.

Olaf van den Bergh knows that voice well. And he ignores it every time.

I first met Olaf at Burgers’ Zoo, where he had an unusual request — to train in the Bush habitat as part of his preparation for the Hawaii Ironman. We filmed it together, but walking away we both felt the same thing: there was a bigger story here.

So we made it. Beyond the Limit follows Olaf through the brutal demands of elite triathlon training — and into the Hamburg triathlon, where a cycling crash threatened to end his race before it began. He finished on the podium anyway. That result sent him to the Triathlon World Championships.

Some people find their limit and stop. Olaf finds his and keeps going. Beyond the film, the project also gave me the opportunity to shoot a series of photographs.