Bala Middle Distance Triathlon (2k/81k/20k)- 13 June 2010
Report by Jason Woodfuff
The family made the 3 hr journey from Carmarthen to Bala reasonably early Saturday. Travelling through Wales can be pretty slow. 20km short I dropped Zoe off with her bike so she could ride the Bala standard course we will be doing in September. To her joy it was a pretty stretch of road with no serious hills.
On arrival at Bala we found an almost seaside atmosphere. The weather was fantastic and the Leisure centre for registration was next to the lake where T1 and T2 would be. Hundreds of competitors and supporters were sunbathing and enjoying the chance to take a practice swim. This time I sent Zoe and my kids in to test the temperature. I didn’t fancy a damp wetsuit to put on the following morning. After a quick 2k and negotiating the very long and shallow stony exit, Zoe reported the lake as warm, 15.9deg on the day.
Race morning started early at 7.30am with racking and numbers. Weather was calm but cloudy. As it was only my third event I was interested in the different ways people brought and prepared their kit. Many used plastic boxes which seemed clever. I brought along the mesh bag given out at the May Haverfordwest event which did the job though was not as tidy. With kit laid out, warm clothes still on, it started to rain and the wind was increasing. Everyone around me groaned and we just wished to start now. I was in the last Wave 3, men 40-49 at 10am and we were already 30 minutes late for the briefing. The usual do’s and don’ts were instructed and we were given our only warning about drafting, the next would be a DQ.
The first wave into the water was 20 minutes late. Organising the Wave 1 sheep was slow as they like to count the numbers in for safety. With much fussing like at the start of the Grand National they were off. A gap of 15 minutes saw wave 2 organised quicker and started. It was soon noticed by the officials that there were many slow swimmers in wave 2 so wave 3 was held back to give them extra space. The deep water start was a shallow start for most due to the lake level. Many walked for 10m before swimming depending on where on the start line they were positioned.
The swim course was a straight out, turn left at the end buoy, traverse and turn left at the next and swim home. The start was terrible, a washing machine and far worse than my previous Ironman experience. I thought the lake visibility was good and I was lucky enough to swim with someone in a silver wetsuit on the way out. At the turn I was well down the field so no congestion but I really noticed the wind as we swam across it. On the way home with the wind behind it felt like the sea, you were noticeably picked up. The swim ended 50m short of the exit. Everyone was trying to breast stroke in to avoid the stones.
T1 was ok though I struggled to get the wet suit over the ankle chip. The bike exit was a short uphill to the road. Zoe said it was great to watch how everyone coped with clipping in and ascending. There were a few fallers and some not so clever starts.
The bike course was 40k out and return with one major left/right junction and the turn point was in the middle of the road and using a lay by for the water drop. The first 10k of the course was hilly with long ascents and not too steep. The subsequent descent was rapid and too windy to stay on my tri bars so you just ducked down and hung on. The same profile of a long ascent and rapid descent occurred again to the turn point. You now new the return profile so the next 10k was the hardest. I had picked off plenty of riders on the way out and was now overtaking many ladies from wave 2. The uphill grind after the turn was telling on many. The last 10k back into Bala was fast, only your nerve decided how fast. Just keeping low on the bars was enough to overtake riders who were on road bikes, especially as you were travelling faster than your gears. Only 8 overtook me and I blame my low swim position as all the good riders had disappeared long ago.
A quick few turns in Bala brought you back to the lake. At T2 I needed a quick toilet stop. Everyone has their own way of dealing with their bladder but I didn’t want to stop on the bike, it was too much fun on the way back.
The run started with a bit of cross country and then onto a country lane. Out 10k and back. I think everyone would describe it as mostly 10k uphill by which time your legs could not take advantage of the downhill home. I thought it was similar to the Dale half for toughness. One issue everyone faced was the traffic. Cars had not been stopped so where they met jams appeared and the runners had to weave between them. The weather was now warm, wet, windy and cold. It just couldn’t decide. I struggled to keep to 5min/k and actually did worse on the downs. Again only a few overtook me. The race winner finished as I started the run and you soon realise how fast they are. The leading men seemed to be sprinting the last few k’s. Congratulations to Oliver Simon and Scott Patrick on their impressive times.
The finish was a definite low key affair with not too many people. My girls made enough noise to make it memorable. A quick change into my remaining warm clothing (Zoe had been giving my clothes away to other needy competitors from the B&B as you do) and I took my bike and gear back to the rugby club car park for a much needed hot shower using the large Wrecsamtri towel which was our trophy for the event.
Results for Club members below:
| Pos | name | swim | bike | run | total |
| 9 | Oliver Simon | 26.32 | 2.18.56 | 1.21.25 | 4.08.51 |
| 130 | Scott Patrick | 35.03 | 2.38.43 | 1.34.02 | 4.50.11 |
| 335 | Jason Woodruff | 41.15 | 2.50.59 | 1.43.23 | 5.22.25 |
For full results please click here
