New Forest Middle Distance Triathlon
19th September 2010
Race Report by Alex Ilyat
Entries for this race fill in January so you have to enter early to avoid disappointment! Dave had entered Ellie and himself so I thought it would be a good idea to enter Ian and me. That way we would all have to suffer the pain of the race for somewhere between 5 ½ to 6 hours (why do we do this?). We were all really looking forward to the race and a nice weekend in a static caravan in Sandy Balls (yes, that's right – Sandy Balls). Then disaster/disappointment number 1 struck. Ellie couldn't get the time off work so Dave and Ellie were out of the race. Then Ian got appendicitis and it looked as though none of us would make it to the start line. Fortunately, Ian's manky appendix was whipped out in double time and he felt well enough to be dragged away for the weekend just after leaving hospital. Yay!
Registration and bike racking takes place on Saturday so things are quite relaxed and laid back. The event organiser always looks far too calm and everything is really well organised and thought out. We went to T1 and racked the bike and then had a picnic lunch by the river – great race preparation.
Fast forward to 5am Sunday morning. Athletes are bussed down to Ellingham lake where the race starts. It is still dark and very cold. It is easy to see who has done this race before as they generally have a head torch which is essential for last minute porta-loo breaks. Everyone is surprisingly chatty for this time of the morning although I can't remember what we were all talking about. Before long it is 7am and the race is about to start. There are about 400 competitors in two waves separated by about 5-10minutes. The lake is nice and warm and there is hardly a ripple on the surface. I had a great swim getting around the 1900m, 2 lap course in around about 33mins. There is a bit of a run up to transition and you have to pack your wetsuit and goggles into a bag as T2 is in a different place.
The bike course is one of the best bits of the race. Ian and I had spent the August bank holiday in the New Forest and had done the bike and run course already. They say the course has some hills but nothing compared to here so I would say it was undulating and fast. This is where the problems began. It is very easy to sit on the tri bars and literally wizz along past donkey's, ponies, pigs, cows and scare crows – there is a village competition on the same weekend. I was averaging just over 30kph and completed the 90k bike in about 3 hours. My legs felt a bit crampy and twitchy for about the last half hour but I felt really good. My brother had come to watch the race and was driving Ian around the course to cheer me on. It is a good course for spectators as it is basically a couple of loops with some extra twiddly bits added in. I came into T2 (which is near Sandy Balls) feeling good. I passed my bike to a marshal and ran into the changing tent to throw on some running shoes.
The run wasn't quite so good. It is a fantastic course – very hilly, even by Pembrokeshire standards, and is all off-road on gravel tracks and sand. The course had changed since 2008 when I last did the race. Having run the new course in well under 2 hours only 3weeks before I was feeling confident, however my legs had stopped talking to my head. No matter how hard I told them to go faster they refused to listen. I could see from my heart rate that they felt that they were working hard enough even though they were averaging 6mins per km. I enjoyed the run. It was tough but I had got my nutrition right so I felt OK, but I probably hadn't done enough training and so just had to resign myself to a painfully slow plod. At about 8 miles there is a stretch called the sandy gallop. It is sandy but should probably be called a 'walk'. Eventually I reached 'Dave Ditch' named after the ditch that I found Dave in 2008 after he had run out of energy! By this point my legs were giving up on me, it was all I could do to walk up the final hill trying to put one foot in front of the other. I got to the top and looked back – everyone else was having the same idea. It didn't look much like a race just a fight to stay upright to the finish. I wobbled my way across the finish line in just over 6hours. It was a bad run but I was glad to finish. Ian and Ramsay went to collect my bike whilst I lay down and ate my own body weight in crisps and cakes (I love racing!).
My time was way down on 2008 largely due to an even slower run time than I thought possible. The winner crossed the line in 4hrs 22mins – I don't know how. If anyone is planning on doing their first middle distance race I could not recommend this one highly enough. It is a great course and really well organised. I will defiantly going back next year to try to nail the run. Hopefully Ian and a few others will be there to give it a go to.
| Pos | Swim | Bike | Run | Total |
| 167 | 38.41 | 3.01.21 | 2.23.11 | 6.03.13 |
Full results can be seen here:
www.racenewforest.co.uk/results_NFMDT2010.htm
Details and online entries are here:
