6am - waiting for the start
My brother and I just before the start
Last weekend I was down in the East Midlands for the Outlaw Triathlon; an Ironman distance triathlon held near Nottingham. It’s a new event which will hopefully become a regular fixture and it follows the traditional Ironman format: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. The event was based at the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont. There was a great atmosphere and fantastic support from all the spectators. A perfect weekend.
My race seemed to go smoothly right from the start. I put myself up near the front at the swim so got a clean start and settled into a rhythm straight away. Got out of the water after 1 hr 05, a couple of minutes in transition and then onto the bike.
About 10am out on the bike course
And finally the marathon. Less than 2 minutes in transition and straight out onto the run. Those first couple of miles were horrible; it feels like there’s nothing left in the tank at all. I gradually built up a rhythm and got chatting to people which helped ease the pain. It was great to see my grandparents at the side cheering me on which got me back in 4 hrs 03 which was pretty much dead on what I was hoping for.
Total time 10 hrs 35 and placed 56th out of 750. Delighted. The target at the start of the day was under 12 hours so I’m obviously very pleased with the result. It’s a good feeling when all that hard work in training comes together on the day, all those loops around Tiree. It was worth it! The best thing about the whole event though was the spirit of everyone being in it together; there were no egos, no nasty tactics, everyone was working together to get through what is never going to be an easy race. And that was reflected in the support and encouragement from the crowds. Great stuff, and I’m grateful to all the support I got from family and friends.
4:35pm - over the finish line
So the next event is the Big Ben Nevis Triathlon which is half Ironman distance on 11th September and then there’s a few Tiree triathletes going over to Eyemouth at the end of september for a sprint distance triathlon. Bring it on!