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Outlaw 2013
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brilliant reports, I am struggling to keep up with them all. It is wonderful reading what you have all been through, and knowing the history of how come you ended up doing the outlaw at all too
borobhoy - I met your crew as I was on my way home, you had quite a crew there, loved their t-shirts!
oops wrong thread - it was the other one (FINK for outlaw 2013) surely we all lurk on the same threads
Seren - you probably passed me in transition.
mathschick - thanks, I'll let them know. Being a maths teacher I love your name.
Outlaw/My 40th
I wanted to write a proper race report but I’m flying off on hols in the morning and I’m running out of time so here’s the condensed version …
Did Lanza in May as the A race, Outlaw was a birthday treat. Aim .. to have a good time (though secretly wanted to be super fast, lol).
Arrived, camped in Pirate central, next to the girlies tent, Meldy, Mouse and Hope.
Race morning. 4am start, am given a Pirate Monaco by Baby Pingu which has been decorated with ‘Happy Birthday’ and a picture of Pingu… big smiles.
Leave to tent for the loos, come back and there are balloons everywhere!! More big smiles! Hugs for Raf ‘No fun was had with the helium, honest’ iki.
Off to the start, suns up, it’s going to be a lovely day!
Swim. 2.4, that’s a long way. Got bored, wanted to get out of the water. 1.19. Was expecting between 1.15 and 1.20 so bang on.
Bike. Pirate feed station was ace, cycled through to a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’. I got lucky and missed the ‘jock strap’ incident ….
Spent too long on the aero bars and got a sore back. Saffers over took and I watched her disappear into the distance. Saw Blue Peter a lot as we passed each other quite a few times. Wanted to get off the bike at 80 miles. 112, that’s a long way. Finished in 6.30, happy with that.
Run. It was hot. Ran the first 6 miles (whoop). Saw Hope who was looking good and pacing well, OC who was about a million miles in front.
Went passed spectator bit having Happy Birthday sung. More big smiles.
Started feeling shit and started walking a bit. Saw BBT we shared a wtf are we doing moment. Walked a bit more, felt a bit more shit. Had a bit of a chat to Les Boules, told her I was feeling shit. At 12 miles sat down and decided to bail, didn’t want to feel shit on birthday. Evil Pixie came over I told her I was feeling shit, she said she’d been pulled off the bike, (sorry EP) she won. Ummed and ahhed about whether to pull out then thought, f*ck it, I’ll walk the rest of the way!
Walked a bit, started feeling much better (running, what a silly idea!), and at about 16 miles, Seren caught up with me and we had a right good natter till the finish.
My fav bit. We waited at the end of the finish shute to make sure our run times were longer than our bike times. They were. Ace!! We ran down to finish to Happy Birthday!
After party. Best Pirate birthday cake!
After after party, I don’t want to give too much away pending Patents …. But “I can still see it” !!! hehehe
And this is my favourite finish picture ...
Evening all, I don’t post here very often, but it was my first time racing in the black & yellow on Sunday, and it was a fab experience, having followed the pirates for a few years.
Little bit of background…no sport whatsoever as a youngster, until the running bug bit about 5 years ago (I’m now a young-ish 42 year old). A couple of VLMs & other marathons, turning into ultras in 2010 (loved the mental challenge) and then my first IM in Bolton last year. Took the training very seriously, lots of hours, lots of long runs & cycles, and took it very easy on the day itself to ensure I finished. I always knew I was going to do another this year, but the comment from my wife “I’ve felt like a single parent for the last 6 months” made me re-think how much time I was putting into training.
So this year…I’ve been really lazy! I did 2x20m runs in March, but since then my longest was 15m, and I did an 85m sportive that I hated in May (and walked the big hills feeling rubbish) but otherwise spent no more than 3 hours on the bike. I still trained quite a lot in hours, but nothing long as I did the previous year (when I did lots of 4am starts on the bike and other anti-social things).
So I approached this years Outlaw with a certain amount of trepidation, simply because I didn’t know what to expect. I’m very comfortable with my mental approach (dark places etc) but it was a question of whether my appalling bike position would last me for 6-7 hours without killing me.
I did Outlaw half, which played to my “lots of short training” strengths, and I was happy with a 6 hours finish time…I especially enjoyed the bike course – flat, smooth – perfect. Am I the only person that finds their bike speed more dependant on the road surface than anything else?
So to the main event….travelled up Fri evening, decent hotel, wife & eldest child in tow. Loved the atmosphere on Saturday, lots of anticipation from everyone there. Drove past the campsite, beginning the long job of persuading the wife to consider camping in the future…I love the idea, but she likes her home comforts.
Bike all racked, bags sorted, felt really comfortable driving away in the afternoon, with everything sorted and ready for a good day.
Did I mention the hotel? Rather usefully, it had a temp display on the bedroom wall, not for air con (too obvious, I hear you call) but to show how hot it was in the room. I can confirm it was 31 degrees in my room that night (and the following night), and I slept (luckily) covered in a wet towel. With the windows wide open. And an electric fan going full blast. I suspect it was just good practice for the run the following day.
So alarm goes off at 3am. Eat my shreddies sitting on the toilet so I don’t have to put the lights on in the bedroom. Immodium, ibruprofen. Get the family up & set off for the lake.
Second question…am I the only person who chooses an album to ‘mark’ the weekend. I spent IMUK 2012 educating my family (on the drives to Bolton) the glories of the Carpenters (and then singing it all the way round the bike course). This year was the turn of Barry Manilow, Greatest Hits, which is why we drove into the car park singing about Lola the showgirl (“she wore feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there”) at some ungodly hour.
Got the tyres pumped up, filled bottles etc, customary pre-race poo and ready for the off. I set off in a very cautious front of pen 4, as I’d rather catch people up than have them swim over me, and I found the first 750m or so quite congested, but settled down after that. Got to the first turn buoy in 36 mins, and then felt I got slower and slower for the return trip as loads of people passed me. I still don’t understand whether everyone else speeded up or I slowed down…but finished in 1.19hr, a full 10 mins quicker than the previous year. Good start, I thought, exactly what I predicted after the Outlaw half of 40 mins swim.
T1 was much more organised for me than last year, 8 mins compared to 13 last year (god only knows what I was doing for that length of time, perhaps having a full English or something).
Onto the bike, zoom zoom, had my first experience of a pirate feed-station. High 5 at #3 per bottle, bike sale at 3pm, genius…happy thoughts. Bloke at the rear of the feed station drowning out shouts of water and high 5 with bellows of “gin & tonic” fantastic. All good fun. Zoom zoom. Came across a few different pirates…but the only one I remember was number 10 doing a relay leg, I think ‘flounder, wobble, hobble’ was on her race number but I didn’t get her name. We caught up with each other a few times and had a bit of banter about the fact that this was just a training ride for IM Florida for her as I was slogging along…I reckon they should give people doing a relay on the bike a parachute to make it harder.
Awesome reports
'I can still see it' !!!
I had a red top over my pirate Monaco as I need big pockets for all my luggage on the bike. But I had it unzipped for most of the ride, so my pirate top was showing from the front. I zoomed along singing “Coba Cobana” when I got bored like any slightly mad person, naturally.
My pace felt good throughout, hitting about 18.9mph for the first half, slowing to 18.2mph overall by the end. I vividly remember (at 9.48am) thinking that the little wind I was feeling was very very hot. Really odd. I was drinking quite a bit and taking either a gel or a crispie bar every 30 mins, but my stomach started playing games by about 11am, so started skipping every other one. I couldn’t work out if I was thirsty, too full of liquid, or hungry or too full of solids. Anyway, I thought less was probably safer than more (having had stomach problems once before – very unpleasant) so carried on without getting too hung up on changing my nutrition strategy.
Finished the bike unexpectedly quickly. In the Outlaw half I remember the crappy road “The Green” carrying on for ages, but it seemed gone in a flash on Sunday. In fact so quickly I gave away my bike to the marshal without taking my Garmin off the bike…d’oh! My time for the bike came out at 6.11hr. Chuffed with that, as it was a 50 minute improvement of IMUK last year.
Into T2, happy thoughts all around, quick chat with others and onto the run. My pirate top showing brightly. A quick slather with two ladies and some sun cream (that’s one fantasy I can tick off) and then eternal thanks to a marshal that fetched my Garmin from my bike for me and passed it through the wire fence.
So I started the run about a full hour ahead of the IMUK time I did last year. I ran 4.47 last year, which while being a PW for a marathon, was probably the time I was proudest of. I reckoned that if I could match that time I’d go under 13 hours…even down to 12.5 hours which was beyond my wildest dreams.
I came round the first corner at the bottom of the lake, and encountered the first crowds that were shouting for all pirates going past…magic. Lots of ‘yarrrrrrrrrs’ made the first half mile great fun, and then the heat hit, and I had to rethink my realistic targets. I don’t run well in the heat, never have, and I was very clear with myself that I was not going to end up on a drip in the medical tent with a DNF. So I set up a walk 100 steps, run 100 steps (but keep going until 200 if possible), strategy that was all new to me. Saw the family round the lake twice (which seemed to take forever – long concrete strips and no shade) and then off on the out-and-back.
I’m going to skip the next few painful hours, except for some edited highlights. I met Silent Assassin, on his first lap of the lake, just before he had to make a toilet stop. In those few minutes (possibly as few as 10 actually) I got real ‘dose’ of pirate spirit much stronger than the forum…fantastic. Top bloke.
I met Honk (who I thought introduced himself as ‘Hunk’…”wow, I thought, that’s quite a name to call yourself”), as he belted past me.
I got (nicely) abused by a couple of pirate ladies who kept accusing me of showing my nipples. As I got more & more paranoid I actually zipped my top up a little, as you do in 28 degrees. To be fair, I hope they did it to everyone.
I ran/walked for a bit with Blue Peter for part of the last 6 miles…good work fella on your first long distance. It was a pleasure to chat.
There seemed to be a core of pirates aro
There seemed to be a core of pirates around me walking/running who I came across regularly, and who all had a cheery smile, comment, even just a thumbs up which was great for the motivation.
Loved the pirate crowd at the finishing chute that yelled their heads off every time any pirate went past – great work guys. Loved the sprinkler just after the finishing chute even more. Just standing in the spray was wonderful; I could have stayed there for days.
Unfortunately, by half way I was rather zoning everything out (as I sometimes do when I need to dig deep). In fact someone taking pictures (possibly, of all the pirates) complained I didn’t smile when she took my pic…sorry! I spent miles 16-20 doing some complicated mental maths of multiplying 13 minute miles into the miles remaining to see how much time I had to beat last years time (sad, I know). I worked out that I needed to pick up the pace (as I was slowing badly) to do a 5.40 marathon – this would give me a finish time about 10 mins quicker than last year.
So I gave up too much running, put my head down and walked like I was on fire…I took great pleasure in watching walkers ahead of me draw closer simply because I was walking faster than them. I’d stopped sweating by this time, not sure why, I was very hydrated (I could feel it sloshing around inside me) but nothing was coming out. Onto the last lap of the lake, my legs feeling ropey but head down & walk walk hard. Ran for a few patches of the last lap, but it was a token effort – I was properly buggered.
Had a great run down the finish chute, remember to stop for pictures at the end (last year ran straight through and hardly noticed it) and even got to high 5 a big pirate spectator right at the end. Magic. Great finishing atmosphere. All done in 13.26hr, with a massive 5.40 marathon at the end…and perhaps for the first time, I’m not questioning that I could have gone faster on the marathon. 20 mins faster than last year, but under tough tough conditions. Hats off to all those running quick times in that heat. Wow.
Wished I could have stayed around for the later finishers, but I was wobbling a bit. Just walking past the medical tent (which was full with about 10 people waiting to go in) as I finished made me grateful I was still in one piece. Hope everyone got home safely.
So back to hotel, glorious shower (I was fairly crusty with sweat) and then onto gorgeous beers & pizza (now becoming a bit of a post-IM tradition for my family).
…and back to collect my bike the following morning, to be told (nicely) that it was supposed to be collected the previous day. Ooops. On the positive side, that gave me the chance to say thanks to the organisers’ wife (possibly) as I think the day was superbly organised, marshals were great and generally the whole event was a pleasure to be part of.
Once again, ‘nuff respect to the pirate massive – what a great addition you make to an already great event. I will wear my colours with pride.
Pirates rock! And I am (a little) one of them!
L.ake......I was the one teasing you about the nipples......
Short version: Swam a bit (1:27), Biked a bit (5:45) and ran a bit (4:15) for an 11:37 finish.
Longer version – Preamble: Finished work Thu PM, finished packing (and gluing tubs on new Planet X 50/50 wheels) and did last items Fri AM as I had been training to sleep and wake early ready for the big day. Left home at 0930 and drove to Holme Pierpoint (A34, M1) to register by 1230. A quick look around the expo – not on the scale of the London Marathon – and then we set off to find out hotel. We stayed in the Jury’s Inn for 3 nights using the Outlaw offer. It was really good, the room a good size for 2 and a 2 year old, a bike and countless bags!
We had a look around a very hot Nottingham and had a fruit smoothie in the sun before dinner at Ask. Very good. Kids menu can be used with Tesco Clubcard Vouchers too. Then we headed back to hotel.
Andrew didn’t sleep much choosing to jump out of his bed onto ours. We changed it for a travel cot the next day!
Saturday I was again up early and got to HPP at about 0930 to ride around lake on new tubs! Felt okay, not that I knew what I was looking for. I went to the early brief which over ran by nearly 30 min although there weren’t too many silly questions. We then had a Royal Navy Triathlon Club photo by the big scoreboard. I racked my bags in the transition tent and then got my bike before returning for some lunch.
Dinner was in Prezzo and it was frankly disappointing. I asked on arrival if vouchers could be used for everything. They said yes except drinks. Went to pay and they said the Kids menu wasn’t included. And then used both Tesco Vouchers and charged us cash… very poor. Sorted now but disappointing and a hassle.
Bed early although I kept needing the toilet. Not sure I slept much. Felt tired at 0330 and I am used to getting up early for early watches on the bridge of a ship. I made a gluten free porridge pot for breakfast with some belvita biscuits, a double shot instant coffee, Tropicana orange juice and then took a 500ml bottle of SIS Go to sip over the next hour and a half.
I dodged the drunks and got my car out of the car park luckily having removed it from the locked area the night before. I arrived at HPP for 0430 and was rewarded for my keenness with a parking space as far away from the start as possible in car park 2. I put my 2 x 750ml bottles on the bike one loaded with 10 High 5
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summer fruit gels and the other High 5 Zero. I pumped my nervously pumped tyres up to 150psi hoping they wouldn’t pop as the heat took hold. I put my watch on my home made HRM holder (patent pending) and heading to the change tent.
THE RACE: I panicked as i couldn’t find my wetsuit and swore before being told the change bags were in the the other tent… aaahh that’s how it works. I found it and left my old kit there. It was now about 4:50 and many were in transition playing with the bikes so I took advantage of the short toilet queue before getting ready. A layer of factor 50 followed by baby oil and vaseline around wrists, ankles and neck would hopefully ease my extraction from the rubbery prison. My HRM on, I zipped my trisuit up and tucked my goggles and cap into my suit. I made sure that the legs were half way up my calves so the body and shoulders of the suit fitted well.
I queued again for the toilet (0520) and this time the queue was substantial. I knew I could have gone to the other side but knew I would make it and then I could enter the swim area.
Formalities out the way I zipped up my suit, first time without assistance. Goggles and Cap on I met some other Navy tri athletes and we chatted before being allowed into the water.
The Swimming Bit: It was lovely! 20 degrees vice the 12 of the Solent made a big difference to my confidence. I could put my face in and breathe as I was used to in the pool. I had a wee (again) and was ushered back into the pens. Now having read many other accounts it would appear lots of weaker or less confident swimmers lined up behind faster pens so they didn’t get kicked or punched and could swim in clear water. The result was a fairly clear 4th pen (90 min plus) which I joined at 1 min to go! A quick shout of “it’s not a knitting club” brought a titter before a disjointed echoing countdown and then the klaxon which we all knew meant go! I was fast and perhaps a little too fast for the first 5 min but it didn’t feel too bad and although I knew there were people near me I was at there pace. It seemed to come and go in waves with a faster bunch overtaking and then it was almost as if I was on my own. Approaching the turn buoys we bunched again and I guess i’d been swimming 40 min (no bikes out yet). A quick kick in the goggles didn’t cause pain but did unseat them and I struggled to get a seal throughout the remaining 1800m. I stopped 3 times to position my goggles. I had tried to do it treading water but got ploughed down so moved to the edge and stood up. They kept leaking and I struggled to get a rhythm but when I did I was moving well completely missing the 500m to go hut and only seeing the 750m and 250m marks which gave me a real boost. I was dragged out of the water in 1:26:18 and was delighted. I guess they unzipped me as when I picked my stripper it was already undone. She was clearly experienced as she peeled me out my suit quickly as I was lain flat out on my back.
The one with Swim to Bike – T1: I felt quite quick drying my feet, putting on socks and shoes before helmet and then stuffing my pockets with pitstop and sunscream. Not sure what else I did for it to take 4:49 but that wasn’t as bad as some times!
The bike (fun) bit: Everyone loves a bike ride. Don’t they? I hummed along around the lake and onto the roads settling into a rhythm whilst watching my HR which was a little high. I also wasn’t going to eat or drink much for 20 min as I read that is a good way to get cramped up inside. It appeared to work as I was q
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Some great reports. Loving them! Well donne all!
quite comfortable. The loops were nice and I was going quite fast with my planet X 50mm tubs whizzing along. I almost maintained 20mph for 5hrs but eased off in last 12 miles to recover for the run. I ate bananas from aid stations and some soreen but it was too dry and sticky. My plan had been to eat so out of date olympics haribo but I discovered the day before that they melt in the heat! Doh! After training all year with them I was changing everything at the last minute. I saw lots of people go backwards, I even overtook a disc wheel!!! Very happy with that. It was a good atmosphere all round but so very hot. I saw my family during the 2nd South loop of Car Colston which gave me a lift but I couldn’t help thinking about my son out in the open sun. The last 2 miles were bumpy and I couldn’t help but wince every time my carbon tubs bumped over speed humps I saw late. I rode the last 12 miles at about 16mph which lowered my average a little but gave me some recovery for the run. 5:45 was better than I could have hoped for. I reckon I took on about 6 litres of water and high 5 on the bike and didn’t need the toilet! The first time I took a bottle I almost ripped my arm off though!
T2: I got changed… Thanks to the guy I sat next to who gave me a Powerade – I appreciated it later!
The run in the sun wan’t much fun: It was just hot. I tried to maintain 8mm ave for as long as possible (whilst walking through feed stops). I managed for about 8 miles and then it got a bit a boring and I had to walk more. After 2:30 I was at 15 miles and then sorted myself out. I got into a rhythm and paced 4:30 run, 30 sec walk. Once I reached 20 miles some 48 min later I was tired. I struggled to raise my heart rate. 120-130bpm. I never run that slow. The heat was relentless. Some aid stations ran out of water and the gels got too hot. The towpath was a horrible section with no shade. Around the lake I saw people passed out in bushes and raised help at the next aid station. Realised I would finish so just tried to make it bearable for the last 10km. Couple of blisters on the end of my toes and under big toe but at least my heel was clear – that would have hurt. I managed a 4:15 marathon which is still quite good I realise and would have beat 20000 people at last years London marathon. My son didn't want to finish with me and got a massive ahhh when he started crying!
Aftermath: It did look like a zombie film to be honest. Bodies everywhere. Someone puked as I went through medical. I am surprised no one was seriously injured. The race referee sat next to me whilst waiting for a massage. Oh no I said. What’s wrong she said. I told her “you’re the race referee and you’ve just found me”! Apparently it was for some feedback not anything I may or may not have done! The chicken soup and curry was not nice but the cake was worth it. I didn’t eat or sleep well that night but was dead by 2000 the next day! I lost a lot of weight and got a great tan including my iron wings (finger marks on edge of trisuit where I burnt on bits I missed).
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All in all a great day and well worth it. I would do another as I know the only thing stopping me is my mind. That’s the only thing stopping you too.
http://totriornottotri.com/2013/07/10/outlaw-2013-i-am-an-outlaw/
Thanks to everyone who sponsored me. The money has gone to a great cause and you’ll be glad to know it wasn’t easy and I suffered for your fundraising.
https://www.justgiving.com/Oliver-Nokes
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Ooops that was quite long. Oh well. I was very unproductive at work reading tales of people's adventures. Now you can endure (or enjoy) mine! Not that much went on except a 2 year old who didn't want to finish with daddy!
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thanks borobhoy - I thought it was a bit unimaginative, but I am a maths teacher and not all that imaginative with names! I did say hi to your gang and let them know where the group of pirates by the finish chute were!
just when I think I have caught up a load more race reports go up!! I'll be up all night reading them
sid - I have just read yours on your blog fantastic report and really shows how tough it was on the day
Good report toro.......The welsh for bull is tarw....so close to toro...
I could imagine that all that noise at the finishing chute could be quite overwhelming for a tired 2 year old
Fantastic reports everyone
Well i've written a long and garbled report on my blog, but I don't think it is 'race reporty' enough to copy & paste, so i'll just write another one. Please skip if you can't be arsed, i would....
Preamble
Clearly I ignored the slim bit, though I did do a fair bit of training, and even completed a good 18 and 20 mile run, so I was actually looking forward to the 'race'. Rocked up to the campsite on Friday and spend a nice couple of days meeting friends old and new, and enjoying a good bit of banter. Excellent. Bring it on.
I had a MASSIVE training plan and diet plan all worked out to get me slimmer and fitter to the start of this.
Run
Bring in a relay team meant I could skip the swim and bike, thankfully, though in hindsight I wish I was a better swimmer and could have got the graft out the way before the furnace kicked in. Anyhoo, I managed to hide in the shade while waiting for Colourin to finish the bike, and got chatting to a lovely man called Richard who ended up supporting me throughout the run. Cal arrived off the bike pretty much bang-on when expected, so i was off! In my last couple of training runs i've taken a sudden aversion to using my garmin, and did a run/walk thing where I ran for 250 steps and walked for 100, so that was the plan. The first two laps of the lake pretty much went to plan, despite the baking heat, and I was enjoying myself.
Two bands already (hurrah!) and I was off out on the long out-and-back towards Nottingham. To be honest, now that a few days have passed, I can't remember much about that first out loop, other than the fact i'd never felt such an oppressive heat. In hindsight it affected me more than I even thought because i've felt like utter shit for two days, and even had to stay off work today. Anyway, back to the 'race'. I can't remember at exactly what point it all went to complete shit, but by mile 15 i had totally hit the wall. I've never hit a wall before, running-wise, but now I have. Looking back, I totally fucked up the nutrition and taking fluids on. I was drinking loads, but I think the sun was sending me a bit doolally, because my fingers had puffed up like sausages, and my feet felt like they were about to explode, and all I could think to ask anyone who cared to listen "my hands are puffy - is that because of too much salt or not enough salt? What should I drink?". Clearly sanity wasn't on my side. So the last 10 or so miles became a total war of attrition. I tried to keep the counting up, but I couldn't run that much, so walked much more than planned. I knew there was no way I was going to give up, so I got my head down and melted my way to the end. As horrific as it was, I still enjoyed the day because of all the pirates on the course and supporting around the sides - what a boost to go past everyone. I spent various times chatting to different folk on the course, one kind man who made me walk with him for ages so I didn't give up, and gave me salt tablets, and another who I had a laugh with because his trisuit had Bionic on it. My new found supporter pal Richard also cropped up a few times and even walked with me for a bit when I was struggling. Thanks to EP for bringing me home too, I was struggling big time on that last lap of the lake. Wearing pirate kit is the best thing you can do, because you can barely walk 10m without being cheered.
So i made it in, final time 8:09. I honest to god do not know how it was that slow, heat aside. I can walk faster than that?! Looking at my splits I think I must have either blacked out with th
Looking at my splits I think I must have either blacked out with the heat or gone for a kip at some point. After training had gone well, I was totally gutted that the run was a disaster. I AM pleased I did it though, and glad that mentally I didn't want to quit, so there are some positives. I have no regrets about doing the run. I've got a lot to work on though, so this has given me a kick up the arse to start sorting myself out, mainly weight wise.
The best bit about this whole weekend, and in the training leading up is the support of the pirates though, without whom I wouldn't even be doing any of this crazy shit. I've made a lot of great friends, and look forward to supporting and taking part again with you all soon. Thanks again. Argggggggggggggggggggggggggg
Lovely reports. It's such a pleasure to read them.
Lee, I have to say that your I think your question about puffy fingers is perfectly sensible and not stupid at all. The problem is that the other athletes may have been too knackered to answer you.
Lee, I had the same thoughts about my fingers puffing up. They felt like I had been out playing in snow and then come into a hot room. Puffy and difficult to clench my fists. Not sure what it was and just put it down to the severe dehydration I was suffering
Thanks for the photos FF. As you can see, I nicked the finish photo to use on here. Thanks again
great reports guys.... keep them coming.
Arrived saturday about 3pm registered and racked.
Went to the pub and a had a burger.
Got up at 5am, got dressed, went for a swim 1:13. Took the bike out for a bit 6:10, about 15-minutes slower than last year. Oh well it was hot.
Had a long stop in T2 to get interviewed, spouted rubbish - I was hot and tired what did they expect.
Went for a walk in the park. Tried run/walk at 4/4, did 6/2 about 5 times then walked. Not enough run training. Got interviewed on the run - spouted more rubbish. Walked to the end. 6:13 for PW of 13:55. (12:22 PB)
In short it was just too hot. It was too hot for me to sit down let alone run. Main aim was to end the day in the bar with a pint of beer, not in the medical tent with a pint of saline. I have bigger stuff to be doing this week.
Glad I got to the end and Pirates were awesome. Lot of praise for the feedstation. Our supporters are awesome - thank you.
M..eface
P.S. Blue Peter was a bit mincy at about 20 miles - but then he was running.
borobhoy, great to run with you, later found myself walking with the wife half of the couple you mentioned. She was very pleasant if a bit stressed and had vomitted 3 times , she said her husband had already finished ages ago also suffering in the heat and vomitting. After all that has been said about these losers who draft it is great to see people really suffering to complete their iron dream,! ( perhaps I just like to see people suffering
)