AUTUMN 2007 - Serpentine

FEATURE
SERPENTINE RUNNING CLUB
Ironman
Finland
by Andy Harrison
In a year when so many members of Serpentine have taken part in
an Ironman race, what makes my experience any different or
special? In many ways my experience was the same. I completed the
race and felt the sense of satisfaction that you get when you have
completed one of the hardest single day events in the world of sport.
For those of you that don’t know the distances, the swim is 3800
metres, cycle 180km and run 42.2km a full marathon.
The race I took part in is in the Finnish town of Nokia (where the
phones are from) and is the Finnish long distance triathlon
championships. For many people the word Ironman means a race
organised by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). This race is
not run by the WTC and is a much smaller event as a result. With
a start list of less than 100 people we weren’t expecting the huge
mass starts that you see at the larger events. Which is both a
blessing and a curse. The mass starts are a big part of ironman
races but they are pretty scary.
The race format involves 4 laps of a 950m loop during the swim
where you exit the water at the end of each lap so your fans can
see where you are. I started a bit fast which, combined with my
lack of swim training, caused me to slow down quite a bit during
the second half and I left the water in 1 hour and 5 minutes, which was
a little disappointing (being a swimming coach you’d expect more).
The run through transition is quite a thing with roughly 50 stairs
up to the car park where the bike racking is situated. Once I got
into transition I managed to faff around putting on my aero helmet
and mangling my ears in the process, a good start.
The bike course followed the theme of 4 laps. When I did this event
last year I found the idea of doing 4 laps mind numbingly boring,
but this year I had to concede that doing 180 kilometres with only
100 people was a lot easier when you can see other competitors
on the out and back sections. Also with such a small field you get
to recognise most of the faces as you go around, but going out for
the third lap seems to do something to everyone’s motivation.
After a conservative ride in almost perfect conditions I finished in
5 hours and 25 minutes: 20 minutes faster than last year.
I managed a pretty quick T2 and headed out for the first of my 4
laps on the run. I must admit that running is my weakest discipline
but I’d put in a hard year of training and was confident that I would
do a 4-hour marathon. All was well – from the first two laps I was
on pace and felt a lot better than last year when I “ran” a 5 hour
marathon and reached a point when was not sure I’d finish.
As I headed out for the third lap I was feeling tired but confident
that I’d paced myself well. Upon reaching the first rise on the
course I thought “if I power walk up here I’ll go the same speed
but I won’t pound my legs so much”. So I power walked up the 50
metres of hill and something left my legs: the slow plodding
rhythm I’d maintained for two hours fell apart and the soreness in
my legs was VERY noticeable. From this point my Ironman started
– this is where my fitness and character would be tested to its limit.
Getting ready…
This is the point normal
people would stop but of
course I carried on. We all
carry on. We don’t do all of
that training the nights when
we don’t go to the pub so we
can wake up early to train just
to stop. So I plodded on, safe
in the knowledge that all the
…and there he goes!
people around me were
hurting just as much.
As I was heading back for the last half of the last lap I realised
I had 32 minutes to run 5.25 km to finish under 11 hours. On a
normal day I could do this talking to friends and eating an ice
cream but as my legs had become increasingly sore it was going
to be a test. I had actually prepared for this while listening to my
MP3 player on long runs. I had a secret weapon – the song I sing
or listen to when I need to get “up for it”. That song was “tire me”
by Rage Against the Machine. So as I ran along I sang / shouted
along to the song in my head. Which attracted a few strange
looks, but less than when I sing out loud in Hyde Park.
Coming up the final slope into the stadium my legs were totally
shot but I realised that I had just enough time to ham it up for the
crowd and I finished in 10 hours 59 minutes and 47 seconds.
A special mention should go to Claire Gillvray who also did this
race with me. As this was her first IM race we didn’t know what
to expect from her. We needn’t have worried as she finished in
11.49 with a 3.51 marathon, which I’m sure you’ll agree was an
awesome result. It gave her second place in her age group, which
meant that she won a nice pair of sunglasses and a 12 pack of
kitchen rolls!!??
So if anyone would like to do this race next year, I can’t recommend
it enough. It is possibly the cheapest Ironman race in the world (80
euros), is well organised and in a great part of the world.
If you want more information you can look at the website
www.triathlonteam226.fi.
Currently the website is mostly in Finnish but If you want to know
anything in particular you can email me through the
cycling@serpentine.org.uk address and my wife can translate.
You can enter pretty much up to the day before, unlike the
M-dot races where you need to enter before this season is over.
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