New York Marathon
In early June I had agreed to run the New York marathon with my brother Si (see pic, Si on the left), I had half Ironman UK (70.3) in mid June and some recovery time and then in August the Ironman UK lay waiting. Little did I know that the 70.3 UK race would give me a rolled down slot to the first Half Ironman World champs in Clearwater. It was like a dream come true, but now I had a double challenge on my hands for November. I didn’t want to back out of my agreement with Si (he’s not that understanding and he bullies me) and I definitely wasn’t going to miss out on the Clearwater experience.

The Ironman in August went well for a first effort and I felt a little tired afterwards but then started training for the Double challenge 5 days later, a big bad school boy error. After a 10 miler into work 10 days later my archiles and hip locked up and that was me out of running for a month. There’s a little thing called DOMS – delayed onset of muscle soreness after long distance events and you need to be very careful of it as it can call a “time out” when you least want it. So for the 4 weeks before NY I managed 3x 12km runs and some treadmill workouts. My bright idea was then to run 10km of NY (as you know) and try give the Clearwater race my best effort. That way at least I could experience NY and Si wouldn’t beat me up too bad.

NY is great: the Americans know how to lay it on, and yes I was clearly fooling myself - with the vibe and kit at the expo and the muscles on the mend, I was starting to think maybe. Race day came and Si was all fired up, we had a good laugh at the start area and an awesome cabaret to Frankie boy’s “New York” and we were off. Once we were over the Verrazano Bridge and into Brooklyn and I saw the supporters and all the fire fighter crews, the whole atmosphere really starts to grab you. Mile 18 was one of the supposed pull out points and coming over Queensboro bridge into Manhattan and seeing a “sea” of race supporters was just awesome - there was no way now that I was going to pull out, just enjoy it as much as I could. At mile 20 I felt the legs starting to go but you just can’t believe how for 8 miles through Manhattan the crowds about 3 to 4 people deep can pull you along, they are amazingly wild with excitement.

Si and I were still side by side, which was certainly better than hacking it out by myself in Paris and London - the other 2 marathons I’ve run. By the time we entered central park I was hanging in for dear life, but still enjoying running with Si. We passed the family and it was great to see them and around the corner Si puts in a surge and I cramped up and walked for a bit. He thought I was ahead and I didn’t want to call him because I may have ruined his marathon time. Half a mile later the legs came back I hobbled over the finish line with a 3:54 and Si a 3:53.

What an amazing marathon and to run it with my boet just topped it, 10/10 for a mornings work. My quads were screaming at me “you idiot”, Si was in some noticeable pain too and now we needed to go drink some wine. How, with this amount of lactate in my pins, was I going to recover for Clearwater??

Clearwater 70.3 World Champs
After a good 4 days at Disney World having a blast with the kids and getting absorbed into their fantasy world, and seeing some of the largest people in the universe walking slower than me I was starting to feel better. I saw one family so large I didn’t think they would fit into my house in London. I must say the Americans take the consumption of food to another level.

Getting to Clearwater was amazing, the town was buzzing with excitement, the locals were very excited about the race and there were competitors everywhere testing out their TT bikes and putting in some last minute runs and swims.

Having the registration at a different location to the start spread the vibe out quite nicely. I set my steed up and thought I would spin off some lactate down to the registration area, my legs nearly locked up over the first bridge “oh no and this not even close to race pace, I thought” At the registration I really felt like a 2 legged mutt at a pedigree dog show. Made sure I bought loads of memorabilia just in case I never see this again, got a good massage and then headed back to the hotel to contemplate my fate.

Race morning was awesome the transition area was electric, I’m serious it had bring it on and lay it on all over the place. There were reporters there, the pros were out in full force. Not to mention the sound system and commentator, top notch firing everyone up. So many supporters were there. The organisers were buzzing around the place trying to find people they could help. I just remember standing there, even though I knew it was gonna be a tough one for me thinking “I’m digging this big style, this really is oozing all the big adjectives”. Caught up with the rest of the SA boys and had a good cackle”.

They led us out onto the beach and they even had a live action screen, “you’ve gotta be kidding what more could you ask for”. We watched the pro’s head off, starting the first 70.3 WC, the count down was thunderous and then we were off.

The swim was hard for me, I didn’t find a good rhythm swallowed too much sea water and thought about sharks all the way round. That said I was enjoying it. T1 went ok and then I headed out on the bike.

My heart was screaming way over where it normally is, but the bike leg was fast and my pace was good, so I thought keep it going but edge off slightly to get the heart down and then start taking in some water. After about 5k’s I took in my first drink and something didn’t feel right, all of a sudden I started vomiting, I couldn’t believe it riding my bike at 38kph and throwing up unbelievable. So I slowed it right down and made a massive error as one of the guys I had overtaken came past and I stuck to his wheel while I finished gagging. As I was taking in some juice a race marshal came past me flashing a “red card” for drafting. I was pissed off by this stage so peddled up to his motorbike him and asked him if he had seen the bits flying out behind me. He said he only saw me drafting so I said fair enough and asked him what I should do. He said I had to go to the sin bin by one of the water stations and then we parted way. No sooner had he gone, behind or in front I couldn’t remember I was swallowed up by a pack of at least 30 riders. Now I was left contemplating my offence and the “cheaters” hat I was now wearing and what if he sees me in this pack because there was very little else place to be. So I slowly made sure I got shelled out the back so I didn’t get totally disqualified and I could start feeling ok about my bike leg.

The drafting was inevitable, you’ve got the waves leaving 5 minutes apart with one lane of traffic for the athlete’s with cones and traffic to deal with. I didn’t view the guys fronting these packs as cheats. What were they supposed to do break it up full of emotion and adrenaline in discussion at over 40kph in one lane of traffic. Yes they were taking advantage of a tightly organised race, but you can’t put 1400 world class athletes on a bike course after a swim with no breaks between waves and expect them to ride like they’re in a Time Trial race. If you work it out, it’s nearly 12 km’s of competitors riding on a flat course in a straight line not starting at regular time intervals. It’s not realistic and I don’t remember seeing many athletes 7m meters behind the person in front of them.

That said it also created a very dangerous bike leg because most of them were on their tri bars. Anyway the 4 minute sin bin sorted me out and I felt much better, it was quite funny listening to all the other guys in the sin bin declaring their innocence. Even the marshal was saying it was an impossible situation and he would be drafting too. I rode the rest of the bike leg getting swallowed up by packs going with them for a bit and then slowly letting myself get shelled out the back to ride by myself. Right or wrong I’m not really bothered whether I would change that for the next time I don’t know I just hope that the race is spread out more at the start (at least 15 min between waves) and we have more room to ride and be marshalled to bring it under control. Every sin bin had half a dozen or more riders in it, and they weren’t the ones in the packs as they got left alone, and I saw a few guys get pulled over who didn’t deserve it in my eyes. All a bit chaotic but a great spectacle to see guys giving absolute horns regardless.

By the end of the bike leg I was feeling ok with a 2:24, I had really enjoyed it, learnt my lesson and was ready for the run I thought. T2 went ok saw Rob Ric briefly before he bolted off, he was looking good. The run was the hardest 21km’s of my life, luckily for the ice though at the 1mile interval points I was able to walk them and ice my quads. The run course was well planned with good views and different neighbourhoods to run through, my quads were well and truly shot “NY was well and truly paying its dues”. At times I felt the hamstrings starting to go on the bridges and that would have meant trouble but hung in for 1:54 run.

Picked up my daughter Belle near the finish and crossed the line in 5:00:22 which was a great result for me and Belle. She was chuffed as, got a shell necklace for her efforts and I held onto the medal for dear life.

Clearwater has got “Come back” written all over it. They need to rethink the bike course but it doesn’t take anything away from the fact that it’s a true Mecca of the 70.3 series and has all the thrills and spills. And yes I will never do the NY marathon before that race ever again. For all those who sponsored me, a big massive thank you, I hope Get Kids Going puts it to great use.

View the Results