Sunday 30th September 2012
South Armagh Warrior
Triathlon
Total Time 00:03:53
“Right! I’m
getting back in the car and going home!”
That was my
initial thought as I stood looking out over Camlough Lake at about 10.30 on
Sunday morning.
It was
belting down with rain, it was cold, the waves were starting to build on the
lake and the sky was grey heading towards black. Not a good day to be taking on a pretty tough
looking Tri course.
I got back
in to the car, turned on the music and waited for more competitors to arrive, or
rather SEE if any more competitors would arrive, or whether they had been more
sensible than me and stayed at home.
Thankfully
the weather started to turn, the rain stopped and the clouds broke up. The wind didn’t disappear though. The competitors started to arrive thick and
fast too.
So, I
zipped up my mansuit and went and registered.
One of
things that struck me straight away about this free event (Yes – FREE, how
often do you ever hear the words FREE and TRIATHLON in the same sentence?) was
the rally friendly atmosphere about it.
Everyone was happy to chat and give a bit of banter.
Once the
race briefing was done, the 60 odd competitors got loaded up to make their way
to the start of the swim at the far end of the lake.
Getting out
to the swim start some 2 miles or so away proved to be interesting and great
craic. We all loaded in to the back and
front of assorted vans laid on by competitors and supporters and drove to the
far end of the lake. 10 sweaty bodies in
the back of a van was interesting and thankfully the wetsuits contained any
pre-race nervous odours from polluting the atmosphere.
The Swim
The whole
idea of this event as to be fun, not too serious and the swim start thankfully
mirrored that and was not one of the usual battering sessions I have become
used to.
Everyone
got in to the water and once the initial shock of the very cold water passed we
were waved on our way.
The number
of support boats and kayaks on the lake would have put many other larger and
more established Triathlons to shame. I
was glad of the sight of these helpers as the water was completely Baltic and
the end of the swim 2.7K away was a very long way off.
I managed
to relax in to a steady rhythm pretty quickly and didn’t suffer from any panic
attacks in the cold water. (Did I
mention it was cold?)
I guessed
that the swim would take me about 1Hr, so I was happy to just grind along at a
steady pace.
About
2/3rds of the way through I really started to feel cold all over. Not just the initial shock of cold but a real
sense of coldness right through to my bones.
Interestingly my hands were OK but my feet were completely frozen and
severe pins and needles were starting to even spread up to my calves.
I decided
to start kicking more vigorously in order to drive some blood their way and it
seemed to work – combined with the obligatory wee in the wetsuit. The passing heat was quickly dissipated.
Rounding
the corner of the lake I could see the exit which was probably about 400M away
and it seemed to take forever to get there but eventually I managed to pull
myself up the slipway in a very pleasing 59mins and 30secs. Talk about pacing!!
At the top
of the slipway was one of the best things I have seen at a Tri. One of the helpers was handing everyone
emerging from the water a big cup of hot orange juice. It was fantastic and a brilliant idea which
really helped to raise the core temperature again.
Off to T1
on frozen feet.
T1
I knew this
was gong to be slow (as it always is for me anyway) as my hands and feet were frozen
which makes it interesting to strip the wetsuit off and put the other gear on.
I was lucky
though and managed to do it in an uncompetitive 7 minutes. Not that I was in a
rush as this was not really the purpose of the day. It was all about the craic – the frozen craic
in my case.
The Bike
I had been
warned that the bike route would be challenging and it turned out to be so.
Miraculously
I warmed up really quickly and my new Mavic winter gloves came in handy (do you
see what I did there?) and performed brilliantly.
The bike
route lived up to its reputation and the first 10 miles or so seemed to be
uphill all the way. Nothing too steep
but just pretty relentless.
At the
first downhill into Belleek I got the fright of my life when a big gust of wind
hit me from the side and I nearly lost control of the bike at about 35mph. I
decided that going fast on the downhill was not as important as being alive for
the uphill, so I sat up and took a bit more control.
The route
was undulating throughout and the road surface was a bit dodgy at times, but I
was impressed with how pretty the countryside is in South Armagh. A part of the country I don’t know all that
well but will definitely be back.
The
Marshalls the whole way along the route were really enthusiastic and helpful
and I thank them for standing out in the cold to help us.
Up until
about 5 miles from home I had only been passed by one cyclist and seen no one
else. At this point I saw someone up
ahead and decided that I was going to try and catch him which I successfully
did after about a mile, only to be overtaken by 2 others who had sneaked up
behind me. This turned out to be a good
thing as I kept them in sight and pushed on a wee bit harder than I would have
done if I had not had them as targets. I
passed a couple more people on the way in and rolled down the hill in to T2
feeling pretty good but knowing that I had ridden a tough route in windy
conditions and now had a mountain to climb. Literally!
There was a
great amount of support in the village as the cyclists rolled in and the
runners trudged out.
T2
I had a bit
of a challenge locating my bag with my running gear in it which had been
transported from the start to T2 in Camlough village. It took me a minute or two but I eventually
got it and slipped on the trail running shoes.
I kept on my long sleeve cycling jersey as I thought it might be a wee
bit windy at the top of the mountain.
I headed
out of T2 and up the road. After about
300M the road turned left and up a really steep road which led to the open
mountainside. This road is possibly the
steepest road I have done and for the first time in any Triathlon I was reduced
to walking because I physically couldn’t run up it.
I walked up
the road and at the end of the lane and the start of the mountain there was a
water station. This was very welcome.
I reckoned
this was about half way up, which meant I had quite a bit of climbing to do on
boggy ground to get up to the top.
There was a
steady stream of runners coming back down the hill and without exception
everyone one of them shouted some form of encouragement at my pained expression
heading up the other way. Easy for them,
the y are going the right way.
The climb
up the hill was probably one of the hardest runs I have ever done but I manned
up and kept on pushing up the hill.
At the top
was one of the hardiest souls around. He
had a greeting and handshake for every person making it and also told them what
number they were to reach the top. I was
informed I was 38th. Pretty
happy with that.
I only
found out later that he had done the swim, got dried and put on about 10 layers
of clothes and walked up the mountain to be the marker at the top. What a guy.
Pure hardcore.
The run
down was easier but treacherous at times.
I lost my footing more than once but made really good progress down the
way, managing to pass about 4 people going down.
The steep
roadway back down to the main road was hell on the quads and I knew I would pay
for it the next day.
I kept
pressing on and headed for the finish line.
Possibly
the best finish line ever as it was inside the beer garden of Doyle’s Pub.
I can
honestly say that there cannot be many Triathlons around the world that finish
in a Pub. Only in Ireland!
The Finish
Once
finished the real touch of class happened.
I had been
looking forward to my medal which looked fantastic as it was adorned with a
warrior mask and ranks among my top 5 medals and I was duly presented with it .
. . after it had been engraved on the back with my name, time and finishing
place by Sean Featherstone, the winner of the event in the amazing time of
2.35.
I was
delighted with a 3.53 finish time as I had hoped for about 4 hours. (Although
my medal says 3.53, the official results say 3.55 – I’m sticking with the medal
time. It is inscribed there forever!)
On the
whole it is a great event with great people and a real challenge of a course.
It was free
and the donations from competitors went to a charity of the winner’s choosing.
If anyone
is looking for a bit of a beasting to finish off the Tri season, this is the
event for you.
I will be
back again next year and it is great to say that in the year I became and
Ironman, I also became a warrior.
Well done
and thanks to all involved.
