Race Day

The day was here! The Celtman Extreme Triathlon! 3.8km swim, 203km bike and then a mountain marathon. Quite crazy but I kinda wished I was doing it rather than being just a supporter. Although I've not done a major endurance challenge in quite a few years, I love the feeling of keeping going when completely dead!

As people rarely read beyond the 2nd paragraph of most things, I'll get a well done in for Stuart McInnes and the organising team for putting on an amazing event. Everything seemed to go like clockwork and I didn't hear a gripe about anything all day. All the competitors and supporters were so cheery. That's a challenge in itself as it's possible to find ones mind in a very dark place at times in such a long race.

For us, the alarm went off at 3am and I've never seen Rosemary get up so quickly. She seemed different to the way she normally is.....she's always focussed but she was unusually calm and relatively cheery. It wasn't long before we headed down to Shieldaig. Wow, midge central! Before long, she was off in a bus to the other side of the loch, whilst we went back to do final preparations.

Lucky we got back to the swim exit a bit early, as it had been cut a bit short due to water temperature. It was hard to judge performance based on time but R exited the water relatively close to the front of the field. After transition we headed back to the B&B for a quick feed and then back in the car to head off for the first feed. It was really exciting passing through the field trying to catch R. We then got stuck behind a German chap who was obviously not confident in overtaking riders on the narrow roads, whilst driving in an unfamiliar car. Eventually, we got her....beyond Gairloch and a bit later than planned...."thank god" she said as she was becoming desperate for new drinks bottles.

R was in 2nd place, riding smooth and strong. A few months ago, I worked hard to convince her that clip-on tribars were essential to get the best possible time. I felt placated as her position on them was awesome...very flat back and looking highly efficient. However, leading lady Susanne Buckenlei was in a different league and maybe had 9 mins lead on R at this stage. She looked so powerful and aero, yet it could be argued that by changing to a slightly smaller gear and pedalling faster, her performance would improve a bit.

R and Izzy Joiner (in the photo), a fellow Edinburgh RC teammate, swapped places throughout the bike leg which made it exciting. The weather forecast had predicted rain for most of the day, but it wasn't until the final big climb that the heavens opened. Kate and mummy Byde suggested we offer R a jacket. I did so knowing that it was so close to T2 that she wouildn't want one. When passing her, I detected a small smile......the worse the conditions, the better R goes and she was happy to carry on without a jacket.

There were clouds of midges in T2; despite the repellent, I was bitten shitless. Still, I wasn't going to act like a baby when the athletes were putting in epic efforts. R's loo break was longer than I would have liked but if ya gotta go...ya gotta go! Poor Izzy arrived only to be unable to find her helpers due to a wee mix up. She certainly looked to be dealing with it better than I would have. I was nervous as R wanted me to follow on the MTB.....and my worst fears were realised when I struggled to keep up on the steep slippery bits of the climb and the odd technical obstacle. Dropped again! By that stage Izzy had passed R. an old friend Gav May caught up too....a strange place for a cordial handshaking introduction. R has been in Scotland just long enough not to have needed a translation of Gav-speak either!

Kate took over as buddy runner for the mountain ascent and they soon disappeared off into the clouds. Reports from the summits showed that visibility was very poor making even basic navigation problematic. I was at the foot of the mountain with a friendly bunch of supporters giving everyone, including the BBC filming team, a big cheer. The fastest athletes were taking around 3 hours to clear the mountain which was epic! I dunno how long the slower ones were taking but......this was one section of the race that I certainly wouldn't have wished to be in their shoes! Oh...and I am scared of heights and don't like steep descents!

Still, after nearly 3 hours of waiting, I was starting to get cold. I hadn't realised that I had placed my bike and rucksack on the edge of a peat bog! On going to retrieve my waterproof trousers to help me warm up, I found myself ankle deep in freezing water! Joy! A few familiar faces including Stuart McInnes, Gav, and Hugh had now passed. Eventually, R and Kate appeared and I cheered as loud as my reticence would permit. . I took R's rucksack off her as it wasn't required for the final road run but there was no way she was giving up her running poles. Izzy followed a few minutes later as I was packing up the kit. I then jumped on the bike to get to the finish in time.....letting R know that Izzy wasn't far behind. Wow..... she reacted like an antelope who had just seen a lion accelerating to a remarkable pace, making it very hard work for Kate to lead.

16hrs 00mins 23secs of effort and R had finished in 2nd. Izzy followed shortly afterwards making it a great day for the ERC ladies. There were some epic tales from the day with everyone being a winner. Having done a few Ironman distance events myself, I know how tough they are......this event was so much tougher! Everyone involved should be very proud of themselves! It's also made me realise I'm gonna suffer next week in my Coast to Coast but that I'll manage despite not being very fit and a bit fat!