The hotly-anticipated Rio 2016 triathlon test event saw Brits Non Stanford and Vicky Holland secure two automatic spots for GB after taking silver and third respectively, while Alistair Brownlee finished tenth after struggling with an ankle injury.
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As many expected, it was current WTS title holders Javier Gomez and Gwen Jorgensen who reigned supreme on Copacabana Beach yesterday (Sunday 2 August), with Gomez booking his place at a third Olympics, while Jorgensen will be racing her second.
Vincent Luis (FRA) and Richard Murray (RSA) both fulfilled their country’s requirements to line up again in Rio next year as they rounded out the men’s podium.
Women’s race
Following the 1500m sea swim, Jodie Stimpson was the leading British athlete with Stanford and Holland close behind. Helen Jenkins unfortunately was kicked several times during the swim, forcing her to withdraw.
The hilly multi-lap bike course saw a group including Stimpson, Stanford, Holland, Jorgensen and Sarah True (USA) break away and stay away. After the first few kilometres of the run, Holland, Stanford, True and Jorgensen managed to forge ahead, before disaster struck for Holland when she tripped over a barrier on the third lap and fell heavily.
Holland recovered but Jorgensen and Stanford had gone and she was left to fight True for bronze, which she achieved brilliantly. Stanford and Holland now need another podium finish at the Grand Final in Chicago next month to secure pre selection. Jodie Stimpson finished tenth, a solid result after injury.
“It was paramount I did well today for selection really and it’s boosted my confidence after a tough couple of years,” said Stanford. “The hill was pretty tough, there’s no two ways about it. We have smaller gearing on our bikes to help us get up. Great fast technical descent, I really enjoyed it. I think that tested a few people. All in all, it was a fantastic day and now I need to keep my head down and work towards Chicago.”
Men’s race
The men’s race got underway shortly afterwards, with two groups forming on the one-lap ocean swim at Copacabana Beach. Among the lead group were Richard Varga (SVK), Henri Schoeman (RSA) and a string of French men including Luis, Dorian Coninx (FRA) and Pierre Le Corre (FRA) exiting the water first, along with Gomez and Luis.
Alistair Brownlee swam and biked superbly, sticking with the lead group in both legs and putting himself in a very strong position for a medal as he left T2. However, he struggled with an ankle injury on the run and had to ease off on the last lap.
Gomez and Luis forged ahead to close in on gold and silver, while Murray worked hard to claw back lost time and take bronze. Brownlee finished tenth, and GB’s Adam Bowden managed to finish 12th after putting in a strong run.
Men’s podium, left to right: Vincent Luis, Javier Gomez, Richard Murray
Brendan Purcell, performance director at British Triathlon, said: “Alistair wanted to hang on to third place but his injury let him down today. His swim and bike showed again that can get into a winning position and he almost held on, so although it wasn’t the result he wanted, there were a lot of positives.
“It’s been a good event overall, but obviously disappointing for some. Everyone has taken full advantage of the opportunity to experience what next year might be like.”
Women’s top ten
1. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 01:58:46
2. Non Stanford (GBR) 01:59:05
3. Vicky Holland (GBR) 01:59:27
4. Sarah True (USA) 01:59:46
5. Barbara Riveros (CHI) 02:00:08
6. Katie Zaferes (USA) 02:00:26
7. Anne Haug (GER) 02:00:57
8. Annamaria Mazzetti (ITA) 02:01:00
9. Rachel Klamer (NED) 02:01:01
10. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 02:01:04
Men’s top ten
1. Javier Gomez Noya (ESP) 01:48:26
2. Vincent Luis (FRA) 01:48:40
3. Richard Murray (RSA) 01:49:01
4. David Hauss (FRA) 01:49:32
5. Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) 01:49:32
6. Aaron Royle (AUS) 01:49:34
7. Mario Mola (ESP) 01:49:37
8. Igor Polyanskiy (RUS) 01:49:41
9. Joao Silva (POR) 01:49:46
10. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 01:49:54
(Images: Delly Carr / Werner Araujo)
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What did you think of the races? Let us know in the comments below!
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Norway’s Norseman Xtreme Triathlon is known as one of the hardest races out there, but the 2015 edition proved particularly tough on Saturday (1 August), with chilly conditions forcing the organisers to take the sensible decision and shorten the swim.
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>>> Pain and suffering on Zombie Hill at the Norseman – blog
Water temperatures hovered around 10.5°C in Hardangerfjord, meaning the swim was halved for the first time in the race’s 13-year history – it’s usually closer to 13-15°C.
Nonetheless, 249 hardy athletes jumped in from the car ferry and began a long day of racing that would involve 1.9km of swimming, 180km of cycling and 42.2km of running.
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Men’s race
Defending champion Allan Hovda had an impressive support crew that included Danish pro triathlete Rasmus Henning, who joined him for the last section of the run, which begins with the long uphill drag at 25km on the road known as ‘Zombie Hill’ and finishes at the top of the rocky Gaustatoppen mountain.
“It’s been an extremely rough day,” said Hovda after claiming the win in 9:43hrs. “Henrik Oftedal biked like crazy.” Second place went to Lars Petter Stormo (NOR), and third place went to up-and-coming youngster Lars Kristian Vold.
Women’s race
Norseman first-timer Kristin Lie battled her fellow Norwegian Line Foss all the way to the finish line, finishing nearly three minutes ahead with a time of 11:50hrs. Third place went to Line Marie Langseth.
“I think the race was awesome,” said Lie afterwards. “The organisers, the crowd – everything was amazing. I felt I had control the whole time. I just kept smiling.
“My support gave me clothes, they gave me food – I was really prepared for a really cold bike ride. When we were at the top of the mountain, it’s cold. I had really huge gloves and a really huge warm jacket, so I was enjoying myself.”
For more results and race information, visit the website at www.nxtri.com.
Men’s results
1) Allan Hovda (NOR) 9:43:46
2) Lars Petter Stormo (NOR) 9:49:43
3) Lars Christian Vold (NOR) 9:54:27
4) Graeme Stewart (GBR) 10:04:36
5) Henrik Oftedal (NOR) 10:22:09
Women’s results
1) Kristin Lie (NOR) 11:50:48
2) Line Foss (NOR) 11:53:32
3) Line Mari Langseth (NOR) 12:13:42
4) Kari Flottorp Lingsom (NOR) 12:21:46
5) Silje Rafaelsen (NOR) 12:44:03
(Images: José Luis Hourcade)
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Did you race Norseman? Let us know in the comments below!
Norway’s Norseman Xtreme Triathlon is known as one of the hardest races out there, but the 2015 edition proved particularly tough on Saturday (1 August), with chilly conditions forcing the organisers to take the sensible decision and shorten the swim.
Advertisement
>>> Pain and suffering on Zombie Hill at the Norseman – blog
Water temperatures hovered around 10.5°C in Hardangerfjord, meaning the swim was halved for the first time in the race’s 13-year history – it’s usually closer to 13-15°C.
Nonetheless, 249 hardy athletes jumped in from the car ferry and began a long day of racing that would involve 1.9km of swimming, 180km of cycling and 42.2km of running.
Men’s race
Defending champion Allan Hovda had an impressive support crew that included Danish pro triathlete Rasmus Henning, who joined him for the last section of the run, which begins with the long uphill drag at 25km on the road known as ‘Zombie Hill’ and finishes at the top of the rocky Gaustatoppen mountain.
“It’s been an extremely rough day,” said Hovda after claiming the win in 9:43hrs. “Henrik Oftedal biked like crazy.” Second place went to Lars Petter Stormo (NOR), and third place went to up-and-coming youngster Lars Kristian Vold.
Women’s race
Norseman first-timer Kristin Lie battled her fellow Norwegian Line Foss all the way to the finish line, finishing nearly three minutes ahead with a time of 11:50hrs. Third place went to Line Marie Langseth.
“I think the race was awesome,” said Lie afterwards. “The organisers, the crowd – everything was amazing. I felt I had control the whole time. I just kept smiling.
“My support gave me clothes, they gave me food – I was really prepared for a really cold bike ride. When we were at the top of the mountain, it’s cold. I had really huge gloves and a really huge warm jacket, so I was enjoying myself.”
For more results and race information, visit the website at www.nxtri.com.
Men’s results
1) Allan Hovda (NOR) 9:43:46
2) Lars Petter Stormo (NOR) 9:49:43
3) Lars Christian Vold (NOR) 9:54:27
4) Graeme Stewart (GBR) 10:04:36
5) Henrik Oftedal (NOR) 10:22:09
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Women’s results
1) Kristin Lie (NOR) 11:50:48
2) Line Foss (NOR) 11:53:32
3) Line Mari Langseth (NOR) 12:13:42
4) Kari Flottorp Lingsom (NOR) 12:21:46
5) Silje Rafaelsen (NOR) 12:44:03
(Images: José Luis Hourcade)
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Did you race Norseman? Let us know in the comments below!
The sensational claim that a third of recent medal winners in top-level athletics may have recorded potentially suspicious blood tests has prompted the International Olympics Committee to promise a “zero tolerance” approach for any athletes found guilty.
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The scandal began over the weekend with a television documentary by German broadcaster ARD, which claimed to have obtained a leaked database belonging to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and containing thousands of blood tests for the period 2001 to 2012.
ARD quotes two scientists as saying that analysis of these blood test results suggest a third of medals awarded in endurance races at the Olympics and world championships for the period covered were won by athletes who had recorded suspicious blood tests during their careers.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has since stated that the allegations require “swift and close scrutiny” to determine whether or not there have been breaches in the World Anti-Doping Code.
“WADA is very disturbed by these new allegations that have been raised by ARD; which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide,” said Sir Craig Reedie, President of WADA. “Given the nature of these allegations, which are an extension to those that were raised by ARD’s December 2014 documentary, they will immediately be handed over to WADA’s Independent Commission for further investigation.”
However, many commentators have pointed out that a variety of factors must be taken into account when analysing blood tests, including the possibility of altitude training, dehydration, blood transfusions and more.
The IAAF is expected to release a formal response to the allegations imminently – more info as soon as we have it…
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(Main image: Nizar Kerkeni)
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The sensational claim that a third of recent medal winners in top-level athletics may have recorded potentially suspicious blood tests has prompted the International Olympics Committee to promise a “zero tolerance” approach for any athletes found guilty.
Advertisement
The scandal began over the weekend with a television documentary by German broadcaster ARD, which claimed to have obtained a leaked database belonging to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and containing thousands of blood tests for the period 2001 to 2012.
ARD quotes two scientists as saying that analysis of these blood test results suggest a third of medals awarded in endurance races at the Olympics and world championships for the period covered were won by athletes who had recorded suspicious blood tests during their careers.
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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has since stated that the allegations require “swift and close scrutiny” to determine whether or not there have been breaches in the World Anti-Doping Code.
“WADA is very disturbed by these new allegations that have been raised by ARD; which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide,” said Sir Craig Reedie, President of WADA. “Given the nature of these allegations, which are an extension to those that were raised by ARD’s December 2014 documentary, they will immediately be handed over to WADA’s Independent Commission for further investigation.”
However, many commentators have pointed out that a variety of factors must be taken into account when analysing blood tests, including the possibility of altitude training, dehydration, blood transfusions and more.
The IAAF is expected to release a formal response to the allegations imminently – more info as soon as we have it…
Advertisement
(Main image: Nizar Kerkeni)
According to my Collins Little Gem dictionary, the word ‘Iso’ means ‘equal’, and is typically used as a prefix to words like ‘Isochron’ and ‘Isotope’, which sound faintly sinister and suggest people in laboratories meddling with atoms.
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This definition was news to me because the only time I’d ever heard the word before was when England footballer John Barnes used to drone on about Isotonic drinks in Lucozade Sport adverts in the 1990s.
That was until I heard about a new and exciting triathlon event, the Isoman – exciting because some race organisers had been in a lab of their own, meddling with the format of Ironmans to come up with the concept of ‘triathlon equalised’. Chief lab-based race directors, Gary Jarvis and Phil Walker, worked out that most triathlon distances seem somewhat biased towards cycling and running, with only 10% of the total race time spent swimming, 50% cycling and 40% running.
As a swimmer(ish) I’ve long had a chip on my shoulder that you don’t get equally rewarded for being good at swimming as you do for being good at cycling and running. For starters, you don’t get much of a lead for being a faster swimmer, people who don’t swim so well aren’t nearly as knackered as they should be when they get out, and bike legs become a depressing procession of the thwack-thwack-thwack sound of carbon wheels passing you. The aim of Isoman was to address this cruel treatment of poor swimmers and create a tri for which all disciplines demand an equal level of excellence/incompetence (delete as applicable).
The Isoman distances were set based on an equal third of total race time, which equated to a mere 61 miles on the bike but a whopping seven-mile swim. Oh, and still a bloody marathon. The venue for this jaunt was Arrow Valley Country Park in the heart of Worcestershire’s rolling hills, a mere hour from my house but a world away from the dull Midlands flatlands I inhabit, where the only way to inject some excitement into your cycling is to take unnecessary risks at level crossings.
With 12 Iromans under my belt I’m more than familiar with the usual format of race briefings which are carried out with the grim ceremony of a prison hanging, and transition areas which may as well be patrolled by an armed lion. I
was therefore pleasantly surprised by the informal, laid-back atmosphere of the Iso briefing, and even happier when I found out there were just 49 hardy souls taking on the full Isoman – there’s nothing like a guaranteed top-50 finish to put some steam in your stride.
One of the additional quirks of Isoman was equalised transitions – a minimum transition time of seven minutes for T1 and five mins for T2, which happily took out the daddy-long-legs post-swim run and flinging
on of kit, which I’m crap at.
The seven mile swim
The factors that usually enter my mind at the start of a race are whether the lake is the temperature of glacial meltwater and will I thus exit the water looking like a day-old corpse. This time though, the words SEVEN MILES are all I could think about, not just because the course is SEVEN MILES but because I know from a 10k training swim that my biggest enemies in a three-hour swim are dehydration and earworms – those unbidden tunes you get stuck in your head while you’re out on long training sessions. I prepare to combat the prospect of getting Gangnam Style or Tubthumping echoing round my brain by listening to my favourite iPod tunes right up to the start, but am distracted when I bump into my friends Kate Hutchings and Andy Waters-Peach (Peachy), who are both remarkably chipper for people about to meet their watery doom.
In fact, the assembled crowd of swimmers are all very cheery considering what’s coming and when the race gets underway it’s far more polite than any open-water race I’ve ever done. The course is T-shaped, with plenty of turn buoys to break up the monotony and which are all negotiated with impeccable manners, probably because everyone knows that a bit of jostling is a fruitless waste of energy.
Things turn livelier when the half-Iso-Manners get in, but overall I progress at the ponderous pace of a dreadnought, stopping every two laps for a drink of something that tastes suspiciously like Benylin. Apart from a slight tightness across the shoulders and a creeping concern about faecal coliform the swim passes without incident, and I’m enormously surprised to emerge from the depths in a time of 3:04:07 and fourth place.
The 61-mile bike
After dossing about in transition for my allotted seven minutes, and eating an energy bar which looks like a forearm boiled in yoghurt, I speed away on my trusty old road bike with tyres so inflated that potholes aren’t so much absorbed as battered into submission. After an initial short section on a dual carriageway, we’re off in to the leafy lanes.
I don’t mind admitting I’m absolutely flying! I breeze the first 35 miles to the amusingly-named Upton Snodsbury before flying down to Throckmorton. Then a quick right hand turn towards Fladbury, another at Charlton, then another onto the extremely busy B4084 and…. hang on this doesn’t feel right. I’ve been dutifully following yellow arrow signs… right into the middle of Pershore High Street.
There’s no experience more soul-stabbing than going the wrong way in a race. After a mighty swear, I ask Pershore’s shoppers to point me in the vague direction of Redditch and set off like Chris Froome if he really had an electric bike. I’m furious at having made a 10-tonne tit of myself but baffled at how I’ve gone wrong.
I don’t have a satnav on my bike – as a middle-aged man I consider it my duty to regard technical developments with alarm and bewilderment – so after a couple of wrong turns around Pinvin I’m extremely lucky to stumble back on to the course courtesy of André Blincowe from Oxford Tri, who’s also lost having missed the turn for the Iso Quarter and ended up on the long course. Exchanging horror stories, André and I arrive back in bloody Throckmorton.
This time I notice there’s no right hand turn to Fladbury – ah ha! It transpires that some stupid bum-funnel has put almost identical yellow signs for an entirely unrelated sportive out on the course, which sadly results in several Iso riders going wrong, many of whom decide not to continue with the race. In my case I’m too peeved to stop, and stamp furiously on despite running out of drink and ending up with a mouth that tastes like I’ve been chewing depleted uranium. When I finally roll into T2 the crows overhead start flying upside down because I’m not worth crapping on, and I manage a grand total of 79.4 miles instead of 61.3. I later find out that my time of 4:35:39 is the slowest bike split of anyone in the whole race. (But let me state for the record that I don’t hold the Iso organisers remotely responsible for this, the fault was entirely mine because it’s my responsibility to know the course.)
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Brunty on the marathon, complete with cap to hide his ‘helmet hair’
The 26.2-mile run
Despite having five minutes to play with I take my helmet off and don my cap because after cycling my hair invariably looks like I’ve brushed it with a balloon, and even with my 18-mile detour I’m feeling sprightly when I heave off onto the run course. Once upon a time I had powers in triathlon running, but they’ve waned in recent years to the extent that I have to operate a reward system to keep myself going – for every mile run I give myself a Jelly Baby. (Note of caution – Bertie Bassett isn’t as generous as he used to be because there used to be enough in a bag to get you round a marathon, but here I ran out with three miles to go.)
A few miles in I fall into step with Sam Walsh, a young triathlete from Bolton who’s a lap ahead of me. We end up running together for nine miles despite me harping endlessly on about doing an extra 18 miles and coming out with quips that suggest I have the wit of a cardboard dog. Sam does a great job suppressing his smugness that he didn’t go wrong because he’d recce’d the bike course, and I miss his cheeriness when we part. It’s now a long, lonely run through Redditch’s grassy outskirts. But despite my steadily slowing pace and the solitude, I manage to keep running and chatting to any other competitors I see, such as Oxford Tri’s Nic Defillion who’s battling with blisters the size of my head.
My fourth and final lap is my slowest but when the finish line finally hoves into view I summon enough reserves not to look too decrepit for the photos and cross the line in 4:25:51 for a grand total of 12:07:51.
So there I am, an Isoman, albeit a not especially equal one. Having the fourth fastest swim and marathon leads me to conclude I may have sneaked fourth spot, but that would do a disservice to my fellow unfortunates who came a cropper at the road sign of doom and who may well have caned me further up the road. As it was, 10th place overall isn’t too bad after my wanderings and being one of only 30 finishers has given me a sense that I belong to a very exclusive club which, after pondering the number of bike miles I added on and the number of finishers, I shall call Club 18-30.
So a massive well done to all 30 finishers of the first-ever Isoman. It was tough, but a brilliant concept and I really hope it catches on. I’ll definitely be back next year – for one thing, I’m guaranteed a massive PB.
If you’re brave enough to take on the Isoman yourself, you can enter the 2016 edition here
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What do you think of the Isoman concept? Let us know in the comments!
According to my Collins Little Gem dictionary, the word ‘Iso’ means ‘equal’, and is typically used as a prefix to words like ‘Isochron’ and ‘Isotope’, which sound faintly sinister and suggest people in laboratories meddling with atoms.
Advertisement
This definition was news to me because the only time I’d ever heard the word before was when England footballer John Barnes used to drone on about Isotonic drinks in Lucozade Sport adverts in the 1990s.
That was until I heard about a new and exciting triathlon event, the Isoman – exciting because some race organisers had been in a lab of their own, meddling with the format of Ironmans to come up with the concept of ‘triathlon equalised’. Chief lab-based race directors, Gary Jarvis and Phil Walker, worked out that most triathlon distances seem somewhat biased towards cycling and running, with only 10% of the total race time spent swimming, 50% cycling and 40% running.
As a swimmer(ish) I’ve long had a chip on my shoulder that you don’t get equally rewarded for being good at swimming as you do for being good at cycling and running. For starters, you don’t get much of a lead for being a faster swimmer, people who don’t swim so well aren’t nearly as knackered as they should be when they get out, and bike legs become a depressing procession of the thwack-thwack-thwack sound of carbon wheels passing you. The aim of Isoman was to address this cruel treatment of poor swimmers and create a tri for which all disciplines demand an equal level of excellence/incompetence (delete as applicable).
The Isoman distances were set based on an equal third of total race time, which equated to a mere 61 miles on the bike but a whopping seven-mile swim. Oh, and still a bloody marathon. The venue for this jaunt was Arrow Valley Country Park in the heart of Worcestershire’s rolling hills, a mere hour from my house but a world away from the dull Midlands flatlands I inhabit, where the only way to inject some excitement into your cycling is to take unnecessary risks at level crossings.
With 12 Iromans under my belt I’m more than familiar with the usual format of race briefings which are carried out with the grim ceremony of a prison hanging, and transition areas which may as well be patrolled by an armed lion. I
was therefore pleasantly surprised by the informal, laid-back atmosphere of the Iso briefing, and even happier when I found out there were just 49 hardy souls taking on the full Isoman – there’s nothing like a guaranteed top-50 finish to put some steam in your stride.
One of the additional quirks of Isoman was equalised transitions – a minimum transition time of seven minutes for T1 and five mins for T2, which happily took out the daddy-long-legs post-swim run and flinging
on of kit, which I’m crap at.
The seven mile swim
The factors that usually enter my mind at the start of a race are whether the lake is the temperature of glacial meltwater and will I thus exit the water looking like a day-old corpse. This time though, the words SEVEN MILES are all I could think about, not just because the course is SEVEN MILES but because I know from a 10k training swim that my biggest enemies in a three-hour swim are dehydration and earworms – those unbidden tunes you get stuck in your head while you’re out on long training sessions. I prepare to combat the prospect of getting Gangnam Style or Tubthumping echoing round my brain by listening to my favourite iPod tunes right up to the start, but am distracted when I bump into my friends Kate Hutchings and Andy Waters-Peach (Peachy), who are both remarkably chipper for people about to meet their watery doom.
In fact, the assembled crowd of swimmers are all very cheery considering what’s coming and when the race gets underway it’s far more polite than any open-water race I’ve ever done. The course is T-shaped, with plenty of turn buoys to break up the monotony and which are all negotiated with impeccable manners, probably because everyone knows that a bit of jostling is a fruitless waste of energy.
Things turn livelier when the half-Iso-Manners get in, but overall I progress at the ponderous pace of a dreadnought, stopping every two laps for a drink of something that tastes suspiciously like Benylin. Apart from a slight tightness across the shoulders and a creeping concern about faecal coliform the swim passes without incident, and I’m enormously surprised to emerge from the depths in a time of 3:04:07 and fourth place.
The 61-mile bike
After dossing about in transition for my allotted seven minutes, and eating an energy bar which looks like a forearm boiled in yoghurt, I speed away on my trusty old road bike with tyres so inflated that potholes aren’t so much absorbed as battered into submission. After an initial short section on a dual carriageway, we’re off in to the leafy lanes.
I don’t mind admitting I’m absolutely flying! I breeze the first 35 miles to the amusingly-named Upton Snodsbury before flying down to Throckmorton. Then a quick right hand turn towards Fladbury, another at Charlton, then another onto the extremely busy B4084 and…. hang on this doesn’t feel right. I’ve been dutifully following yellow arrow signs… right into the middle of Pershore High Street.
There’s no experience more soul-stabbing than going the wrong way in a race. After a mighty swear, I ask Pershore’s shoppers to point me in the vague direction of Redditch and set off like Chris Froome if he really had an electric bike. I’m furious at having made a 10-tonne tit of myself but baffled at how I’ve gone wrong.
I don’t have a satnav on my bike – as a middle-aged man I consider it my duty to regard technical developments with alarm and bewilderment – so after a couple of wrong turns around Pinvin I’m extremely lucky to stumble back on to the course courtesy of André Blincowe from Oxford Tri, who’s also lost having missed the turn for the Iso Quarter and ended up on the long course. Exchanging horror stories, André and I arrive back in bloody Throckmorton.
This time I notice there’s no right hand turn to Fladbury – ah ha! It transpires that some stupid bum-funnel has put almost identical yellow signs for an entirely unrelated sportive out on the course, which sadly results in several Iso riders going wrong, many of whom decide not to continue with the race. In my case I’m too peeved to stop, and stamp furiously on despite running out of drink and ending up with a mouth that tastes like I’ve been chewing depleted uranium. When I finally roll into T2 the crows overhead start flying upside down because I’m not worth crapping on, and I manage a grand total of 79.4 miles instead of 61.3. I later find out that my time of 4:35:39 is the slowest bike split of anyone in the whole race. (But let me state for the record that I don’t hold the Iso organisers remotely responsible for this, the fault was entirely mine because it’s my responsibility to know the course.)
Brunty on the marathon, complete with cap to hide his ‘helmet hair’
The 26.2-mile run
Despite having five minutes to play with I take my helmet off and don my cap because after cycling my hair invariably looks like I’ve brushed it with a balloon, and even with my 18-mile detour I’m feeling sprightly when I heave off onto the run course. Once upon a time I had powers in triathlon running, but they’ve waned in recent years to the extent that I have to operate a reward system to keep myself going – for every mile run I give myself a Jelly Baby. (Note of caution – Bertie Bassett isn’t as generous as he used to be because there used to be enough in a bag to get you round a marathon, but here I ran out with three miles to go.)
A few miles in I fall into step with Sam Walsh, a young triathlete from Bolton who’s a lap ahead of me. We end up running together for nine miles despite me harping endlessly on about doing an extra 18 miles and coming out with quips that suggest I have the wit of a cardboard dog. Sam does a great job suppressing his smugness that he didn’t go wrong because he’d recce’d the bike course, and I miss his cheeriness when we part. It’s now a long, lonely run through Redditch’s grassy outskirts. But despite my steadily slowing pace and the solitude, I manage to keep running and chatting to any other competitors I see, such as Oxford Tri’s Nic Defillion who’s battling with blisters the size of my head.
My fourth and final lap is my slowest but when the finish line finally hoves into view I summon enough reserves not to look too decrepit for the photos and cross the line in 4:25:51 for a grand total of 12:07:51.
So there I am, an Isoman, albeit a not especially equal one. Having the fourth fastest swim and marathon leads me to conclude I may have sneaked fourth spot, but that would do a disservice to my fellow unfortunates who came a cropper at the road sign of doom and who may well have caned me further up the road. As it was, 10th place overall isn’t too bad after my wanderings and being one of only 30 finishers has given me a sense that I belong to a very exclusive club which, after pondering the number of bike miles I added on and the number of finishers, I shall call Club 18-30.
So a massive well done to all 30 finishers of the first-ever Isoman. It was tough, but a brilliant concept and I really hope it catches on. I’ll definitely be back next year – for one thing, I’m guaranteed a massive PB.
If you’re brave enough to take on the Isoman yourself, you can enter the 2016 edition here
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What do you think of the Isoman concept? Let us know in the comments!
One of the world’s best-know triathletes was in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire last weekend for the Wales Sprint Triathlon – Australia’s Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack, two-time Ironman world champion.
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Also taking place in Fishguard the same day was the Ocean Lava Wales Middle Distance, acting as a qualifier for this year’s Ocean Lava final in Lanzarote.
The Wales Sprint Triathlon saw a close race between the top-10, with the first female, Carol Bridge (Rhondda Triathlon Club) heading out onto the run in second place overall, behind Alex Matchett the 1st place winner.
Des Devlin and Chris McCormack both managed to catch Carol Bridge on the run and over take her to secure a podium finish. Carol finished 4secs behind third place Chris McCormack, which saw her take fourth position overall and first female.
We loved having you @MaccaNow #walestriathlon come back again soon! #inspirethenation pic.twitter.com/lisilqGekT
— ActivityWalesEvents (@aweventsteam) August 1, 2015
A great race by Carol, who had a spare 16mins before second-placed female Claire Manson crossed the line. With very impressive splits of 11:56 swim, 38:58 bike and 20:08 run, Carol Bridge had a huge lead in the women’s race the entire way round the sprint course.
The winners of the Wales Sprint relay were Team Baddies with a time of 1.33.35, followed closely by Team Barnaby’s Angels, the 1st place junior relay team, with a time of 1:34:28. The junior first place went to Tom Kinnear with a time of 1.28.02, 2mins behind Tom’s older brother Billy Kinnear secured second place with a time of 1.30.07.
Ocean Lava Wales Middle Distance
In the Ocean Lava qualifying race, last year’s champion Oliver Simon came out of the water second in the swim, just on the heels of James Grandfield who had a very quick swim split of 28:38mins.
Oliver then took the lead on the bike course, extending his lead to 3 minutes going into the run leg. Michael Birchmore then began to make his move and stun the crowd, not only by taking the lead by the second lap, but by putting a further 5mins into the defending champion Oliver on his home soil. Oliver tried to respond, but Birchmore was simply on fire on the run leg clocking an impressive 1:19hr split on a tough course.
The women’s race saw an incredible battle for first place between Jessica Parry-Williams and Emma Newsome, Jessica exited the swim with a time of 35:15mins, ahead of Emma who completed the swim minutes behind with a time of 38:04mins.
Jessica Parry-Williams comes down the finish chute at Ocean Lava Wales 2015
Emma then took the lead on the bike, with an impressive time of 2.52.19, with Jessica’s bike split at 3:02:36. Jessica Parry-Williams then took the lead on the run and kept it to secure the first place podium finish, an impressive run split of 1:31:15, with Emma Newsome’s run time of 1:43:15.
The winners of the Ocean Lava Wales middle distance relay race were Team Ross Mcnally with a time of 5:06:14. Matt Bailey from Leicester Triathlon Club won the under-18 race with an impressive time of 5:37:55, seeing him take 52nd place overall.
Wales Sprint Triathlon
Top three men
1st Alex Matchett 1:10:45
2nd Des Devline 1:11:52
3rd Chris McCormack 1:12:10
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Top three women
1st Carol Bridge 1:12:14
2nd Claire Manson 1:28:05
3rd Karina Ebsworth 1:28:39
Ocean Lava Wales
Top three men
1st Michael Birchmore 4:24:31
2nd Oliver Simon 4:29:20
3rd David Francis 4:40:46
Top three women
1st Jessica Parry Williams 5:11:17
2nd Emma Newsome 5:15:57
3rd Nerys Jones 5:37:32
For full results head here.
(Images: Huw Fairclough)
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Did you race in Fishguard last weekend? Let us know in the comments below!
One of the world’s best-know triathletes was in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire last weekend for the Wales Sprint Triathlon – Australia’s Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack, two-time Ironman world champion.
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Also taking place in Fishguard the same day was the Ocean Lava Wales Middle Distance, acting as a qualifier for this year’s Ocean Lava final in Lanzarote.
The Wales Sprint Triathlon saw a close race between the top-10, with the first female, Carol Bridge (Rhondda Triathlon Club) heading out onto the run in second place overall, behind Alex Matchett the 1st place winner.
Des Devlin and Chris McCormack both managed to catch Carol Bridge on the run and over take her to secure a podium finish. Carol finished 4secs behind third place Chris McCormack, which saw her take fourth position overall and first female.
We loved having you @MaccaNow #walestriathlon come back again soon! #inspirethenation pic.twitter.com/lisilqGekT
— ActivityWalesEvents (@aweventsteam) August 1, 2015
A great race by Carol, who had a spare 16mins before second-placed female Claire Manson crossed the line. With very impressive splits of 11:56 swim, 38:58 bike and 20:08 run, Carol Bridge had a huge lead in the women’s race the entire way round the sprint course.
The winners of the Wales Sprint relay were Team Baddies with a time of 1.33.35, followed closely by Team Barnaby’s Angels, the 1st place junior relay team, with a time of 1:34:28. The junior first place went to Tom Kinnear with a time of 1.28.02, 2mins behind Tom’s older brother Billy Kinnear secured second place with a time of 1.30.07.
Ocean Lava Wales Middle Distance
In the Ocean Lava qualifying race, last year’s champion Oliver Simon came out of the water second in the swim, just on the heels of James Grandfield who had a very quick swim split of 28:38mins.
Oliver then took the lead on the bike course, extending his lead to 3 minutes going into the run leg. Michael Birchmore then began to make his move and stun the crowd, not only by taking the lead by the second lap, but by putting a further 5mins into the defending champion Oliver on his home soil. Oliver tried to respond, but Birchmore was simply on fire on the run leg clocking an impressive 1:19hr split on a tough course.
The women’s race saw an incredible battle for first place between Jessica Parry-Williams and Emma Newsome, Jessica exited the swim with a time of 35:15mins, ahead of Emma who completed the swim minutes behind with a time of 38:04mins.
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Jessica Parry-Williams comes down the finish chute at Ocean Lava Wales 2015
Emma then took the lead on the bike, with an impressive time of 2.52.19, with Jessica’s bike split at 3:02:36. Jessica Parry-Williams then took the lead on the run and kept it to secure the first place podium finish, an impressive run split of 1:31:15, with Emma Newsome’s run time of 1:43:15.
The winners of the Ocean Lava Wales middle distance relay race were Team Ross Mcnally with a time of 5:06:14. Matt Bailey from Leicester Triathlon Club won the under-18 race with an impressive time of 5:37:55, seeing him take 52nd place overall.
Wales Sprint Triathlon
Top three men
1st Alex Matchett 1:10:45
2nd Des Devline 1:11:52
3rd Chris McCormack 1:12:10
Top three women
1st Carol Bridge 1:12:14
2nd Claire Manson 1:28:05
3rd Karina Ebsworth 1:28:39
Ocean Lava Wales
Top three men
1st Michael Birchmore 4:24:31
2nd Oliver Simon 4:29:20
3rd David Francis 4:40:46
Top three women
1st Jessica Parry Williams 5:11:17
2nd Emma Newsome 5:15:57
3rd Nerys Jones 5:37:32
For full results head here.
(Images: Huw Fairclough)
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Did you race in Fishguard last weekend? Let us know in the comments below!
With exactly one year to go until the Rio 2016 Olympics, Alistair and Jonny Brownlee have entered the GSK Human Performance Lab for a full day of assessments – including the dreaded heat tolerance test.
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>>> High drama for Brits at Rio 2016 Olympics test event
Described as one of the most important tools that Team GB athletes have at their disposal over the next 12 months, the enviro chamber replicates temperature conditions up to 55°C and all the way down to -25°C, and can also control the amount of oxygen available to athletes – simulating air conditions close to the height of Everest (8,848m).
The tests enabled GSK scientists to gauge how the Brownlees respond to their environment when working hard, including measuring their individual sweat rate and electrolyte losses as well as the thermal impact by monitoring core body and skin temperature.
Alistair said: “Coming to a place like this is about getting the fine details right. When it comes to the Olympic Games you want to prepare in the best way possible for the event, covering all eventualities. One of those eventualities is that it could be very hot and humid so that’s what we’ve been working on here. Preparing for Rio conditions where hydration and nutrition strategies will be absolutely key to our performance.”
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The Rio test event took place just a few days ago, and Alistair started off very strongly before a recurrence of his niggling ankle injury forced him to ease off, finishing 10th. Jonny meanwhile sat out the test event due to a femoral stress fracture on his left leg – he hopes to be back racing in time for the WTS Grand Final in Chicago on 20 September.
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