It’s a long way to Hawaii. My journey started 4 years ago
without realising that it would be my eventual destination. I competed in
Ironman Germany in 2002 with the sole intention of finishing an Ironman. With
this done, 2 years later Lorraine wanted a crack at it so I did it again with
her. Lorraine finished and decided that she had achieved her objective and would
not do another. I had learned a lot in these 2 races and thought that if I could
put a good race together, on the right day, I may be able to qualify for the
World Championship. For those that do not already know, selection is made by
awarding "slots" to various races throughout the World. Germany was awarded
European Championship status for 2006. Germany also has a huge Ironman following
so was awarded 120 slots - the most outside of North America. This, coupled with
the fact that I was now a "young" boy again in my age group (M45-49) meant that
it would be my best chance of getting a slot. Fate would also prove to be kind
as the day before the race, the swim was declared non-wetsuit as the water
temperature was above 24°C. As a strong swimmer this suited me. There were lots
of groans and nail biting from the weaker swimmers. It would be the first time
in Europe that this had happened for the Ironman distance.
I raced well and did manage to put a good race together. I
hurt like I had never hurt before and came away with 7th place. As
there were 10 slots in my age-group, I had gained automatic qualification
without having to agonise through roll-back. (roll-back is when the slots are
allocated to finishers, in this case, below 10th position because of
either pre-qualifiers or the allocated athlete simply does not wish to go).
Whilst I was delighted to shout out when my name was called, another part of me
was saying "Don’t put yourself through that again!" and "Can I afford it? Of
course I can, how can I not?"
Hawaii is, after all, the birth-place of Triathlon and
arguably the greatest endurance race in the world. The Ironman web-site
describes its history dating back to 1978:
"During the awards ceremony for a Hawaii running race, a
debate ensues among competitors about who is more fit -- swimmers, runners or
other athletes. One of the participants, Navy Commander John Collins and his
wife Judy, dream up a race to settle the argument. They propose combining three
existing races together, to be completed in succession: the Waikiki Roughwater
Swim (2.4 miles), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (112 miles, originally a two-day
event) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles). Fifteen men participate in the
initial event held on February 18, 1978; 12 complete the race, led by the first
Ironman, Gordon Haller. His winning time: 11 hours, 46 minutes and 58 seconds".
This report is supposed to be about the Hawaii Ironman but I
thought that I should mention the selection process and just what is involved.
Many people try to get there and never qualify as I did. Others are lucky to get
in on one of the 150 USA or 50 International ‘lottery’ slots at $85 a pop. The
other way is to buy your way in, by bidding on the 6 charity eBay slots at a
starting bid of $12,000. Many triathletes disagree with this, myself included -
even if it is making money for charity.
So it is that I found my way onto the start sheet.
There were only 3 months to recover and build up again for
the ‘big one’. I rested for 2 weeks and then started to increase the workload.
It just wasn’t happening. I just wanted to sleep. I rested another week or so
and was able to do gentle training leading up to the Bala classic distance
triathlon with 5 weeks to go before Hawaii. I had to do this one to meet the
selection criteria for the Rhodes Island Games next year. It turned out to be a
well organised race on a good course, however, I aggravated an old injury with
about 3k to go on the run and had to brisk walk in to the finish to prevent any
longer term injury that could have jeopardised the big race of the year.
With only a hand full of weeks to go I had a dodgy solius and
didn’t dare run on it but concentrated on getting the big miles in again on the
bike. Just over three weeks to go and I got a head cold that eventually
manifested it’s self as a chesty cough. The Doctor said it would take 6 weeks to
get over it fully and there was nothing he could do, Ironman or not. Not what I
wanted to hear. As all you sportsmen and women will know the best relief from
the symptoms of a cold are on the banned list so you just have to live it out.
Preparation was far from perfect and I was about to take part in the biggest
event of my life, yes, Commonwealth Games included.
As I was saying. It’s a long way to Hawaii. 15 hours flying
time + the Manx flight of course. We arrived at Kona in darkness and were glad
for our beds. Next morning I was due to go for a recce of the swim at Kailua
Pier. I got on a coach at 07:05 and at 07:07 Big Island experienced a 6.7 Earth
quake centred only 30km from us. At the time I was unaware what it was, only
that I had been jolted as if the coach had gone down some pot-holes. If I had
only been looking out the window I would have seen the power cables rocking and
cars bouncing on the road. I felt cheated of something. There was fortunately
very little structural damage and only minor injuries. The cycle course had some
large boulders that had fallen onto it along with many smaller rocks. More
excitingly there was a 6" crack across the road out towards the bike turnaround
at Hawi. All this was sorted for race day. We were unable to get our swim
because of the threat of a tsunami being generated. As it happened, all was
well. We had to wait to find out which supermarkets were open to stock up.
Having just landed we had no food. Eventually we found somewhere that was
letting one customer in as one was leaving to control numbers in the store. Many
shops had their goods strewn over the floors. US TV made a big issue of it all
as you may imagine and were interviewing people and describing them as
"Earthquake Survivors" even though there had been no fatalities. There may have
been if the shops did not open. I was starving!
The time leading up to the race was filled with the usual
course familiarisation, race briefing , bike racking and looking round the trade
Expo at all the latest goodies.
Race day was an early start. Up at 04:30 to get breakfast
then out to the starting area for the ritual body marking. In Hawaii this is
done with wood block prints giving a nice sharp number. No sun block is
permitted prior to marking to avoid smudging. It is not all bad, as some nice
young ladies then put it on for you. Most entered the water with plenty of time
in hand to get a good position so I gave Lorraine a big kiss and said goodbye. I
had a race plan that I had thought out well before the race so just wanted to
get going. Apart from the nutrition that is key to a successful race, I also had
to pace it right to get the finish that was so imperative. Because of the poor
preparation I would swim hard as usual but ride conservatively knowing what was
ahead (Heat and Humidity). At 06:45 the Pros were off to the sound of a canon.
Fifteen minutes later it was our turn and the rest of the 1,700 field headed
off.
The swim was one of the most hectic I have experienced.
Normally I can get into clear water after about 3 minutes. After 10, I was still
swimming on feet and having arms flung over my shoulder bringing me to a dead
stop. I had had enough so decided to go sideways to find clear water. This
worked and I was on my way proper. The water was beautifully warm and if I had
had time I could have watched all the different coloured fish, urchins and
anemones below me but I had a job to do. I exited the water in 1:04, about 5
mins down on what I had hoped but I later found that the Pros were down too
because of the conditions. Somewhere in transition ex pat Darren Skillicorn must
have passed me and I didn’t see him until the first run leg up Alii Drive.
Darren is a class act and would go sub 10 hours (9:56), truly amazing in the
conditions. Only 15 days later Darren did the Sid Quirk half Marathon!
Remembering the Pros started 15 mins in front of us I caught
Jess Draskau just leaving town on the bike. She would re pass me before the bike
turnaround never to be seen again (10:04:34). I kept to my game plan and rode
conservatively out through the lava fields. The heat was now building but it was
bearable as there was always a breeze. I took on board plenty of gels and water
at every 5 to 7miles when the aid station came up. The water was in green
Gatorade bottles, the same as the Coke! So I had to be careful not to tip Coke
over my head . Drafting is illegal even among the Pros and was strictly
enforced. If a rider came by you it was up to the passed rider to drop back 4
bike lengths and not re pass for 20 seconds. So as happened a couple of times to
me that a bike came past and the rider then slowed down to take a drink you had
to bite your lip. All these things helped in a way to keep me alert to what was
otherwise a boring ride. The landscape was mostly lava fields of various stages
of regeneration. Some of the most recent was from as late as the 1980s. Lava on
the other side of the Island is still erupting and spewing into the sea and has
been continuously for many years. At one stage on a very fast decent I lost
concentration while overtaking and hit the cats eyes in the centre of the road.
These cats eyes are not like ours that sink back into the road but stay rigid.
It put a ding in my front rim that required that I expand the brake on the
release lever to prevent it from catching the blocks. It must have been close to
puncturing. I saw Lorraine and the rest of the Manx support crew out on one of
the hottest bits. That was a good lift. Another lift was when we got a shower of
rain. There was enough to have water thrown up off my tyres, bliss. Never
thought I would be glad of rain on the bike.
Despite my race plan I faded towards the end of the bike and
was glad to get off and stretch my back and take on more of my own prepared
drink. I had put extra salts in my bottles, it seemed to work well. The bike was
taken from me as I ran into the changing tent. No gear was allowed at the bike.
Everything had to be done in the changing tent. I forgot to put Vaseline on my
toes before putting my running shoes on but took the time to take them off again
to prevent problems later on during the run.
This was a good move because it was survival out on the run.
The heat out on Alii Drive was oppressive. With high humidity, the sweat was not
able to evaporate as quickly and without plenty if water and ice would quickly
lead to overheating. The water that was going over my head eventually found its
way into my shoes so I squelched my way round the marathon. Even with the
Vaseline my toes blistered. But I didn’t lose any toe-nails this time! I put ice
cubes in my hat at each aid station (approx 1 mile intervals) and by the time I
got to the next, the ice was the size of peas.
The crowd and helpers were great and were obviously looking
for a bit of feedback from us as they handed out what was on offer. I was trying
to block out everything that wasn’t involved in putting one foot in front of the
other and although I wanted to communicate I struggled to find the energy
necessary to do so. If they could have seen my eyes under my sunglasses, they
would have been glazed. I could have stopped at any point on the run. For anyone
that has done a marathon and knows the feeling on the last 10k, the whole run
was like that. I was promising myself that I would walk when I got to Palani
Avenue which I did, taking on more fluid and gel while I could get it all in my
mouth. I wasn’t much slower than the runners here as it was that steep but only
for about 500m. I then had to get running again, ouch.
Thirteen miles was a real low point, thinking, oh no I‘ve got
to do that again. The Pros were also heading back the other way with the
helicopters and motorcycles. I started drinking Coke. That helped and I got
talking to another athlete, a Canadian .We kept each other going out from the
Energy Lab. A message board had been erected at the top of this hill that was
activated by the timing chip. Lorraine had thoughtfully compiled a message
(something soppy). The sun by this time was fortunately sinking lower and it was
slightly overcast. Out of the Energy Lab and the Coke must have kicked in
because I would say that the run became more fluid. The blisters were stinging
but I could start sensing an end to the punishment. A little further on and I
could hear the garbled tones of Mike Riley on the PA greeting the finishers over
the line. There is a cruel loop just before the end that brings you within yards
of the finish without seeing it ,only to head out of town a way before
returning. The return is however very pleasant because you know that nothing can
stop you finishing now and the medal is as good as around your neck. With about
400m to go I saw Lorraine and co. with the Manx flag which I grabbed and held
aloft as I crossed the line with a big cheesy grin on my face. I had after all,
done something that only 4 years ago could only have dreamed of. Oh – the finish
time 11:25:38 but who cares.
Graham Stigant
6 November 2006
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