Also glad to get this one off my back at last! This event seems to have been cursed since the start!
Look I know covid has done a number on everyone and Ironman were hit especially hard as it was pulled well into their setup for the 2020 event, but I have to say that I really think Ironman made a real sh!tshow of the event this! I mean they had 2 years to get things sorted out and still managed to c0ck it up royally! The athlete guide was a complete waste of time as 90% of what they mentioned in there they never followed anyway. No age group starting groups, we were told we would not be allowed to push forward once in the start pens - it was the usual free for all in the swim chute with tons of okes pushing their way through to start earlier! I get that conditions were terrible and they sure as heck made the correct call on the shortened swim so I'll give them credit for that. The athlete guide said the run was 4 and a half laps, then they send out an update the day before that it's actually just short of 4 laps. There were 2 pics of the transition area in the athlete guide, one for bike check in and one for the swim, so you had to try figure out how the flow worked when you racked your bike, if you didn't happen to see a banner as you exited registration. They reckoned transition would be spaced out due to covid risk, but they still racked 6 bikes on a rack, so I guess the okes in the other rows were the covid risk! The distance markers for the bike leg from 130km were 10km out of sync, not just the one but from there to the end! No spectators allowed on race day to support us in the outdoors, but no sweat, you can bring them all to the expo and merchandise area indoor to spend their money on your gear! I am super grateful the supporters all ignored this as the legends that were there on race day were much appreciated! No names on race numbers. The named t-shirts in the merchandise section were for the athletes that registered in 2020, sorry for you guys who helped ironman out by filling up the spots slightly! Finisher shirt is an ill fitting cheap top, not a slightly more premium golf shirt like they used to give out - ok the design is pretty cool. Oh yea and if you want to swop for a different size, you'll have to send it back to them and they will send you a another one, I guess that is the process they want us to follow. The post race nutrition was dismal, a rubber roll with cheese/cheese and marmite that they hand you in a brown bag with a tiny coke, that you need to try carry along with a pump water bottle, your street wear bag and your foil blanket which is now a spinnaker in the wind! The volunteers were at least very helpful and helped carry some of the stuff to a point a bit further away where you could gather your wits and start finding something warm to put on. Ok I know this sounds like a real spoilt brat having a nancy whine, but compared to my races in 2017 and 2018 it was very disappointing and 3 of my mates were doing their first full and we had hyped the race up so much to them that we felt that they had really been let down by the organisers. I truly hope that they get things sorted out for the April event next year as the athletes and PE deserve better!
Ok so if you have got this far I owe it to you to give a report...
When Paul Kaye tells you all before the swim start that by standing in the swim chute we acknowledge that we are able to complete the swim on our own and that the organisers are not responsible for anyone not fully prepared and that they are willing to allow you to skip the swim if you wish - you know the swim is going to be tough! We watched the first few batches get into the water and quickly get swept left by the wind and waves and under Paul's advice to rather start off aiming about 100m to the right of the buoy things got under way. The waves were pretty rough and it took a bit care to watch the breakers but luckily there wasn't the big wash behind the waves that Durban can pummel you with so you made fair progress, it also helped spread the field a bit so I didn't find too many people in the way. The waves seemed to come from different directions so finding a rhythm was difficult. I started heading for the lifesaver hut as instructed on the beach and swam into a lifeguard who directed me pretty much straight back to the beach, so the swim couldn't have been much more than 300m, with a longer run along the beach to the swim exit. A gingerly jog up the pretty rough road to the feet troughs and shower and into T1 where I am met by the sight of some old buggers hairy crack! Guy is totally kaalgat getting into his cycling gear (having been explicitly told no such conduct would be allowed) the poor female ref who tried to get him DQ'ed or whatever seemed totally overwhelmed by the situation that I don't think he was actually stopped from continuing his race.
Getting out on marine drive we were quickly reminded of what lay in store later on in the day as the headwind out of PE was already laying down the hurt. Once out past the university with the wind from behind, it was happy days and were at schoenmakers in no time. Was very glad that they had moved the aid station to the top of the hill this year as things flowed much better on the climb. When heading out to seaview and seeing the pros head back the other way you kinda guessed it was hard work, even though I didn't really notice much of the foliage waving around (think it has adapted to standing up against the beast from the east over the years), but when you turned at 45km it was like hitting a brick wall! I geared right down and spun my way back to town trying to conserve a bit for the second loop. Got to special needs and the volunteers were brilliant and helped as much as they could (dunno where they recruit these guys from cos they are flippen awesome!) had a quick loo break, topped up my bottles at the aid station and headed out. Just after I got going again I spotted a friend's wife, who he had asked me to let her know that he had punctured, so I turned to shout this at her and when I turned back found a guy stopped on the side of the road sorting his hydration out and had to swerve to avoid hitting him, but ended just clipping his bike/handlebars with my handlebars, he was still standing and I was still rolling, (although my backside did just about swallow my saddle) and I carried on (really sorry if that was someone from here!! I owe you a beer!). Bit shaken up I cracked on got to the turn for the dreaded last stretch. The wind was predicted to pick up throughout the day and PE didn't relent, it was really pumping now!! More spinning and some grinding on the long slogs and then I see the 130km marker board, but my comp says I'm on 140km, so I wonder if maybe my loo break messed up the gps signal and I gained an extra 10km somehow that I would now need to make up in this headwind and would I even have that left in my legs!! Then again 10k later when I saw the 140km board and I was still 10km out I thought, no man, that can't be right, by the time I saw the 150km board I was getting annoyed (surely the guy laying them out must have twigged by now!!!) but when I got the bottom of Schoenies I knew there was just over 20km back so the figured that it as just another event bugger up. From there the legs started having minor cramp twitches so I really backed off the power and was spinning the legs and getting out the saddle a lot to try keep the legs going and was very happy to get the help from the wind along the beachfront to get back to transition.
Had a pleasant crack free T2 and was out on the run, got to the bottom of driftsands and had decided on Thursday when I drove in and saw the climb that there was no way in hell I was going to manage to run that hill so just past the water point took a steady stroll to top and jogged it back down. I found a very friendly jeppe chap, Jonty, who was running a good steady pace and convinced him to take turns blocking the wind to get us through to the bottom turn, which worked really well and I got through 10km in 56 min, got to driftsands again and left Jonty to power up and away while I took a stroll to the top. As I started the run back down my quads decided that as much as they had enjoyed smashing the bike, they had had enough for the day, running downhill was very sore and had to walk down, so I knew things were done (running is not my thing and had only run a 21km in preparation for this and knew I was in for a long day). Found another guy for the second lap to work with into the wind we ran/walked our way to the other end of the course and headed back. I then caught up with our team captain Fees, and one of the PE legends (doing his 16th PE Ironman), walking with another team member Will, he was not in a good space. Knowing I couldn't really go much harder to the end anyway I did what little I could to try and help out and had the huge honour of spending the rest of my run in his company and seeing the accolades that were shown to him by a few of the other remaining legends. One of whom we caught up to and was in an even worse space and told us he was done and the legends were down to 6! Very sad moment to see and could see that Kris really felt for him, given that he was almost getting to that point himself. So it was nearly two laps of walk, jog, wretch for our suffering captain before I had the bittersweet moment of leaving them for their last lap while I took the turn to head towards the red carpet, would have really liked to have stuck it out with them but I genuinely doubt my legs would have made it. Got my stuff and got warm and then headed to the team supporters to watch the the rest of the race and hold thumbs for Kris to get through, which he bravely did.
Ironman races are incredible events, and even with all the moaning it was still amazing and I will do more. I get that Ironman is a business and they need to cover costs, but it just left me feeling somewhat sad that they don't really seem to care about the athletes any more and are just chasing the money. I mean surely they could make a lot more fuss of those 7 legends, after all they have been supporting ironman in PE for 16 straight events since it started there, could they not at least get a different colour race number so their fellow athletes can appreciate their commitment and give them the kudos they deserve - Comrades even gives you a green number when you do 10 and you admire them for it!
Sorry for the rant and long read but I needed to share. My times were:
SWIM - 00:12:14
BIKE - 5:51:38
RUN - 5:31:44
OVERALL - 11:45:29
TRANSITION DETAILS
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE - 00:04:16
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN - 00:05:37
