Eireman 70.3 23rd Aug 2009Posted by gavinrigg06 on August 27th, 2009

My friend recently attended Eireman 70.3, it is the first time this event has been run, so I asked for a report, he is not yet a BCTTT member, but I am working on that – he will be attending the France Camp 2010.

Glenn Tinsley August 27 at 11:05am

Here you go, mate…

Never done a middle-distance race before so entered this one as a spur-of-the-moment thing. I’d also had a year off IM racing and had enjoyed taking part in more short-course events. One of the things I wanted to see was whether I could get by on just base-level training. For an IM I’d be training about 20 hours a week. Would 10 hours a week be adequate for the half-distance? Only one way to find out.

Racked my bike in transition the day before (nice sunny day). Woke up the next day to gale-force winds and rain. Turns out the remnant of Hurricane Bill had just landed in Ireland and was causing havoc with localised flooding. Hmm, not to worry – been through worse. Unfortunately on the drive up the unlit, tortuous country road to the race I came across a fox in the middle of the road eating a carelessly discarded ready-meal. Hit the brakes but as it was on an off-camber, wet turn the wheels locked and the car went into a spin. Turned into it and I started spinning the other way. Turned into it again and the car started to whip round again! “OK, this is getting boring now”, thought I, just as I ran into a ditch at the side of the road. How embarrassing! At least the airbags didn’t go off.

Unable to drive out and be pushed out by the extremely kind competitors who’d stopped on the way to the race, I managed to contact the local Gardai and stood in the rain further up the road to warn oncoming traffic. An hour later and still no sign of rescue I was feeling a little disconsolate that I’d come all this way to miss out on the race. Eventually the Gardai arrived and were extremely helpful and sympathetic, despite being at the end of their night-shift. With a tow from a four-wheel drive we managed to get my car out, the only damage (apart from my pride) being a cracked number-plate and a displaced wheel-arch that went back in with a couple of good kicks. Thanking everyone for their help I made my way back to the race with the intention of picking up my bike and returning to the hotel to drown my sorrows in the bar.

When arrived I found the swim had been abandoned due to 10-feet waves crashing into the beach and the race had now turned into a duathlon (5k run, 61mile bike, half-marathon) and the start time was now delayed another hour. Great! I could still do it. Set up my transition bags next to my bike (very busy in transition – there was a small field doing the full-distance event and a sprint and Olympic-distance race taking place too). Pulled on my arm-warmers and decided to leave a t-shirt over my tri-suit too. After a quick chat with some of the other English competitors we finally started from Courtown Square and enjoyed a short run uphill out of town and back to transition. The winds had been strengthening a little and I found (as had many others) my transition bags spilled out around the area. Eventually located my gear, hopped on my bike and made my way back out of town uphill towards the N11 motorway (the northbound lanes had been closed for our use). Turning on to the slip road I saw Hywel Davies (eventual race winner for the full-distance) with his head down pounding along at a fair old lick. I gave him a shout-out and he grinned a reply back that was made unintelligible by the wind.

Heading north I was astonished by the fast progress I was making. The road surface was very smooth and largely flat with one or two gentle rises and descents. Watching my speed climb on the bike computer I realised I was starting to run out of cogs. Eventually I levelled-off my pedals and freewheeled along at 40mph on the flat! But a sense of doubt was settling in: Surely I’m going to have to pay for this? True enough… Reaching the turnaround point was like turning into a wall of wind and required a hell of a climb up the gentlest descents. Having covered 10 miles in 20 minutes it took nearer 50 minutes coming back the other way, and although it was a no-drafting race I managed to gap a few groups huddling together for sheer survival. Looping back once more to head north made it all worthwhile but all too soon we had to face the breathtaking wind south – it was a relief to exit the motorway and start heading back towards Courtown.

Reaching transition and the sprint and Olympic races were in full flow. Starting the run through the woods felt fantastic. I got my run legs back quickly and really enjoyed the trails through the trees with the other competitors. Crossing a river I came to a very steep, sandy hill which, although short, really took it out of my legs and felt a little sluggish hitting the first roads. The run became “rolling” and I slowed to a more sensible pace. All of a sudden Jonathon Hotchkiss (eventual half-distance winner) came bounding along the other way looking extremely fresh. That was somewhat disconcerting. I hadn’t expected to see an elite athlete that early (It would turn out that quite a few front-runners had been sent the wrong way and had enjoyed a 17k run while the rest of us did the full 21 kilometres).

I caught up with a fellow Englishman, Steve, who’d done IMUK last month and ended up running with him for most of the remaining course. It’s funny how chatting about beer, rugby and “Which is sexier for women? The English or Irish accent?” can make the miles so much more bearable. We reached the woods again and felt the pleasure that comes with the end of a hard road. As Steve was doing the race for charity I told him to sprint for the finish and get his photo. I came in in 5:31 which I was more than happy with as I’d just wanted to do the race for a bit of fun. It certainly felt good to finish on what had been a grim day in the tail-end of a hurricane. I had a few laughs with Steve and his wife and went to thank Eion (race organiser) for putting on a great race.

Would I do it again? Definitely. All races have teething troubles when they’re first run – the weather simply amplified these. Both Hywel Davies and Jonathon Hothckiss (respective winners of the full and half distances) said that they’d never raced in conditions as bad as that and Hywel’s won winter Tough Guy. Personally, I thought the locals were fantastic to stay out in those conditions to spectate and support. I can’t return next year as I’m doing IMCH but the following year I’ll definitely be there.