Almere Long Distance / ETU Championships, Holland, 26th August 2006

Report by Cathy Atkinson

For anyone thinking about an Ironman distance race next year but concerned about having to commit 12 months in advance, Almere is the answer. The race has a history almost as long as Hawaii and next year will celebrate its 25th anniversary. This year it additionally hosted the ETU long course elite and age group championships.

Another benefit is that you don’t have to dismantle your bike and put it on a plane. Dave Ratcliffe, Jan and I headed off in Dave’s Land rover, loaded up with bikes and race gear and arrived the following morning at the race venue (via the Hull-Rotterdam ferry) just in time for registration.

We headed back to our swanky hotel, a snip at 75 euros a night for a double room (or if you’ve got the blagging skills of Dave, a suite) to get all the gear organised for the early start the following morning. After heavy rain on Friday, we were rather heartened to get up to see the sun shining and very little rain. Jan was off first, racing for GB in the Long Distance event. This left Dave and I half an hour to slither into our wetsuits and get increasingly panicky.

Finally it was time – the blue green algae in the water had certainly made the water distinctly unappealing, but the first half hour, swimming on such a beautiful sunny morning was a pleasure. Unfortunately, on the way back my new goggles (seemed OK when I tried them for 5 minutes the day before!) started to fill with water and with smaller numbers than IM, navigation became distinctly difficult.

Still, safely out of the swim and on to 3 laps of a pan flat bike course. Wind here was the definite foe (as was not falling asleep on tri bars on long straight stretches) and although the conditions were nearly ideal, at times it still felt tough. Finally though, back to transition and off on the run course. After a few minutes I met Jan coming in on her final lap. Unfortunately as she went to pick up her GB flag on approaching the finish rostrum, one of her rivals to cheekily nipped past her for third place– oops!

Back out on the run course, I found myself having a rather unique run experience –passing other competitors. I spent most of the last two laps waiting for the proverbial wheels to come off, but with cheers and banter from the friendly crowd spurring me on I managed to hold my lap times. I crossed the line only to be hugged by about 100 Dutch people who seemed even more delighted about it all than me.

Rumours were abounding that Dave was having a difficult time out on the run course, but he had other ideas and having set his mind on a sub 12hr finish, he managed to rattle off the last 10k in 53 minutes! Unfortunately, the curse of the flag was to strike again and as Jan handed him the Union Jack, Dave took a tumble in the finish chute. The crowd were silent in anticipation of a textbook Ironman crawl across the line, but no, Dave was up on his feet again to stand proud in his silver blanket and medal.

So there it was. As we headed off into a stunning sunset, we all reflected on a fabulous day of racing. A huge thanks to Perry, Steve, Mark, Carine and my parents who shouted, reassured and fuelled us for 12+ hours and helped to make it an immensely enjoyable event.

Long Course ETU Championships Age Group 40-44

4k – 120k – 30k

Name	Position	Swim	T1+Bike	T2	Run	Total
Jan Rogers	4	1:07:21	3:58:34	5:25	3:01:20	8:12:39

Long Distance

3.8k – 180k – 42.2k

Name	Position	Swim	T1+Bike	T2	Run	Total
Cathy Atkinson	132 (8th woman)	1:11:51	5:50:04	9:43	4:05:46	11:17:22
Dave Ratcliffe	179	1:10:07	6:03:29	5:31	4:34:34	11:53:39

Official photos are available to view at http://www.triathlonfoto.nl. Search for race numbers 256, 1351 and 1088.

You can see the full results by going to the UK version of the Almere 2006 event siteand clicking on results

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