London Triathlon, 5/6th August 2006.

Report by Andy Quicke

Whilst most of you were taking on the world at the Relays a few of us made the trek down to London to do the Big One.

The London Triathlon is a cracking day out, they've somehow managed to fit about 10,000 triathletes - many of whom are first timers into one weekend of racing - but without the congestion you get on a big run (where you spend the first couple of miles dodging the runners who rather ambitiously started at the front but then proceed to run backwards...). In fact there seemed to be a wave just about every half hour over the whole weekend - Saturday was relays and sprints and Sunday Olympic.

OK so the swim was a bit crowded - in fact as a non-swimmer I was happy to stay right in the middle of the pack the whole way around. After the initial melee at the start when 250 odd bodies converged and traded feet, elbows and just about every other body part at regular intervals the swim did settle down... although just when you think you've got a bit of clear water... whack... I'm sure I gave as good as I got - but half way around a punch in the face resulted in my goggle sticking to my left eye so I swam the second half with one eye!

The swim is a straightforward out and back around Victoria Docks - only problem is that the turning buoy is so far away that you can't see it for half the race - although in comparison to Milton Keynes no pond weed hazards to report!

Transition was a bit of an experience - imagine running into an aircraft hanger with 10,000 bikes in about 100 rows ... its a bit like finding your car at Alton Towers... you think you know where you left it and you should be able to find it but it will take a little while. However if you don't quite get it right you'll be cursing having a bike that's the same colour as everyone else's.

The bike course varied depending on which wave you entered - for me that meant riding into the City, past The Dome, Canary Wharf and through Blackwell Tunnel before reaching Tower Bridge and the turning point. Other waves went a little bit further along Embankment towards Westminster, but did a shorter second lap. Either way its a cracking bike ride with no traffic at all on the streets which is a bit of a novelty in the Big Smoke...

It was absolutely roasting on the day which resulted in the onset of dehydration for many and it really hit me on the run - not the most glorious section of the race!

A bit like Salford they make you run past the finish on your previous lap, which psychologically is a bit harsh, but at least there weren't as many laps as Salford. Before long (well it seemed like long enough...) the finish loomed large.

Not sure if London is PB material, as the transition area is massive and I know the Tower Bridge bike route is a bit long (I was 6mins down on Milton Keynes from 2 weeks earlier which was a bit annoying). It would be nice if it had a London Marathon style finish on The Mall as well... but that would have meant a swim in The Palace Grounds and I think the Queen might have something to say about a load of triathletes upsetting her swans...so I think they got it just about right. There are always a load of athletes around you from start to finish so you're never on your own.

This is definately one that's got to be done.

For me this was a bit special as it meant hitting my long term goal of competing in The London Tri. I comitted to it after being airlifted into the operating theatre after a nasty mountain biking accident on holiday in Australia which resulted in me returning in a wheelchair! Doing this I exorcised a few demons and raised a bit of money for a very worthwhile cause.

I've got a sponsorship page at http://www.justgiving.com/andyquicke if anybody would like to make a contribution to The Mango Tree Orphan Support Programme, which does some fantastic work for Tanzanian AIDS orphans.

Can any other MTC members who raced at London send their results to mtcresults@googlemail.com

Results (1.5km/40km/10km)

Name	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total
Charlie Baker	00.25.49	00.03.12	01.04.43	00.02.37	00.46.32	02.22.52
Andy Quicke	00.30.55	00.04.19	01.18.17	00.01.19	00.51.03	02.41.34

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