UK 70.3 Wimbleball, 19th June 2006

Report by Chris Clarke

Yes Dave (P), I know I said I'd never do an IM in the UK again - but different venue/organisers more experienced, I hope!

UK 70.3, What is it?, It's basically half an IM; 1.2mi swim/56mi bike/13.1mi run. It's part of the new race series organised by the WTC which follows the same format as IM, but finishing with the World 'Champs' in Clearwater, Florida (Nov 11th 06) instead of Hawaii (Oct 21st 06). Race build up starts on Thursday night when you do all your pre race checks before leaving on Friday morning. Which normally consists of the wife putting the girls to bed as I clean and re clean the trusty steed!, got to look good even if you're slow, remember last MTC newsletter (page 18). Anyway, just as it all goes quiet in the girls room (I then know its time to finish with the bike, etc) the thing you don't want to see on your bike......a crack, no jokes (David M). The head tube was coming away from the down tube, so what do you do with a bike that costs in the region of 4-5k, apart from panic and check you have sales receipt. Ring all your mates just to see which ones are racing and mad enough to lend them their mini investment, problem solved. (Thanks to Jason for the offer, Kiwi Jason for sorting me out with Dan's (ex-sabar) bike). Anyway back to the race which as I later found out is in the middle of no where, so next year if you're are thinking of doing it either get a, sat nav. b, a map. c, Dave 'pathfinder' Preece . It was a blast from the past when you realise there is no mobile coverage or public phones for miles, which is not a bad thing.

Race morning started at 0600 in waves with the pros off first then the rest following in age groups in 5 min intervals. The swim was a beach start, which is always fun watching men and women trying to run over the water in tight neoprene. It consisted of 1 anti clockwise loop followed by a 400 metre sprint uphill to T1 (thanks), which is always interesting when looking at your HRM. Time 30:50.

The bike course was 2 laps and was not 56 miles but 58 and a bit. Also I remembered it had 52 hills and 2 aid stations (thanks again!), but it was great racing down narrow country lanes without the sound of house music. Downside not a course for fast times. Note; Lots of people having to get off their bikes on the second lap to walk up the hills so make sure your gear ratio/wheel set up is correct. After losing my race nutrition again, something of a IM tradition for me it was full speed ahead on the 2nd lap (down hills certainly got your back side twitching). The bike section of the race was partially held on closed roads so it's important to keep your traffic wits about you. As this race was a WF race (without family) place counting was out, so I had no idea what position I was in during or when finishing the bike. Time 2:52:25

T2 this time was fast and slick, and I felt good, too good and in hindsight I should have pushed the bike a bit more. My immediate thoughts whilst on the run course, did the organising team get mixed up with xterra?, as the bike/run courses seemed to be trying to outdo each other with respect to hills and tight turns. The run course was 3 laps of hilly/grassy/trail type surface which I suppose was something to look at and made the run go quicker. The only mistake apart from not going quicker was to stop at the last (I know) aid station and get a coke!, that little drink probably cost me my podium place. Time 1:29:42

Total time 4:58:10. 4th in AG/26th overall. Qualified for 70.3 World Champs.

Cheers, Train Hard

Chris

MTC results (1.2mi, 56mi, 13.1mi)

Forename	Surname	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total	Cat Pos	Overall Pos
Chris	Clarke	00.30.50	00.04.17	02.52.25	00.00.52	01.29.42	04.58.10	4	26
Rob	Wilby	00.34.42	00.03.35	03.02.07	00.01.17	01.46.40	05.28.32	22	101
Andy	Chalmers	00.35.53	00.07.48	03.45.30	00.04.51	02.40.14	07.14.20	101	649

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