‘Barcelona’. A great day out

Ten members of the East Devon N1 Tri Club travelled to Spain to compete in The Ironman Barcelona Triathlon 2015, writes Dennis Elliot.

N1 Tri Club members were in action in Barcelona 

The event comprised of 2.4-mile sea swim, a 112-mile cycle and finally 26.2-mile marathon.

The very idea of doing an Ironman Triathlon normally provokes two questions in people. How on earth do you prepare for it and why would you do it anyway?

The answer to the first part is relatively easy you take around 12 months to build a high level of fitness with this commitment comes mental resolve.

This resolve is vital as you stand on the start line.

At 8.45am with camera drones hovering overhead and rock anthems blaring the race began.

The swim was a rolling start and each racer in turn approached the waters edge the timing chip on their right ankle recording precisely individual start times.

Seeing the course stretched out in the sea was a daunting thing with the 2,600 competing athletes from all over the world on it, it was just incredible as the different colour swim hats denoting age and status looked like coloured pin pricks on the water.

The swim done racers emerged form the sea and entered the transition tent where wetsuits were ripped off and cycling gear put on. The bike course in Barcelona is flat and fast. All roads are closed and every crossing and junction marshalled by a policeman or volunteer. Somewhere around the 100-mile mark all racers experienced the same sinking feeling as the prospect of the marathon became real.

All racers carried their name and nationality on their race number and the huge crowds shouted support. ‘Vaya, vaya’ (go, go) the locals shouted and each competitor, in turn, had their name shouted out hundreds of time as they move four-and-a-half times round the course.

At the turn point club mascot ‘IronTed’ and a large group of N1 supporters urged their club mates on and all racers were able to pay homage to our mighty bear. The third circuit of an Ironman marathon run is almost impossible to describe. The mind battles with an aching body a peculiar and sometimes terrifying emotional dance. It is here that support of friends and loved ones became vital. At long last the finishing shute arrived. The red floodlights illuminated the early evening /late night sky and each athlete in turn took the final steps as they were confirmed to the grandstands as an ‘Ironman’.

To single out any one of the N1 athletes would not be fair and none of them would want it anyway as on the day they were a team supporting each other and taking pride in each others efforts.

So why do it? One of our racers put it this way- ‘Achievement is fuel for the human spirit, but it sits on the other side of fear and challenge. The greater the challenge, the greater the sense of achievement.’

In terms of the N1 competitors, the first home was Tom Elliott in a time of 9:15:10. Next home was Matt Player, 10:43:14 and he was followed by Fred Matysek, 10:48:39; Hadleigh Davies,11:44:50; Anne Ephraums,13:06:14; Phil Rees,13:27:52; Phil Bayliss, 14:05:13, Dennis Elliott,14:10: 24; Nick Johnson, 14:16:07 and last, but most certainly not least, Vanessa Glynn Jones, 15:13:15.

The N1 Tri clubs ‘Ironman Roll Of Honour’ is becoming a long one-salute to you all!

Another piece.

Achievement.

‘Achievement’ is fuel for the human spirit but it lies on the other side of challenge and fear. The greater the challenge, the greater the sense of achievement can be.  For the last six months or so I have been keeping a very big secret from many of my fellow racers-that is how very, very hard it is to finish an Ironman race. 

For a club of our size to have 10 members on the start line (it was nearly 13) is a remarkable thing I am sure all will agree.

All of us who stood on the beach with the 2600 other competitors in Ironman Barcelona had the benefit of teammates to reassure us but in the end deep inside we knew we were on our own.  

The race itself was as slickly organized as all IM events are and bang on time with Rock Anthems blaring and camera drones whirring overhead we each in turn walked forward to enter the sea. A recent spate of bad weather had meant there was a swell running and some competitors failed even to get into the water as rollers threw them back on the beach- their race done! The swim itself was something of a trial for most as the constant rise and fall of the waves bore no comparison to those we have all experienced in Devon.  Each in turn exited the water relieved it was over. Remarkably we seemed to form club pods in the sea although none of us was aware of the fact at the time.

The swim done it was on to the bike and this is where Barcelona is different to many IM races as the bike course is for the most part flat. However this made for a new challenge for most of us, as knowing what speed to go at and how to measure effort was problematic. For most at around mile 90 a very unpleasant feeling emerged-‘I may have gone too fast’.

Each in turn took to the run and for those who don’t know each athlete carries their name and nationality on their race number. Huge crowds leaned over crash barriers exhorting the runners round the course -4 times in all. The locals rose to the challenge ‘Vaya vaya’ they roared. All sorts of regional GB dialects rang out as no less than1200 racers came from the UK. Perhaps best of all the Irish were there in force too-as IM supporters they have no peers. As we circulated the course for part of one circuit we were all running at the same time and I was able to witness one by one my club mates doing their thing. I was able to relax as  I realized all who started would finish. Whilst many might scoff, the fear of any of us failing has haunted me for months.  In the critical place – the turning of the course – our fan base was established. With Iron Ted (and his lad) sitting proudly on his throne our wonderful band of supporters urged us( and many others) on too. As each in turn realized ‘I can do this’ the pain they were all feeling turned in to joy as some of the pictures in the album will communicate to you best of all. The final 25 metres of an Ironman is like no other experience I have ever encountered. It is something I know each of us and all who have completed an Ironman will carry with them forever. For some it will be genuinely life changing. 

After the event each confessed to me it had been far harder than they ever could have imagined and all felt they had got their money’s worth from the Ironman organization. I will not mention people individually because all in their own way lived up to our club motto. Suffice it to say we do have a new IM Club record. ( 9 hours 15 minutes 20 seconds).

A final wonderful touch to the day, which perhaps demonstrates why the Ironman spirit is alive, was the fact that the outright race winner, a professional athlete who had covered the course in an astonishing 8 hours 4 minutes, was at the finishing line to present the final competitors with their medals. The fact that the man who won the race was there to salute those competitors who had labored so hard to complete the course, was a remarkable thing.

Well done to all of you and indeed to all members of or IM roll of honor. In the next few weeks we will get together to celebrate our season and recognize all of our club achievements this year. There is one final act to take place. Catherine Hilton we are all with you  -“Do your thing!”