Long Distance Triathlon World Champs

The 2011 long Distance World Triathlon Champs recently took place in Henderson, Nevada, on the outskirts of Las Vegas. A field of 900 athletes from 38 countries gathered for the event which comprised of a 4km swim in Lake Las Vegas, a 120km bike ride in the desert and hills of Henderson and a 30km run in the town of Henderson itself.

Days leading up to the race were barmy with warm and sunny weather, most ideal for race preparations leading up to race day on Saturday the 5th November. However, the day before the race, the weather closed in and temperatures dropped from mid twenties to mid teens! It rained at bike check in and the snow on the mountains started to chill up Henderson! At 4:30am on race morning, the announcement that the swim leg for the race was completely cancelled due to the morning air temperature reading 3 deg C with the difference between that and the ambient outside air being to dangerous for the swim. This meant the race dynamic had changed and the strong bicycle riders now stood a greater chance of positioning overall as the race was restricted to a time-trial bicycle start with the run to follow.



The bike route was designed in the shape of a clover and as such there were opportunities to back track on the field during the bike course. The bike leg was fast for the first 30km before rolling hills pulled the average speeds down, this remained the same until the 90km mark where a climb of 1km over the next 30km put an end to any super fast bike times by most of the cyclists. A peak known as the “3 sisters” greeted the athletes at the 95km mark and caused havoc with already worn legs, pushing hard for positions before the run. I managed to ride in just under 34km/h for the bike leg, probably 15mins slower than I was hoping, but relatively good in respect to my age group field.



The run leg consisted of 4 laps of 7,5km’s. What was most apparent was the fantastic “fuel stations” every 2km on the course, great support and atmosphere greeted the athletes! After having struggled with a calf injury leading up to the race, I was conscious of not pushing to hard to early, in fear of breaking down. In the end, my calf held up fine (thanks to 2 weeks of intense treatment before the trip) and I managed to run in 2h25min, albeit 5mins slower than what I was hoping to run. Run course profile, consisted of rolling hills which kept the course “interesting” and did not allow you to lose concentration at any stage.

I finished 30th overall in my age group out of 85 athletes and around 100 out of the total field of 900 athletes so in the top 11% of the field – considering there was no swim, which I was looking forward to, I was satisfied with my end result! A great experience and a breakthrough for me on the run leg, which with ultra triathlons, I have struggled with in the past.

Thank you to all my sponsors for the assistance in this race, from Sunday the 20th, I will be in my new race kit and hope to have a positive result to report on...