Challenge Copenhagen 2010

The Run Up
Everything had gone to plan getting myself, Genevieve, Alan and Graeme across to Copenhagen Ikea Airport. I should have known it was all going too well. A long nervous wait as our bikes appeared, as did sister Adele from her London flight, but our luggage did not. It eventually popped out half an hour later on a different carousel and with a sigh of relief we dragged our numerous big boxes past the broken lifts down to the Metro only to be turned away due to our (my) excessive cargo and headed back to the terminal. Eventually Alan came up trumps with a huge taxi and we headed for our apartment. Having been dumped in the street we realised we had brought no further address or contact details with us and spent a good hour standing in the street scouring websites and calling confused foreigners before gaining access to our 4 bed (ah - there's 5 of us!) accomodation (up 9 flights of stairs - try that with a bike box).

In the afternoon we headed to the slightly disappointing Expo, registered for the race, went food shopping and finally collapsed fed & watered exhausted into bed.

Friday
A bit of a calmer today. Race Briefing at 10.00 was clear and threw up no surprises then we met up with Derek and Mark Daly and headed down to the swim course for a dip. Lovely calm water and almost warm. The only confusion was on Marks part when he took his wetsuit out of his bag and it wasn't even his! Bizarre but true. Fortunately it appeared to belong to someone else the same size.

Friday pm - an uneventful Bike building and test followed by the pasta party in the evening. Nice pasta but no cake? Come on Denmark, really....not even a pastry!

Saturday
Not too much to do today other than check the bikes in later in the day. Everyone was calm whereas the weather was not and was starting to look like it could an issue. As we headed out on the journey to the swim start to check in bikes the weather was increasingly horrific. The driving rain was getting increasingly bad, the wind was picking up and the sea was not looking the least bit inviting. It was impossible to set up your bike - transition was already underwater. All we could do was rack the bikes, put the rain covers on and tie them on as best we could. Unfortunately the transition bags were to be hung outside and were instantly saturated. We trudged away feeling distinctly edgy. It turns out that what we were experiencing was one of the worst days of weather in Copenhagen in the last 50 years!

Sunday - Race Day!!
Barely slept all night then the alarm went off at 3.45am. After all the long months of training the big day was finally here. The rain seemed to get harder and harder all night but at least seemed to have calmed slightly as we peered out into the dark. We trudged down to the metro at 4.45 with the late night revellers looking on confused as we headed nervously to the swim start. On arrival into Transition it looked like it had been hit by a tidal wave - bikes sitting in lakes of water & the racking holding the transition bags had collapsed in the night. Fortunately the rain was easing and we got ourselves ready with no problems.

The Swim; 2.4 miles. 7.00am.
As it turns out it was near perfect swim conditions - almost warm, very calm and at this point we were unaware that at 8.30am the water would not be cleared as safe to swim in! Not sure why, maybe due to the heavy rains washing something nasty in but many reports of vomiting and the squits following the race. Depends how much of it you drank I guess but no real issues in the ATHelite camp - we are obviously used to swimming in dodgy water. The race organisers could not get the intermediate bouys out due to the weather but sighting on the 3 bridges was no problem.

Colin 1.06.36 (bang on target - very pleased & 6 mins up on last year)
Genevieve 1.11.39 (also bang on & also 6 mins up on last year)
Derek 1.18.49 (very impressed - see what a difference a wetsuit can make!)
Graeme 1.24.29 (as above)

Transition 1

Genevieve 3.21 (speedy)
Colin 4.06 (speedy)
Graeme 5.45 (ok - not too bad)
Derek 7.11 (wardrobe change?!)

The Bike; 112 miles
This was advertised as a fast flat course but it was actually quite a rolling technically demanding 2 lap circuit with a head wind in every direction. As we exited the streets of Copenhagen the slippery wet city roads & bridges were full of potential hazards & my speedo packed up in the water after 1 mile - not good for pacing. Once clear of the city streets it was into an aero tuck for the long drag up the coast into the head wind before eventually turning onto the rolling country roads. Sharp corners, flooded sections & lots of flints and rubbish in the road following the heavy downpours & a section of bone shaking cobbles (twice). Just another day of normal training for us thanks to South Lanarkshire & Ayrshire Cooncil but we saw many many people at the road side punctured. Poor Mark Daly picked up 5 punctures, so unlucky as he was on for a flyer.

I had thought I would catch Genevieve mid way through the bike but as time went by I began to worry she had had issues on the swim & was actually behind me. No need to worry - as we finished the second lap & headed towards Copenhagen again I finally saw her up ahead but had to stop to pull debris out of my wheel and never saw her again on the bike. I was pleased with my time but Genevieve 'chicked' all of us with an incredible bike. It turns out she rode the fastest bike split of anyone internationally in her entire age group and after a subsequent 1st place T2 time also she started the marathon in 1st position in her age group. I exited T2 pretty quickly also and set off on the marathon. Graeme & Derek started almost an hour after us and were both having a good go at the bike course too.

Genevieve 5.34.01 (Ave speed 20.2mph - 10 mins quicker than last year on a tough course)
Colin 5.34.47 (Ave speed 20.2mph - 8 mins quicker than last year)
Graeme 5.52.19 (Ave speed 19.6mph - an awesome ride)
Derek 7.14.14 (Also lost his speedo but Ave speed 15.5mph & very pleased)

Transition 2

Genevieve 1.51 (Quick)
Colin 1.56 (Quick)
Derek 5.12 (Getting changed again?)
Graeme 6.12 (Not sure what was going on here Graeme?)

The Run; 26.2 miles
This is what it all comes down to - getting off the bike as fresh as possible & hanging on for dear life. I felt much better than last year & got in to a good pace straight away. The 3 loop run course meandered through the city centre alongside the waterfront, featuring many twists, turns, bridges & uncomfortable cobbles but also the most amazing crowds. The atmosphere was incredible & they estimate that there were around 125,000 spectators on the run course alone - just awesome. We all held our pace well throughout the run, I caught Genevieve after about 5 or 6 miles & we caught glimpses of each other, Graeme & Derek around the course. Alan & Adele were fantastic support on the run - my hands were stinging from all the high 5's! It was hot with the temperature rising to about 28 degrees but we all kept moving well & the final run down the finish chute was electric. Felix - the CEO of the Challenge Series had promised to be on the finish line & he gave me my final high 5 as I crossed the line. I didn't have to wait too long for Genevieve to arrive & she was over the moon.
Graeme & Derek were still out on the course but keeping the pace up & wouldn't be too far behind. What a race from those two guys in their first Ironman distance races.

Colin 10.25.52 (Targeting sub 10.30. A 27 minute PB!)
Genevieve 11.01.52 (Targeting sub 11.30. A 40 minute PB!)
Graeme 12.03.43 (Just wanted to finish & did it in style)
Derek 12.45.32 (Hoping for 13.30 but cleared this by a mile)

This was a fantastic incredibly well organised event - a very different environment to last years race in Barcelona but equally as enjoyable. The Danish people are the most friendly & welcoming folk I have ever come across & it was great fun training & racing with all our guys & supporters there.

Another big race ticked off - lets see what's next!