RACE REPORT!!!! Half Big Ben Triathlon 2009

Alan was away up at Fort William this weekend taking on the less than enviable task of the Half Big Ben Triathlon. As well as being a true outdoor enthusiast Alan is also a teacher which is why this excellent piece of work not only includes a beginning, a middle & an end but a quote as well!!
A 'Stirling' performance Alan (Alan Stirling - ha ha!!). Enough from me, read on...................


'If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world'. C. S. Lewis

HALF BIG BEN TRIATHLON 2009

Fort William is the wettest place in Scotland, thankfully Saturday was relatively dry. (Only rained for 2 hours during the race).
The night before was the pre-race meal and briefing which was well organised with copious amounts of food available. Video footage of last year’s race was playing which wasn’t exactly inspiring as most of the competitors looked half dead as they crossed the line. Some people were taking their prep quite seriously (pasta, pasta, pasta); others adopted a more philosophical approach as they sat down with a pint of Guinness and a bowl of chips – clearly seasoned hill runners.
Transition opened at 5.30am with the race due to start at 7. Loch Linnhe was freezing but I soon managed to get into a reasonable rhythm and finished the 0.95k in 18min. A fairly slow transition as I put on socks and some extra kit before starting what turned out to be a really tough 45km mountain bike course.
A grinding hill to start followed by a fast (fun) descent. The rest of the course proceeded as a series of steady climbs before a very technical descent brought you back to the road. A quick blast down the glen on tarmac took you back to the start in order to do it all over again. My first lap was 1:15 however I only managed a 2nd lap of 1:30 which I was quite disappointed with. My energy levels really seemed to drop off which may have been something to do with the head cold which I had been carrying from the week before.
A quicker 2nd transition and I was away up the highest Mountain in the UK (only had to go halfway, 672m). About 45 min into the run my legs died and I was forced into walk/jog. At the turning point a friendly Marshall issued me with a trusty Mars bar which seemed to resurrect by legs and stopped me falling over on the descent. By this stage the weather had turned a bit nasty and cold making the rock quite slippy and rather tricky to negotiate. I was really glad that I had actually decided to pack my waterproofs as I was struggling to keep my body temperature up. (Rant time: If I had had the energy I would have stopped to yell at some of the morons attempting to climb the Ben in denim, wearing sandals and not carrying any spare kit. The conditions were close to hypothermic and the week before the temperature on the summit was -3.)
The weather did finally improve, as I approached the finish line to record a time of 5hrs 26min. This was by far the toughest race I have ever done and you have to applaud the runners who completed the full race (double what I did). I really need to have a rethink next year with regards to my food intake. Energy Gel didn’t seem to do much for me after the 3hr 30min mark other than give me stomach cramps. The feed stations had lots of cocktail sausages and pork pie on offer which I had avoided; this may have been a mistake.
For anyone looking for a challenge, I would really recommend this event. It was well organised and marshalled and despite the post race agony in my quads; well worth doing.