Half Big Ben Nevis Triathlon

ATHelite's 'Off Road Squad' Dawn & Alan were frollicking in the mud & hills at the weekend (separately, not together). As is now customary Dawn has a come up with a race report that took her longer to do than the actual event itself!!......

Originally I was entered into the Full Big Ben Tri. 2k swim, 90k mtb and a “jog” up and down Ben Nevis. However a full 7mths building for ADIL, then a recovery week, a week of I cant be arseitis and then 3-4 weeks off with pinkie injury meant that after almost two months off I never really got going again with the training in time to be fit enough to “enjoy” the big one so I opted down to the half Big Ben with team mate Alan, and boy am I glad I did.

The weeks and days leading up to the event I spent in denial. Right up to the pre race feed on Friday evening. I arrived with my Mum en tow for moral support and met Alan who assured me the pre-race meal included a massive choice of pasta and chips, but beer was extra. Arrived, starving. Unfortunately the buffet didn’t really live up to the same standards as the previous year and we were met with two potatoes, two sausages with a few beans in tomato sauce and a buttered roll, dessert was a rocky caramel chocolate biscuit. Slightly disappointed but we managed sneaky accesses to seconds so not so bad.

5am and Race morning. Strange only on race mornings do I jump out of bed? Coffee, cereal, banana, shower and poured myself into my tri suit. I remember feeling incredibly slinky after all the training when I wore this last time at ADIL… Anyway no time for fat moments or tantrums today. Moving onto the transition area it was dark and wet. Torrential downpours meant that all the transition clothes were getting wet, and my poor Mum! 730am-ish we were in the water and somehow I managed to be right at the back of the 40 competitors, slightly annoying as I was forced to breaststroke behind flailing arms and legs that were going no where fast. Weaved my way through and took me half the lap to get my own racing line away from everyone else. On the home straight with someone drafting me – cheeky! Then had a slight altercation with some seaweed which Q a little mass hysteria, a mouthful of salt and some stifled screams and heavy breathing which did manage to catch the attention of the floating Kayak man but managed to pull it together for the last 200m home. 11th from 40 competitors. Alan had a fabulous swim too and exited the water only two minutes after me. I see am going to have to keep an eye on this young man.

Into transition with my Mum shouting and taking the pictures – am sure I don’t look good in a wetsuit and the pictures do prove this.

Onto the bike leg armed with 3litres in my camelback, a countless supply of flapjacks, inner tubes, caffeine gels, cliff bars, jelly babies and a multitool. A tough tarmac climb then onto steep terrain, loose gravel track which makes the going slow and steady. Top of cow hill. (I have a phobia of cows) At this point I stopped to chat to the Marshall as I had a wardrobe change. Then it was off down the fast and swoopy, berm laden and tabletoped course to a land rover track that proceeded all the way along to end of Glen Nevis which spat you out at a hefty technical descent. At this point the rain was torrential. Wardrobe change number 2. Down the technical descent, giving in to walking the first section where I fell off during the wee tri in 2009, I have the scar to prove it. Then tarmac all the way into transition for lap 2. Just before I got back into town and scoffing a caffine laced zipvit gel, I hear Alan shout as he whizzed by me. However he didn’t get out my sight that fast and I looked up in time to see him fall off his bike enroute up a grassy slope on the way out of transition. Oh how I laughed. That was last I seen of Alan on the bike. Lap 2 was pretty uneventful and with the field well spaced out I was pretty much on my own for the full lap and I began to take in the views of Loch Linnhe and what I could see of Ben Nevis. I kinda forgot I was actually in an race event. Lap 2 done and I don’t know how I could possibly have envisaged another 2 laps on that bike course to complete the Full Big Ben Nevis tri. My mtb has somewhat been woefully neglected this year and I was knackered and glad to get off the bike. Although I now had to get half way up Ben Nevis and back!

Transition and my mum (still taking pictures! If I didn’t look good after 1k swim in a wetsuit I most defo do NOT look good now) Bless she left me a HUMONGOUS bag of jelly babies (50% extra free to a standard bag… magic) by my transition clothes.

Changed shoes and grabbed my walking poles. I managed a slow plod/jog to the foot of the Ben where I managed to resist the temptation to enter into the Ben Nevis Inn for a pint. Steadily climbing and making good progress with my poles I was overtaking walkers everywhere. The lead runners coming down I shouted well done and fantastic to them. Some of them responded with a grimace, some with a grunt either way I figured they were in the “zone”, must be tough at the top. About ¾ of the way up and I was beginning to struggle so I took a minute rest and looked around – I was really enjoying this more than I ever thought I would after 2 laps of hell on a mtb. Near the half way Lochan I see Alan coming out of the mist on his way down. I got a bit elated at seeing someone I knew and threw my poles in the air and screamed “Alan, gimme some skin” as I held up my grubby paw for a high five, Alan being a gentleman obliged and said “not long to go now”. I reached the half way Lochan to where the path split. The right hand path made its way up Ben Nevis the left hand path down to Ft William or route up Carn Mor Derag. This is the half way point surely? But there was no sign of any marshalls with cocktail sausages, pork pies or mars bars. Slightly alarmed that I might have to walk further uphill to find these culinary delights I asked several walkers if they’d past any people with cocktail sausages and replied they were just past Red Burn. Oh flippin wonderful. I stormed off up the hill muttering that the half way Lochan was called half way for a reason and that’s where they should have been! Another 10mins walking up I had a filled my pockets and gob with cocktail sausages and pork pies and was now cheerily running down the hill.

It was now my turn to run down looking all serious and sports like to those making their way up the Ben but these were now the guys that had done the 2k swim and the four evil laps on the bike and now there were almost half way up Ben Nevis and they’d be going ALL the way to the top! So I gave up on looking professional and shouted words of encouragement to them – happy that I was nearly back home. Then disaster stuck. Too busy looking at my feet I took a wrong turn and ended up on another different path. This one digressed slightly from the tourist path and took me down to the riverside path where I then had to run alongside the river till I reached the road that I ran in on to the mountain. Slightly peeved as I was enjoying talking to the other competitors on their way up. I met my mate Ross on his way to the Ben, he was in the Full event and armed to get to the top. Had some brief words of encouragement and handed him 2 caffine zipvit gels which he is now addicted to. Back onto the road and thinking just another half a mile and who should be standing wating for me… Alan! Obviously he’s already finished had a pint, read the paper etc and then wondered back out to pick me up. He took my poles and we exchanged brief words of how the day went. Into the finish line and there was my mum again … with that camera. Except now I really didn’t care what I looked like. I just gave into it and smiled.

Alan completed it in a superb pb of 5:12hrs. I managed 5:58hrs. I bagged 3rd senior but there was only 5 senior girls in total! Slightly disappointed but given the lack of training recently and very slight digression on the course am not beating myself up about it. Would I do the Full Ben Nevis Tri event next year? ……Perhaps. (Editors note - after an Ironman in July? No chance!)