Ironman Lanzarote 2007 .
19th May 2007
The swim this year still consisted of 2 laps, the first turn being smoothed out to a more gentle curve to try to accommodate the record field of 1040 starters. Unfortunately the course is narrow and with everyone going in a single wave it was somewhat chaotic! To add to this, apparently, it was quite choppy (not that I noticed!) and several people pulled out after the swim saying they felt ill! The chaos was added to when a line of lane buoys drifted into the path of the swimmers, Karl and I both gashed our hands trying to wrestle ourselves past this unforeseen obstacle.
The bike course was as grueling but scenic as ever. There was a slight deviation to the usual course due to road works but none of the big climbs were affected. The winds were somewhat lighter than the 30+mph of last year’s race. The road surfaces were better also, but I’d like to think I had improved as well! The first 50 miles I went through in around 2hrs20mins, but when the big climbs hit at about 63 miles my average speed dropped as I knew it would. The climb up to Mirador Del Rio seemed harder than I remembered! The 37 mile ride back to Puerto Del Carmen is usually with the wind, sadly not this year. By now the temperature had risen from a cool 19 degrees to 29 degrees or at least that’s what my speedo thermometer said as I rode back into Puerto Del Carmen, still, only a marathon to go!
The run is a 4 lap out and back affair with aid stations at about every mile. Due to the heat, I think I stopped at every one of them. Again there was a slight detour on the run to enable some of the roads to reopen to traffic. To my estimation, I reckon it added nearly half a mile onto the marathon. Still, this did not account for the full 20 minutes I managed to add onto my 2006 marathon time. I was, however, consoled with the fact that I was overall nearly 20 minutes quicker than last year!
Comments from other competitors who had not raced at Lanzarote went something like “I have never been in such a brawl before” (referring to the swim!), “ the bike course is more brutal than any other Ironman” and “this is tougher than Hawaii!” Whatever it is, it’s certainly a very challenging course.
Article by Graham Pigg
Page created: 15th June 2007.
