Ironman Switzerland
Zurich 24th June 2007
Swiss 7 Conquer Ironman
How sweet does that sound? “Swiss7 Conquer Ironman”. I am of course referring to the seven members of Tri-Anglia who travelled out to Zurich for the 2007 edition of Ironman Switzerland. It sounds even sweeter to the seven of us personally as for all of us it signifies our first Ironman. For some of us it may well prove to be our only Ironman. And as glorious the success is of finishing personally, it becomes even more satisfying in being a glory shared.
The adventure officially started in August 2006 when we started to post our entries, though the seed of aspiration was probably planted for all of us a long time prior to that. Training sessions, regular catch ups, motivating videos of Team Hoyt, encouragement from club members and friends all helped us through the build up during the first half of 2007.
Come 24th June our preparations were complete. Wet and windy conditions had been replaced with calm 27C blue skis and 120,000 spectators lined the roadside to witness the efforts of 1,950 competitors including some of the World’s top professional endurance triathletes, ex-professional tour cyclists and us - the seven members of Tri-Anglia attempting our first Ironman.
2007 was the 11th edition of Ironman Switzerland and for the 2 years prior to that Zurich played host to its predecessor the Euroman Long Distance Triathlon. All have had qualifying spots for the official Ironman in Kona Hawaii and all have been eagerly contested.
The course is based around Landewiese (Land-e-wise-a), 4km south of central Zurich on the North West bank of lake Zurich.
The swim involves a beach start of all 1,950 competitors. Well, almost all. The 35 elites get to start 40m into the water 5 minutes ahead of the main field. The start has to be seen to be believed. It is manic. There is then a two lap buoyed course which uses a man made island as the end of lap marker.
The bike course involves a mostly flat three lap course that hugs the Northern shore of Lake Zurich. From transition you head North along the lake side towards central Zurich, turn around the Northern end of the lake then head south down the eastern bank until Uetikon where you turn away from the lake to first water station, called “Beauty”, on the entry slops to the climb called ‘The Beast’. Having climbed 200m to the summit in Gibisund you get a short downhill section into the town of Egg before you have another 150m of climbing to the second water station at Forch. Whilst the smooth surface on closed road along the road side is lovely and fast, the climbs come as a welcome change to riding on aero bars. The spectators along the climbs and the band near the water-station really help to motivate you along, but this is only just an appetiser for what is to come.
The descent from the top through Limberg back to the lake at Kusnacht and Zollikon is insanely fast. Yes the road is closed, yes the surface is as near to perfect as you will get, but there are still bends with one being a hairpin towards the bottom of the descent. You’ve got to slow down some how at some point, my preference is not via my lycra clad flesh on tarmac. Those concerns didn’t seem to stop the better descenders from breaking through 50mph. I’d not be surprised if some didn’t better 100kmph. The Organisers have imposed disqualification penalties to any riders descending on aero bars. Does this mean that some riders actually descended in that fashion? That’s beyond brave, that’s plain suicidal.
Once back to the lake side you retrace your route up round the north side of the lake and back down and past transition before turning West away from the lakeside in Kilchberg for a second hill climb loop. Heartbreak Hill. A 50m sting in the tail ascent. Or at least that’s how it is billed. It is the steepest climb of the circuit, but the atmosphere of the ‘Beauty’ and of the ‘Beast’ combined don’t even come close to the atmosphere here. Think Dutch Corner l’Alpe D’Huez, summit finish for a Tour finish and you’re getting there. It is amazing. The crowds are all over the road, waving flags, cheering you along, peeling back to allow the riders through, bands are playing and then… Then over the cacophony of noise your hear your name on the tannoy, the crowd cheers, it prompts you to step onto your pedals and attack. The crowd loves this and rewards you accordingly. A shower rigged at the side of the road along with the final feed station is a further reward at the summit. Another descent, less step and more technical returns you to lake side before you head north back towards transition to complete your lap.
The run involves a convoluted 10.5km loop that you run four times. It is mostly flat with a marker at most kilometers and almost as many aid stations along the route. It is a long way to run. It is a chore running to finish, but by this point you know that all you have to do to become an Ironman is to stick with it. The underpasses and footbridges are small obstacles to overcome, but the support of spectators, marshals and aid stations outweighs these. Come the end of the fourth lap when you can turn the final bend and head into the finishing straight and you see the finish line, it does something for you. Drained batteries suddenly have life and where running was hard less than a mile earlier a sprint with a jump over the finish line is possible.
Completing is an amazing experience.
Swiss7 Conquer Ironman
Race Progress
Trip Photos
Trip Diary
Personal Accounts