Ironman South AfricaIronman South Africa
A very early start. We had a 6:20am flight out of Norwich and figured that it would be a good idea to get to the check-in 2.5 hours ahead of the flight. So alarm went off at 3am ahead of Russell and Les's arrival at 3.30am. They were early and caught me eating some turbo porridge. Probably my last turbo porridge for a while. We were at Norwich International before 4am, they didn't open the doors until 4:30am and the check-in staff arrived for a 5:00am start. That could have been an extra hour in bed.
Check-in was easy. No problem's with the bikes. Wasn't charged anything to take them and our luggage was checked in all the way through to Port Elizabeth. Result. We'd been told that we'd have to take them with us to our hotel in Johannesburg, just meant that whilst at Amsterdam we needed to buy some toothpaste and toothbrushes.
The two KLM flights went swimmingly well. We saw the bikes being unloaded in Amsterdam so knew that they'd at least got that far. Arriving in Johannesburg and walking straight out of the airport without having to go to baggage reclaim was a real luxury, albeit a bit strange. Shuttle to the hotel was easy. Got there to find that as far as the were concerned the tour op (Nivana) hadn't paid for our room - we're convinced we'd paid them. So, we agreed to pay again. Next bit of news was that the restaurants had already closed so we'd have to wait for breakfast to eat. Then when we got into our room and were settling down and there's a call on my mobile. A very bureaucratic lady from Air France (owners of KLM) from J-Burg airport asking why we'd left our luggage on the turnstile. "Because you're colleagues in Norwich told us that we won't see our bags again until PE". For a moment I thought she was going to insist that we went back to the airport that evening to collect them to walk them through customs. She settled on holding the bags in their office for us to pick up in the morning.
Despite all that I slept okay, certainly far better than the previous night were I'd only managed an hour of so.
Up early to have breakfast, weren't expecting much from what we'd considered to be the equivalent of a Travel Lodge. We were pleasantly surprised. An all you can eat buffet for 120 rand (£9) including fresh fruit, cereal, juices, tea, coffee, toast, bread, cold meat and a chef willing to cook up anything you wanted. Really tasty and an absolute bargain, they even packed us into the airport shuttle with a muffin each.
Finding the Air France office proved a bit of a challenge, but once there a friendly chap assured us that they frequently had customers that were told of a baggage policy that was different to the one that was actually in place in J-Burg. So, no problem, in fact a bit of a result. We'd been expecting to have to pay to put them into left luggage. No problem getting checked in for the final flight of our journey which was greatly assisted by an efficient porter. He led us where we needed to go to check-in, he used a favour to jump a queue of 50 to get us to the check-in girl and within a matter of moments we had boarding cards, bikes were on way to the airplane and we were through security. Russell tried to slip him a note which he refused. He was happy to take 50Rand of me. I figured £3 for the hassle he saved us was a small price to pay. Turned out later that the note Russell had in his pocked was a 10.
There was quite a bit of delay getting the South Africa Airline flight out of J-Burg, but we really didn't mind. We were relaxed and having a good day. Had a hot chocolate and coffee in the airport in a cafe which cost less than 30rand. Hang on a mo, thats about £2 for 2 drinks in an international airport? Blimey, two pieces of evidence that food is cheaper in SA than the UK. Met the first of our competitors whilst there, a fellow Ironman from Cologne traveling with his wife.
Soon arrived at PE. A small airport, not much bigger than Norwich. Very quickly reunited with all our luggage and away from the airport. Our German colleague didn't fair quite so well - we were to find out later that his bike hadn't quite made the connection but arrived later in the day.
Our driver took us on a little detour from the airport to the hotel via the race start and finish. Told us about power cuts. Warned us to be street wise. Told us about the PE marathon that he organises and told us about the 5 laps of the Ironman run (we thought there were 3 - which there are).
Sorted ourselves out. Unpacked and setup bikes. Russell's got a bit of an issue with his seat clamp, it's not really a problem so long as he doesn't mind stopping every 10minutes to readjust his saddle height. Then we went for an 50minute run. Route.
Buffett meal in the hotel was very good, and cheap. Bottle of red was 85rand (£7).
Up and out for a walk down the beach to the race start and a swim on the race course. Odd swimming were there were a few surfers. Also the water was of varied temperature. It was generally warm, but every now and then you felt that you were swimming through a cold patch.
Spot of breakfast. Okay, I'll be honest - an all you can eat breakfast buffet. Bit of a snooze then out for a bike ride. We'd worked out a shortened version of the bike route but went out first to the bike shop, which was a bit too busy to give us much time, then off to the local triathlon shop where we got much more information. Both were pretty much on the official course. Advice was to stick to the official course and certainly don't go down Victoria Drive, certainly not the bit in the city. Ah, good to find that out because that was exactly where our short cut was going to take us. Not wanting to be the victim of a bike-jacking we opted for a longer loop. Also picked up on some local terms. SA doesn't have traffic lights - they have robots and roundabouts are called circles.
Proved to be a windy ride, and the main drag out of the city, which we'll have to do 3 times proved to be a real ball-braker. Km after km into a headwind and up hill. We missed off the out and back dog leg and followed the course back along the coast road to our hotel. Come Sunday 13th we're going to be passing our own front door six times.
As we got back to the hotel the hotel director introduced himself to us and seemed genuinely thrilled to have a couple of Ironman participants staying at his hotel and told us to speak to him if we needed anything. Looks like we might be able to get early morning porridge on race day.
Another early morning swim. This time we opted for a beach nearer to the hotel. It was sandy, there was a surfer (boardie) and a kayaker out, so figured it was safe. Since Russell and I swim at different speeds we opted to do 200m efforts up and down the beach. Kept us together pretty well and enabled us to get used to swimming across a bit of a swell. The water was shallower and clearer than the race beach. The water was also notably colder. There were a few points where rocks could be distinguished from the sandy bottom and the appearance of large dark shapes in the depths below was unsettling even if they weren't moving.
Once back on the beach we noticed five or six dolphins swimming just a little further out than we'd been swimming. I have twice swam with dolphins and on both times it was exciting, exhilarating and scary. They are beautiful creatures and best seen in their natural environment. It's a real priviledge to get close to them and only happens on their terms and when it does happen it's very clear who is the boss and who would come off the worse. It's definately them playing with us, though on the previous occasions the dolphins we'd found the dolphins and been in close proximity before entering the water. I'm positive that my reaction to finding something grey 2.5m long, with a dorsel fin showing an interest in me whilst swimming wouldn't have been a relaxed one, especially seeing as lots of friends had been warning me about Great White Sharks.
Normal routine of breakfast, snooze and then a bike ride. The initial plan had been to have a long run but the weather forecast was for strong winds for Sunday (tomorrow) so we decided to switch. We rode the wrong way round the offical route today, which is actually a very good way of understanding the lay of the land. Were we'd been head banging the previous day we were free-wheeling. Doing the route clockwise actually seemed to make more sense and pondered the question of why the race didn't go that way round. All became clear when we discovered a step(ish) descent through a built up area with a sharp right hander at the bottom. Riding the route this way also meant that we stop off at the bike shop towards the end of the ride for them to take a look at Russell's bike. Unfortunately they close early on a Saturday at 1pm, we arrived at 2:30pm. I suspect that come Monday when then open at 8:30am we won't be too far away. Experienced our first power cut of the trip - made navigating the "robots" interesting.
Off now for something to eat. Apparently there is a wedding party in the hotel this evening. Fortunately our suit is quite a way from the function rooms, restaurant and bar.
This mornings exercise involved a long run. Well, 8.5 miles any way (route). We went to explore where the run course went inside the University grounds. We didn't find the official route easily, but we did find an interesting route none the less. A route that took in some off road trails through the horticultural studies bush land. We even clocked a monkey. Or perhaps it was a baboon. Either way it was camera shy. Whilst we were running it was happy to watch us where we could see it, but the second we stopped to photograph it it disappeared into the shrub.
A lazy day has enshewed so far since our run. Whilst it is sunny outside the wind is howling at 41mph. We were wise to get our bike ride in yesterday, it really wouldn't have been pleasant today. Yesterday would have been perfect weather for the big day, the forecast currently for next Sunday is looking good.
You know it's windy when plastic chairs are being blown around the place. You don't need to see the headline in the local press that reads "Strong winds lash region". Anyway what am I boasting about - I got sun burnt today. At least I didn't get snowed on like all those Tri-Anglia members at the Diss Duathlon or the Bungay Marathon and Half Marathon.
We went for a very easy ride to Cape Receife to the light house from the nature reserve before heading towards the bike shop to get Russell's seat clamp fixed. Not as windy today as yesterday, but windy enough and as I mentioned about I got sun burnt. Only a little and on my arms. It was a beautiful clear sky with bright sun shine and made for some great photo opportunities.
Action Cycles did a very tidy job of fashioning a repair to Russell's seat clamp by pulling a clamp off a Cervelo P2 that had on display to add to the integral one on Russell's Quintana Roo frame. We followed the ride with an easy 15minute transition run (t-run) to the end of Shark Rock Pier where we had lunch before wandering back to the hotel.
A little bit of rest at the hotel before heading out for a swim. Decided this time to ride down to the official swim site and took it in turns to spot, photograph and guard bikes whilst the other swam. The marker buoys for the turns are now out. Swimming on your own 300m out off the beach is rather unsettling, especially when you are well aware that no-one else is in the water. Still a bit of swell coming in, which meant I went for a bit of body surfing, hence the picture below of me in the water with my feet in the air.
And why include a picture of a plane? Can't help wondering each time we see one on their approach how many bikes are on board, and how many should be on board.
We'd been told that far more people turn up for an early morning swim. Apparently there had been 30 people out yesterday morning. So for safety in numbers and for a bit of company we ran down for 7.30am. The foreman overseeing the construction of the Ironman village offered to look after our bags for us whilst we swam for which I'm very grateful. I really won't like to have my running shoes stolen between now and the finish on Sunday. After that, I might be happy for them to go walking, though I'm not going to be willing to see my bike go walk-abouts before any of you offer to relieve me of it.
There were a few others out and we decided to do our own thing. I opted to swim round the whole lap which took about 33mins. There was a bit of chop which made spotting the marker buoys difficult when you were more than 150m from them. Fortunately the foreman had told us what the transient points on the horizon were, which although it meant I swam out further than I needed I didn't miss the turns. As I swam into the beach I found I was exciting the water at exactly the same point as Russell who'd swam a shorter route around two of the 4 course markers.
Right, well what now? We've got a guided tour of Port Elizabeth this afternoon and two game reserve tours booked for Thursday. We'll do a bit of light cycling tomorrow and then Friday and Saturday will involve race briefings, some light exercise, relaxation and then Saturday afternoon racking of the bike before an early start. Last time round, I felt as though I was on death-row the night before the Ironman. Oh, and the weather forecast for the next few days is for the wind to settle and the temperature to rise to 24C. Race day should be 21C with a very light 8mph easterly wind which is perfect. That should then give us a light tail wind along the the long, long, uphill drag. But of course, there is still 5 days to go and the weather can change.
Guided Tour of Port Elizabeth
We took a 2 hour guided tour of the city in the afternoon. Our guide had the typical mature white african look about him. Tall, thin, wizened with scraggly gray hair and a trimmed gray beard. At first sight we thought it was the same chap that had provided our hotel shuttle. We gained a little bit of an insight into the history of the region which covered:
If you want to know more, I suggest you read a guide book or come out here for yourself.
Sardinia Bay was a real find. A good out and back ride with ice cream at the bay. Route.
Evening run. 6miles according to Gmaps, but we were pushing it and it took 50mins so suspect that it was a bit further - more like 6.5-7.
Discovered that the power cuts are scheduled.
A complete day off from exercise and to try and escape thoughts of triathlon we went to do what can only be done in South Africa. We took a guided tour to two separate game reserves. In the morning we were taken off to the Addo Elephant park. The park was established in the 20's to protect the native elephants of the region. At that point they had been hunted down to just 11. The park has grown and the herd has increased to over 400 elephants. Other species of animals can also be found in the park such as Lions, Zebra, Antelope Ostrich, Wildebeast, Monkey, Meercats, Leopards and Buffalo's to name just a few. The park is massive so seeing animals can be hit and miss and you are forced to stay to the principle tracks that run through the park which is state run.
A spot of lunch and then off to the Schotia Private Game Reserve. This park is much smaller and artificially populated with animals. As a result of this there were more animals in a smaller area. The guide for this park is a member of the Schotia staff and armed with a 12 seater Land Rover could go off road and was able to get much closer to the animals. The day, which included, pick up, lunch, tea, dinner, drop off and two guided tours started at 9am and finished 9.30pm and cost R1,400 (circa £100), seems a lot, but was actually really good value for money. Here are some of the photos from the day. There are more Safari Pictures.
Up early this morning in an attempt to acclimatise to the 4am get up we'll have on Sunday morning. A jog down to the swim course for a 7am 15min swim before jogging back to the hotel for breakfast. Then a very easy 35minute spin on the bikes. Wandered down to race registration and the Expo. Now branded and banded. A couple of hours back at the hotel before catching a cab down to the Pasta Party. The very large marquee was able to sit 1,600+ people. There were big screens, presentations, ethnic dance displays, welcome messages from Mayoress, sponsors and organisers. All the first timers were asked to stand up to be applauded. Video highlights of the previous year, a run down of athletes per continent. Europe fielding the second largest contingent with 102, but the clear winners with 1300+ being Africa.
Up even earlier this morning, though tomorrow will be even earlier. I've taken the opportunity to update this, though I'm getting nervous because Russell now has all his stuff for tomorrow organised into pre, swim, bike, run and post event piles. I need to do that too. Want to get out for an easy spin. Have to get down to race briefing at 1pm, then back down again with all the transition bags and bikes about 4pm for racking. Then we need to work out how best to get down for 5-5:30am in the morning bearing in mind the road closures that will be in place. But before that I need some breakfast.
This will be my last update now until after the race. I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has wished us well, everyone who has helped us train, and everyone who has donated to SIA. To wrap up, good luck to all those back home running the London Marathon tomorrow, good luck to all my fellow competitors here in Port Elizabeth, all the best to Norwich City at Portman road tomorrow and a special good luck to Norwich Canoe Club who are hosting a national selection race on the Yare, Wensum and Whitlingham Lake. I do hope that one goes well and that Tim Pendle and Becky Schofield impress the selectors on home turf.
After penning the update above, I sorted my gear into piles then headed out to find Russell who was watching the MTN corporate challenge which was one of the support races for the Ironman. It was an opportunity to get a feeling for how significant the Ironman was to the South Africans. The support race was benefiting from televised media coverage. It also gave us an opportunity to see the water bags being used for the run. We now knew what was in store for us.
A quick last minute check of the bike before heading to briefing and racking. And 'oh dear', my rear tyre is a bit low. So low that the wire mesh is showing through the rubber. It wasn't like that before we left home, as I'd checked to see if I needed new tyres. Not feeling happy about riding on a worn tyre. I know a new tyre isn't best, but riding on a tyre that you don't think can make 112 miles is even more foolish. So off to race briefing back in the Ironman dome. Next time we're back in this venue will be for our post race massage. Well worth attending the briefing. My concern about the flow of traffic on the bike course is cleared up. The South Africans drive on the left hand side of the road, so with a course that involves heading West, u-turning on the same road to head East then turn right to head South to the coast. Hang on, does that not mean that the Eastbound riders are turning right across the Westbound riders. Isn't that going to be a bit dangerous? All clear at the briefing. As the roads are closed we get to ride on the right rather than the left. I think riding on the wrong side of the road confused the 1300 South Africans initially. No problem for us Europeans.
Then off for our last main meal before the big day at following the mid-day briefing and an opportunity to buy and fit a new tyre. Feeling far happier now. Bike and Swim2Bike and Bike2Run transition bags racked. Whilst this we were doing this the second support race was taking place. The Ironkids event is an aquathlon. Good job the kids aren't required to cycle. There are a lot of bikes arriving now for the main event.
Back to the hotel for an early night - just not much sleep.
Up at 4, bit of breakfast, get a lift to the race venue, check bike and bags all to do now is swim 2.4miles, cycle 112miles and run a marathon. Oh and try to enjoy it. Not going to write much more than that here as I've written a separate race report.
Walking back to the hotel with all the gear and the bikes whilst others were still out on the run was surreal. I felt a little rude in not waiting for my fellow competitors to finish, appreciated the congratulations along the way and so cheered along those still participating.
Official Race Photos - more at www.marathon-photos.com
Russell had finished 5th in his age group and didn't want to miss out on a chance to go to Hawaii if the 4 chaps ahead of him weren't interested. So we trundled along to the Hawaii slot allocation session, via a cash point for Russell. We sat in the changing marquee which was now set up as a small auditorium awaiting the allocation of the 30 Hawaii places. The places were divided across the male and female categories. Four were going to the pros, with three of those to the male pros and one to the ladies pros. The remaining 26 places being spread across the age groups. With the male 35-39 category having the largest number of competitors they got the most number of slots with 3, Russell's male 50-54 category had 1 slot.
We took our seats then two fellow Brits sat down beside us. They picked up on our accents and soon I found myself in conversation with the overall winner Stephen Bayliss. He assured me that his legs were just as stiff and tired as mine. Stephen didn't need to take up his Hawaii slot as he'd already qualified, but Bella Comerford wasn't going to miss her's but she was R20 short. Guess she hadn't quite worked out the exchange rate for the $500 she needed to have in cash to take advantage of winning the ladies race. I gave her the R20, which is about £1.30. She was insistent on paying me back later in the evening at the awards ceremony. I suggested a group photo would be appreciated by the members of Tri-Anglia, hence the photo below. Turns out that Bella was born here in Norwich. And now I'm showing off by referring to the winners on first name terms.
The awards ceremony was special. Well over 2,000 people sat down for a 3 course meal. Where much beer and wine was consumed. I'll own up to Russell and I taking in a couple of bottles of wine with us. The wine in the super markets is so cheap, we didn't see a bottle for more then R30 (£2) and a lot of it is the stuff you get here in the UK for £6 a bottle. Made for a good night. Stories of the previous days heroics abounded. There was the guy that had 9 punctures, there was the blind guy, another carrying a disabled child the whole way, the pro's that had punctures, pros that set swim records but had to finish a marathon for it to count and of course the presentation of all the awards to the age groupers and to the pros. Russell's name appeared in lights. His 5th place was up on the big screen for 2,000+ people to see, though his legs were saved having to tackle the stairs. That challenged was saved for just the top 3 age groupers per category and the top 10 female and top 10 male pros. And yes, they did struggle with the steps.
Now with sore heads to add to weary limbs, we've made it to our last day in Port Elizabeth, and what a trip it has been. We've had a great time in Nelson Mandela Bay and got good times in the bargain.
A short very easy spin through quiet national park roads before having lunch over looking the beach. Back to the Hotel to check out at 3pm, pack the bikes by the hotel pool then wait for our 5pm shuttle to the airport. Flying from provincial airports is so easy. We only needed to check-in an hour before our flight. The check-in girls booked our luggage all the way through to Norwich, assured us that this time we really didn't need to see any of it on route and provided us with boarding cards and seat reservations for our 3 flights. Most of the people boarding the plan in Port Elizabeth were competitors with bikes, most like us were packed in cases, but some of the South African's were just wheeling their bikes up to the check-in. If only you could get away with that all the time, it would be so much easier. With a full plan, and lots of bikes I was convinced that not all the bikes would make the flight.
Then in Johannesburg there were still a lot of competitors awaiting to board the KLM 747-400 for Schipol, Amsterdam. I recognised the young Dutch athelete who in his first Ironman had finished as the fastest amateur, and asked if he'd spotted any bikes being loaded. He had been sitting by the window with his Mum looking at our plane. They hadn't seen any getting loaded. Oh well, guess we might have to wait a couple of days to get our bikes back.
Arrive in Schipol, Amsterdam following a 10 hour overnight flight feeling remarkably fresh. Slept well on the plan and the legs are starting to feel a little better. I can now walk down a flight of stairs albeit with the aid of a hand rail. Just 2 hours to get from one plane to the next across a large busy international airport. Assuming that our bags and bikes have made this far, will they make the connection?
The short hop across the North Sea and we're back in Norwich before we've left Amsterdam and yes, our bags and bikes are here two. Superb.
Contributions by Rob Lines