Saturday 3rd December 2011
Format: 8km run, 18km cycle ride, 8km run
Venue: Army Testing Ground, Camberley
Present: Malcolm, Kit and Oli
Malcolm and I started entering these well organised and very popular events back in 2009, and are now contesting our third season. The format is simple, using a suitable off road venue, competitors first run, then cycle, then run again. 
Sounds easy enough, but trust me it’s not, the course builders choose and exploit every conceivable hill or mud bank, and if they can, find some water, and send you through it.
Open to all, these events attract some very strong athletes, the top places are coveted and strongly contested, obviously not by me, I feel I’m doing well just to get into the top fifty.
Wet and windy week leading up to the event this year, culminating in a windy night beforehand. But on the day it turned out clear and bright with temperature around 11-12 degrees
This, the second of this winter series, is to me the harshest. Not because of the brutal hill climbs and descents, but because the two running legs are each of 8km – Not being too keen on running, I’m far happier to get the bulk of it over in the first leg, as is the case in the other races of this series, leaving only a shorter run home after the cycling.
The race: First run, 8km. A beast of a course, starting relatively gently but with the promise of the five ascents and descents of the infamous “Heartbreak Ridge” in the middle. Once again the course had been altered, and to me, was preferable to previous years – rather than the latter section being on wide open trails, through the aptly named “Desperation Hollow”, culminating in a long slow pull back up to the transition or finish, we were treated to some new single track footpaths, and, of course, more steep hills! May not sound more appealing as a route, but it just was, I guess it had more interest.
Malcolm and I adopted our team policy and stuck together, chatting as much as we could – this not only passes the time, but does seem to hurt other competitors, wrapped up in their own personal worlds of suffering whilst wondering what we might know that they don’t.
We started from the back of the pack, along with Oli, then slowly worked through as everyone settled into their own pace, all along keeping it gentle with a view to surviving the second, post ride run.
A largely uneventful run saw us transitioning onto the bikes and still feeling good. For me it’s always a delight to change out of the running shoes, don a helmet, get out on the bike and start cutting through the pack, yes, I know some of them will squeeze back passed on the final run, but I enjoy it whilst I can.
The ride entailed three laps, which, of course does mean three ascents of the steepest climb on Heartbreak Ridge. The general view seems to be just walk it, the effort involved in attempting to remain on the bike is too much, but we did stay riding as far as possible, and gained several places in doing so, forever at risk of collecting a roundhouse kick from the rider in front as they swing their leg over the saddle to dismount.
Thanks to our gentle earlier pace, once out on the final run we were still feeling ok, and despite walking many of the climbs, were not passed too often, and could still stand up after crossing the finish line!
Despite crossing the line together, I was placed above Malcolm gaining 50th and 51st respectively. Our overall time was 2:27:16, and broke down as 41:28 for the first run, 54:01 for the ride, and 47:52 for the final run.
Oli , competing on a brand new and untested bike, showed up a little later, recording a time of 2:44:28, placing him 98th. His Ironman training showing through in the consistency of his pace – he didn’t once walk, but kept running throughout.
