My first 70.3 race. Micko and i were to be staying with yet another fantastic homestay in Kansas city, 45 min away from the race. We started our drive to Kansas from Boulder for some really strange reason thinking it was going to be a 6 hour drive. Kansas is not 6 hours away from Boulder. 12 hours later (including the time zone loss of an hour) we made it in the rust coloured roof dodge caravan.
It turned out the field was a lot more packed than we initially expected. Chrissie Wellington, Pip Taylor, Jo Lawn, Nina Craft among others. The men’s field was just as good with Luke Bell, Tim O’Donell, Paul Matthews, Tim Deboom, Simon Thompson. It was going to be a fun race.
Race day was expected to be stormy and wet and the morning of just supported that. There was lightning and a bit of rain at 4.30am when we were driving out. Luckily though, it looked ok at 5 when we arrived. The park where the event was held was hectic. There was one road in- no road for the pros who were off first and we found ourselves in a 45min traffic Jam. As we were starting to panic a little, i saw a porta loo on the side of the road while we were waiting in traffic- this seemed like a good idea so we didn’t have to wait in lines down in transition, we pulled to the side and switched off the car- bad move. A few minutes later, when we were back in and ready to keep moving the rocked dodge caravan wouldn’t start. Oh well, Leave it. I scribbled on some paper ‘Car wont Start’. We grabbed our stuff and ran to transition. We reached T2 to put our shoes down at 6am. We were scheduled to start at 6.30 and T1 was down by the lake a 20min walk away. We put our shoes down and continued running. Quickly setting up our bikes and putting on our wetsuits we hurried to the start. Just in time.
The swim for me was disappointing. I just have trouble sitting on feet. My swim 2 weeks ago was 26min and i was off by myself. The swim here was 28min while i was trying to draft. I think i’m just going to swim by myself next time. I came out in about 7th or 8th place. I was excited to get onto the bike because i had had some awesome training and the ride was going really well for me- i really wanted to ride! I jumped on the bike and rode strong- one of the top ride times. I laughed when riding along the only road going in and out- our car was right next to an aid station. They had banners around it and bins. I passed quite a few girls including ironman champ Nina Craft. I rode myself into 4th place. Still ahead was Chrissie, Pip and some other girl who finished very well- who were all riding very well together. Unfortunately for me my run is still just coming along and it was inevitable that i would get passed by the stronger runners. That i did and i finished up in 8th. Not bad for such a packed field. I have improved on my last race however and i know the next race will be even better. Chrissie won by miles and Pip was 2nd. The other girl was 3rd and Jo Lawn 4th. Luke Bell won the Men’s race.
The story doesn’t finish there. We collected our stuff after the race and walked to our car hoping it had composed itself and would finally start. Crossing our fingers and after explaining what happened to the people at the aid station we tried....it didn’t start. Shit. A lady came up to us and said some officers were coming to help us- meantime people were still running the course right next to the car- it was the run turnaround, grabbing and throwing cups, gu’s and sponges at the car (kinda- the bins next to it anyway). A few guys came to help and they concluded that it wasn’t the battery- oh oh. One of them was talking to the other and mentioned something about fuel. “it was on empty!” I said. It turns out, the angle that the car was slanted on because of the slight ditch we were parked on the side of, meant the fuel in the tank was on the opposite side to go into the engine. One guy left to get us a jerry and then a few national Weight lifters came to our aid and we pushed the car onto the flat. After refuelling it started and we were off to go get petrol!! We were applauded by everyone at the aid station and our other helpers. What a debarcle.
We assured them we wouldn’t park there again next year. Sorry about the lack of actual race coverage. The car was the interesting bit. Kansas was nothing like we expected. It was so green and full of rolling hills, beautiful actually. A bit different to the brown, dry, flat desert we were told it was going to be.
Next is Buffalo Springs, Texas in 2 weeks time.
It turned out the field was a lot more packed than we initially expected. Chrissie Wellington, Pip Taylor, Jo Lawn, Nina Craft among others. The men’s field was just as good with Luke Bell, Tim O’Donell, Paul Matthews, Tim Deboom, Simon Thompson. It was going to be a fun race.
Race day was expected to be stormy and wet and the morning of just supported that. There was lightning and a bit of rain at 4.30am when we were driving out. Luckily though, it looked ok at 5 when we arrived. The park where the event was held was hectic. There was one road in- no road for the pros who were off first and we found ourselves in a 45min traffic Jam. As we were starting to panic a little, i saw a porta loo on the side of the road while we were waiting in traffic- this seemed like a good idea so we didn’t have to wait in lines down in transition, we pulled to the side and switched off the car- bad move. A few minutes later, when we were back in and ready to keep moving the rocked dodge caravan wouldn’t start. Oh well, Leave it. I scribbled on some paper ‘Car wont Start’. We grabbed our stuff and ran to transition. We reached T2 to put our shoes down at 6am. We were scheduled to start at 6.30 and T1 was down by the lake a 20min walk away. We put our shoes down and continued running. Quickly setting up our bikes and putting on our wetsuits we hurried to the start. Just in time.
The swim for me was disappointing. I just have trouble sitting on feet. My swim 2 weeks ago was 26min and i was off by myself. The swim here was 28min while i was trying to draft. I think i’m just going to swim by myself next time. I came out in about 7th or 8th place. I was excited to get onto the bike because i had had some awesome training and the ride was going really well for me- i really wanted to ride! I jumped on the bike and rode strong- one of the top ride times. I laughed when riding along the only road going in and out- our car was right next to an aid station. They had banners around it and bins. I passed quite a few girls including ironman champ Nina Craft. I rode myself into 4th place. Still ahead was Chrissie, Pip and some other girl who finished very well- who were all riding very well together. Unfortunately for me my run is still just coming along and it was inevitable that i would get passed by the stronger runners. That i did and i finished up in 8th. Not bad for such a packed field. I have improved on my last race however and i know the next race will be even better. Chrissie won by miles and Pip was 2nd. The other girl was 3rd and Jo Lawn 4th. Luke Bell won the Men’s race.
The story doesn’t finish there. We collected our stuff after the race and walked to our car hoping it had composed itself and would finally start. Crossing our fingers and after explaining what happened to the people at the aid station we tried....it didn’t start. Shit. A lady came up to us and said some officers were coming to help us- meantime people were still running the course right next to the car- it was the run turnaround, grabbing and throwing cups, gu’s and sponges at the car (kinda- the bins next to it anyway). A few guys came to help and they concluded that it wasn’t the battery- oh oh. One of them was talking to the other and mentioned something about fuel. “it was on empty!” I said. It turns out, the angle that the car was slanted on because of the slight ditch we were parked on the side of, meant the fuel in the tank was on the opposite side to go into the engine. One guy left to get us a jerry and then a few national Weight lifters came to our aid and we pushed the car onto the flat. After refuelling it started and we were off to go get petrol!! We were applauded by everyone at the aid station and our other helpers. What a debarcle.
We assured them we wouldn’t park there again next year. Sorry about the lack of actual race coverage. The car was the interesting bit. Kansas was nothing like we expected. It was so green and full of rolling hills, beautiful actually. A bit different to the brown, dry, flat desert we were told it was going to be.
Next is Buffalo Springs, Texas in 2 weeks time.
Kat
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