Ironman UK, Sherborne Castle, England - August 19th 2007

Ironman UK Race Report!

Dear Sponsors and Friends

My training had gone well even with the colder than usual summer in Europe I felt that I was the fittest I had been on the swim and bike in a long time so the plan was to build a big lead so I could take is easy on the run and save my legs for the World Champs in Kona, Hawaii.

I flew out to England on Wednesday and the weather was cold and wet and the forecast was not looking good and I really don't like cold weather as love the hottest races.

On Saturday I got the surprise of my life when my Mother turned up at my Hotel to surprise me as she had flown from New Zealand to watch me race and this gave me extra determination as she has never seen me race overseas.

Race Day was, as expected, cold and wet and not what I had hoped for but new I had a job to do and got ready for the start. We got into the cold lake waters and then had a delay of some 20mins because of Athletes having trouble getting to the grounds because of the parking.

This was not a good start as it burned up a lot of energy before the race had even got off to a start then nobody would get behind the line and the gun went off and there where a lot of people ahead of me so I was angry and took off hard!

My swimming had been going really well so I cleared out pretty quick with one others hanging with me until the first turn then I put the hammer down and cleared out. I really pushed the last lap and flew to a new swim course record of 44.35 and was happy to be out of the cold murky water!

On the bike it was cold and hard to get warm even with arm warmers. I was still shivering and using a lot of energy but felt good and could get over my gears no problems. I got to the bike path on lap 1 and then had a major problem. I flatted on the rear and was super stressed. They said I had a good 5min lead and knew that it was evaporating fast as I fiddled to repair my flat.

After a couple of minutes I was back riding and pushing hard in frustration then on the 2nd lap in the same place as the 1st I flatted again and only had one fix a flat gas to repair my tire so hoped that would work. I used it and had to get gas off an age group competitor that cost me another 2-3mins then I really was angry and put the pedal to the metal and push at over 40k per hour to try and build a lead that I though was very small.

I came into T2 with a surprising 13min lead and it could have been 20mins. I was confident that I could run 3hrs and put huge pressure on the chasers so started out very steady on the run. The conditions where very muddy and the 1st lap section was tough with the changing ground and I didn't really feel very light on my feet and just hoped it was going to get better. Steven and Scott where running together and gaining time as they had been together all day.

My body and mind was struggling with the cold and then heading out to Yeovil was very hard as it was so cold you could see your breath and my legs were tightening up. Then at 13 miles my left calf gave way and I knew it was over I had pulled this calf 4 time in my career and only one other time in a race at Ironman NZ 2004. This was bad but I still had a 4min lead but knew that all I could do was walk and it was going to be a long walk.

I walked in pain and was freezing so put my head down and walked as fast as I could I was going to finish with as much pride as I could and wasn't going to quit as my Mother had flown half way around the World to see me race and finish!!! I managed a 4hr 1/2Run 1/2Walk so not bad and a 9.35 time. About a hour over what I had hoped for.

The next problem is that my calf is really bad and it is looking like Ironman World Champs is going to be a big ask so I have decided to pull out of it and focus on Florida Ironman in November.

Thanks for your continued support.

Kind Regards - Bryan Rhodes