A great course but poor spectator access, especially for the swim, and some teething troubles at the new venue dampened the experience.

Date: 2nd August 2009

Location: Bolton, Lancashire

Format: Ironman distance (Official qualifying race for Ironman World Championships)

Organiser: IMUK

Website: www.ironmanuk.com

Author: Richard McChesney

This year saw Ironman UK move to a new location: Bolton in Lancashire. Unfortunately, as is almost always the case with the first running of an event, there were a few teething problems.

Additionally, a week of rain leading up to the race turned the transition area into a quagmire and the planned car parking area into a swamp. It had to be closed early on the day before the race after many cars were abandoned in the mud.

On the other hand, the course and support were fantastic, and the weather turned out perfect on the day.

Different to shorter races where athletes turn up, compete and go home within the space of a few hours, an Ironman takes up to a week.  Registration starts several days before the race. Then there are organised swims over the course, the pre-race pasta party on the Friday or Saturday and the post-race awards ceremony on Monday. Check in for bikes, helmets and kit for T1 and T2 must also be done the day before the race.

Ironman is definitely an “event”, not just a race.

Great course

The big challenge for any triathlon organiser is to find a spectator-friendly venue with safe roads, a suitable location for swimming and enough space to set up a transition area (in this case for 1,500 plus bikes). 

Ironman UK achieved most but not all of the above. The swim and transition areas are at Rivington Reservoir, which is about 6 miles from Bolton, basically in the middle of nowhere.  The roads around the transition area are very narrow but fortunately closed to traffic during the race.

Where Ironman UK failed particularly was in providing spectator access to the start and finish areas of the swim, and this was definitely a disappointment for some competitors’ families. The car parking problems meant spectators had to leave their vehicles in Bolton and take the bus to and from the start. Credit to the organisers for providing this alternative, but the bus returned to Bolton at around 7am, before many swimmers had exited the water.

Secondly, the swim turned out to be about 500 yards too long with many mid-pack swimmers turning in swim times about 10 minutes slower than usual. Also tough was the 300m run (walk) up a concrete path to transition.

Under normal conditions the transaction area would have been great: plenty of room for bikes, two large tents for athletes’ kit bags – one each for T1 and T2 – and a changing tent between them. You run into the first tent, grab your bag from a numbered hook, dive into the changing tent, change, put your swimming stuff into the bag, hand the bag to the marshal and run to your bike. 

But the week’s worth of rain preceding the race left the entrance to transition extremely slippery. Many athletes also experienced problems with their cleats clogging up and spectators had to stand in thick mud.

The cycle course consists of three laps through the Lancashire countryside starting with a fast descent out of transition followed by a three mile hill climb best described as a mini Tour de France mountain stage complete with crowds of spectators lining the road, and names and words of encouragement chalked onto the road. Fantastic!

The reward at the top was the first of nine aid stations – a reasonable number – all stocked with Gatorade, Power Bars and water. Unfortunately, by the time back-of-the-pack cyclists were on their third lap two of the aid stations had run out of water.

After the climb, the descent: a three mile drop down to a very sharp left hand corner that in wet conditions could have been extremely dangerous.  Even in the dry, several people lost control of their bikes on the rough road just before the turn and ended up with a dose of road rash.

The remainder of each of the three bike laps consists of flat and undulating terrain with a mixture of open and closed roads, patches of crowd support and plenty of time to simply enjoy the ride.  Athletes with GPS estimated the total climbing during the 112 mile ride to be about 1,800m.

T2 is similar to T1. Hand your bike to a marshal for racking, grab your T2 kit bag, change, hand your bag back and start out on the marathon.

Only the Pepsi was flat

Although advertised as a flat run, this is an undulating course with some short, sharp climbs and some sections that you probably wouldn’t want to run alone in the dark if you were struggling home in 16 or 17 hours.

It starts with a 2 ½ mile stretch into Horwich (the town between Rivington Reservoir and Bolton) and first of many aid stations. In addition to the sponsors’ Gatorade and Power Gels, flat Pepsi was now available. From here the run course does a full lap through Horwich and into Bolton with an off-road section alongside a narrow canal (the part you’d want to avoid in the dark).  The run then goes through and around Queens Park before heading back to the first aid station, and then one last leg back to Bolton to the finish outside the town hall.

The finish chute makes the hours of pain and months of training all worth while. Hundreds of spectators lined both sides and an American-accented announcer revved up the crowd and welcomed every single “ironman” home as if they were the most special person in the world at that very moment.

And you thought it was all over…

With competitors finishing anywhere between 8 and 17 hours after the start an Ironman awards ceremony takes place the following day. Ironman UK held its ceremony at the Reebok Stadium, home of Bolton Wanderers (a football team for those triathletes who need reminding that some strange people follow a sport other than triathlon).

It is here where the 30 athletes who finished top of their respective divisions or age groups received their reward: a slot at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships. And you have to be there to receive it, otherwise the famous “roll down” occurs and the slot is offered to next highest place finisher.

Of course, winning your Hawaii slot just gives you the right to apply. You still have to pay the fees, air fares and accommodation. Consequently, several qualifiers decline their reward, giving lower placed athletes the chance. If Hawaii is your dream then attending the ceremony is mandatory. You never know how far the slots might roll down.

… it is now

While being a celebration, the awards ceremony also has a sort of funeral atmosphere. Training for an ironman takes a large proportion of an athlete’s time and energy in the months leading up to the race, and many people find they are left with a huge void once race day is over. 

Ironman UK didn’t get everything right, which is only to be expected for the first time at a new venue, but from an athlete’s point of view, the course was fantastic, the race day marshals were excellent and it was a great event. If facilities for spectators could be improved, IMUK Bolton has the potential to become one of the country’s iconic sporting events, especially with that Tour de France style hill climb at the start of each cycle lap.  

 

Richard McChesney

Race Number 1642

Time: somewhere around 14 hours

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