A win at The Big Woody!

3 time world champion Spencer Smith presenting me with my prize

1st Darren Treadaway Arctic Shorter Rochford 08:50:36
2nd Andrew Davies 08:52:07
3rd Gavin May FVS 09:31:51
36th Simon Perkins Tri Force 11:25:31

57th Roderick Elder Tri Force 12:31:26

81 Finishers

This is probably the most satisfying race win ive had to date for a number of reasons. Firstly I had to contend with crashing my bike while doing a recce of the course 5 weeks before the race and secondly I contracted a stomach bug 3 weeks before which really messed up my training. Not to mention having to work 6 days a week covering holidays. But I had hoped the work had gone in pre Austria and that it would see me through and whatever the result was it would be something to build on and improve. Ironman Austria which I didnt finish because of back problems was my only taste of Ironman racing thus far.

Unfortunately my arrival to the race venue was delayed by tail backs coming past Oxford and I didn't make it to the campsite until 10:30pm and Rod and Simon my tri force club mates had already setup up camp and had left me half a pizza. I was hungry after my journey so tucked right in and got to bed by 11pm, not great race prep I know! Didn't get to sleep until 1pm as a group of yobs, hoodies, youths whatever they are called these days were keeping everyone awake until they eventually got board and left.

The Alarm went at 4am and it was time to force a bagel and some cereal down in preparation for the big day ahead. I felt much better after the sleep and we left the camp at around 5am taking a slight detour to get to the lake! Eventually arrived in plenty of time to setup the bikes and started to walk to the start. Everyone seemed so relaxed and chilled out, absolutely no ego flying around, maybe it was because we all respected what was ahead and were more intimidated by that than each other.

Before the race I did have my eye on the prize of a wetsuit for leading out the swim as I broke the collar on mine at Bedford the previous week, so I bodged it together rather than buy a new one because i knew that if I had of splashed out for a new one then I would have ended up winning it! The swim start was quite a relaxed affair and I settled in nicely behind the leader before the first buoy. It was evident that if I wanted that wetsuit then I was going to have to go into the red to get it and in the end I made the decision to hang back rather than sacrifice the whole race. The swim was an interesting and enjoyable affair starting in one lake climbing out and doing two laps in another lake then back to swim across the first lake. I enjoyed getting in and out because it broke things up a bit and kept it interesting. On exiting the water I checked my watch which said around 40min so the swim was obviously short as in Austria I managed the swim in 53:04, I didn't dwell on this as it is the same for everyone. I was about 2:30-3:00 off the lead man and feeling fairly good.

Onto the bike. Now having done a recce of the course 5 weeks earlier I had the up most respect for this course and if anything I probably started a little too conservatively. The first time heading up English Bicknoor I treated it very gently and was well within my comfort zone. On the first lap I was getting regular time checks from people out on the course and towards the end of the first lap I was now 4 min down. I was though feeling awesome and thought lets up things little and see how the legs are today. The next time check was 2 min so I knew I was closing, then eventually at 80 miles I caught the leader and he wasn't looking in good shape at all. This to me was like a red rag to a bull and I immediately attacked the last 30 miles. Every climb I got out the saddle and I really went for it. In hindsight maybe I pushed too hard as I was later to pay the price on the run. The bike course was never going to be fast and on a fast course like Austria I would expect to be around or just under 5 hours, today I rode 5:39 to take the fastest bike split of the day so the difficulty of the course had a large impact on the times and only a handful of us managed to sneak under 6 hours. As a comparison my club mate Simon rode a whole hour slower than what he did in Austria as did several other people.

It was a big lift to hit T2 leading the race and I had built up a reasonable cushion. What I was wondering now was would my lack of training and fitness show and had I over cooked the last 30 miles on the bike! The run consisted of 5 laps of a playing field and an out and back loop though the forest with a very steep section right in the middle. Up until now I had never run a marathon before let alone after an Ironman bike leg! so this was uncharted territory. First lap I was actually feeling surprisingly good and full of running. I took on board what I could from each aid station and tried to avoid the coke until a little later on the run. At the turn point I could see and work out the gap I had, I reckon it was about 6min, the race was now mine to lose. Lap 2 I was starting to get a little bit uneasy and the constant change of terrain was upsetting my rhythm. Lap 3 I started to have my doubts as to whether or not I was going to finish let alone win. I just kept saying to myself on lap 4 just get through this one and the final lap will take care of itself. By this time I was walking the aid stations and not in good shape at all. I could see my winning margin slowly being eaten away. I was relieved to see Simon who gave me some encouragement which really helped because it made me realise I couldn't quit as I was racing for them too and it made me think of everyone back home who has helped me. The last lap was shear hell my lack of running training was starting to show and the win was slipping away. I did hang on though to win by 90 seconds but I was too wasted to even celebrate and collapsed over the finish line. My friend Rob helped me get back on my feet and sort my gear out so yes Rob I owe you 2 now!!

So I am delighted with the win and I did it tough against everything I had thrown at me in the last few weeks! It was clear that the swim and run were short but you can only race the course that's put in front of you. The bike though was mega tough which almost balanced things up and I hope they at least keep this element of it for next year.

The plan now is to head out to Texas at the end of the month to stay with my friend Mark Cathcart and I am racing the Long Horn Half Ironman the week after and hoping to improve upon my best half to date which was at Lisbon earlier in the year where I clocked 4:03:54. Work has settled down again so I should be able to get at least a good 2/3 week solid block with plenty of recovery thrown in. I have taken a lot from my win here and I know what needs to be done to improve and start making the top 15 in some Mdot races next year.

Well done and thank you to the guys at tri force (Simon, Mike and Rod). You are all stars in your own right.