Event: Vichy European Sprint Triathlon 2024
Date: 21st September 2024

What a difference a year makes!

The day started early just as the sun was rising over a calm flat Allier River. Bikes had been racked the night before, all that was required was to set out my transition space and then make our way to the start!

The swim was a deep water start with one hand on the pontoon, rhythm of heartbeats blaring over the speakers…. With only 3 mins between each wave, there was very little time to acclimatise, I was still swishing some water into my wetsuit when I heard – “On your marks, BANG!” and we were off into the river reflecting the golden sunrise.

The anticlockwise course was a massive help as I’m a left side breather. I have worked hard this year on technique and focusing on relaxing. Not only did I swim an efficient route, (usually I get my money’s worth on the swim visiting all sorts of attractions on route to the exit), it felt comfortable. Surprisingly I came out of the water further up than I could ever have hoped for.

The first 3 waves (F50, F55 & F60+) went off with nearly an hour gap before the next waves, which was perfect as we didn’t suffer the red mist fuelled younger men overtaking on bikes, as I had experienced at the 2023 Worlds.

T1: Not a lot to say, I knew exactly where my bike was and went straight to it – helmet, glasses and shoes on, run to find the mount line….did I say the mount lines were not in place before our wave!?

Cycle was 3 laps, despite this being a drafting race, I came out onto the course on my own working hard to catch and overtake cyclists. Eventually, I had another Brit for company, who initially took turns. It became apparent I was the strongest cyclist and on the final lap was left to lead (possibly they had a good race strategy, but annoying for me).

T2: I overshot the entrance to T2 and the two cyclists behind me entered transition first…doh!

I came out of transition on the run, chasing and overtaking, it felt relaxed and a good pace. This continued until I reached the river with 300m, and three right angle bends to go, when I discovered I had to find another gear in a sprint for the line. Dipping at the line but I wasn’t convinced it was enough. The official results were not published until the evening, so it was a long wait to discover my dip had done the trick!

9th at the Europeans – I’ll take that!

The very best thing about triathlons is the people and with multiple elements, you can usually find a positive… whether the run was good or even that your transition was faster than your competitors – and yes there is usually an element or two you think you could improve on. But I can honestly say this time I had an absolutely storming race, achieving way more than I thought could. One very happy Granny!

Worth noting, my planned pre-race fuel of fish pie and peas was a bit of a linguist disaster, for future I now know nothing complicated is required as all I need is a pile of mashed potato and peas!!!!

Special thanks to Rob the bike butler and my 87 year old Dad who walked many miles around Vichy to support his mad daughter. Thankfully this year didn’t include a visit to the local A&E!

Event: Hever Castle Triathlon | Castle Race Series
Date: 29th September 2024

When I booked in late summer, I thought Hever would make a nice finish to the UK race season, but torrential rain in the lead up to the event had me questioning the wisdom of my decision. Thankfully, the sun was forecast to return for the weekend of the races and, even though it was never likely to make a difference to the bracing 17 degrees water temperature, it was great to be racing in the dry especially as I’d recklessly signed up to the Olympic distance so was expecting to be out on the course for quite some time.

As it transpired, I needn’t have concerned myself with the water temperature as the wettest September on record at Hever resulted in the swim being cancelled. Disappointing, but the flip side was an extra hour in bed as my start time was also pushed back.

The event was well organised and, despite the still wet conditions underfoot and some changes to the race format and route, there was a fun and friendly atmosphere throughout. The course is very picturesque, meandering through the undulating Kent countryside and the beautiful grounds of Hever Castle. A bit over my target of 3 hours after my 11:00 start, I’d soon enough finished the 5km run/40km bike/10km run.

In all, a good day out but lesson learned that you’re taking a chance with the weather in late September. After the race, I didn’t hang around to check out the merch or food stands, but if they were anything on par with the photography (£15 for a single digital print) then it would have been pricey. And as a consequence, you and I will have to make do with this rather bad selfie.

Event: UCI Gravel World Series – Ruthin, Wales
Date: 22nd September 2024

How it started
Whilst in the final weeks of preparation for my 100km Ultra I received a message from a friend asking if I was doing the UCI race the week after my run. My initial reaction was not printable but then after a few moments of thinking time, I agreed to go if he wanted to do it!
So, a new challenge was born!

Clearly, the aim was to get round this year rather than qualify for an AG World Champs place. Would my body recover enough from the previous week’s Ultra to make this possible? I wasn’t sure, but I was up for giving it a go!

The course
The race begins around Brenig reservoir, where the initial ascent, a 1.2km climb at an average gradient of 4%, awaits after 6km on the reservoir’s north side. The initial climb is designed to fragment the peloton. Subsequently, at the 14km mark on each lap, riders encounter a second comparable ascent, stretching 1.3km with an average gradient of 6.2%. Nestled between these climbs is a brief 100m incline, boasting an average gradient of 28%. Throughout the course, elevation fluctuates between 300 and 470m above sea level and is never flat. With a cumulative elevation gain exceeding 2000m, this course presents a formidable challenge to all participants and at 112km, adds up to the official qualifier distance for the UCI Gravel World Championships.

The race
The weekend before the race our campsite booking was cancelled due to a flood, this proved to be a sign of things to come! Luckily, we found alternative accommodation in an Airbnb in nearby Ruthin that wasn’t fully booked. After arriving on Saturday afternoon, we went for a walk to stretch our legs and found ourselves in a thunder and lightning storm. Everything was pointing towards a very wet race! The weather forecast for race day was rain, rain and more rain and led to many entrants not even making the start line.

6:00 – Time to get up, pack the van and sort the Airbnb out. No rain!

7:00 – 30-minute drive to the venue and then 30 minutes looking for a layby to park in.

8:00 – Spin down to registration to sign on and check out the first few km of the course, find the bag drop location and time for a coffee before cycling back to the van to get kitted up.

10:00 – Final kit choices made. Is it going to rain, rain or rain? Then spin back down to the start to get into our pens to await the start.

11:00 – Race starts with the usual frantic dash up a gravel hill before a 5km road section where groups formed before we hit some single track and things spread out a little. One ambulance with 2 crash victims already! Still no rain.

13:30 – After a steady 2.5 hours I’m feeling ok, fuelled with a 40g carb gel every 30 minutes washed down with a bottle of water, I get to the end of lap 1 and it’s still mainly dry.

13:35 – RAIN!! Finally, the scheduled rain came just after I had passed the start/finish area. I have never raced in rain this heavy before. It was character building for sure and never stopped for the rest of the event!!

16:00 – Another 2.5 hours of grinding, sticking to the same fuelling strategy, battling through the rain/mud and the end is in sight (kind of, as not much to see through my muddy Oakley’s!) so I sit up and cruise whilst letting a rider catch me up only to find he is in my category so I get to do a sprint (for a lowly 37th) at the end. Just what I needed to bring an epic race to an end!!

17:00 – Back in the van for the long journey back.

22:30 – Home after a long, challenging, but enjoyable day out!

How it ended!!
To summarize, I had a great weekend away with friends and even though I wasn’t in any fit state to perform, I really enjoyed the race from a slightly different viewpoint. It’s amazing what the body can do when you focus on getting something done!!

Event: Bacchus Wine Half Marathon & 10km
Date: 8th September 2024

Fancy dress 10k with wine stops, live music, cheese and biscuits along the route plus a hog roast and party at the end…? Sign me up!

The Bacchus Wine 10k/half marathon is THE place to have the funniest day out wearing your best fancy dress outfit. A bunch of us decided to sign up and make a day of it…I was due to go as Little Bo Peep but not only had I lost my sheep, I had lost the outfit as well. So I ended up doing my best to recreate an 80s fitness instructor with a few items I had lying around.

We made it to the start line just as the rain started (that didn’t help with my bright pink heart shaped glasses!). But we giggled and laughed as we made our way through the beautiful vineyards, rolling hills, and a bit of mud before we reached our first stop.

The rain had stopped and the sun shone brightly on us. A tipple of red or white wine, a selection of cheeses (including vegan) plus a handful of crackers were on offer so we tucked in! With a few sips whilst enjoying the view we then made our way once more. A few more (steep) hills later, we reached the second stop. More wine and snacks!

A few more even steeper hills and we had made it to the top only to find a wonderful sign saying… “all downhill from here.” We flew down those hills and made it in one piece to our third and final stop where we danced for a bit to the live music, having another tipple with some sweets, donuts and chocolate eclairs! Yummy.

With only 500m to go, we were cheered across the finish line, each with our name kindly read aloud by the MC. What a lovely finish to a fab “race.”

After collecting our medals and T-shirts we cheered on the remaining group before heading to the party tent. We gobbled down our complementary tipple of choice (wine or beer) with a hog roast burger then raved our way around the party tent to the 90s old skool Ibiza classics! What a bangin party!!

I can’t recommend this enough if you’re looking for a fun filled event with loads of dancing en route and at the end. Who’s joining me next year?!