‘On Sunday I participated in the Human Race swim at Marlow.  I did the 3km distance.

 

For the first time this season Pam and I  decided to leave the kids in bed and sneak out early without them…..Nanny was staying the weekend!  It was a completely stress free start to the day and so I was able to really concentrate on the event.  The weather forecast was good, I felt really good and prepared.

We set off in good time and having carefully planned the route the night before, I was confident about the unfolding plan for the morning. This was boosted by the fact we would be avoiding the usual chaos of herding children and relatives into position before the start where they could see the race whilst trying to stay calm and focussed.

Unfortunately I had planned a route to Henley rather than Marlow.  I don’t know why but needless to say I surprised to discover nobody else had bothered to show up….probably put off by the fact the forecasters had got it wrong and it was raining heavily.  It didn’t take long for the penny to drop and we set off in the direction of Marlow!  Lesson 1 – check the location of the venue and write it on your hand the night before.

Fortunately I arrived in time to register and prepare for the race.

The Start was a bit confused in that the organisers had decided to split the wave I was in into two to avoid too many swimmers trying to get to the first buoy.  Quite why this was being done on the day was a bit odd but we did what we were told and waited to be invited into the holding pen. At the last minute they decided to send us off together so my lot ended up at the back of the 150 strong pack.

The Race itself was uneventful with the usual fending off the zig zag brigade working their way up the river and the occasional collision with tail enders of the earlier wave.  I had a very controlled and chilled swim and had enough left in the tank to sprint the last 200m  – I was convinced I’d done really well.

As it turns out I’d swum a mediocre time. I was really annoyed that I hadn’t gone out harder and moved myself up the leader board.  Lesson 2 is don’t hold back – I was unsure how I’d cope with the distance this year having trained mainly on my run and bike legs, so had a cautious approach to the race.

I’ll be back next year to nail a better time and look to finish in the top 10 in my age group or better!

I have to say, despite the slightly chaotic start, it was a really nice event that had a really nice friendly feel.  I would recommend it for those who fancy the purity of an Open Water Swim Event on a small scale.’

As raced and reported by Carl Fisher.