Event: Cotswolds Classic 113 (Middle Distance)
Date: Sunday 14th July 2024

This is a lovely Half Ironman distance triathlon, in the beautiful Cotswolds countryside. It’s perfect for beginners as it’s super friendly and not very hilly. They actively encourage first-time entrants and those who want to complete the distance in a more relaxed environment, without the stress of cut-off times. It’s also great for the super speedy Half Ironman competitors chasing a PB, racing (as always) at the front of the pack.

I remember the conversation vividly. About a year earlier, I was speaking to Marit at Shepperton Lake. She had just completed a Half Ironman and I was in awe. ‘You can do it Alison,’ she said. ‘No chance Marit, I still struggle up the hills.’ ‘100% you can do it,’ said Marit. I had been through a bit of a tough time recently and the thought of being able to call myself a (Half) Ironman sounded amazing. The training would give me something very positive to focus on. But mainly the belief that someone else thought I could do it was the biggest driver.  So thank you Marit xx

The very same day I booked the early bird offer (£175) and I was in!! eek!

I then calculated my current times and scaled them up to the Half Ironman distances. Oh my goodness – it will probably be dark when I finish. What on earth have I done???????? But the website said ‘As long as you don’t stop for a pub lunch, we will wait for you to finish.’ And I couldn’t get a refund. So I thought I’d better put my big girl pants on and just start the training…

My biggest area to improve was swimming. I struggled to swim half a pool length of front crawl without panicking. So over the winter I did weekly group pool lessons with Lee from Fullstream (excellent). It gave me a good base, and I hope to do more lessons this winter.

The race organisers do a ‘try the course’ about 6 weeks before the competition, which is great. They take your round 1 lap of the cycle and run, so you can see the inclines, surface conditions, and where the food stations and toilets will be etc. This certainly calmed my nerves.  You also get a chance to meet some of the other competitors which was lovely. Lots of women of my age, first-timers, fantastic people.  Myself and another lady made a pact that whatever happened, we would drag each other over the finish line. Sorted 😊. (post edit – she finished fine).

Anne (Renshaw) and Richard were also booked in, so we stayed at the same hotel and had dinner together the night before (steak, chips, beer – carb loading).

The morning of the race started with a 4.30am breakfast. Heading into transition, a marshall spotted that one of my handlebar ends had fallen off. But cool as a cucumber he just taped it up for me.  Not sure other Half Ironmans would be so calm.

You can pre-choose start waves for the swim. I chose to start at the back of the mass start, as it started one hour before the last wave.  I knew I would be slow on the swim, so at least I would finish the swim part way through the pack and not be right at the back.  This was a good choice. As I didn’t want to be swum over by the subsequent waves, I also swam to the side.

The organisers offer a ‘nervous’ swimmer hat which is green. They only issue about 15 of them. Great idea. I took one. The safety canoes were lovely and kept checking I was ok.

I wanted to do the swim 50% front crawl and 50% breaststroke.  But I still felt quite panicky under race conditions, so I did about 10% front crawl and 90% breaststroke. No problem – that’s my target to improve next time.

Anne didn’t race as her back was really bad. So Maria and Anne were there to cheer me on – and what a sterling job they did!! I knew Maria had purchased a cowbell for the occasion (long story – ask either of us to explain 😊) and as I was finishing the swim I could hear the cowbell and their cheering. I was laughing in the water. What a brilliant end to the swim. Ladies – you are both legends!! xx

The bike was great and I felt strong. Two laps of rolling Cotswolds countryside, slightly hilly but not overly. Highlights were hearing the screams of Maria and Anne on each circuit (brilliant – completely made me laugh again each time) and cycling past a beautiful field of lavender (twice). The weather was perfect. Cool (about 19 degrees), overcast but no rain. Perfect. I averaged 24.3kmh on the cycle which is very fast for me.

My cross bar bag was full of food (cheese sandwiches, salted nuts, gels, jelly babies, salt tablets etc etc etc). I made sure I ate and drank (isotonics) every 5 km (without stopping) which kept me nice and fuelled. With a good stretch and loo break half way round, and with the cheers of Anne and Maria and the cowbell, I felt the bike section had gone really well.

Mentally I felt I had now finished the Half Ironman. Oh gosh – just the half marathon left… and the weather was now heating up.

The run was 3 laps around lakes and road. I knew there was a food station halfway round with ginger cake, so that was my focus. I have to say the run was tough. It felt like childbirth. You knew you had to do it, there was no way out except getting to the end. It was going to be painful, knackering and hideous. But there was no gas and air, or epidural (thank goodness) to help you along. Only ginger cake…

It was tough. Another friend Jenny drove from London to support me too, so Maria, Jenny and the cowbell got me through the run part (Anne had to leave). They were once again amazing. 

The toughest bit was finishing each lap. You then passed two shutes. The right shute had a red carpet and led to the finish arch. Yippie! The left shute took you around another 4.36 mile lap. Arrhh. That was tough.

On the first lap I was devasted to go left, but cracked on with it. On the second lap, I burst into tears going left.  It was beginning to get a bit too much by now.

Along the run, I chatted to my fellow competitors to see what lap they were on. When they were on lap 3 and I was on lap 1, that was tough. But with the Viceroys motto ‘never show weakness’, I knew I couldn’t give up. I had heard it’s good to walk/run the run. But by this point, it all needed to be over and done with as quickly as humanly possible, so I made myself run all of it.

One foot in front of the other. That’s all you have to do. And that’s what I did.

Taking the right shute after my 3rd lap was brilliant. Maria, Jenny and the cowbell were cheering me on, and the commentator shouted my name. All I had to focus on now was my photo over the finish line.  DONE!! I’M A HALF IRON(WO)MAN!!!

My friends hugged me and I burst into tears again. I felt very emotional. Particularly how far I had come (emotionally and physically) over the past year. I was incredibly proud of myself and very happy.  Jenny bought a lovely bottle of Moet, which we all joyfully quaffed down post-race.

So my advice to anyone. Even if you think you can’t ever do a Half Ironman, you definitely can. Just do it. I’m going to sign up to the same one next year, 13th July 2025 (113 events) so hopefully see you there. 

Follow Alison’s journey from a sprint triathlon to Half Ironman in her past race reports:
– Bewl Water Standard (Olympic) Distance Triathlon
– Free Tri Series Walton (IntoTri)