Here is the eagerly awaited and often requested race report from Graham “X” Stephenson!!
Better late than never but race reports aren’t really my thing so it’s taken a bit of doing. One I got going though as you’ll see there was no stopping me.
After Mallorca last year someone asked me if I wanted to do Ironman Barcelona this year and although I enjoyed the long stuff, doing another ironman branded race or a race of that type didn’t really appeal. If I was going to put the hours of training in I didn’t want it to be to knock a few minutes of my PB and knocking 49 minutes off to go sub 10 was always going to be a challenge. I wanted something that scared me. So what better than Triathlon X in the Lake District. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike which included The Struggle, Honnister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott and Wrynose and to finish a nice jaunt to the top of Scafell Pike and back.
Fast forward 8 months and I was wishing I’d just entered Barcelona. I’d put the training in and I was pretty confident I could do the swim and the bike as I’d done most of the route but the thought of the run at the end was really getting to me and I was grumpier than usual. However here I was stood by the side of Windermere at 4 am in the morning thinking s**t. Unlike Ironman everything was so laid back and there were only about 110 starters. In the far distance there was one buoy. Swim round that and back twice, swim done. 4000 metres later by my watch I was out of the water and the long swim seemed to be backed up by most people. Bit of a mothers meeting in transition as no one was in a rush and out on the bike.
2 minutes down the road and straight up the struggle. Fortunately the weather was good and I have to admit the Struggle was hard but enjoyable and with the adrenalin pumping the top came pretty quickly and off I went down the other side, keeping an eye out for Dave Smiths woolly friend. From here the route follows the Fred and it was going through Glenridding I got chatting to a lad called Steve. Although it is technically a non-drafting race, unlike Ironman where the Scooter Mafia are everywhere, there were no marshalls about so you could have a good natter. The next few hours were pretty uneventful apart from a few bumps in the road, Honnister and Newlands, By then I was looking forward to the feed station as you start to head up Whinlatter where I knew my family were heading. When I got there though it was class, I had my wife and daughter, mum and dad, sister, best mate who was in the lakes, couple of other friends as well as a couple of other likely lads some of you might know them as Nick and Kenny. By this time the sun was really starting to beat down and a cold coke and some chicken sarnies was definitely a boost. Re-fuelled and I was on my way but I knew over the back of Whinlatter was the long drag to Hardknott and the field was starting to thin so it was looking like a long couple of hours. Not helped by my saddle coming lose which meant I had to stop. Couple of helpful chaps, who looked familiar stopped to check if I was ok but by now I was on my own and already the thought of Hardknott was starting to creep in. As it turned out I managed to catch another lad so had a good chat with him and then eventually I caught up with Steve and another lad called John and we got a bit of a group together which helped keep a decent pace going. Eventually the time came, as we rode along the valley bottom you could see the sliver of grey snaking up in front of you. I’ve done Hardknott a few times and always managed it but today there was a nagging doubt. I don’t know if it’s because underneath I was worried about how much it would take out of me for the run but I wasn’t confident. Through the cattle grid and off we go. Straight in and it’s steep, already the legs were screaming and this was just the start. For those of you who haven’t done hardknott the start is hellish, steep and a couple of naughty switchbacks. After that it the gradient eases off but the mental and physical pain doesn’t as you know the worst bit is still to come and for me it is the bit just after where the road almost doubles back on itself and this time it defeated me. As I was weaving back and forth across the road a car was coming down, I looked at the car, the driver looked at me, I looked back and the foot came down. I’m not saying if the car wasn’t there I would have got up, if anything it gave me an excuse but I felt a bit deflated. In hindsight though the couple of minutes rest bite probably was what I needed as I made it over Wrynose and was off to transition. Just a couple of hills into and out of Coniston and the bikes done or so I thought. Over an hour later I’m still going as the hills seemed to go on forever and by this time I was sick of being on the bike, sick of pedalling and definitely sick of hills. Finally the downhill arrived, past the drunken duck and into Ambleside. Swim done, bike done now just for this run.
Steve and John were in transition, again there was no rushing and we decided to set off on the run together. John had a support runner and admitted running was his weakest part so it wasn’t long before it was me and Steve. First mile was pretty flat just out of Ambleside around Watershead. This part was all on roads but it was far from flat, rolling hills and some worryingly steep bits, so it was very much run walk and even on the flats we were 8 minutes walk 2 minutes flat. The downhill bits weren’t exactly a relief as you knew you had to run back up them 20 miles later. The run along to T2A at Dungeon Gyll overall was pretty steady and at this stage we were in 43rd position. Watered and fed we hit the track up to the bottom of Scafell Pike. From here it just went uphill, first on a mountain path then across the boulder fields and finally a scramble up to the top and in the heat it was tough. By the time we got to the top Steve had dropped back a bit and I tried waiting but my legs started to cease up so I had to crack on. With a bit of fell running I felt pretty comfortable on the technical bits and had already made up 10 places and passed another 6 on the way down. Then it got lonely. They’d stopped letting people up the mountain so for the next hour I saw no one. I Couldn’t see anyone behind me or anyone in front of me down the track. My pace dropped massively and I just started to drift. At no point did I feel like I wanted to stop, I just had no enthusiasm for pushing on. I got to T2A and the Marshalls said I was a good 10 minutes behind the next guy. I’d mentally prepared myself for the last 7 miles back to the finish as being the worst physically but I hadn’t prepared for the mental impact and I just couldn’t get myself going. The legs actually still felt pretty good so I don’t know if it was contentment that if I just carried on like this I’d finish and I was happy with my position or what but the miles just drifted by rather than being ticked off. I also knew that one of my friends who was doing it as a relay was chasing me down and I think I was just waiting for her for some company. The hills I remembered came and went (slowly) and I was just meandering to the finish. Then Gemma arrived and I was so pleased to see her. What I wasn’t pleased to see was another competitor behind her, b*****ks, I’d messed this up. But it wasn’t just another runner it was STEVE who with the help of Gemma had bust a gut to catch me. After nearly 17 hours we did get a bit emotional and we did have a bit of moment hugging it out but this gave me the incentive I needed and somehow the three of us picked up the pace with the watch at one point showing 8 minute miles and it felt good when we made up the 10 minutes on the runner in front. Steve did start to drop back again but by this point it wasn’t about beating anyone it was about experiencing the biggest sporting buzz of my life and I wanted to cross the line with him. 17 hours and 11 minutes after we started we crossed the finish line of what I would describe as the most epic, amazing and challenging thing I’ve ever done. The weather was superb, the relaxed atmosphere, in its own way, was brilliant, the support I had from my family incredible and the scenery inspiring. 4 weeks later I’m still beaming and would recommend this race to anyone who fancies something different.
I probably should add at this point in true NE31 style I’d had a nightmare with my watch and it hadn’t been working since half way round the bike so don’t ask me what any of my splits are but to be honest I couldn’t care, what a day!!!