Podium

I took part in the first triathlon organised by Mareil Marly, a nearby town, yesterday. A poster had been put up on the wall of the running club changing rooms and since it was free entry, I decided that it would be worth a shot. Despite the fact that it wasn't a classical triathlon, since the swimming had been replaced by archery, I managed to persuadeAndy to take part too.

We turned up at 1:00 pm at the start to sign up and to check out the competition. The plan was a 6 km run followed by a 12 km bike ride (2 loops of the same course) and then a 6 arrow archery competition. I won't go into the calculation regarding the scoring as it was far too complicated and nobody understood, suffice to say that it was based on your performance against the average and then weighted 2/3 for the bike/run and 1/3 for the archery.

Andy and I checked out the course quickly and it was clear that it wasn't going to be as simple as I had imagined. There was a long uphill to begin with, which lasted about 1 kilometre, before flattening out on a track through the forest. Just enough time to pick up speed before a sharp left then right combination sending you an a narrow parallel path to the track through some mud and roots. Another sharp left and then down a vicious slope (very dangerous on my old mountain bike whose braking capacity was very limited) and along another narrow path with a steep drop off the left. Having negotiated all of this, there were a few more shorter pulls uphill before a final downhill stretch to the starting area. The course was sufficiently technical to be interesting on the bike, but what would it be like running ?

We lined up at the start after a short delay against the planned 2:00 pm start. A few words of advice about the course and then we were off. It all started fairly fast and Andy and I were back from the front runners in a total pack of about 50 competitors. I left Andy and accelerated slightly to see what the front runners were doing. 2 runners were sharing the lead, one in his early 40's and the other almost 20 years younger. I followed them up the hill, taking it steadily to run the first kilometre in 4:34. As soon as we hit the top and the track, I stretched out, picking up the pace and overtaking the older guy in the process. I tagged behind the young runner and then overtook him as we left the track and ran along the muddy path. I wondered if he would fall off the pace here, but then as we turned to go down the hill, he came past and quickly put a good 15 metres distance on me.

At this point, I hesitated mentally and then resigned myself to the fact that he was a good competitor and that the over 40 category was still within my grasp. I let him pull away and as we finished the run heading down the hill to the bikes, he had gained 50 metres over me. I jumped on my bike, only to be told to get off immediately, as the bikes had to be walked through the transition area. I refused the water and food offered and started on the bike just behind my younger rival. My hopes of winning wavered again as he was as good on the bike as he was running. He quickly left me up the first hill and at the top, he had put 100 metres between the two of us. I concentrated on finding a comfortable rhythm along the flat and started pushing the big cogs as much as possible.

I glanced up as we ended the flat section and saw that the distance between us had reduced again to around 75 metres. I lterally flew down the hill, scaring myself rigid in the process as the warm-up circuit with Andy was completely different when hurtling downhill at top speed. Twice the bumps almost through me off balance but as the path flattened out, the guy in black was just in front of me. I latched onto his wheel at this point and followed him up the short hills. We hit the top and another wider track and I shifted to the large cog on front and accelerated away. He followed and as we completed our first lap, he was just on my tail.

I had recovered my breath by now and was feeling more comfortable on the bike. Comfortable in the leg muscles at least, since on the downhill, I had landed so heavily on the saddle that it was pointing skyward at an angle of 15°. I kept the legs turning over quickly up the hill and the breathing behind me disappeared. I couldn't look back to see where he'd gone as I didn't want to show him any signs of encouragement. As I hit the top, I felt great and I just wanted to retain the lead over the remainder of the course. The feeling of leading a race was tremendous, something that I'd never experienced before. I kept peddling steadily now, checking every now and then that there was nobody arriving at speed from behind. When I reached the wide track leading downhill, I knew that I'd won the race. My only scare was on the last downhill stretch, a man pushing a lawnmower popped out from his garden, almost mowing me down in the process.

Last bend, a final sprint and I finished first: a good minute ahead of the second competitor and three minutes ahead of Andy who finished third. I was really satisfied with my performance and happy that I'd done a good job. To be honest, I wasn't bothered about the archery to come, being a complete novice, this would just be the fun part.

Andy gave me a few tips as we headed up to the archery: keep your elbow high as you pull back the arrow; bring the arrow to your eye; pull back as far as possible. I bore this in mind as I let loose the first 3 practise arrows. 2 sevens and a nine - not bad. Another 3 practise arrows and I improved again. I lined up for the first 3 arrows that would be counted now. First arrow: seven points; second a nine; last a ten. 26 points from a possible 30 - excellent. A reasonable second volley and I'd secure my place as best veteran at least.

The second volley was more tense than the first as more was at stake. First arrow: ten points - impressive; second arrow - nine then the last arrow: another ten. 29 points from a possible 30. Even the judge was impressed. I was ecstatic.

Andy and I waited a long time for the prizes, but we picked up first team. I won first veteran and then first in the overall rankings. First ever podium for me and I was over the moon.

I'll be back next year to defend my title !