Ironman 70.3 Switzerland Race Report

9:00am attention...start...
The line was lifted and everyone was fighting for a good position in the 60 degree cold water. I started all the way to the left out of the second row. At this time only M18 and M25 started. Every 15 minutes they started 2 more age groups. Fighting for a spot I tried to find someone’s feed which was more difficult then I thought. It was extremely tough to orientate myself since all I saw was flying arms and legs. I didn’t pay much attention to where I was in the field but I felt as if I was slowly falling behind the main group (which wasn’t the case). After 0:32:45 I got out of the water running past a cheering crowed towards the transition area.
2min 13sec transition and I was off on my bike. I felt a little tired from the swim but recovered on the first few miles. After 10km the course took us up “The Beast”. I think that is self explanatory. On the way up the 15% incline the people of the village created an amazing atmosphere with all sorts of tools that made noise and a Caribbean band on the top of the hill. By km 20 the inclines ended and I started descending. Here I almost said good bye to the race. The course sent us into another small village where we had to take a very sharp left turn. Underestimating the speed I had I missed the turn and almost ran over the helper that directed the triathletes. He jumped out of my way and jelled something in Swiss-German that I didn’t even understand. Past the helper I went up the side walk and squeezed myself in between a parked car and a wall (no more than 3ft). Can you say LUCKY? That could have been my first real crash. Besides that the first loop went very well and I felt great. As usual on the bike! Starting the second loop I had to stop at one of the aid stations because I lost the water bottle that I grabbed. From the first loop I knew that the next aid station was too far away so I had to stop completely and grab two new bottles. All together the two loops on the bike took me 2:42:15 which was a great time for me. A fast T2 (1min 29sec) and I started the half marathon. The first few steps felt horrible but not even close to what I felt like last September at the Nutmeg Half Iron. I took in some more fluids to replenish my minerals and after the first 2km I felt much better. At km 3 the loop had integrated 64 stairs called “stairway to heaven” which was the cause for many cramps that day. For the first 14km of the run, this guy from South Africa that I meet after the race, stayed on me heel. I was his pacemaker until I had to slow down because my legs got tired. The second loop of the course took me a few minutes extra so that I finished the run after 1:48:53. At the finish line the commentator called out my name and my personal fan club that had cheered for me at every possible corner during the race screamed and yelled when I finished. My parents, my brother + girlfriend, my girlfriend, and my brother’s girlfriend’s family congratulated me behind the finish line. With a time of 5:07:46 I finished 360th out of 1228 men and 14th in M18. The winner of Ironman 70.3 Switzerland, Ronnie Schildknecht, finished in 3:51:45. The winner of my age group beat me by 45min which means I have a lot to work on :)
I want to thank my personal fan club for supporting me. I am not sure how they managed to change their position so quickly during the race. They were cheering for me out of every corner. The commentator announced that a crowd of 35000 people was at the race and I would say that my fan club did the best job cheering. :)