Tuesday 7 May 2019

4th May 2019 ITU Long Distance World Championships Pontevedra, Spain

1.5km Swim 108km Bike 30km Run - Temperature 22oF
Swim 32:31 - T1 04:34 - Bike 03:26:27 - T2 02:42 – Run 02:13:10 Total Time 6:19:23
World Champion 55 - 59 Age Group, 56th overall



The championship campaign starts here, Pontevedra. The ITU is the world governing body for triathlon and they have a week of world championships across various disciplines culminating in the long distance triathlon at a unique distance. The last time I had competed in this final was 2007 and I had come 26thso there was some room for improvement! There were two changes to the standard long course distance, with water and air temperatures below 14oC the rules mandated the swim distance was halved from 3km to 1500m and in addition, the bike course was cut from 120km to 108km to eliminate some of the technical descents. 

The swim was a deep water mass start - great, lots of contact and a real race to the turn buoy and back out the water. Throughout the race I would be toe to toe with my peers, when being passed I would have to dig deeper to remain in contention or when passing I could surge to create a gap and move up through the field. This was going to be way more fun than the rolling start format and the prize was a world crown.

The swim to the turn was up stream and so it was critical to find some fast feet to sit behind and conserve energy. I quickly found myself at the pointy end of the swim and it seemed like I was in the front pack through to the turn but on the way back I seemed to get gapped and lose valuable time on the lead guys. I exited the water and sprinted the 500m to the change tent at T1, ripped off the wetsuit and jumped on the bike. I had finished the swim in 8th spot and had made up a place in transition to now be in 7th but I didn’t know that at the time, it’s just full gas from gun to tape.

The bike course was three laps of a 36km course that was either up or down, totalling 1500m of climbing with some hairy descents and dead turns. The fastest bikes splits would be down to who had the best descending skills and had the nerve to drive the bike hard into every corner, inevitably there were a fair number who lack one or both and ended up on the deck with nasty road rash. I worked hard to keep the power on up the hills and used any aero advantage I could on the long downhill sections, passing a number of my age group to complete the first lap in the top three. I was now in a race, exchanging places with the leaders by burying myself on the uphill sections and on the rivet descending, reaching speeds in excess of 70kph. By the end of the second lap I felt I had created a gap sufficient for them not to see me anymore and therefore I could focus on fuelling for the run and getting to the dismount line safely. I was desperate to know my placing and whether I could be conservative with run pace or needed to red line it to catch anyone in front of me.

Quickly through T2, I just locked into a pace that felt comfortable so I could compose myself and keep a strong rhythm. I hadn’t run 30k for over 6 months so it was a bit of an unknown quantity pace and endurance wise but I resolved to focus on the now and just run at or below my target pace of 4:30 minutes/km. At the end of the first lap I saw Mary but the athlete tracker wasn’t helping with figuring out my race standing. The pace was comfortably ahead of my target so I was less stressed about my position as I knew my run split would probably be the fastest on the day. I kept the fuel going in and maintained my rhythm and by the end of the second lap Mary confirmed I was in the lead by five minutes or more. Simply by staying on my pace would be good enough for the win, my mind started to drift to the finish line and the prospect of my first world title. I seemed to float through the next two laps and I before I knew it I was running down the finish chute to take the tape.


It still hasn’t sunk in really, winning gold and being crowned world champion was never in my contemplation when I started out in this sport 17 years ago. I had a plan to try and win a title this year and I was giving it everything but that’s still more of a wish list than a certainty. I couldn’t be more proud and so grateful for all the support I get from Mary, my family and friends. Chuffed.


1 comment:

  1. Congratulations Roger! Awesome performance! A worthy World Champion!

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