1.9km Swim 90km Bike 21km Run - Temperature 32oF
Swim 35:13 - T1 01:52 - Bike 02:23:39 - T2 01:20 – Run 01:36:39 Total Time 4:38:44
55 - 59 Age Group Champion, 11th overall
It felt like the season started back in December at Challenge Daytona, that being the first of three qualification races for the 2019 goal of racing all five of the long distanced branded and non-branded championship races. The Ironman 70.3 world champs are in Nice, France this year so it was a great opportunity to race at the top level close to home. I had booked a summer holiday in France so if I didn’t qualify in Colombo I was going to have to race again later in the summer to get my slot so there was some pressure to get the job done now.
This is only the second year of this race so it was a bit of an unknown quantity. When I looked at the start list, it was a relatively small field by Ironman standards and a short tail of quality athletes. However, there were clearly a number of good athletes that had come from most corners of the world (58 countries represented) to grab a spot for the world champs so, it wasn’t going to be such a soft spot after all! I figured I had about 5 guys to beat, all of whom had competed at the world champs the previous year. In reality you just race who turns up and race as hard as you can. The one caveat for me was that I had done very little running since tearing my calf at Christmas so I was really anxious not to bury myself on the run if I didn’t need to.
The swim was not great for me, rolling start sea swim and non-wetsuit. No BOOM of a gun, just a slow amble to the start line then a five count before the next 4 athletes rush into the surf, it couldn’t be less anti-climactic start. The waves weren’t huge but they were big enough to hide the buoys and make navigation a lottery of which swimmer you trusted most to follow, assuming they could see the buoys! I snaked my way around the course with no real idea if I was making good head-way but it was over soon enough and I was rushing through T1 and ready to attack the bike course.
I was quickly out onto the flat three loop bike course with just a handful of dead turns to break up the time trial. I made my way through the field during lap one and we were pretty strung out by the time we had completed the first 30k. By the second lap, small bunches of riders were starting to form, clearly illegally drafting on each other’s wheel. I largely put the cheaters from my mind until a pack of riders came by with one guy sat in the middle who was in my age group. Now this guy was clearly going to cheat his way into getting my slot for the world champs so number 136 Chip Grizzard quickly had my attention. I sat 10m behind the group observing their riding so I could be sure it was blatant cheating and not a momentary lapse of concentration or failed passing manoeuvre. Yup, he was holding a wheel, less than a metre from the rider in front. I pushed a little more power and came along-side him, told him he was cheating and ought to back off into a legal position – nothing, nada, no acknowledgement of my presence never mind my message! Some in the group took my advice, others just kept their head down and cheating. I figured I would need to gap the group and keep them at least a minute behind me into T2 so I put the hammer down and left them behind. At each dead turn I continued to observe them cheating as they passed by the other side but I managed to hold the gap through to T2. 
A swift change in T2 and I headed out onto the run course with the temperature hovering around 30oC. It was a flat two lapper and had two dead turns on each lap, ideal for talking splits on the gap I had on the chasers. The first out leg was along the concrete harbour breakwater, the heat radiating off the walls like an oven and the air completely still. I checked my watch at the turnaround then again when I saw cheater Chip, I had a lead of just over two minutes. I shouted across to Chip, reminding him of his less than honest performance on the bike. 5k to the next dead turn and the gap had grown to over 5 minutes, I just had to keep the same pace and I would get the win and coveted WC slot. The temperature continued to climb, reaching a baking 38oC so I just kept a lid on the pace and slowed down at each aid station to make sure I took on enough liquids and fuel to comfortably sustain me to the finish line, no need to take any chances, just tap it out.
I crossed the line pretty spent but not buried, it was my longest run in four months but the calf held up and I had gotten the job done. I am pleased to report Chip was passed in the last 100m and came 3rd, well done Jeremy Snoad! Now on to Liuzhou and to scrap it out for a spot at the big one, Ironman WC Hawaii.
