Thanks to John Hanly for the following race report from last weekends Switzerland half -ironman event. John completed the course in searing heat in a time of 5:52 (swim 43min, cycle 2:59, run 2:00). This was the his first continental race and the second for the club this year...
"I had been watching the weather forecast for the week leading up to the race, about a week out they were forecasting over night sleet with day time temperatures about 8-10oC with showers – yes in June!. Just what a blue Irish boy was used too!
I arrived to the small lake side town of Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland on the Friday before the race (on Sunday) so I had plenty of time to acclimatise. As it turned out the weather was the polar opposite from what I expected - 27oC without a cloud in the Sky. I was able to check my bike in on the Saturday afternoon, the organisation was exceptional with little or no queues and everyone was very helpful. One of the locals who had completed the race several times gave me an excellent insight to the course, especially the bike section.
On race morning there were 8 wave starts and ours was second last starting at 10:40, having checked my bike in on the Sat meant that I didn’t have to get up too early, so I left the hotel at 9:00am having stuffed my face full of food and wobbled the 10 mins to the transition area. Its amazing how many 40-50 age groupers seem hell bent on proving themselves – it appears the mid life crisis hits our European counter-parts just as hard!
Getting on my wet suit with a mixture of sweat and factor 50 took a matter of seconds. People were very gingerly entering the water and complaining it was only 17 oC, they managed 2 or 3 minutes and most got out again, it was the first time in two days that I felt normal! So much so that I didn’t get out again and stayed the 10mins till the race started, much to the amazement of some of the other competitors who were freezing.
The swim was a complete night mare at the start, I placed myself in the middle and for the first 900m there was absolutely no space to swim in, at the turn around point I managed to get to the edge and finally started to make some head way and would have easily managed to swim the second leg much quicker than the first (Colm and Shane would be proud of me – pace yourself). Taking off the wet suit was as easy as putting it on – I slipped out of the thing like a well lubricated banana. It was a fairly long run through transition but the surface was excellent and carpeted throughout. Bikes were well spaces with ample room for equipment and belongings. I had enough time to gather myself, slap on another bit of factor 50 on the backs of the legs and neck – forgot the backs of my arms and paid for that later!
In the briefing we had been given a fair idea of what to expect on the bike course and they were very proud of the fact that this was one of the toughest bike courses on the 70.3 circuit, the first 10km was flat and fast 43kph average, then boom – witches hill 6kph, by the time we hit the second hill (the beast) guys with €6k TT bikes were walking (Love dat!). All the local witches and warlocks turned out to shout encouragement and ring their cow bells, the same guys were there for laps one and two of the 45km circuit. Boy did we need encouragement, 22km of hills each lap with very little rest in between, in all there was 976m of climbing according to my Garmin. At the top of the “hill” 740m above sea level we started the decent, at one stage I was travelling at 62kph and braking, while being passed on every side by guys peddling flat out at what must have been 70kph+, anyone who knows me, knows I don’t mind speed but this was crazy stuff, If I had hair it would have stood on end! By the time I had completed the two laps of the course, my legs were like jelly, but managed to keep a fairly steady pace to the end in preparation of the small matter of a 21km run – oh goodie I love a challenge!
In the 160km Tour of Sligo I drank 1.5ltrs and went to the toilet 3 times, in Rapperswil-Jona I had taken on board a total of 6 ltrs and produced not a drop.
In T2 my legs felt fairly tired and the prospect of a 21km run in 28-30oC just didn’t appeal to me, it was a matter of applying the “baby steps” approach - get to the 5km, then the 10km have a gel, get to the 15km have a gel and then I’d be on the home stretch.
The run was a two lap course and was as flat as a pancake apart from the “64 steps to heaven” in the middle of the run. There were plenty of water stations, sponge stations, intermediate water stations manned by enthusiastic kids and cold showers dotted here and there, so you couldn’t have asked for more help than was offered. The atmosphere in the old town was exceptional with everyone shouting your name (it was on my bib!) and offering words of encouragement – Hopp John, Hopp!.
All in all the swimming conditions were excellent – especially for a blue skinned Irish boy, the bike course was challenging but very exciting on excellent surfaces and was very well marshalled and generally safe. The run was very flat if not a tad hot on the day. I’d have no problems in recommending this race as an exceptional overall experience, in retrospect maybe not as a first half Ironman but certainly as a second. A beautiful location with plenty to do for the kids in the town and surrounding areas if your travelling as a family– there was a zoo right next to the transition area. I didn’t get a chance to sample the beer after the event as I had to be up at 5:00am the next morning but it seemed to have plenty of potential with plenty of nice bars and posh restaurants – a great way of introducing your new girl friend to Ironman!"
