The friendliest Ironman ever
New Zealand dispatch #2
We're in New Zealand for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. In this second dispatch, we're covering the women's race! My wife, Brenda, is competing in the 60-64 age group, after qualifying at Ironman 70.3 Washington Indian Wells. Follow the links to find more on travel and triathlons through the lens of water.
The venue for the event is Taupō (pronounced toe-paw, although we've heard that, tow-poh, and various things in between), a vacation resort and adventure hub in the center of New Zealand's North Island. The city is on the shores of Lake Taupō, a caldera formed by a volcanic eruption 27,000 years ago and the largest freshwater lake in Australasia. Unlike Lake Rotorua, near last week's destination, which can suffer from algal blooms caused in part by agricultural runoff containing nitrate and phosphorus nutrients, Lake Taupō's water quality is generally excellent, although it's deteriorated slightly in recent years due, it's thought, to increased development along the shores.
Although the town has the shops, restaurants, bars, and infrastructure to easily handle 6,000 athletes and their camp followers, accommodation for race weekend filled up early, and even booking months ahead we were lucky to find a room in what is essentially a budget motel with shared bathrooms and kitchen. The Friday before the Saturday women's race the weather turned warmer, and the heat, lack of air conditioning, outside noises through the open windows, and the usual pre-race nerves conspired to give us less than the best sleep the eve of the race.
Lake Taupō can be windy and rough, with whitecaps and breaking waves. This morning, though, the wind is light and both air and water temperatures are unseasonably warm.
The Swim
Our athletes are up early for a last visit to the transition area to drop off hydration and nutrition at the bike, and then a walk to the swim start, where just over 2000 women athletes from 119 countries are greeted by an all-women’s waka. Here’s a video, well worth a look.
The pros started at 7:00, followed by the age group athletes at intervals over the next hour. My wife Brenda's 60-64 age group started at 7:55, and she entered the water 26 seconds later for the 1.9 km (1.2 mile) swim. I was able to get a spot on the beach to see her start.
This is certainly the most picturesque Ironman course of all those Brenda has competed in.
Brenda completed the swim in 41:52, 68th out of 133 in her age group after the swim, and within her expectations for this level of competition.
T1
After leaving the water and crossing the timing mat, athletes must run from the beach up a switchback ramp to street level, then over a bridge across the running route to the first transition area, T1, so swim-to-bike transitions are slower than usual. Wetsuit strippers help pull off wetsuits, while other volunteers are on hand to slather on sunscreen. As I learned on our first day in Auckland, the sun here is fierce.
Brenda completes T1 in 6:58, enough to pull up to 55th, and heads out on the bike, her strongest event.
The Bike
The bike course is what they call a lollipop, with a common section for the first and last 11 km and a loop in between. The route heads out on city streets before entering a more technical section with steep hills and switchbacks as the the riders make their way over the rim of the caldera.
By the first checkpoint at 8.2 km in the hill section, Brenda's already moved up to 42nd, and by 20 km she's in 36th. Here the course picks up Highway 5 for a long fast downhill section. By 41 km, Brenda has moved up to 32nd as the course leaves the highway and goes through what I remember from our drive around the course as the Middle Earth section, reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings scenery around Hobbiton, a couple of hours away. It is, of course, the most scenic Ironman bike course of all those we've seen, although the riders won't be taking the time to admire the views!
Another relatively flat section brings our riders back to the hills and the finish. Brenda beats her goal time of 3 hours by 33 seconds and completes the bike section as 15th on the bike and 24th overall.
T2
The bike-to-run transition, T2, is more conventional and much faster. Brenda's through in 3 minutes and out on the run. The sun has been out all day and it's starting to get seriously warm.
The Run
From the start, the run heads downtown and after two u-turns comes back past the start before heading out along the lake shore for another turn around. There are two laps, so spectators anywhere on the course have four opportunities to see the runners. The section between the start and town in particular is lined with cheering spectators on both sides. Brenda starts well, but after about 8 km she's slowing down. As she passes me for the second time I learn that she's suffering from stomach cramps, but resolves to press on. She's slipping down the rankings at this point.
At her third pass by me the cramps are still there, but by the fourth, the finish is within her grasp. I head over to the finish line where I score a position on the bleachers right next to the finish to watch her cross the line triumphantly in 6:21:29 for a 59th place in her age group, solidly in the upper half.
At the after parties that evening and again the next after the men's race, all agree that this was without a doubt the most scenic, best organized, best supported, and friendliest Ironman event they have ever attended.
Thanks, as always, for reading. I'm writing to you today from Napier, New Zealand where my writing nook looks out over a whitecap-strewn South Pacific in the general direction of Chile, almost 6,000 miles away. I'll have much more to say about this Art Deco seaside town in the next post.
For triathlons next year, we'll be revisiting Oceanside, California and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, before finishing the season with another visit to Ironman 70.3 Worlds, this time in Marbella, Spain. I'll be writing about all of them, along with the water issues that are sure to find me there.
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So fun to read! Thanks John- glad you are having an awesome trip!
Fun read, John! Congratulations Brenda! Amazing to see all the pics.