Olympic Challenge: September 2013

Wednesday 25 September 2013

City 12 done: Beijing

To continue the trend of not just running in Olympic cities I just did the Beijing International Triathlon.

The event was held at the Qing Long Lake Park which lies about 35km outside of the city itself.

I had hired my bike and was ready to pick it up at the hotel (who knows what I would have done if it wasn't there) but it was. The race registration and bike rack was down at the lake which was about 7km down the road from the hotel. The 7km ride down there would do me well as I had never actually ridden a racer before which is what they had given me so it would be good practice as well as getting me to the lake. The instructions seemed too simple…turn right, then right again and go straight until you reach the lake. I thought I had done that but clearly not as I carried on straight until I reached the entrance to the motorway……not quite the quiet surroundings of a lake. Through lots of sign language to locals I eventually made it to the triathlon start area!

The swim was 1.5km clockwise lap of the lake, the bike ride was 40km and was partially flat but did involve climbing up a mountain which offered spectacular views of the surrounding area but was challenging to say the least and the run was a 10km off road run.

Crossing the finish line was great (especially as they read out your name as you approach the finish) and I was pleased to have completed the race. My results were broken down as per the below:

Overall place: 135^th out of 377

Division place: 29^th out of 73

Gender place: 125^th out of 334

Overall time: 2h 57m

Swim (1.5km): 27m 33s

Bike (40km): 1h 38m 30s

Run (10km): 41m 59s

I was pleased with this as it was a tough race. It also included an extra 600m run from the swim exit to transition which adds on a little time to the usual triathlon.

The swim and run were decent times (I was actually 20^th overall for the run and 2^nd for my division and 44^th overall for the swim and 6^th for my division) but my bike ride just really let me down.

Beijing was a great city to be in and I would recommend a trip there to anyone (and the triathlon as well if you fancy it!)

Approaching the finish line:

The medal:

Post race race with a flag:

Until next time.....

Monday 9 September 2013

City 11 done: Amsterdam

Yesterday was the Amsterdam City Swim.

2012 was the inaugural year for the event for the 1.5km swim in the city’s extensive 100km of canals. Rumour has it that the Queen of the Netherlands was taking part (as she did last year) but I am not sure if she did make an appearance; however the thought that I potentially did race a real live Royal is exciting....

Just before I set off for Amsterdam I had a look at the joining instructions again….seemingly it appeared that the distance of the race has increased from 1,500m to 2,013m. I see what they did there with the year but an extra 500m in a swim race is quite a difference as opposed to just adding it on to a run?! Oh well….no time for moaning! I just had to get on with it!

There was a brilliant atmosphere at the start area. I was nervous but excited and pleased to be in the second wave of starters so that I didn’t have to hang around too long. The professionals were set off by the firing of a loud canon from a ship in the dock. Shortly after I jumped into the canals and was off too.

The first section of the swim was in more open water so it felt like it was taking ages to reach the first bridge. Once there though we were into the smaller canals of the city and there were supporters everywhere. It was fantastic to see so many people standing and sitting on the bridges, streets and houseboats shouting their support.

I finished the swim in a time of 37 minutes and 31 seconds placing me 122^nd out of 1,772 swimmers which I was pleased as punch with.

Let's see if the Queen can beat that eh?!

So that's my 11th Olympic City completed....next stop Beijing in a few days!

Some pictures below:

Post race with flag and medal: