Lanzarote Ironman
19th May 2012

Paul's Photos  : Official Race Photos

 

Official Results

Name Swim 3.8k Cycle 180.2k Run 42.4k Total
Paul Stuart 1.20.18 6.46.25 4.17.46 12.44.30
Mike Statham 1.28.57 6.55.46 5.29.58 14.18.33
Paul Stuart 12:44:30
Mike Statham 14:18:33
 
Ironman Lanzarote consists of a 2.4 mile sea swim followed by a 112 mile bike route that cleverly takes in all of the islands big climbs (most of which are very exposed and directly into the wind) then a 26.2 mile run in the Lanzarote sun. These all combine to make it one of the toughest events on the ironman circuit.

On Saturday Mike and I set out to conquer the challenge. The race started at 07.00 with 1600+ competitors nervously congregated on the beach worrying about the swarms of jelly fish that were rumoured to be waiting for us in the water. The swim was very congested and very physical at times, it took me back to my rugby days, in fact, if I knew it was going to be like it was I would have worn my gum shield and taped my ears back !! We only encountered a few jelly fish but nothing to cause us problems. Mike and I both PB'd the swim which makes me think that they the tide was in our favour.

The bike leg lived up to all expectations, with multiple long arduous climbs directly into a strong head wind followed by rapid descents. The weeks of saturday morning long rides and hill reps had prepared us for this combination and we both did well on the bike. We recorded overall bike splits of 6.55 Mike and 6.46 Paul.

The run route was three "out and back" laps on a cycle path along the coast road.  We started the run with the temperature well over 30 degrees and I quickly adopted the strategy of running between each of the well placed and frequent aid stations. Then while walking through each station took on as much water and flat coke as I could while quickly eating orange segments. I managed to keep this strategy going until the end and crossed the line in 12 hours 44 minutes. Mike suffered badly with cramp on the run but managed to keep going and finished in 14 hours 18 minutes.

As far as the question of whether or not this event is the toughest ? The long distance triathlon,whatever the course, is a massive challenge and most events have something that sets them apart from others. I think Lanzarote has a bike course that is more formidable than most and as such earns the reputation of being classed as, at the very least, one of the very toughest.
 
Paul Stuart

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