Challenge Roth 2021 Dreams Cannot Be Cancelled

Race number 1133 AG 55-59 European Long Distance Triathlon Championships

Time 10:02:05

Swim 01:16:31 (639)

Bike 05:05:34 (465)

Run:03:32:35 (199)

Ninth overall in age Group for DATEV Challenge Roth powered by Hep. Fifth AG European Championships (to be confirmed).

Challenge Roth has long been on my bucket list, an attainable dream as no qualification required unlike Kona. I really lucked out when it was announced that Challenge Roth would double as the ETU European Long Distance Championship for 2021 and having met the qualification criteria I gained one of the coveted oversubscribed slots via a lottery. Having deferred entry to the World Championships at Almere postponed in 2020, I decided to forgo my place as I did not think I would be able to do two long distance triathlons in one year, little did I know what lay ahead...

Obviously, with the cancellation in 2020 Challenge Roth 2021 was launched with the tag line ‘Dreams Cannot Be Cancelled ’ but as it turned out ‘Dreams’ can be delayed!

Race Day September 5th

The Swim

With the male Professionals starting the race at 07.00 am together with those starters who had raced all 32 previous editions of Challenge Roth and the over 65s and the women professionals starting at 07.05 I had a very civilised start time of 07.40 am in the 9th swim wave. Having arrived in transition at 6.00 am I had plenty of time to get ready for the off. First I loaded my bike up with my nutrition, 3 750 cl bottles of High5 electrolyte energy drink the third with a caffeine shot and High5 energy gels which I would consume at 20 minute intervals interspersed with mini snickers bars for the first 3 hours after which I would stick with High5 gels with caffeine. Next I fretted over the psi tyre pressures of my Continental 5000 25mm, normally I run them at 95 psi but everyone around me seemed to have pumped their tyres up to the Max and I decided to pump them up to 110 to give some added protection from puncturing. After frequent nervous toilet breaks, I changed into my new HUUB Varmin wetsuit and proceeded to the holding area at 7.35 when the start canon boomed to set off the second wave of women Age Groupers. Entering the canal I swam towards the start and positioned myself towards the middle of the canal three rows back and as my wife confirmed later at exactly 7.40 am from safe distance of 7k away at our campsite in Wallesau the start canon boomed my challenge had started. The swim to the turn is approximately 1500m and for the entire distance I was fighting for clear water as those around me zigged zagged down the course swimming over my legs, fouled my stroke and generally were way too close and personal. Despite the general scrum I kept looking for clear water and soon became aware that we had caught up with the preceding wave as I began to pass red swim caps and then close to the turn some of the green capped stragglers from the 07.30 wave. Turning the buoy I made the conscious decision to swim closer to the far bank and suddenly there was calm and plenty of space as there were relatively few swimming a similar course. So tranquil was the return that I began to feel discomforted that the swim was now too easy and sure enough swimming parallel much nearer to the middle of the canal was a large bubbling cauldron of churning water and arms and red and green hats, and I charted a course to intersect with the melee and join battle towards the bridge and the turnaround buoy a further 400m beyond. Having navigated the buoy I approached the exit and was hauled to my feet by one of the legion of volunteers standing on the exit steps, unzipping and extracting myself from the top half of my wetsuit I ran towards the change tent collecting my bike bag along the way.

Despite the roughhouse and argy bargy, I managed a 1:16 swim against my target time of 1:15. Compulsory transportation to the real start of the race completed!

The Bike

Once in the change tent I ran to the nearest clear space on one of the benches and started to strip of the rest of my wetsuit. A volunteer grabbed my bag and took out my bike shoes, glasses box and extra gels whilst I stuffed my wetsuit cap and goggles into the now empty bag which she took from me as I turned my attention to getting my shoes on. Running out to the phalanx of bikes racked outside the change tent I proceeded to run the route I had rehearsed in the morning and in short order I was at my bike, donning my helmet affixing my visor and heading off to the mount line.

A 170k two loop course, I would be riding sight unseen but from the off I was navigating the fast undulating course averaging over 30 kph overtaking a steady stream of riders. Around 5k I was riding the stretch of road that I had done my Friday bike check on and before I could see her I could hear Kate ringing her Challenge cowbell that she had bought at the Expo, blowing her kisses as I swept by I headed towards the nearby hard left hand turn and first climb. Whilst I would be passed by a lot of powerful cyclists mostly riding the ubiquitous Canyon Speedmax favoured by most of the competitors, I flew up the climbs in an easy gear overtaking the majority who had breezes past me on the flat. Mindful not to get caught up in ‘racing’ the bike I kept to my nutrition plan and schedule of gels and snickers every 20 minutes. For the duration of the bike the race officials were patrolling the course on their motorcycles to ensure there was no drafting, and although the course was always busy riders were properly spaced and I gauged that I was progressing up the standing at a greater rate than I was being overtaken. On the first lap I was buoyed by the enthusiastic support of the locals who would scream HUPP HUPP HUPP in encouragement and some seeing the Union Jack on my bike number and my name on my race number would call out “Looking good William!” and words of encouragement in perfect English.

Despite the absence of the Solarerberg there still was a notable climb the ‘Hill of Pain’ at Greding some 35k into the ride approaching the climb you take a sharp left hand turn and suddenly you are faced with a steep sharp climb and a large crowd shouting encouragement. Being in a big gear I hurriedly changed into the small ring and tried to spin my way up the hill as my gears slipped and I worried that I would drop the chain. Despite my inept gear change I was flying past a large number of bunched riders along its protracted length and thereafter I was back on the bars trying to keep pace at around 33kph.

My next major hurdle at 45k was negotiating the technical descent comprising a long series of hairpin bends as you drop down towards Obermassing. Let me confess here and now that in all my years of cycling I had studiously avoided any downhill which had hairpin bends such is my lack of bike handling skills and inability to avoid riding on my brakes. It didn’t help my nervous disposition that a pro triathlete that had been leading, in a recent edition of the race, managed to overcook one of the corners and go careering into the safety hay bales. Having passed a German Age Grouper on the approach she proceeded to charge past me on the descent allowing me to study her lines and make a ham fisted effort to get to the bottom safely .

Although the course is closed to traffic, the locals do manage to avoid the police road blocks and drive on the roads although not in any great numbers, one heart-stopping moment when I was overtaken by two faster riders in short order as we approached a T junction, when a black van went straight through the road block evading the police officers standing at the junction just before the first rider crossed the main road. Much angry gesticulating and angry German invective is directed by the two triathletes towards the police as they charge by, the officers didn’t look too overly concerned, and I cycled on past slightly unnerved at what I had just witnessed.

Approaching the end of lap 1 you return to the swim start at Hilpoltstein and another enthusiastic gathering of fans willing you on. I’m feeling good, I’m not pushing too hard and I’m holding a 30+ kph average.

Second lap, Deja Vu, and I’m much more confident of my lines and what lurks beyond every blind corner. I see Kate at the 85k mark and she knows exactly how I’m doing as she has been tracking my process on the Challenge Roth Mika Timing tracker, she shouts “You’re bang on target!” and I feel a surge of optimism that the plan is holding together and I settle into holding what now feels a very comfortable pace. The bike course is definitely not flat, best described as rolling, but it is fast and the road surfaces are uniformly excellent compared to the potholed poorly maintained roads we are forced to ride in the U.K.

At the village of Eckersmühlen third time round, although there is no ‘beer mile’ as usual, I am feeling intoxicated as I get to turn right instead of left and head towards Transition 2. I’m conscious that the riders passing me on the way into transition are hulking great units and that I’m in the company of the ‘big dogs’! I’m quietly confident that many of those kicking my butt on the bike will be eating my dust on the run. As I approach the dismount line I have my last gel and drain the last drop of water in my drinks bottle. My nutrition strategy has been on point in the unseasonably hot weather throughout the week it was evident that hydration would be key as the temperature come race day would exceed 24 degrees. I drink my 3 bottles on the bike and a bottle of Powebar Iso picked up at one of the aid stations located every 17.5k on the bike course. I collect a 5th bottle and choose plain water, so I have now drunk more fluid than on any ride ever! I ensure that I save 7.5 minutes by not stopping to go to the toilet 3 times, a much bigger time saving than aero wheel and other kit to give you marginal gains at great cost. Just pee at 33kph!

Although the bike course for 2021 was 10k short, I’m ecstatic with my 5:05 split which is quicker than the target 5:20 set by Coach Paul! Talking to German athletes post race, their view is that this was a ‘slower’ course than usual, there being 8 sharp turns scrubbing all your speed rather than the usual 3 and sections of the course where the prevailing winds are helping this year were atypically head on. So the normal Challenge Roth 180k bike course must be unbelievably fast!

The Run

Getting off the bike, my trusty steed is whipped away by a volunteer and I run towards the change tent another volunteer calls out my bib number and another thrusts my change bag into my hand. I sit down to change my shoes yet another volunteer is hovering to give assistance. I have no intention of handing her my less than fragrant bike shoes, I tie my trainers put on my new GBR run cap and pocket my High5 electrolyte tablets after putting one in my hand held water bottle and charge out of the tent in search of a portaloo, I’m not going to pee myself on the run ... I’m not an animal!

All the training devised by my coach Paul Sellars has been expertly calibrated for this race with the aim of maximising my strongest suit, my run. Developing my bike strength, to address both my modest bike times and clawing back some of the minutes I lose due to my weak swim is also to make my run times faster. In order to be competitive as an Age Group athlete Coach reckons I need to run a 3:30 marathon, my PB is a 3:33. In optimal conditions I believed that that was an attainable goal but on this day there were some significant limiters that would likely impact on my performance. First and foremost, the marathon would be run in difficult conditions, plus 24 degree centigrade conditions would be challenging, hydration and keeping my core temperature down would be critical especially in the last 10k. Secondly I had run 50k at the 255 only 4 weeks before, I had never run 2 marathons in a calendar year prior to 2021, now I would be running my third. To add into the mix an ongoing adductor issue post the 255 triathlon might hamper my ability to run properly and I might break down and end up walking like I did at the Gladiator in 2016 when I ended up doing a 7:15 walking marathon at the Gladiator Iron distance race in the New Forest when I developed a knee injury during the bike leg of the race.

Being an experienced athlete, thinking through my run options I decided that a 9:1 run/walk strategy from gun to tape would preclude possibly getting my target run time of 3:30. However from the halfway point a run/walk strategy for the second half marathon would allow me to maintain my effort and hopefully maintain my pace. I told Coach that I would run the first half of the run, but as I passed each feed station, would take on fluids pour water on myself to bring my core temperature down and every 30 minutes take one of the PowerBar gels on offer.

As for my pacing I was clear I would run by RPE aiming to run sub 5 minutes per k pace, although my actual pace would be dependent on how much walking I might be doing. On a one lap course such as Roth, I reasoned all the motivation I needed was the fact that each and every person I passed on the run was one place gained in the standing, and any old dudes wearing their National kit might be in the 55-59 Age Group and would mean that I was climbing up the rankings in the European Championships. During the course of the run I overtook a lot of runners and was overtaken by very few who were usually runners doing the third leg of the relay race. Buoyed by the enthusiastic support along the canal the first half of the run felt surprisingly easy and this is when my experience saved my race. Fleetingly, I toyed with the idea of running the whole way, possibly I could smash my PB and get near the podium for my Age Group. In the midst of this fever dream reality dawned on me that my run, my race, my goals would be decided in the last 10k or as the joke goes, the real second half of the marathon! So as I hit the 21k mark I looked at my watch and saw I had 3 minutes to run before I hit 1 hour 39 minutes, and when I reached that time I walked for the next minute, as I was now running for 9 minutes and walking for 1 for the remainder of the race. When I was running I was aiming to run well under sub 5 pace for as long as possible, when I walked I would drink my electrolyte water or consume a gel on the 30 minute mark. Every feed station I would walk through pouring copious amounts of water over my head and sipping cola and as some of the aid stations were just before a turn around point, was doing it all again in short order and actually walking probably an additional couple of minutes during that time. Around 28k I saw a portaloo which I would pass momentarily after reaching another turnaround point and I resolved that I would take the opportunity to spend a penny and thereafter concentrate on the business end of the race.

Although you do spend a considerable amount of time running on the pan flat towpath the Roth course is not flat and there is a considerable amount of climbs that sap the legs. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the ‘climbing’ occurs during the last 10k of the run which incorporated an out and back to the village Büchenbach and the finale Triathlonpark in Roth. As I got nearer to the finish, with my 9:1 run strategy, I began to spend a lot of time running past people who would then run past me when I was walking my minute to get some recovery. In the main over a cycle of 30 minutes, the pattern settled down to I would be passed by some of the faster runners twice before I would break away on the third and they would not overtake me thereafter. Some of the big dogs were by the last 10k walking more than they were running and I trotted past them with grim satisfaction thinking and fully realising that a strong bike leg doesn’t mean much if you can’t maintain your effort on the run. Although I was still overtaking lots of runners, the relative effort of sustaining was getting much harder to maintain, the brain was playing tricks on me trying to convince me to slow down and I just had to tell myself to ignore the pain and push as hard as my body would allow. I was definitely slowing but observed not as slowly as those around me.

Although I was aware that I was going to run better than 3:45, I was not feeling up to pushing the pace and it was in the last 5k that I blew the chance of going sub 3:30. Unable to push the pace, I should have reverted to running with no walking but unthinkingly I kept to my schedule and remained in self preservation mode when I should have been running as if I was at a Parkrun! With two kilometres to go in the distance I could see a runner who I had overtaken once or twice on the second half of run, making her my target I set my goal of overhauling her lead before the finish line. As I hit the 1 kilometre mark I started running with greater urgency as I could see her lead dwindling and soon I was just a little way back from her. Suddenly she was going through the gears and I had to dig deep to make my protesting legs turn over quicker and as started to run down the green carpet on the stadium approach I was running on her shoulder. As we entered the triathlon stadium the sharp turn meant the woman drifted out wide and I was able to cut inside and take the lead, at the same time I could hear and then see Kate roaring encouragement as I pressed on to the finishing line. Cresting the line, I felt euphoric and instinctively I looked down to stop my watch, 3:32 and change, not my goal time, but not too far off and a PB! Someone hung a medal round my neck and I waited to congratulate the runner who had helped push me to finish strongly. A first time iron distance finisher this German athlete was evidently a phenomenal athlete, we had a brief conversation of mutual admiration and respect for the success of the other.

It was only after I had moved away from the finishing area having handed back my tracker that I glanced at my watch only to do double take when I saw the time of 10:02. I had no idea that I could do close to breaking 10 hours, if I had, in the words of Coach Paul, had "space in my mind", I might have clocked that and I would have pushed a lot harder... until this point in time I have not been convinced that I could have broken such a milestone! But I am delighted to have reached all my race objectives and come in with that time. My work was rewarded. Next dream --sub 10!

The Road To Roth

Racing in the pandemic has been somewhat troublesome for all the practical reasons that haven't before come our way.

With the Challenge Roth race date having been set for July 4th, a new long distance event was announced the 255 a 5k, 200k, 50k swim, bike and run to be held on August 8th, at the Goodwood motor circuit. Being a local event with a lot of media buzz being advertised as the ‘World’s Longest Triathlon’ I convinced myself that as a season finale I could do the inaugural 255 having done my bucket list race on a completing not competing basis. Having committed to the 255, it was then announced that Challenge Roth could not take place in July due the accelerating rate of Covid infections in Germany and would be delayed until September 5th. Bugger!

Having binned the World Champs at Almere because I didn’t think I could do two Iron distance races in one year, I was now confronted with the prospect of doing an ultra and an iron distance event four weeks apart. In consultation with coach Paul Sellars, the plan was adjusted to peak for the 255 and then recover for a week and then have two weeks of a ‘micro build’ and then taper for race week which would take in the travelling and some race pace interval training. The unknown was how my body would react to returning to training intensively for a long distance triathlon as I had always curtailed my race season after my A race in previous years. The approach therefore was that the 255 would in effect be a long training day, the swim and the bike would not be problematic but the potential for the 50k run to impact adversely on my recovery and race at Roth meant that a 9:1 run/walk strategy would be used for the entire race. Come race day, the strategy worked perfectly and I surprised myself with 3rd place overall for the 255.

Training doesn’t take place in a vacuum and if I’m being truthful, there were times when I did not think that I would be going to Roth. Germany was variously on the red or amber list of countries that the government guidance didn’t allow for travel and the British Triathlon Federation wouldn’t sanction triathletes as representing GB because of the travel advisory from the government telling people not to travel abroad. Understandably, many chose to defer entry until 2022 because of the uncertainty even more so when it was confirmed by the Roth organisers that because of scheduled roadworks the bike course would be 10k short and the world famous Solarerberg would not be part of the bike course. Bummer! Despite all this, I was determined given the opportunity, I would be on the start line, injury permitting. Gradually, the prospect of being allowed to Germany became more likely and when it was added to the green list the BTF confirmed that all qualifying athletes would be competing in the European Championships as GB Age Group athletes. The only last obstacle I had to overcome was persistent injury niggles (both real and imagined) after the 255 and weekly sports massage post race meant that I would be able to compete come race day.

In order to compete, the organisers of Challenge Roth required athletes to produce evidence or either vaccination, negative test or have been ‘cured’ following infection. Likewise, travel requirements required proof of COViD status and my wife Kate dealt with all these matters (and the irksome documentation required to return to the U.K. post race) allowing me to focus on my race preparation. We hired a VW campervan and took the Eurotunnel and transited Belgium into Germany arriving at our campsite on the Wednesday of race week. That afternoon we drove to Roth some 10 kilometres away and after some brief sightseeing, we made our way to Hilpoltstein where the swim start would be and I did my Run interval workout along the canal towpath which allowed me a sneaky peek at T1 which was being constructed.

Pre Race

Wednesday morning we arrived, and literally within 5 minutes of arriving in Roth Centrum I found my head packed full of questions and tasks, and saying out loud, 'where's the canal?', 'must get to reccy T1', 'need to locate Hilpoltstein' (and 'need to see T2 in Roth'), 'is that my leg twinging?' and not least, repeated the words every 20 minutes or so - 'I have urgent run intervals to do'... such is the mind of a tapering triathlete, when all I really needed to do was to follow Kate's lead once at the campsite and chill for a while: Wednesday noon and I was already in rapid race build up mode... the place and race is so iconic. It is quite fanatastic to be in Roth.

Thursday was a scheduled rest day and gave me the opportunity to get registered early before most athletes had arrived in Roth and to wander around the Race expo and acquire my Challenge Roth branded merch.

Friday, is the first day you are allowed to swim in the canal and the two hour swim session is hosted by Blue70 is between 7.00 and 9.00 am. I brought an old wersuit for the swim practise and did 2k up and down the canal to the bridge, the water temperature a pleasant 18 degrees, sighting would not be an issue. In the afternoon I did my bike check, 45 minutes of intervals on the road near our campsite at Wallesau which would be part of the bike course. The road surface was good, no potholes, flat and fast. Friday evening was spent preparing my race bags

Saturday, a second swim 1500 metres in the old wetsuit and then a 20 minute interval run. Hundreds of triathletes swimming and running gave a sense of the scale of the race (despite the fact that field would be half the size usually racing).

Having finished my taper, the next thing was to return from Hilpoltstein to Roth and the triathlon stadium area in order to have a COViD test required for the return to the U.K. post race. This facility had been laid on by the race organisers as part of authorities sanctioned protocols required to put the race on and meant that there was no need to go looking for a testing centre. Twenty minutes after being tested the text arrived to confirm that I was negative, as was Kate, and after some lunch, the next thing was to get the bike (with helmet) racked and leave my run bag which would taken to T2 for race day. Returning to the campsite, my staple pre race meal of tuna, sweet potato marinated in maple syrup and golden savoury rice consumed, alarm set for 3.00 am. I settled down for an early night and surprisingly slept soundly. By 3.30 am many triathletes at the Waldsee campsite were on the move! My fortune cookie a few weeks before had said 'your present plans are going to work out' ...