RACE 26 - GE BLENHEIM TRIATHLON - 4 June

This race is something a bit special.  It was the first triathlon I ever did (all on my own as the attempt at a relay race doesn't really count) and the venue is just awesome.  From their website (http://www.blenheimpalace.com/ ) they describe it as "Set in 2100 acres of beautiful parkland landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown, the magnificent Palace is surrounded by sweeping lawns, award-winning formal gardens and the great Lake."  The palace (incidentally the only non-royal owned building granted this status) "is a unique example of English Baroque architecture. Inside, the scale of the Palace is beautifully balanced by the intricate detail and delicacy of the carvings, the hand painted ceilings and the amazing porcelain collections, tapestries and paintings displayed in each room" (I don't know about that.  What I came away with was predominantly an impression of sheer scale!) "Blenheim Palace is home to the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill" (which to be honest they milk to the 'n-th' degree).  Loads more information and images can be found here (including the panorama photo).  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenheim_Palace  The story and characters of how, why and who built it is fascinating - well to me at any rate.


Anyway back to the race, or rather not just yet.  I've been doing the SuperSprint (400m swim, 13.2km cycle and 2.9km run) since 2005 and only moved up to the sprint distance (750m, 20km and 5.6km) last year.  In all the years of going I'd never once explored the house (well I had but only as far as finding toilets or a purveyor of beer) or the grounds (again not entirely true if you count swimming in the ornamental lake, cycling around the estate, and then running around the lake ....)  But I'd never seen it as a tourist - that is at a pace (or state) in which to appreciate it.  

So having booked the race (another slight digression - I've already booked for 2012 as it sells out very quickly!) I decided to go up the day before for a good look around. Had to book accommodation too quite early (February) as the very picturesque village of Woodstock (the place in Oxfordshire not the site of the Woodstock music festival) also fills up very quickly.  To return to Toponomastics first introduced in Race 19 (and for those who can't remember what it means - the scientific study of place-names) the name Woodstock is Old English in origin, meaning a "clearing in the woods", suggesting that English kings would log in the area. The Domesday Book of 1086 describes Woodstock (Wodestock, Wodestok, Wodestole) as a royal forest.  You can see from the aerial shot how integrated the estate and palace is.


The town is very pretty and seemingly rather affluent as I've never seen so may Bentleys, Aston Martins etc. outside of the the footballer belt in Cheshire or Kensington and Chelsea (or maybe I just move in the wrong circles and go to the wrong places?) 


Having loaded the car drove up and reached the palace around mid-day. Paying the £19 entry (sounds a lot - it is! - but to be fair you can exchange it for a year ticket free of charge which if you live near-ish by is good value) I decided to give the 11th Duke a bit more of my money by having lunch.  Won't bore you with all my photos and impressions of the palace and grounds except to say it is well worth a visit. 

What was interesting though (for me as a soon to be competitor) was seeing all the preparations going on to set up the race.  There were loads of workers and machines putting in everything from crowd control barriers, water stations, the transition matting or the matting all the way up from the lake, to a large bridge that would take the runners over the cycle route. It all seemed to be organised chaos.


The Blenheim Triathlon (to be shown on Channel 4 at 7.30 am on Sunday, 19th June) is part of the British Triathlon Super Series - which is basically the British Championships, so the elite racers were also in action again (the first in the series was Strathclyde - Race 23).   Also possibly because of the cameras (?) it attracts a fair few celebs.  Jenson Button raced (though he takes it very seriously and came 5th overall); Iwan Thomas (who also did Run Rampage - Race 4) and Pippa Middleton who did the running leg of a sprint relay.  A good report of the event is on the Triathlete Europe site (http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2011/06/04/pippa-middleton-and-iwan-thomas-take-on-blenheim-triathlon/ ) but if you want pictures of Pippa - Google your own!

Soon to be a transition area

What made this event a bit different too was that eight of us were competing and obviously, the nearer it got to the event the bragging rights and mind games became fairly intense.  Joe Taylor and Tim Anderson (aka 'The Captain') were pre-race favourites with Tim being the man to beat on previous form though he'd been out for a while injured.  Then it was the rest of us in the chasing pack of Dan (Joe's brother and organiser of my 'almost' surprise birthday party - described in Race 20), Simon Whittaker (a dark horse - expected to do well), Chris 'yes you can' Navarro, Neil Harris (very nice bike!), Simon le Roux and me (with expectations of doing poorly in the swim but well on the bike).  We also had amazing support with Jim (event photographer) and Sue - Dan and Joe's parents; Tim's  parents; Suzy and her parents and Rosie ("Minister of Disinformation") who had spent the previous year telling everyone we were either winning/loosing; just behind/in front of; just about to overtake/be overtaken by ..... which made it all so confusing that only when we go our results could we work out our positions!


As I was already staying in Woodstock (The Punchbowl), I had literally a 100 yard cycle to get to the venue so true to form got there early - so early in fact they were just opening registration.  Once through the formalities I went and racked my bike and again true to form was second in the racking.  Number one though had a really amazing bike, aero-wheels and helmet, and all the gear - so a little disconcerting.


After exchanging pleasantries and dumping my kit I went in search of the pre-race cuppa and the arrival of the real competition.  All arrived safely, pre-race photos taken, teas/ coffees/ toilet stops etc. had and the seemingly annual, 'arranging to pump up Dan's tyres' (thanks to the Wiggle stand) to something like appropriate pressures. Then it was off to racking their bikes.  I declined to move my bike to anywhere theirs as being right at the end of the row I knew I'd find it easily, glasses or no glasses, after the swim.  Its little things like that can win you or lose you a race (not that I was in any danger of winning!)  


Then wetsuits on and down to the start.  Again it was pink swim-hats for our 10:00 am wave (which started 10 mins late) and the last minute photos of bravado and nerves.  Pictures of us all - racing, posing, suffering and recovering are all covered by our resident race photographer - who'd answered the call and turned out on his birthday to watch us all suffer - sorry compete.  Such professionalism!  Jim's photos are on 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13047890@N06/  while Neil's are on http://www.flickr.com/photos/63786371@N04/ ( which nicely shows the organised chaos that is transition).  

There were 200 in our wave which made for a "congested" start. Settling into my somewhat sedate breast stroke I notice a couple of disconcerted low-flying swans trying to find somewhere to land on the lake but obviously somewhat bemused by the thrashings of 200 men in pink hats.  Funnily enough, nobody else seemed to notice them.  On reaching the end (eventually) it was then a 400m run/stagger  up a steep hill from lakeside to the transition in the main court (put it this way I'd walked it the day before and was breathless by the time I'd reached the top).  I managed to pass quite a few on the lower part - slowing slightly as we passed a great view of the water gardens. Again no one seemed to have noticed them though I suppose to be fair, I'd seen them the day before so knew what to look out for.  Then with the noise of the crowd ever closer, it was a case of shoulders back, speed up and attempting to look like a 400m run up hill was a common occurrence - i.e. show-off and play to the audience.  The master of this is Dan - just look at Jim's photo of him saluting whilst riding the bike no-hands!  Need I say  more?

Quick transition then onto the bike.  Tentative first lap then speed up.  The course of three laps is a beauty - fantastic scenery; the closed roads of the Blenheim estate; undulating with some steep corners; three times past the supporters.....  It starts off downhill, which is always easier, along the main vista from the courtyard (transition) over the lake towards the Victory Column. It veers to the left and uphill, sharply down with a bit of a corner with a cattle grid (fortunately covered) before a long slog up the other side of the valley.    Then a lovely long stretch through the woods before another turn and cattle grid before again going up hill - this time into the wind, past the pleasure gardens and the narrow gauge railway that runs from the palace to the gardens, before a twisty section lined by spectators that goes under the two access built for this event - before a slow 90 degree bend and repeat (twice more!)  


It was during the second lap - going uphill with head down in full aero position I managed to pass Dan.  In the long section through the woods, flat out down hill I nearly had kittens as was 'subjected to' a cheery 'now then Huggett' as Dan cruised past with a big grin and enough breath to actually want to converse! It's just not sporting! There was nothing for it - put everything into the cycle leg to keep ahead of my nemesis.   

Then it was onto to the run where as per usual you find out exactly how much of yourself you'd put into the cycle - which in my case was quite a lot!  Bit of a struggle but picked on someone "going my way" and more importantly my speed and just hung in there.  The course is a two lap one round the upper part of the lake in a clockwise as opposed to the anti-clockwise cycle laps.  Again going around the lake it was undulating with the climb up from the bridge to the palace particularly soul-destroying.   


Feeling better on the second lap and buoyed up again by the vocal support, overtook my chosen pacemaker and was just taking the last hill up from the bridge over the lake when Si W cruised seemingly effortlessly past and soon opened up a 200m gap by the finish straight - I was gutted but just not enough left in the tank to give chase.


Photos of the "Anvil" sub-wave courtesy of Jim.  The thing is if you want to compete in the same wave as friends regardless of age, then you have to submit a code word which in our case in anvil.  The it was off to the pub for lunch.  After, those that had to get away did while Dan and I who'd elected to stay over, had some liquid carbs and in my case settle down to watch England v Switzerland.  To be honest I don't know why we keep putting ourselves through it. 2-0 down at half time, no sign of passion, commitment (saw a lot more of that at Blenheim during the day!) .... only to scape a 2-2 draw.

We then decide to hit the town.  Found a very nice pub and got talking to Alison and Andre Blincowe who had been volunteer marshals at the event and were giving up their whole weekend  to be marshals.  Both did triathlons themselves with Oxford Tri-Club hence the enthusiasm.  It was fascinating getting an insight of how competitors get it so badly wrong on the day, and the inner workings of all the volunteers are encouraged to participate.  Also it was fun sitting outside overlooking the main square watching all the flash cars go around and around trying to park. Then off to an excellent curry house - Jaan Indian Cuisine - which if you're ever in the are is a real gem.  


Following day we decided to cycle to Blenheim to see if we could get to watch the elite racers and maybe pick up some tips?  Having watched them fly round the course (Tim Dom the winner at Strathclyde, was the winner again) the next waves of "amateurs" started and we begun to get an inkling of what Alison and Andre meant.  One competitor tried to cycle of with completed flat tyres, another was trying to mount their bike across the course thereby holding everyone else up, flamboyant attempts at mounting the bike at speed ended up with some eye-watering moments.... 

Eventually, having had enough, and to be honest it was quite chilly on Sunday, we decided to head off around the outside of the estate for a cycle ride before loading the car and heading back off to London.  Lovely countryside, and a great way of getting rid of any lingering aches and pains.  All in all a fantastic weekend.


On Monday, checking the event website for the formal results (they do actually text you on the day with your provisional results - how's that for the application of technology!) we discovered that they are already taking entries for 2012!  So far the "Anvil" sub-wave is at 14 and counting - I've a feeling I better get some training in and see if Tim Anderson can help me sort out my swimming.


Result: 563 out of 4020 in a time of 1:26:37 (alternatively, 4 out of 8 in the 'side' race)