This year's Ironman was a character builder second to none. Anyone who thought they had it all sorted, had trained well and were fully prepared to have the race of their lives, had another think coming.
Big time.
Because Mother Nature, bless her cotton socks, had sucked all that preparation, all that training and all that focus, out of 1600 athletes, 2000 volunteers and Ironman NZ staff, and spat it back at us like a woman with a really bad dose of PMT. That bad temper came in the form of a weather bomb that tracked across New South Wales, the Tasman Sea and the middle of the North Island - right at the time we were meant to be racing our Ironman triathlon.
But I guess I should start at the beginning.
Well maybe I shouldn't - the beginning is pretty staid in comparison with the days that followed our arrival in Taupo. Fly to Auckland (get an upgrade, that was pretty exciting), pick up a rental car, drive to Taupo, check into our apartment and proceed to unpack, relax and take in the ironman atmosphere that takes over the town each year. Get the wetsuit dipped to prevent the spread of Didymo, spend squillions on Ironman merchandise and every other conceivable thing that might be required on race day. Eat white carbs, drink electrolytes, rest and generally think strong and focused.
The weather was pretty average when we arrived Tuesday night and hadn't really improved on Wednesday. It was noticeably colder than last year but the lake was looking its best flat self. The long range forecast hadn't been looking flash but there was still plenty of time for that to change and, hey, it couldn't be any worse than last year, could it, when we spent the entire day getting soaked in the rain?
Big mistake!
Big mistake!
On Thursday I even had time for a social catch up with Ironjack, who had come down to Taupo for the day and it was a perfect chance for a girls' lunch. So we were in pretty good spirits as St Pete and I headed to the carbo party on Thursday night and the race briefing that followed.
During the race briefing the first signs of possible trouble appeared. The long range forecast for Saturday was outlined and at that stage we were warned that it may be too windy to go ahead with the swim. In that case there was a contingency whereby the event would become a bike/run and the protocols for decision making and alternatives were outlined.
As an afterthought the comment was made that, of course, if there is no bike leg then there is no event. However it was such a throwaway remark I don't think anyone in the room considered it more than a remote possibility. Instead, I walked away thinking that we stood a good chance of not being able to do the swim.
The weather was of sufficient concern, however, that there was an additional compulsory athlete briefing scheduled for Friday night so that an update could be provided on the weather.
Friday, then, went pretty much as planned, except I started thinking about contingencies for cold weather on the bike and run. I had brought three polypro tops with us to distribute amongst the bike, run and special needs bags so had warmth almost covered. However we decided I should also grab a wind vest for the bike and maybe some arm warmers wouldn't go amiss either. Thank goodness for the ironman sports expo - the retailers at the expo were doing a roaring trade in vests that morning!
By the time I went to check in the transition bags and rack the bike I felt as prepared as possible for all contingencies.
At 4pm on Friday afternoon we all trooped back in for the additional briefing and it was that point we received the news no one wanted to hear. The predicted weather bomb coming across from Australia was expected to track across the central plateau, an alpine area just south of Lake Taupo. The local Civil Defence crew were preparing for the worst and Ironman NZ Event Director, Jane Patterson, had no choice but to cancel racing on Saturday due to the predicted strength of the winds.
In her next breath, though, Jane gave us some welcome news.
Although we couldn't race on Saturday they were doing everything they could to put on a half distance (70.3) race on Sunday.
The applause that broke out at that announcement said it all.
Everyone immediately understood, and appreciated, the mammoth undertaking that was going to be required to shift the event by one day. Road closures, resources, coordinating volunteers - the number of favours being called in to achieve this couldn't be underestimated.
Although disappointed, I immediately felt even more gutted for the first timers. There were over 550 athletes in Taupo ready to do their first ironman and the weather was stripping that opportunity away from them. I, at least, had nothing to prove as I had already done the distance and knew I would be back for more.
Our immediate attention, then, turned to logistics over the next 24 hours. 1500 athletes had to return to transition and retrieve bikes and helmets then return to their accommodation and batten down the hatches to await the approaching storm. Meanwhile the ironman team were storing our transition bags and taking down flags, barriers and anything else likely to get blown away. They would be back onsite at 2.00am Sunday morning to put the course back together again.
It was nothing short of a phenomenal effort by them all.
At 3.45am on Saturday morning the wind started (and woke us up). It absolutely howled and kept me awake the rest of the morning and it was absolutely clear that Civil Defence and Ironman New Zealand had made the right call in cancelling the race. There wasn't too much rain, but the wind was such that it would have been really unsafe to have been out on the bikes. By mid-morning you could surf on the lake and the birds were having a great time.
That afternoon we were back at yet another briefing - hoping like anything that the 70.3 race was still on. And it was! Changes to the course were outlined, contingencies for the cold and wet explained and assurances given that everything was being done to give us an "ironman experience" the next morning. There was still a risk that the swim wouldn't go ahead (if the winds were still too strong) and in that case it would become a bike/run event - something everyone realised was a possibility but hoped wouldn't become necessary.
That night I had a good chat to Coach Dave about the situation. He was satisfied that I was as prepared as I could be and had covered all the contingencies. All that remained was to have a technically good race: be happy on the swim, go a bit harder on the bike than I originally planned and then try and achieve a steady run.
Whatever greeted us the next morning, I was ready for it.
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