And the triathlon party as returned to Porto. After a year, where the Spirit of 78 Triathlon had to be carried out in a different than usual way, in self-sufficiency, without assistants, without public and with a minimum of volunteers. This year we return back to normal, with the routes full of people supporting, with the supply area hosting the traditional party held between assistants, families and volunteers.
For those who don't know, the Spirit of 78 Triathlon is a triathlon that honours the first athletes to complete the first Ironman, which took place in Hawaii in 1978. The athletes have 4.2km of swimming, 180km of cycling, ending in a marathon, all in the Douro river and on its margin.
The race has some peculiarities when compared to others from the same distance. The number of places available at the start line is limited, athletes are encouraged to show up wearing a moustache, swim trunks, top and steel bikes with frame gears. The idea is to provide them an experience as close as possible to what the first athletes had in 78.
The fifth edition of Spirit of 78 Triathlon, took place on the 9th of October. This year, a large majority of the 40 male athletes present themselves with a moustache or beard. As for the women, of the 8 athletes initially registered, there were 3 who presented themselves at the starting line totally immersed in the spirit that the seventies demand.
The forecasts of mild temperatures, some cloudiness and little wind predicted a day with ideal conditions to practice triathlon.
It was still night, when the athletes begin to arrive at the Press Museum, the central place for another day of effort, resilience and overcoming difficulties. After check-in, it's time to pack food and drinks in the support baskets, place the bikes at the exit of the water and give the last indications to those who would be helping the athletes during the day. Another characteristics of the Spirit of 78 Triathlon is that athletes, as in 1978, have to bring their own support team and their food. It was time to head to the starting point, about 4km upstream.
The fog that hung over the river made the visibility of the water very low, which increased nervousness and anxiety among athletes. One by one they entered the water, and waited anxiously for the last briefing given by Joaquim, the man, who since the first edition gives the last indications about the currents and safety on water, after all, the years of experience as a fisherman, allow him to treat the Douro river like the palm of his hand.
This year, the Spirit of 78 Triathlon beginning was a little different, before the athletes jumped into the water, we wanted to pay a little tribute to an athlete who was rammed by car while training cycling, resulting on his death. Evgenii Egorov was present in the 2019 edition and from that day onwards, adopted the Spirit of 78 Triathlon as its annual goal, He returned in 2020 and would be present once again in this year's edition. He always made a point of appearing with a moustache in a style between Hercules Poirot and Salvador Dali. He was a reserved person but he will remain in the memory of everyone with whom he shared the time on his participations on the Spirit of78.
After a few words, the throwing of a bunch of flowers into the water and a huge ovation, it was time for the athletes to start the swimming segment. As usual, swimming is done in favour of the current, with Filipe Baptista and Bruno Pinto taking the lead in the first meters. On the stairs where the athletes leave the water, 4.2 km downstream, these two were the first to arrive, repeating what they had done the previous year. In women, the first to come out of the water was the Italian Viola Campanini.
The 180km of cycling are not easy, the athletes must complete 6 laps on a 30km circuit. There are no big climbs, but the constant ups and downs end up grinding the legs a lot, fortunately this year the wind that is usually present early on, only started to be felt from 12:00 onwards. Another condition to take into account is that, as in 1978, the road is open to traffic, and athletes have to respect the traffic rules.
At the front of the race, Bruno Pinto took the lead early, having remained that way in the first laps, being chased by José Mota, António Salgado, Valter Nogueira and Tiago Amaral. At the begining of the last lap, Valter Nogueira had managed to go first and the other athletes remained close. João Sousa, who had been doing a cautious cycling and was in fifth place at the time, decides to attack and when he enters the transition to the race he is already in the first position, a few minutes ahead of the second place. For women, the positions defined at the exit of the water are maintained until the end of the cycle, with Viola Campanini entering the transition first.
The run is also done on a circuit, with 6 laps of 7km. Refuelling is done in the middle of this circuit, so athletes have the possibility of refuelling every 3.5km. It is not an easy race, for one side the ups and downs are constant, with the access to the supply area being made up and in a stone block road. To the other side, although flat, at the time of day when the race is made the wind is a constant. The good thing about the running course is that it forces athletes to pass 12 times in the area where assistants, public and volunteers are, thus managing to be part of the party that takes place there.
João Sousa enters the run in first place and won't let go. The fight moves to the remaining podium places with Valter Nogueira and Bruno Pinto making a very strong first half, but eventually giving up, leaving the dispute for second and third places to António Salgado, Tiago Amaral and Sérgio Mota. It is worth mentioning Miguel Lobão who had a strong and very consistent race, ending up approaching the podium. In women, the positions remained unchanged, with only one highlight, the approximation of Ana Costa to Viola, insufficient to become a threat.
The male Champion this year was João Sousa, who managed to stay just 6 minutes from the Spirit of 78 Triathlon record and who left António Salgado in second place with a difference of more than 20 minutes. The third was Sergio Mota, 9 minutes from the second.
The Female Champion was Viola Campanini, who kept the lead from the first moment of the race, managed to beat the Spirit of 78 Triathlon record for almost an hour. Ana Costa was second and Carmen Lima completed her third participation in the last place on the podium.
The final balance was once again positive, we were able to gather hundreds of people to help and support the athletes who accepted the challenge to make this year's Spirit of 78 Triathlon. The highlight goes to those who accepted the challenge of coming with moustaches, dressed up and with bicycles from the seventies, Gabriel Manga, who brought the steel bicycle from the United States, Paulo Castro, Óscar Rodrigues and Jorge Silva.
After last year, when we had two hands full of foreign athletes registered and because of the pandemic they ended giving up, this year we had athletes from all over the world, besides Gabriel Manga from New York, we had Raymond Evarts who came from Alaska, Nick Mansley who came from Cambridge and Viola Campanini, who came directly from the Italian Alps, not counting the Brazilian athletes who were in the competition.
In the end, 36 athletes took home the SpiritMan, the replica of the first trophy given to the first athletes to complete the Ironman in 1978.
See you in 2022, for the fifth anniversary of Spirit of 78 Triathlon, which we hope to be more international and with more athletes contaminated by the spirit of the seventies.
