I signed up for this race in Porto, Portugal because it looked fun and a great excuse for a holiday. The aim of the race is to be true to the original idea of long distance/ironman triathlon – to do that and get in the spirit of the 70s every male competitor is encouraged to grow a moustache (bigode in Portuguese) or beard, do the race in speedos and do it on an old style bike with gears on the frame. TT bikes are actively discouraged. Pre-race prep was disappointing - instead of a big thick black moustache and goatee my pre-race prep saw a white (and ginger!) moustache and beard appear. I’d asked if anyone local had a bike I could borrow and one of the organisers (Rui) very kindly lent me his road bike – it wasn’t retro but riding a bike with a very different set up from my own felt like very much in the spirit of the race. Despite, seeing this as very much an excuse for a holiday, I failed to sleep at all the night before the race. It had been a hot day and I struggled to get cool/combined with pre-race nerves.
The 4.2k swim was gorgeous – a misty morning made it feel rather magical. I had a very good swim and got going on the bike quickly – the route was 6 laps of 30k up and down the river – making it easy to sort out picking up food and drink and it was a pretty route with a mix of small hills, twists and turns and other things to keep it interesting. One of the features of the race is that you have both your name and that of a famous triathlete on your race bid – it made it extra fun overtaking both Lucy Charles and Joe Skipper on the bike! I felt great on the bike – I’d done the swim and 120k of the bike in under 4.5hours and felt like it was going much better than expected. I overtook one more person and felt like I was I well inside the top 10 by the end of the bike.
At the start of the run, legs felt very good and it didn’t seem that hot. The course was 6 laps of 7k with each lap going upstream along the river through a park and back than downstream along a pavement toward the city and back. It was sunny and warm and on the last stretch of the first lap I felt myself getting too hot. The second lap went OK but on the same stretch I really started to overheat and feel a bit rubbish. The third lap was similar but I felt I was slowing. At the end of the fourth lap, I slipped on some cobbles/a hole and fell heavily. It took me 5-10 minutes to regroup but bloodied and bruised I continued. Although, I felt my run was going very badly – I was still mainly seeing the same people and so it was clear they were all finding it tough too. As the air cooled, I felt more comfortable and managed a good last 2k to finish in 11 hours 0 mins and 9 th place overall (1 st in AG).
It is a lovely race - friendly, competitive, fun and free! – a wonderful excuse for a holiday!
