By Dougal Allan
I am back in the HEAT of Wanaka after spending a weekend in the HEAT of Methven. Summer seems to have arrived and I am quickly churning through my supplies of sun block.
On Saturday I cannot have used enough, as I now have the "cyclist's tan", or in my case it is more like the "cyclist's freckles". However, when you are sweating it out in 30 degree heat at the Big Day at the Office multisport race for 5 ½ hours, it can become hard to align perfectly with the Cancer Society's recommended practices.
This was in my view the most competitive men's field I have seen at this event. Some of the best athletes from around the South Island were on the start line including Jacob Roberts, Carl Bevins, Glen Currie and Adam Milne. So I knew if I could first beat the hot and humid weather, I would then have to pull out my best effort to beat my competitors. And so we were off on a 40km road cycle as the day grew increasingly warmer.
The bike was uneventful as the windless and flat course didn't accommodate any real breaks. So we all arrived at transition one as a big bunch. Into the paddock to change from cyclists into runners, it was time for the most significant stage of the race – a 24km mountain run over Mt Somers. This has to be one of my favourite runs in NZ, but it is also brutal. We climbed up and up, and up some more. My plan was to push hard up to the saddle and spread the field a bit. Expecting Jacob and Carl to be right with me I was surprised that only Jeremy McKenzie had hung on. Unfortunately for Jeremy his bladder had leaked and he began to slow in the heat as he stopped to drink every stream dry that we crossed.
Into the descent and I was still weary of the runners behind me. Jacob especially is known for his speed downhill and I was half expecting him to come screaming past. I kept sipping fluids from my Osprey reservoir and by the time I had dropped out of the bush at Sharplin Falls I was still in front. Along the 3km of sealed road to transition I took a few peeps over my shoulder and was pleased to see no one within striking distance.
Onto the new Trinity TT bike with a 5 minute lead, I was now increasingly confident that all I needed to do was look after myself in the heat and I would be hard to catch. So I drank as much fluid and Leppin as I could and pushed into the 25km ride to awaiting kayaks at the Rakaia Gorge.
By now things were getting really hot and I could feel the heat rebounding off the rocks as I ran down to my awaiting Omega. Stevo and Fish had me through transition as smoothly as they had all day and my legs seemed as happy as me to be nestled into my kayak for an hour of paddling down the beautiful Rakaia River. I still had to focus though as this was just my second trip down this river and I needed to ensure I picked the right braids to avoid a portage. Luckily I seemed to follow the water well and the 17km ticked by nicely. All that awaited now was a couple of k's running from the river bed up to the road and my awaiting bike before a 10km TT to the finish line in Methven.
Again my support crew had everything well planned meaning I was able to enjoy the last section of the race with a comfortable lead and another excuse to ride my new Giant TT machine! After 5 hours and 31 minutes I crossed the line in first place for 2010. Jacob Roberts raced consistently for 2nd and Glen Currie finished strongly bringing home 3rd.
Huge thanks to my support crew Stevo and Fish – it was a long hot day for all of us and I was very grateful you chose to share some cold drinks with me. Thanks also to my sponsors for your support heading into the summer and 2011. Next weekend I am taking on the new Point3 multisport event here in Wanaka before flying to Abu Dhabi next week with Team Orion Health to take on the 6 day adventure race from Dec 10-15th. You can follow my progress on my blog site: www.dougalallan.co.nz. Finally, well done to all the competitors in Saturday's race. We sure met some testing conditions with that heat and anyone who finished showed the adaptability and perseverance that makes all multisporters so unique.
