Ironman 2014 - 10 Years of Ironman in PE

[Foxbat]

Toughest race I have ever done. Was all set for an 11h30 until the s-bend of the last loop. Ended up lying on the pavement cramping and vomiting my lungs out. Took me 2hours to walk the last 12km's.

 

Well done to all finishers and out there. It was brutal.

[Shebeen]

I have a question that I didn't want to load pre event as everyone was a little uptight. How does the '10 YEAR' thing actually work?

I understand the thread title - 10 years in PE

but calling it 10 year South Africa, effectively wipes the two Gordon's Bay events off the slate. Has this been addressed at all officially?

 

 

Thanks - see you there next year?

never say never. let's just first see how this little adventure race goes in the transkei next month and enduroman in franschhoek in September. Will have to see if the sponsor still wants to pony up for jeanpant racer to be on the startline.

[Garfield2010]

All I can say is WOW

 

Nailed the swim - 1h05 and everything was nice and dandy until about 50kms into the bike and hamstring started cramping. Threw times out the window and went into survival mode ... second lap of the bike was over an 1h15 slower than the first. Did a run walk run until the end and finished in a disappointing 15h30.

 

As I was leaving the announcer said it was going to be a record year from dropouts ... and I can believe it. Was a very very tough day in the office.

 

Small world as I met Fabes on the run!

 

Crowd support was unreal on the course!

 

Garf were you wearing a black kit with compression calfs and riding a spez? You passed my on the bike at about 20kms and I called out but wasn't sure if it was you.

 

yes that was me. Sorry didnt hear. Was busy fighting those 1080 wheels in thr bitch wind!!

[GU Energy Labs SA]

Well done again to all the Hubbers! Here's the official race recap if you missed it http://www.ironmansouthafrica.com/news/delight-for-frommhold-and-braendli-at-10th-ironman-south-africa

[Garfield2010]

 

 

How so?

 

My view is that the new route is outright dangerous. The surface is very rough and going down hills at 80km/hour and thrn hitting speedbumps on your tri bars is no joke. I would go as far as to say this route is better suited to a road bike now. I think i saw a 100 lost bottles and bombs.

[Garfield2010]

PE municipality needs to come to the party. This event is doing PE a lot of good. They should start re-tarring some of the portions. I saw at least 30 guys with punctures.

[ebenvn]

Had a awesome day out for my first full IM. Had a nice relaxed swim and a comfortable bike, despite the wind. Wheels came of on the run (second lap) managing a 12:13...

 

No complaints around organizing, but have to agree that the route is a bit dangerous and the goodie bag can be better...

[Lexx]

I def wanna do it next year....

[Metzet]

My view is that the new route is outright dangerous. The surface is very rough and going down hills at 80km/hour and thrn hitting speedbumps on your tri bars is no joke. I would go as far as to say this route is better suited to a road bike now. I think i saw a 100 lost bottles and bombs.

 

agree with you on this one, I nearly came short coming down one of those hills on the new section, went into the grass and somehow managed to swerve back onto the road..

[Metzet]

tough day out.. was on for a sub 12 at 32kms on the run, everything went pear shaped after that..

staggered home in a disappointing 13h32

 

I think ANY Ironman is tough, you really forget that when months down the line you get roped into entering another one!

[mon-goose]

I'm sure the result is here somewhere but who won it

[hboli4]

 

 

My view is that the new route is outright dangerous. The surface is very rough and going down hills at 80km/hour and thrn hitting speedbumps on your tri bars is no joke. I would go as far as to say this route is better suited to a road bike now. I think i saw a 100 lost bottles and bombs.

 

I was also thinking that I have never seen so many bottles and bombs and punctures at IMSA before...Having ridden the route before I knew where to sit up and where the road was rough. I also use a roadbike with clipons and I guess it is much more forgiving.

 

I also think that they can add an aid station or 2 per lap. On the old course you effectively had 12 as you had 4 per 60km lap. Also have some real food on the bike.

[Zula]

Here is my 2 cents of the race. Swim and cycle went well and then the wheels came off halfway through lap 2 of the run. 13h24 in the end.

 

It was tough. Route as well as the conditions. There is lots of moaning about the difficulty of the cycle route. I do think it was a bit dangerous but not overly so. Those speed beds should have been marked. That was stupid of the organisers.

 

My real gripes:

 

Aid stations - I use 32gi so brought my own stuff along. Heard lots of complaints about lack of GU products on route. Comparing the aid stations to the MTB events I would say they have a long way to go.

 

The shocking merchandise at the EXPO and the joke of a finishers t -shirt - I understand that there is no main sponsor and that this event costs big bucks to put on. The merrel stuff was shocking. It was an awful shopping experience - similar to shopping at an outlet store. The finisher t shirt is the lightest grade of cotton. It is really unimpressive.

 

The EXPO - I was hugely disappointed that none of the bike suppliers were at the Expo. The ZIPP stand was a joke when compared to pics I have seen of foreign IM's and 70.3's. Not sure why none of them were there but I felt overall the expo was a bit cheesy.

 

In the end, it was a great race and a great challenge. Super happy I have done it. I am done doing IM events in SA for a while. Looking forward to some new events being added to the calendar.

[nochain]

Was a very hard day for me, got some sort of stomach bug and struggled to keep food in during the last 48 hours before and during the race.Think the worse was probably the fact that after the race and up to now it has not stopped so I am totaly buggered and so hungry!!

 

My views on the race

First it remains a amazing day and the support is amazing...without those people I would be have not finished!

The swim I think is better on a 1 lap course

 

The new bike route is hard that is for sure but with the wind on the day it became crazy hard!Have never suffered that much on a bikein my life!!Like many have said allready 90.k of hills and 90 km into a pounding headwind is not funny.

 

The run is the run....would just love it if they could fix that road section after the university.And I needed way more toilets on the day..:-)

 

Congrats to everybody that finished....think we will always remember this one as one of the hardest days ever!

 

 

[Foxbat]

tough day out.. was on for a sub 12 at 32kms on the run, everything went pear shaped after that..

staggered home in a disappointing 13h32

 

I think ANY Ironman is tough, you really forget that when months down the line you get roped into entering another one!

Exactly the same thing happened to me.

[fanievb]

I did not do the event (I don’t like water) but I was out there the whole day and to each every participant, whether they have finished or not, congratulations and RESPEKT!! It was a though day out there and new route proved to be a real killer with the beast east.

 

I am immensely proud of my wife for completing her first Ironman in a time of 15h41. She only started cycling in May 2012 after a “dare” to do 70.3 in 2013. She has since completed 2x 70.3, all the smaller tri’s in the EL region and now a full Ironman.

 

She had a bad start on race day as her front wheel valve started leaking during the night in transition, luckily we were able to swap out the bad tube. With only one tube in her saddlebag she started stressing about what happens if she punctured twice and this paired with the “normal” pre-race stress brought on some tears.

 

She had a good swim and came in 7min faster than expected (1h28). All went well on the bike, but the wind took a lot out of her and she lost some time (7h50). The tough bike resulted in very tired legs as she started the run, she walked lots but managed to dig deep and complete the run in 6h05