This was a new race by OSB set in the beautiful grounds of Holkham Hall on the coast of Norfolk. It felt very English with such a cracking location and the weather played ball too! I will be back next year for sure.
SWIM 29:54
Very soon into the race I found myself leading pack two and i was thinking what am i doing here. I am not swim fit and this is no time to go billy big boy at the front. With the low sun and the fact that the two or three guys up front had disappeared i was weaving all over the place trying to navigate my way around the lake. Bashing into buoys and hoping that somebody would come through and give me some feet to swim on i got my wish at the turn around point and safely attached myself in behind some other poor bugger who could lead us home.
BIKE 2:24:40
Out on the bike I was surprised to see Dan Thorby just out in front (An up and coming long distance triathlete from Cambridge Triathlon who would go on to have a cracking breakthrough race). I knew fellow Erdinger athlete Karl Alexander was behind me and that the most likely chance i had of winning was to stay with him when he made the pass. Sure enough he caught me, but much earlier than i would have liked as my bike legs were still swim legs so had nothing to respond with. I tried to be cheeky and didn't let the gap open as fast as i should have done, but a motorbike shouted at me, so i backed right off. We were not even out of the grounds of Holkham and it felt like the race was slipping through my fingers.
Once i got going the pace felt good, but every time split i received i was getting further and further from the front. It was good to see Matt Ellis dust off his racing shoes and he still looked pretty fast to me. Despite doing the whole bike off 1 bottle as i couldn't get my hands on any at the aid stations. I felt strong at the end of the bike and just before re-entering the Holkham Estate i caught Karl Alexander who didn't look in a good way. At first i thought he had a puncture as he was going so slowly, turns out his back was giving him trouble and he was just nursing it home and saving his fire for Outlaw full in 3 weeks time.
RUN 1:22:12
Jumping off the bike I was in 4th (from my wave) but was now in my domain and i know that I've been running well recently so was confident of moving up the order. It was a 3 lap run, all within the grounds of Holkham. You started by climbing up a long hill to the Obelisk then descending the other side and wrapping back round to the main estate. 1st out on the run from our wave was Simon George he recently had a good battle with Karl for the honours at Outlaw Nottingham and was one of the favourites for todays race. He had a 7min 30sec lead over me and to be honest after hearing that time difference in my head i was racing for 2nd.
I was having one of those days where running just felt easy - i call it a float day. After lap 1 i was in 2nd and Simon had a lead of about 4:30. More athletes were running on the circuit now and i was feeding off the energy of passing them. After lap 2, Karl (who had now pulled up with back issues) gave me the split of 2:40 and said something along the lines of “if you go for it you could get him”. So i pushed my chips all in. I worked much harder going up the hill than i had in the previous two laps and really started stoking the fire. It was boom or bust.
With all the other athletes on the course it was hard to spot Simon i was just looking for the lead bike. After the last aid station i was getting worried as I was starting to run out of road but then i caught sight of the lead bike. It was on! I caught him with just over 1 mile to run. I felt for him as Karl had done a similar job on him at Outlaw Nottingham.
I could not just ease it up and cruise it across the line as due to the nature of the race, there were guys in the 2nd wave that could still beat me as they started 15mins back. One of which, Reece Barclay was making good progress.
I crossed the line in 4:18:55 and had a 13min wait until Reece knocked me off the top spot. I'm just glad it was over a minute as opposed to a handful of seconds.
SWIM 29:54
Very soon into the race I found myself leading pack two and i was thinking what am i doing here. I am not swim fit and this is no time to go billy big boy at the front. With the low sun and the fact that the two or three guys up front had disappeared i was weaving all over the place trying to navigate my way around the lake. Bashing into buoys and hoping that somebody would come through and give me some feet to swim on i got my wish at the turn around point and safely attached myself in behind some other poor bugger who could lead us home.
BIKE 2:24:40
Out on the bike I was surprised to see Dan Thorby just out in front (An up and coming long distance triathlete from Cambridge Triathlon who would go on to have a cracking breakthrough race). I knew fellow Erdinger athlete Karl Alexander was behind me and that the most likely chance i had of winning was to stay with him when he made the pass. Sure enough he caught me, but much earlier than i would have liked as my bike legs were still swim legs so had nothing to respond with. I tried to be cheeky and didn't let the gap open as fast as i should have done, but a motorbike shouted at me, so i backed right off. We were not even out of the grounds of Holkham and it felt like the race was slipping through my fingers.
Once i got going the pace felt good, but every time split i received i was getting further and further from the front. It was good to see Matt Ellis dust off his racing shoes and he still looked pretty fast to me. Despite doing the whole bike off 1 bottle as i couldn't get my hands on any at the aid stations. I felt strong at the end of the bike and just before re-entering the Holkham Estate i caught Karl Alexander who didn't look in a good way. At first i thought he had a puncture as he was going so slowly, turns out his back was giving him trouble and he was just nursing it home and saving his fire for Outlaw full in 3 weeks time.
RUN 1:22:12
Jumping off the bike I was in 4th (from my wave) but was now in my domain and i know that I've been running well recently so was confident of moving up the order. It was a 3 lap run, all within the grounds of Holkham. You started by climbing up a long hill to the Obelisk then descending the other side and wrapping back round to the main estate. 1st out on the run from our wave was Simon George he recently had a good battle with Karl for the honours at Outlaw Nottingham and was one of the favourites for todays race. He had a 7min 30sec lead over me and to be honest after hearing that time difference in my head i was racing for 2nd.
I was having one of those days where running just felt easy - i call it a float day. After lap 1 i was in 2nd and Simon had a lead of about 4:30. More athletes were running on the circuit now and i was feeding off the energy of passing them. After lap 2, Karl (who had now pulled up with back issues) gave me the split of 2:40 and said something along the lines of “if you go for it you could get him”. So i pushed my chips all in. I worked much harder going up the hill than i had in the previous two laps and really started stoking the fire. It was boom or bust.
With all the other athletes on the course it was hard to spot Simon i was just looking for the lead bike. After the last aid station i was getting worried as I was starting to run out of road but then i caught sight of the lead bike. It was on! I caught him with just over 1 mile to run. I felt for him as Karl had done a similar job on him at Outlaw Nottingham.
I could not just ease it up and cruise it across the line as due to the nature of the race, there were guys in the 2nd wave that could still beat me as they started 15mins back. One of which, Reece Barclay was making good progress.
I crossed the line in 4:18:55 and had a 13min wait until Reece knocked me off the top spot. I'm just glad it was over a minute as opposed to a handful of seconds.