Ironman 70.3 Elsinore Race Report by Niall Guerin
The Ironman 70.3 Elsinore race took place in Denmark on Sunday 21st June in ideal weather conditions. I was lucky to be joined by Andy Ainley, Colin O’Donnell, Lisa Fahy, and Claire Heskin. This was a significant race for me. In 2023 I DNF’d at Cork 70.3 after being pulled out of the water in which two other competitors drowned. I was severely traumatised from what I experienced and saw during that swim. After Cork, I spent 6 weeks in therapy provided by Triathlon Ireland focussed on mitigating PTSD.
In preparation for this swim, I needed a complete mental turnaround. My coaches Jonathan Gibson, Aisling Lynch and Caroline Doorly, switched my mindset to treating this swim as a fun adventure, not a race. Previously I’d arrived at the start line shattered from travel and lack of sleep, but in the couple of days ahead of this event I prioritized rest and took full advantage of the convenience services provided by the organisers, so my head and body were ready to execute.
SWIM
Lisa and Claire calmed my last-minute nerves before I went into the swim box and focused on deep breathing exercises. I found myself looking forward to the start. I chose the last group, despite the chance of swimmer traffic, so I could take it easy and forget about pace. As I crossed the timing mat, another swimmer tapped my shoulder and said “best of luck out there man”. I returned the encouraging words and we both entered the water together, easing into a breathe every stroke to start.
The water was clear, not too salty and it was quite busy. I was surprised how many breast-strokers (moving well) and back-strokers I encountered. A few stopped at kayaks. Others hung onto harbour walls for rest stops, which folks need to remember, you are allowed to do, as long as you don’t use it to make forward progress. A few times I had to push pace a little to get clear of traffic. Eventually around the 1KM mark it opened out fully. The course constantly changed direction, so I made good use of Luke Canavan’s practice sighting drills from the club pool sessions. His sessions had provided training consistency in preparation for Elsinore.
My main goal was to just regulate my breathing and make swim from start to finish without pausing. That objective was completed when I exited after about 50 minutes. I was wobbly on mat but the sense of relief in my body and internal elation I cannot describe – I was like – yay – job done, now onto the next step of the adventure! I ambled around Transition 1 at the pace of a turtle putting plenty of sun cream on.
BIKE
Off I headed onto the bike course…
Again, I was focused on enjoying the experience, rather than racing. Initially I found myself going fast, so dropped pace. I headed out of the town and up by the coast. I couldn’t get over the views and the incredible road surface.
The marshals and volunteers were great, cheering us on at various turning points and I made sure to thank them as I passed. I was hungry already, but had packed sufficient supplies of bread and jam from the hotel breakfast. I had pinned the aid station stop distances sticker to my bike food box, and at the first 22km stop I inhaled Maurten carbohydrate bars and bananas, which were incredible fuel. I was also glad to swap out one of my old water bottles for an Ironman Precision Fuel and Hydration one – important to get swag!
After the 46km food stop I heard my name shouted from a guy I didn’t know – “Niall, how’s the goin’…don’t worry, you don’t know me!”. Barry from Cavan made me laugh out loud.
Later during a particularly quiet stretch, four motorcycle marshals suddenly appeared behind me and it was like having watchful guardians on my tail. When I pulled up at 66KM, they stopped too and stayed waiting, as I munched bananas and drinks and started rolling when I rolled off.
Eventually they dropped away and went behind another cyclist. I cruised in once I was past 70KM, and skipped into transition relieved there had been no mechanical issues on the bike. Now both the swim and bike adventures done, I was into the home stretch.
RUN
I took another long transition in T2, keeping in my mind, don’t go hard on the run. I sweat a lot, so knew cramping was highly likely if I let myself go. I dropped to my LSR pace after testing a few training paces to start. Andy, Claire, Colin, and Lisa were shouting encouragement. I thought – wow – the guys are finished early! This gave a huge lift just hearing their voices. The supporters in the town lining the streets were incredible. They weren’t just encouraging, they were screaming. The diners, outside drinkers, and fellow participants who had finished hours earlier, were out clapping and cheering all of us remaining folks out there going much slower.
As I hit 16KM I started to feel very tired. A guy with a large speaker playing metal music who had cheered me every lap hopped down off the wall and started jogging along side me roaring words of motivation. I felt like somebody had plugged me into a charger. He stayed with me for about 400m making me laugh really hard. This, in turn, got the outside diners at a bar I kept passing cheering and laughing. I made sure to clap, cheer back and shout a simple “thank you”.
As I headed for the final lap, I did what I always do if my body is overloaded on a run – I allowed myself 30 second walking intervals. This floors my HR and allows me to slowly pick up a better pace. Myself and another runner asked a marshal to spray us with the hose for the final stretch home. I had my last bits of fuel and steadily picked it up for the final few hundred metres. The gang were cheering and I was so happy to get my finisher medal, see them, and hug them.
Post Race Thoughts
I came into this event carrying body trauma in the swim and looking to exorcise a demon that had essentially haunted me for three years in the water. I’m under no illusion I’ve still work to do in bad open water conditions, but when Andy asked me over drinks afterwards how I felt – I replied truthfully “on cloud 10”.
I am so glad I was able to hang out with the gang after the event and enjoy the moment. We went to Copenhagen, had a relaxing boat trip, laughed and chatted in saunas, drank in the sun, visited a Banksy exhibition, and ate ice-cream before swimming in the gorgeous public swimming areas.
The positive energy from this kind group was amazing and as I had said before in the newsletter in the past, I’m extremely grateful to have such people in my life.
I had wanted to come out of this saying I enjoyed it, all three parts, not just a bike or a run and I can honestly say that, so I’m extra happy. I’m now going to take it easy for the second half of the year and just train and socialise with this fantastic club.
