He was on Talksport yesterday talking about it.
He mentioned Race Across the World (which I’ve never watched) and how it caused him real trouble with his stumps because his normal routine of taking his prosthetics off at night and letting the air get to them wasn’t possible, resulting in blisters, sores etc. so the heat and humidity at Kona could be a real issue over 16hrs plus.
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[quote=“JD-Scarabtri, post:1020, topic:3790”]
Happy with swim (38:05) but should have started a bit further forwards as a fair bit of biff around the first bouy.
[/quote] 
you needed to be 47 mins m8, no biff at all 
Glad the knee survived m8ie 
Steelman is billed as the cheapest Half IM in Britain, but its still a well fab event. Luvved the bright pink TShirt. 
Recommended. Only +£7 camping right by Transition/Lake, It was surprisingly hot n muggy on the run, even got me. Tho I wa pleased with my application, and went from 187th / 223 at end of the sw1m oops, to 31st by the finish.
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Good luck to him, it’s going to be tough. Like you say, the stump health alone is a problem neverminded the physical challenge.
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The race in Greece is looking painful but I might have to suck it up, the transfer options will mean more travelling and expense going to somewhere else in Europe, I’m not interested in Weymouth. And I’m not sure how easy it is to change the flights, I already had to rebook to go from Manchester.
They’re drip feeding more information, finish line, registration etc are all together in a town which is about 12k from transition. But I can’t see anything about parking yet.
There are going to be shuttle buses from various places but other than the start/finish I’d rather avoid them.
I think I can just about make it work without a lot more pain and expense. I don’t fancy driving in Greece but I’ll stay on the outskirts near the metro.
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A bit late, but as requested in the Roth 2025 thread, here is my Roth 2024 race report.
Firstly, a bit of background. I’m a 57 year old male, this was my full distance and I finished in 14:06. I haven’t got any experience or advice on going fast, but did pick up a few general lessons along the way. i hope this report can bring back some good memories for people who have done Roth in the past and wet the appetite of people who plan to do it in the future. People with far more experience than me say that it is the best race out there, and who am i to disagree? The people of Roth are clearly very proud of their race and do everything they can to make it special for the racers.
I’ve been doing triathlons for nearly 20 years, on and off, but this was the first time that the stars have aligned (family, work, money, time etc) so that I could do a full distance.
The main training lesson that I learned is that it is much harder to make progress when you are over 55. The benefits eventually arrive, but they seem to take longer. I found that I needed to build up more slowly and it took longer to adapt to any step up in volume. Once I started to do the longer runs and rides, when spring/summer eventually arrived, I found that 2 rest days per week worked much better than 1. I was a couple of kg over my target come race day, but much lighter than when I started training.
Another lesson that I learnt is that sooner or later Sod’s law will kick in. The first instance was my arrival at Nuremberg airport, on the Thursday, neither my baggage nor bike box arrived in the baggage hall, as they had missed the connection in Amsterdam. It was clearly an issue that the airport were used to dealing with, as they very efficiently took my details, logged them with the airline and promised that my stuff would be delivered to the hotel the next day. I was sceptical, but the airline sent regular text updates and everything was delivered the next day as promised. Friday and Saturday were spent registering, visiting the expo and taking the bike to the start. The weather was pretty warm, but the temperature cooled down after a big thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon and more rain over night, so it was pretty cool for the start of the race.
I was in the 20th of 21 swim wave, not going off until 08-15. This meant a lot of hanging around at the start, and I had 15 hours and 5 minutes to get to the finish line before the race closed at 23-20. However, I got to see the pro men and women close up and enjoy the general spectacle that is Challenge Roth.
I was happy with my swim time of 1-21. Especially given the start. I had planned to start somewhere at the side nearest to the bank where it might be less crowded. However (more Sods law), the quick release zip on my ancient wetsuit self activated just as I got to the start line. While faffing about trying (and failing) to get the zip back up I somehow drifted right to the middle of the course, right at the front. Then the cannon went off and the next 10-15 minutes or so were pretty chaotic, it felt like swimming in the middle of a rugby scrum and my wetsuit was held on by a bit of velcro at the top of the zip. Eventually I was able to ease myself nearer to the bank and find more space. The one benefit of the chaos at the start that it forced me to swim more quickly that I planned, and I was able to swim with quicker arm speed for the rest of the swim, and probably went more quickly than if I had eased myself into the swim as planned. I’ve read in the swimming threads on here that for all the talk of technique, drills, efficiency, smoothness etc in order to go faster at some point you need to just move your arms more quickly. This was the perfect time to learn that lesson. The other lesson is to buy a new wetsuit! mine is nearly 20 years old and quite stiff. Despite smothering my wrist and ankles in vaseline beforehand it took an age to take mine off in transition and I seemed to be there for ages.
My bike time was 6-55. Again, I was quite happy with this, mainly because for some reason as the bike progressed I had got it in my head that I had started the race at 07-15, and whenever I looked at my watch i thought that I had been going for 1 hour longer than I had; so thought that I had done 7-55 until I got the results after the race. Major numptiness on my part meant that i was unable to turn my power meter on, so was just riding on feel and trying to keep a fairly consistent average speed. The course does have a few climbs, but lots of long sweeping stretches and few tight turns. You can see why the pros go so quickly on it. The first lap was pretty busy, with fast age-groupers going by on their second lap. lots of crowds supporting. Lots of loud speakers playing euro-pop/dance music…apart from the local firemen with their (un-ironic) mullets and German death metal. The second lap was much quieter, with much fewer supporters, but easier to get into a rhythm and go at my own pace. It had been cool and raining at the start of the bike and I felt a bit under-dressed in my try suit. By the end the sun had come out and it was getting quite warm again.
The run (5-33) was definitely a run of two halves. Did the first half in 2-15ish and the second in 3-15 ish. Felt tired at the start but got into a good rhythm and felt fairly strong. However, I noticed my stomach getting increasingly bloated at 21k. At 24 k I allowed myself the first walk and was feeling nauseous. At 27k the wheels came off, I felt sick, dizzy and exhausted. This was on the most boring bit of the course through an industrial estate. Had to have a sit down for a few minutes. Could have quite easily quit and it seemed impossible to finish. The next bit of the race was the slowest but also the part that i am most proud of. Probably 80% of the ironman race reports that i have read mention something similar happening at some point, and I knew that i had to just keep going and that my stomach might settle at some point. I started a slow painful plod, and gradually I was able to walk quite quickly. My legs felt Ok, but whenever I tried to run I felt sick and dizzy again. At these points the crowds get you through, and I found that small interactions with the spectators (smiles, thanks, joining in with their mini-mexican waves etc etc) gave me small endorphin boosts and kept me going. I also discovered that I could tolerate small pieces of watermelon from the aid stations, the juice feels very light and digestible but I think is very high in sugar. Even if it only had a placebo effect it definitely helped. The km slowly went by. Just after 35 km you reach the end of the only major climb and the far end of the final loop at Buchenback. There was a big Hoka stage with DJ’s etc there. One of the announcers took me by the hand and said “I will count down from 5 and then you will start running”. It was almost like hypnosis! It worked, I was running again and did not dare stop while I was still in his sight. This plus the watermelon meant that i was able to run (slowly!) on and off until the finish. It was getting late and very few people about for the last few km, but the stadium was packed for the finishing party. Quite a surreal experience running to the line, with an amazing atmosphere cheering crowds, big screen etc etc.
A huge feeling of pride, relief and exhaustion at the end. Phoned home and found out that my family had been tracking me all day, and had seen me cross the line on the live stream. This brought a tear to my eye, a perfect end to the race.
Spent the next day in Nuremberg, the weather was hot again, and I enjoyed a few beers and some sightseeing.
The final piece of Sods law, my flight home on the Tuesday was cancelled due to thunderstorms. However, I got an extra day of RnR in Nuremberg.
I felt a bit tired for a couple of days, but no soreness or stiffness. I am guessing that I was in reasonable shape and also that walking a big chunk of the marathon had some recovery benefits.
My final bit of advice for anyone doing it next year is that, if you have any inkling that you want to do it again the following year, it is well worth queuing up and securing your place on the Monday morning. The Roth refund policy is pretty good if you change your mind later. If not, and you take your luck with the general entry and miss out (like I did!) you might feel very disappointed!
Thanks for reading my report!
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Great report - congratulations!
Brings back a lot of memories
That was a great read and well done. I remember a DJ on the run who got me running again (my run time and run ‘experience’ was similar to yours), great memories
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Great report. Well done on a solid race and for getting through the tough bits of the run to get to that amazing finish line.
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Been swimming this morning, I’m 40mins behind the Women’s Olympic Tri on Disco+ catch-up.
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The power of the crowd always works…and tailwind #sciencefacts 
Good report and tenacious effort to grind out the tough parts. Well done.
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Exciting times chez Doonhamer as 4 go into the final run lap together 
.
(Going to be absolutely baking for the men in a couple of hours time if the lassies are smashing through the ice already.)
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OK, so I’ve entered this aquathlon.
It’s a 13km swim down - or up 
- the Dyfi estuary followed by a 13km trail run back to the start.
13km sounds like an awfully long way but it’s hopefully going to be tide assisted, even so I expect to be in the water for 2/2:30hrs.
I’m happy about the run, but wrt a long swim things I have learned so far:-
- loooong OW swims are mentally hard.
- wear comfortable goggles & don’t have them too tight or they are utterly excruciating to take off.
- despite how warm the water appears during the swim I have been deeply chilled when running off & have not managed to get a decent sweat on for 10/15mins even on the hottest of days.
Things I want to know from the TT massive:-
- would you fuel on the swim? I have a tow float that can take a bladder or should I stick a couple of gels up my sleeve cuffs?
- given the choice is it best to take the outside of any river bends?
- any other nuggets of info would be a great help.
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I’m no expert but…
Yes, at least have the option with some gels stashed somewhere
Go with the flow… Don’t know how this is impacted in a tidal estuary mind.
Similar to goggles being too tight, vaseline on neck and cuffs.
Towel in T1 to help with the chill?
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How long will a 13 km swim take?
Ish?
Well done for entering …
You are bonkers
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Very much depends on tide/wind & all that stuff, but a friend who swims similar pace to myself did it in 2:23 last year.
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if going with the flow stick to the middle, when against hug the inside bank
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Might see you there! I’ve nearly entered but need to finalise logistics. I emailed for start time as it’s not on the site. Registration 730 to 830 , swim start 0900.
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Fantastic 
You’re quite a well rounded swim/runner aren’t you? Last year’s winner - who has entered again - was a strong swimmer but his run seemed a little weak. I expect great things of you
There’s not a lot of info out there is there? I’m going to mither my mate for more tips & I’m friends of friends of a couple of other participants from last year.
Absolutely love that coastline, we’re so lucky to have the fitness to consider doing this.
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I’ve raced with @d.t before.
He’s humble, but an absolute animal. I trained properly for our shared event. Didn’t get anywhere near him.
If he’s fit, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t at the front.
Todays my day in charge of the TT sandbagging police.
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You should join us, it’s got the humble beginnings of a Northern TT Smackdown 
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