Despite having my sleep briefly interrupted at 2 am by a mad texan in the lounge pulling lame moves on one canadian and one dutch girl (it was actually almost entertaining) I awoke pretty fresh, had a quick dash across London and set myself up for a 9.10 start in London 2010 - the biggest triathlon in the world, with over 13,000 primed triathletes jumping in a surprisingly salty Thames (who'd have thought that?!)
The swim itself had a few too many chicanes for my liking and so along with damn murky water there was a fair bit of "argy bargy" from start to finish . I got kicked - kicked back; got dunked - did a dunking; lost my goggles - perhaps a tad more than the usual fun and games! Jimbo - you might not have liked it!
T1 was massive - we practically did a lap of the Excel exhibition hall but 4 or 5 mins later, after getting my ass slapped by a fella called Mike (a local fella I met at the start) as he exited before me, I started on the fast, flat bike.
The track was congested and so you couldn't help but do a bit of drafting - honestly! Every time you'd try and break free from the pack on a hill they'd just pull you back on the next flat. I just had to hang out on the side a little bit and make sure I didn't get penalised. Chopping and changing with Mike the whole way we developed a custom of trading insults each time. Just the fun stuff I'm pleased to say...we tried to keep it friendly!
Screaming through tunnels, flying past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben was always going to be fun and just the opportunity to be a bit of a hooligan on the closed streets of Westminster!
Into T2 and I was just ahead of this fella Mike but he got me on the change over again and gave me another little slap as he went past.
My concept of distance must be all over the show... 2 laps felt too short and 4 too long. (Note to self - attend the race briefing in future.) Unfortunately, it was 4 laps! Basically you do a wee loop along the Thames with a foray indoors into the Excel to finish each lap. The route is lined with thousands of people, all the charities shouting support, there's bands, music and plenty of soldiers in their desert "get up" doing the drinks - all great support!
So I caught Mike on the second lap. I think I slapped him on the head as I went past. That was it I thought I done him - result! Five minutes later I looked around and there he was - bloody winking at me! It wasn't long before he took me back and then just drifted out of sight! He was waiting for me at the end with a big smile, a bottle of Gatorade and another friendy slap on the ass!!
Frazer Lloyd-Jones
Share this page...