Lockdown Day 605 - 21 November 2021
With the main Ironman event happening today, we got a roadside seat at our favourite coffee spot, Indulge coffee. The wind was already over 35km per hour and picking up, while the swimmers were just leaving the ocean after a shortened swim due to bad swells.
Relieved I wasn't competing, we settled down to watch the last of the cycles take off on their 180km gruelling race in the monster wind. After a smooth Indulge flat white, we decided to brave the wind and walk along the seaside while waiting for the competitors to come back and start the last part of the contest: a 42 km run.
The first professional athletes arrived on their cycles just after 11am, accompanied by a helicopter. We left for lunch and a siesta, and went back later to find all the contestants now running. Some were facing cut-off points, extreme fatigue and legs feeling as if they belong to someone else, and many already crippled into a walk.
The men's race was won by Maurice Clavel in a time of 7h30min30s and the ladies' race won by Ruth Astle in 8h38min32s. The race started at 06:30 and is still going strong, last cut-off time will be at 22:00 tonight!
After dozens of problems and postponements it was good to see this sterling event put up in the end and we look forward to next year's event on the original time of year 2-3 April 2022.
Here, then, are a couple of pics of this epic race in the Bay:
#Ggt
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