Welland Half Ironman Race Report

the welland canal

This past weekend was the 2nd annual Welland Half Ironman and I was there to suffer on a sunday morning with a few hundred other masochistic lunatics. not an A race for me, but a good chance to practice a few things and judge my fitness.

This race is the only "off label", non ironman brand half i have done, but i must say that in terms of organization and overall race experience, it really lacks nothing and even trumps the official ironman branded events which i have done. the whole thing was well organized, seamless, and about as pleasant as a 6 hour endurance event can be, from start to finish. They even had Steve Fleck there, from 19 Wetsuits, acting as announcer, and it was cool to hear your name as you struggle with your shoelaces in T2.

Part of the appeal is the size itself. 500 athletes makes for a much less congested and more pleasant experience on the race course than 2500. chocolate milk and hero burgers afterwards are a real bonus, which could only be topped by a beer tent and a live band. i guess i need to race more in germany... although i am not really sure how much fun it is to drink beer with a bunch of triathletes...they are mostly pretty boring. and come to think of it, i am not sure i would make the drive home with beer and burgers inside me post race, so let's just forget that. the only thing that is missing is all the m-dot gear at the expo, that is not really missing anything, except an opportunity to wait in line and spend more money.

so, come to think of it, a local race like this, done this well, aces a big, huge, ironman brand race any day. it is like like having coffee at the local shop, where the owner talks to you and the decor is unique and ambient, and things are more relaxed and personal,  as opposed to lining up at starbuck's and ordering coffee in some strange language we have all been forced to learn. (a good analogy except that sometimes at m-dot races you get coffee time coffee in a starbuck's cup, if you get my drift.)

enough rambling. race report.

welland is like a post card, except economically depressed.

 it kinda looks like how i imagine roth.

anyways, it is a simply beautiful setting to race in. country roads. a calm canal with parkland and condos all around. passing by a lake on the bike. a run along fitness trails that are beside water the whole time, with shade, trees, birds, and beautiful views every single step of the way. and lots of support from aid stations, which are well stalked and organized.
and a course that was made for PB's. fast and flat.
what more could you ask for? this race is destined to become a classic.


my race:

swim: my garmin strap broke just before i got in the water, so i had to stash it near a pilon on the ramp to transition. it was still there at the end of the swim, proving that the crowd was filled with good, honest people.  the water was quite warm. perhaps the course was a bit long this year as many many people had longer times than last year. but it was as pleasant as any mass start style swim can be. i had the usual boredom half way through. but overall, just a nice swim. the water was pretty warm, so making it wetsuit legal was a bit of a stretch in my opinion, but i didn't mind.

the run to transition is 1/2 k, over a large patch of rocky driveway just before you enter transition, so this was the worse part of the race really. it would be nice if they paved the whole thing. i ended up walking on stones, ouch, ooops, ouch.

bike: flat. a bit windy at points. passes a canal filled with water lillies. then turns into farmland. lollipops around and passes the shore of lake erie. quite a beautiful bike course. i was assessed a three minute penalty for i don't know what. kind've ironic given that i had to endure some jerk drafting me like crazy, then trying to pass me on the right, in between his spurts of sudden acceleration pauses to ride beside his girlfriend and chat, and then fall back and try to pass again. i am glad that he got left in my dust at the 65k point.  some people... and i get a penalty??? just another example that life really is not fair. i just didn't have magic legs on this day and i couldn't make the most of the ideal conditions, but i did manage a personal best, 2:36. good, i know  there is better in me, just not on that day.

run:somehow, i managed to make nutritional errors 101 on the bike so i ran into major stomach trauma from a glob of goo in my gut. this lasted for 10k of stitches, burps, vomit feelings and running at a walking pace. i seriously contemplated not finishing. but i just kept going, and drinking lots water to dilute the monster gel baby in my gut. i could not take in more fuel, my stomach would not handle it.

my stupid garmin strap broke so i ended up running holding it pocket watch style. no big deal.

at 10k things picked up and i actually started to run. another runner came up beside me and was going almost exactly the pace that i felt i could muster, so we ran together for 10k and picked people off, and had our own little mark allen/dave scott thing...funny, cause we did not say a word to each-other the whole time I ended salvaging a 1:41, which while not what i know i am capable of,  was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

the run course is about as nice as can be. i am not a fan of loops, but that is all i could criticize. it was simply beautiful. 

finishing strong without my gel baby

in the end, i clocked a 5:05 (i am ignoring that erroneous penalty), a good time on a less than perfect day and a wake up call not to make stupid mistakes at ironman.

the welland half ironman race, is a small, beautiful and well run 1/2 ironman with a course that is set up for PB's. it is a race that anyone who lives close by should put on their calendars. it is also proof that the ironman label, is simply that, a trademark label and that their races have nothing up on local race organizers, who when they  know what they are doing, are offering a superior race experience.