Bolton Ironman Race Report

Thought I'd better get round to this or I'll probably forget some of the important stuff which might help others who are planning to do this event next year.

To set the scene, I travelled up the Thursday before race Sunday to acclimatise to being up North. After a long/tiring journey including getting lost in Bolton (not a good idea), we arrived at our B&B – Clough Head Farm – set in a stunning West Pennine location, with amazing views and an extremely tranquil feel to it. I promised that I’d plug the accommodation to our club so in summary it was brilliant - great breakfasts, lovely rooms (self catering apartments or B&B) and Ray and Ethel really looked after us. There’s a short cut across country (8-10 miles) to get to the race venue, just ask Ray for directions.

The race start venue – Rivington Reservoir – was pretty similar to Wimbleball, a fairly remote/scenic spot where Ironman UK had taken over several local farmer’s fields to build the race village. The fact that they had about 10 days of heavy rain leading up to it resulted in the ‘Glastonbury effect’ with 6 inches of mud where the fields used to be. This didn’t have too much of an effect other than a messy T1 onto the bike with feet/shoes getting plastered heading out onto the cycle leg. The main negative was the distance from car park to registration/T1 and the lack of access into the main entrance getting down to the village. The road passing the entrance became a congested nightmare with people either trying to walk up with their bikes or parking by the road to shorten the walk from the car park. This was the first of the little white lies we were told in the race notes – 100m from car park to registration was pretty far from the truth. Incidentally they closed the car park on race day as it was simply unusable and had to organise coaches from 4am to get people from the Reebok stadium to the venue.

Swim – This was reasonably straight forward 2 loop, anti-clockwise circuit around a straight line of buoys, even I couldn’t b*gger that up! Distance back to T1 from the Reservoir was quite a long way (slightly further than Wimbleball and a hill to get up) but let’s face it you probably won’t be sprinting anyway. I was fairly chilled out at the start of the swim and the spectacle of having 1300+ other triathletes in the water around you chanting oggy, oggy, oggy at 5.50am was a pretty unique and memorable experience. My plan was to ease through the swim, pick up pace in the second lap and come in at around 1:10. I didn’t really get out of first gear and ended up in a massive pack for most of it having to jostle for position and came out in a lazy 1:26. Despite feeling fresh, I was shocked at how slow the time was, it really does demonstrate that it doesn’t matter how quick you are if you get the wrong line it costs time. I quickly re-grouped and turned my attention to the cycle leg.

T1 – a bit of a bun fight trying to get my bag but ok despite the mud. I noticed that the assistance from the stewards wasn’t as good as it was at Wimbleball due to sheer numbers. I’d make sure that you are 100% clear on where your bag is before race day.

Bike – this was by far the most enjoyable leg for me. At times it actually felt like a Sunday training ride, not that I’m trying to belittle the course but it was a fairly comfortable route. This may have had something to do with how I approached it, not going flat out and trying to save plenty for the run. There is a fairly hilly bit out of transition, not that steep but it does drag on a bit and the fact that this is a 3 lap course means you have to dig in at the start of each lap. Following this you need to be a bit careful through a twisting moors section, dropping down to the 2 only potentially dangerous bits of the course – a left bend to watch out for or you could end up in a lake and a steep, short rough section into the first small town which ends at junction and a sharp left. Then the route settles down to a series of long main roads, combined with sections of country back roads, technical in places but relatively flat until the final quarter of the lap when a few minor climbs crop up. The course was well marshalled so traffic wasn’t a problem. The locals and supporters were out in force in the more built up areas which helped to spur the competitors on. Overall I would rate this as a good course, it might not suit the real speed merchants due to some of the technical bits but compared to Wimbleball it is far more suited to time trial bikes. I managed 6:17 without really going flat out and into a strong headwind in places, so it should allow for quick times.

T2 – This went smoothly, the usual assistance from the marshalls racking the bikes. The T2 tent resembled a war zone with some very tired faces, no-one was rushing the change over by the time I got there. The crowds had thinned out so it was relatively easy locating my bag. I took down the my first gel (uuuurrrggghhh) and headed off at a steady pace, at this point I felt like sub 12 hours was easily within reach.

Run – this is where the event was a let down for me. The route was incredibly dull, following the main road into Bolton town centre, pretty uninspiring stuff! It was warm but there were drinks stations positioned at around every 3 or 4 miles. At the end of the first long drag along the main road the route eventually takes you down a residential bit along a river towards a small park which had a few nasty hills. This was irritating as the run route was supposed to be flat, IMUK got it wrong again. Having to do a boring lap twice was the real killer, after the first lap I had my only real dark spell of the race. Once I’d pulled myself through this (plenty of coke at the drink stations) I found a bit of extra energy towards the end and even put in a sprint over the final few hundred metres to try to get in sub 12 hours but came in just outside. The use of mile markers would have been a help and I’m surprised that IMUK don’t put these up. It was only when a spectator shouted 500m to go that I had any idea how far was left. The sight of the red carpet and family, friends and supporters cheering at the finish was fantastic and that point I couldn’t have cared less whether it was Bolton or Hawaii.

The post finish set up collecting bags and food was a bizarre experience in the town hall. The food was the usual poor quality array of sausage rolls, mini scotch eggs and stale sandwiches. It never ceases to amaze me that you spend loads to enter these races, virtually kill yourself to complete it and they can’t provide better food.

Overall I would have to say my initial fears of holding it in Bolton were only supported by the less than glamorous run leg. Providing you steer clear of Bolton centre during your stay, the surrounding countryside is stunning! Taking into account this was the first time in Bolton, initial teething problems and unforeseen problems like the rain it went about as well as could be expected. On balance there were more positives than negatives so anyone thinking of doing it next year – providing IMUK make a few alterations/improvements – I would still recommend entering. If you go sub 12 I don’t want to hear from you. Bring on Lanzarote next!

Hey, great report Steve and well done again!
The run reminded me of how dull the Sherbourne run course was in 2006 when they sent us to run the 2nd half of the marathon up and down the dual carriage way.
Lanzarote next eh! Mike... we need your report on that one!
One thing for sure... any other IM race, the pasta party and post race food is always 100 times better than IMUK... as is the goodie bag!
Roth is sponsored by Erdinger beer.... so there's free beer all weekend and is the first drink given to you on crossing the finish line!
Catherine