ERRA SA Reigning 2011 XTERRA Grabouw Champions Dan Hugo (Stellenbosch, South Africa) and Carina Wasle (Austria) will have to keep their wits about them on Sunday, 26 February 2012 when they return to Grabouw Country Club to defend their titles at the 2012 Totalsports XTERRA South African Championship presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT.

According to Hugo, XTERRA Grabouw remains his favourite local XTERRA. “Grabouw is 30 minutes from home, which means I get to wake up in my own bed the morning of the race. My training buddies will be taking part, while my family will be out showing support on the day, making it extra special. This will also be the first time that an XTERRA is hosted over a two day period, the XTERRA Lite on the Saturday and the XTERRA Full on the Sunday, making it the largest XTERRA in the world. XTERRA Lite newcomers can relax as the event is catered just for them. It is less demanding and less risky. Participants taking on the XTERRA Full for the first time can expect a fun day. If coming from a road background my advice is to shift your expectation, there are no tar roads and the route includes a lot of single track. The XTERRA spirit is adventurous, being faced with challenges is all part of XTERRA. Just allow the race to awe you. The venue is ideal for family and friends to show support pre and post race. I’ll be racing against the best on Sunday. When Conrad Stoltz races he is always expected to win, that expectation has not yet shifted to me. When in great form the race is his. I however, won’t be the only one to mix it up on the day,” says Hugo.

For Wasle winning at XTERRA Grabouw was the highlight of her 2011 season. “Last year I had quite a lot of ups and downs. The highlight was of course my win at XTERRA Grabouw. It is always hard to say how my fitness will be in Grabouw as it is my first race of the year. Austria had a very strong winter this year, it was freezing cold and as a result it was sometimes impossible for me to run outside with -20°C. We had so much snow and such cold weather that I decided to go to Fuerteventura for ten days for training. It is always a pleasure for me to fly down to South Africa. The course features a bit of everything. The Mountainbike starts off very fast, gradually getting harder and harder with lots of steep hills and technical trails. The running course is perfect for me with lots of climbing. XTERRA Grabouw is a fun race with a perfect course and amazing people,” says Wasle.

Other top contenders to look out for will include: Conrad Stoltz, Nico Pfitzenmaier, Stuart Marais, Tyronne White, Daniel Carleton, Justin Porteous and Carla van Huyssteen.

In the women’s race, athletes faced windy conditions around the Corio bay course but the layout held no fears for Moffatt who lead the women out of the 750m swim leg. New Zealand’s Teresa Adam and Sarrisa de Vries were hot on her heels, but on the bike leg the Dutch athlete was dropped early as Moffatt and Adam battled for the lead throughout the 20km leg. They opened up a 50-second gap to the chasing pack, which became nearly a minute and half by the end of the 20km circuit and the transition to the 5km run.

But once off the bike there was no looking back for Moffatt who put 30 seconds into Adam and the rest of the field with a stunning opening lap, and claimed her third Geelong title and second Australian sprint championship. Germany’s Anne Haug and Great Britain’s Liz Blatchford both ran past Adams into silver and bronze respectively.

Moffatt said afterwards she went hard in her first lap of the 5km run to guarantee the win.

“I was just trying to stick with Teresa in the swim and on the bike. It was a good challenge for me to stay with her; and then I felt pretty good on the run so I just went for it and finished it off. I didn’t want anyone running over the top of me,” said Moffatt. “That’s the competitor coming out. It’s always nice to have someone chasing, or having someone right there to chase – it’s the high pressure situations.”

The sun broke through for the start of the men’s race, with Australian James Seear emerging first from Corio bay to open up a narrow lead over the 56-strong field. But the local and international challengers bunched at the start of the bike leg, with Chris McCormack driving the front of the lead group. As the first 20 riders stretched out down the road, Australia’s Brendan Sexton pulled out with a broken seat post. A mass of riders then hit T2 together, but the race eventually came down to Vidal and Great Britain’s William Clarke who had opened a gap in the closing stages.

After shadowing each other on the last lap, Vidal managed to kick away with the finish line in sight. He finished in 55 minutes, 19 seconds, holding off Clarke by two seconds. New Zealand’s Tony Dodds was in third.

“I think my face tells the pain,” Vidal said. “It was really hard, pushing it. I must have found an extra gear in the last 500m. I had to work a little bit on the bike. It was a really hard 50 minutes but it’s a fantastic course – a bit of change from Christchurch where I train, so I really enjoyed it.”

Clarke said it was the first step in his aim to prepare for Sydney, and join the Great British team as the third man behind Alistair Brownlee and Jonathan Brownlee at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“It’s my first race of the season and at the moment I’m the third best man behind the Brownlees… It’s obviously really tough thing to qualify with the Brownlee brothers, but hopefully I can get them and hopefully I can press for Sydney.

“I just wanted to have a good swim, get out in the front, stay out there on the bike, stay out there as long as possible and then run as fast as I could, I went out quick and I felt good but I was just a little tired in the last kilometre and couldn’t quite finish off.”

Australia’s Drew Box finished in fourth place, enough to secure the Australian title.

With files from USM and Triathlon Australia

Elite Men
1. Laurent Vidal FRA 00:55:19
2. William Clarke GBR 00:55:21
3. Tony Dodds NZL 00:55:39
4. Drew Box AUS 00:55:41
5. Aaron Royle AUS 00:55:48
6. Cameron Good AUS 00:55:58
7. Chris McCormack AUS 00:56:06
8. Jamie Huggett AUS 00:56:07
9. Richard Varga SVK 00:56:14
10. Courtney Atkinson AUS 00:56:25

View Full Results >>
Elite Women
1. Emma Moffatt AUS 01:01:35
2. Anne Haug GER 01:02:43
3. Liz Blatchford GBR 01:02:58
4. Erin Densham AUS 01:03:04
5. Teresa Adam NZL 01:03:11
6. Natalie Van Coevorden AUS 01:03:17
7. Ashleigh Gentle AUS 01:03:49
8. Jaz Hedgeland AUS 01:04:00
9. Sarissa De Vries NED 01:04:09
10. Charlotte McShane AUS 01:04:18

South Africa’s Richard Murray and Carlyn Fischer got their respective seasons off to an excellent start at home, when they won the men’s and women’s titles at the 2012 Cape Town ITU Sprint Triathlon African Cup on Sunday.

With a water temperature of 14 degrees Celsius, both races started with a wetsuit swim. The men’s 750m lap did little to seperate the pack, over 20 athletes hit T1 together to start a technical 20km bike course.

Denmark’s Jens Toft managed to breakaway and entered T2 with a 40-second lead, but he was soon chased down by the rest of the pack that was being led by Murray and Great Britain’s Tim Don. It didn’t take long for Murray to push to the front though and he stayed there to claim the win.

It was Murray’s first ITU race in 2012, and it comes off an impressive 2011 for the two-time junior men’s ITU world duathlon champion. The 23-year-old claimed his first World Cup medal with silver Huatulco, and won his first African championships. The win in Cape Town means that Murray now also holds the South African 2012 sprint national title.

The rest of the men’s podium was also filled with athletes on the rise, Russia’s Igor Polyanskiy kept up his impressive run with silver while South Africa’s Erhard Wolfaardt claimed the bronze. It was Polyanskiy’s best ITU race result, following on from his bronze in the Under23 men’s race at the 2011 European titles and a fourth at the Bridgetown sprint event last week. It is the fourth consecutive podium for Wolfaardt, who won the All Africa Games, and Troutbeck and Pretoria-Tshwane African Cup events to finish his 2011 season.

Don, who is aiming to qualify for his fourth consecutive Olympic Games, finished 8th in his first race of 2012, while 2007 ITU World Champion Daniel Unger finished 5th.

In the women’s race, South Africa’s Mari Rabie was first out of the water in her first ITU race in almost a year, but not much separated the rest of the field in T1. Where the eventual medallists made their mark was in the bike leg, Fischer, Ricarda Lisk (GER), and Katrien Verstuyft (BEL) recorded the three fastest times over the 20km course and were first into T2.

Fischer then put in a 17 minute and 59 second run to take the title and the South African national sprint championship, while Verstuyft and Lisk held on for silver and bronze respectively.

Elite Men
1. Richard Murray RSA 00:54:48
2. igor Polyanskiy RUS 00:55:05
3. Erhard Wolfaardt RSA 00:55:07
4. Simon De Cuyper BEL 00:55:13
5. Daniel Unger GER 00:55:19
6. Ramon Ejeda Medina ESP 00:55:22
7. James Elvery NZL 00:55:25
8. Tim Don GBR 00:55:29
9. Hendrik De Villiers RSA 00:55:30
10. Premysl Svarc CZE 00:55:39

View Full Results >>
Elite Women
1. Carlyn Fischer RSA 01:01:21
2. Katrien Verstuyft BEL 01:01:36
3. Ricarda Lisk GER 01:01:47
4. Vicky Van Der Merwe RSA 01:01:51
5. Camilla Pedersen DEN 01:01:59
6. Lydia Waldmüller AUT 01:02:34
7. Mari Rabie RSA 01:02:51
8. Vendula Frintova CZE 01:02:55
9. Gillian Sanders RSA 01:02:58
10. Non Stanford GBR 01:03:05

Program will start by recognizing the top age group athletes on the European circuit.

TAMPA, USA. – To further showcase the unique talent of its athletes, World Triathlon Corporation
(WTC) today introduced phase one of the new Age Group Ranking system (AGR). The trial run of the
program will recognize the best age group competitors at Ironman®, Ironman 70.3® and 5150™
Triathlon Series races in Europe.

“We’re extremely enthusiastic about the pilot phase of the new AGR system in Europe,” said Andrew
Messick, Chief Executive Officer of WTC. “We continue to be impressed by the caliber of age group athletes competing in our races and we’re excited to more fully acknowledge and reward their accomplishments.”

Athletes ranked No. 1 in their age group in 2012 will receive free entry to a 2013 Ironman, Ironman
70.3 or 5150 Triathlon Series qualifying event of their choice. Athletes ranking second through fifth in their age group in 2012 will receive guaranteed entry for the 2013 Ironman, Ironman 70.3 or 5150 Triathlon Series qualifying event of their choice. The AGR slots will be added into the overall number of available race entries and will not impact registration opportunities for other age group participants across qualifying events.

Athletes will also have the chance to race a 2012 European 5150 Triathlon Series event for free once they register for a 2012 Ironman and Ironman 70.3 event in Europe.

The new AGR system is unique in that it scores races in the Ironman, Ironman 70.3 and 5150 Triathlon Series in one system. In phase one of the program, age group athletes, regardless of nationality, will earn points by competing in any WTC-affiliated race in Europe. Points are collected between May 12, 2012 and Nov. 10, 2012, with the first race opportunity being Thomas Cook Ironman 70.3 Mallorca and the final being Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote. The system will be broken down into three categories: small, big, and bonus points. Information on the points system may be found by visiting: www.ironman.com/ranking.

“We are looking for the complete triathlete. That‘s why we included all distances ranging from Ironman
to 5150 Triathlon in this program“, says Stefan Petschnig, WTC‘s Executive Manager Europe and South Africa. „We‘re convinced that athletes will like the Age Group Ranking system. For the first time tens of thousands athletes can compete against each other across the European continent“,
Petschnig adds.

While the first phase of the AGR program is open to any athlete, initially points may only be earned on the European race circuit. WTC plans to expand the program globally in 2013 with Messick adding,
“We are committed to making this program a success and we’re looking forward to offering athletes around the globe the opportunity to compete for a spot on the AGR list as the program expands worldwide.

We will welcome feedback from the triathlete community on the test run of this program and how we can improve the overall experience.”
All athletes who finish an Ironman, Ironman 70.3 or 5150 Triathlon Series race in Europe between
May 12, 2012 and Nov. 10, 2012 will receive an online certificate with their ranking.

An example AGR list with data from the 2011 races will be posted on April 15, 2012. The first official AGR list will be available online by May 15, 2012, following the Thomas Cook Ironman 70.3 Mallorca, and will be updated after every event, with the final official list being uploaded on Nov. 20, 2012.
For additional information on the AGR System, please visit www.ironman.com/ranking. All athletes who qualify for a complimentary invitation to a European 5150 Triathlon Series race must submit their Ironman and Ironman 70.3 entry registration codes and the name of the 5150 of their choice to agr.
invitation@ironman.com. The free entry must be used during the 2012 race season. Athlete inquiries should be directed to rankings@ironman.com.

WTC extends Race Transfer Policy
The WTC would also like to announce an extension to its Race Transfer Policy (RTP) which will cover all of 2012. Athletes transfer their race entry between European Ironman- and Ironman 70.3 races (exception: Ironman 70.3 Antwerp) under the standing rules and guidelines. Athletes can transfer
their entry from a race up until the race‘s final withdrawal deadline and can transfer to a race as long as registration for the target race is open.

About World Triathlon Corporation
World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a Tampa-based company recognized for athletic excellence, distinguished events and quality products. The WTC portfolio includes Ironman, Ironman 70.3, 5150 Triathlon Series, Iron Girl and IronKids, which have a combined total of more than 180 events worldwide each year. Supported by partners including Timex, PowerBar, K-Swiss and TYR, Ironman is the No.1 user-based sports brand in the world and has been a respected name in triathlon since its inception in 1978.

Head for the green hills of KwaZulu-Natal for the Husqvarna Classic Mid-Illovo MTB Challenge & Trail Run. On 20 May 2012, both mountain bikers and runners can get physical in the fresh air as the race traverses two picturesque game reserves, the Gwahumbe Game & Spa and iNsingizi Lodge.

The 40km mountain bike race offers the ultimate sporting challenge while the 18km Gwahumbe Family Experience and the 10km Kids Ride let the rest of the family hit the pedals. Runners can put their best foot forward in the grueling 14km iNsingizi trail run or take it a little easier with the 8km trail run.

The Husqvarna Classic Mid-Illovo MTB Challenge & Trail Run will be held at the Mid Illovo Club. Registration begins bright and early at 7am.

Because this event is becoming increasingly popular, the field has been limited to 1 500 riders so get your entries in early. Enter online on www.roag.co.za or contact ROAG on info@roag.co.za / 086 100 ROAG/7624.

Entry Fees:

40km Classic R120
18km Gwahumbe Family Experience R90
10km Kids Ride R50
14km Trail Run R75
8km Trail Run R50

The first 500 online entrants will each receive a free Cape Storm moisture management cap. There will also be fabulous goodie bags for the first 1000 through registration.

“Challenge yourself”

Sunday 4th March 2012 – Midmar Dam

It’s time to sign the dotted line as entries for the first 2012 Midlands ULTRA Triathlon close on the 19th of February. Race organisers suggest that athletes wishing to compete get their entries in soon as places are limited and filling up fast. Dubbed “SA’s Fastest Ultra Triathlon” the 2012 Series is going to be the best yet, says race director Damian Bradley. “We have made some great improvements on the 2011 event and we are taking the two part Series to even greater heights with a better race management team and our fantastic supporting sponsors. The exciting sprint and ½ iron man distance events take place on Sunday the 4th of March 2012 at Midmar dam.

South Africa top triathletes will be looking to make their mark and claim their share of the R35 000 prize money. Diane Emery, Claude Eksteen and Gerhard De Bruin have secured their place on the starting line ahead of 500 other pre entered athletes. Emery and De Bruin both claimed 3rd overall in the 2011 Ultra and are both looking for a win in 2012.

The Ultra race is broken down into a 1.9km Swim, 90km Cycle and a 21km run and the Sprint distance race, consist of a 600m swim, 20km cycle and a 5km run. The Latest news from the Midlands Ultra Organisers, B-Active Sports, is that they have signed up supporting sponsors, Nike Vision, GU Energy, FINIS and Xterra Wetsuits to the 2012 Series. GU Energy will be providing crucial product for the athletes while on the bike and running courses, while FINIS and Xterra Wetsuits are offering athletes discounts on racing equipment via the race website. Water quality of the dam has been tested throughout 2011 and with the Midmar Mile swim taking place soon, the Umngeni water board is confident that Midmar Dam has some of the cleanest water in SA. The water quality will be monitored and regular checks will be done until race day to ensure that the Midlands Ultra athletes get to swim in some of the cleanest water around.

The new running route is set to light the race up, as the new faster and flatter running route takes athletes along an all tar course alongside Midmar dam. The running route for the Ultra athletes will consist of two 10.5km loops, with a turn point at each end. The Sprint distance athletes will compete along the same course, however only taking on a shorter 5km distance. The new running course now boasts 8 water tables along each 10.5km lap, making sure that the athletes are kept well hydrated in a possibly hot time of year. GU drinks, water and coke will be available to keep the athletes hydrated along all the race routes, with GU Gels, Chomps and Bananas also being available at all the running water tables.

All levels of athletes will enjoy this unique race set in a spectacular and beautiful environment. A broad range of categories are open that cater for top athletes, weekend warriors as well as relay teams. With a healthy prize purse of R35 000 the top athletes will be battling out for a podium finish. For the not so fast, there will be R50 000 worth of prizes given out to lucky draw winners at prize giving.

There is still plenty of accommodation available nearby and race accommodation partner Woodridge Hotel & Spa is currently offering all athletes a special package. For more information on the event, specials and to enter, go to www.midlandsultra.com or contact B-Active Sports at info@midlandsultra.com

B-Active Sports / 082 559 2080

www.bactive.com

Best in Tri

Glen

Reigning individual men’s and women’s champions, Conrad Stoltz and Carla Van Huyssteen expected nothing less than a battle when they returned to Buffelspoort Dam on Saturday, 28 January 2012 to defend their titles at the gruelling TOTALSPORTS XTERRA Buffelspoort Full presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT. Although competition was tough, both Stoltz and Van Huyssteen proved to be unstoppable on the day, railroading to victory in a finishing time of 02hours20minutes08seconds and 02hours52minutes55seconds respectively.

According to Stoltz, the 2012 XTERRA Buffelspoort was a fun season opener. “The event was really scenic with a great atmosphere. I had a good swim and made my attack on the mountain bike discipline. I really enjoyed this leg as it featured a bit of everything. The run was tough with some big hills, this combined with the heat and humidity on the day made it quite a challenge. I take my hat off to all XTERRA warriors that raced longer than three hours. It’s a long day out there. I am really happy to start the season off on a good foot and am looking forward to XTERRA Grabouw. I am thankful to my wife, Liezel as she helps and supports me on every level. I’m usually late for my races, but this morning I was on time. I could relax and take it easy before the start all thanks to her. Married life really is better than anything I thought possible,” says Stoltz. Dan Hugo came in second, while Stuart Marais finished third.

Van Huyssteen was really pleased by the growth in the individual women’s category of the TOTALSPORTS XTERRA Buffelspoort. “Every year I wish that the competition in the individual women’s category would become stronger, and when it does, I’m forced to push myself even harder. Although I keep reminding myself that XTERRA Buffelspoort is tough, it is always tougher than I’ve prepared myself for mentally. This year’s event was no different. My wetsuit tore during the swim, resulting in quite some time lost and me having to push extra hard on the mountain bike discipline. As a result I almost blew on the run discipline. I am happy with my result though and really enjoyed the race. XTERRA SA truly is a great event with a vibe that is just as good, if not better, than any overseas XTERRA,” says van Huyssteen, who walked off with her third consecutive win at XTERRA Buffelspoort. Susan Sloan came in second, while Sylvia van Tromp finished third.

Triathlon is such a diverse sport that it is virtually impossible to perfect. I guess that’s why so many athletes are drawn to it. You never stop learning and are always striving to be better at it. You will make mistakes, the trick is learning from those mistakes and fixing it next time out.

The Novice is more susceptible to making mistakes as they begin the long arduous learning curve that is the sport of TRI. However, even the Pro’s and most experienced age-groupers will also make mistakes, they just make less of them.

So where to we begin? I have set-out to try and simplify it as best as possible and highlight only a few potential mistakes you may make in both training and racing. There are many more one could mention but that would take pages. So here goes, learn from other peoples mistakes before you end up making them yourselves.

Swim:

Training

• Worrying too much with swim technique?
Get the basic technique in place from the start then start working on building your base and getting swim fit. A poor swimmer needs 4 sessions per week minimum.

• Limit the amount of training tools you think you need to buy?
Paddles, kickboards, fins, snorkels etc are all great to use but it comes at a price. To swim faster and get fitter does not mean you have to buy everything that is available. You can achieve the same in training with less expensive resources.

• Too much too soon?
If you start out new to swim training and push yourself too hard, too far, too soon, you do risk injuries particularly in the shoulder and arms. First build the base then up the mileage and intensity

Racing

• Starting too fast!
It’s a natural reaction because the adrenalin juices are flowing at maximum level. Start out a little slower over the first couple of hundred metres and you will end up with a faster swim time.

• Hyperventilating?
Swimming with hundreds of others all clambering over one another has seen the very best of them loose their cool and begin to hyper ventilate. Roll onto your back, take off the goggles and take a few seconds to regain composure mentally and you will be okay to carry on.

• Swimming off course!
You need to find your own markers out in the open water and not rely on others to point you in the right direction. Make sure you know where you need to swim before you start out. No sense in wasting valuable time and swimming extra distance for no apparent reason.

Biking:

Training

• Incorrect bike set-up?
You need to have a proper bike set-up suited to your riding style and body build. No use being super aero but completely un-comfortable. Find your optimum “comfortable” riding position right from the start, even if its means tossing away some aerodynamic principles.

• Inconsistency during training?
You should be riding on average between 4 and 5 times per week if you are training for an ironman. It is much better to try and find the time to spread your weekly mileage out evenly throughout the week than cram train with longer sessions on the weekends. Consistency during weekly training rides will lead to better and more sustainable race results.

• Racing during training?
It’s always good to mix in a few time trial efforts and hard training rides with friends and training groups but you still need to have the ability to lift your game when the race comes along. Too many in-experienced athletes put too much into racing and being super competitive whilst they are training when they should be holding back on some occasions and saving their best for race day. Learn restraint in training so you can explode when it counts most during racing.

Racing

• Neglecting nutrition on the bike!
You have logged countless miles during training and have your nutritional needs down to a fine art. So why go blow you race time by neglecting it on race day? A number of factors like excessive heat, pushing the body to the limit may hinder you from ingesting an adequate supply. Prevent a guaranteed failure on the run if you go with out the proper intake of food by taking the time to get it down, even if it means stopping at the road side.

• Changing and Tweaking the bike position the day before or on race day!
Your bike has been boxed for travel and you prepare to put it back together when you arrive at the race venue. If you do not have accurate measurements and markings in place, you could get the saddle height wrong (very common!), tighten the tri bars at a different angle or even alter the saddle position (to name but a few). Get this done properly and make sure you have the same position in place as you have had during all those training rides. You’re body will thank you for it on the run.
• Riding faster from the start than planned!
Yep we have all been guilty or will be guilty of this someday. The swim to bike ride transition is frantic and if you do not keep a cool head, you could be belting along the freeway in the early parts of the 180km at a pace that is not sustainable. Let the nervous speed freaks plot their own demise when they come passing by too quickly. Stick to the pace you know and you will have the gas in the tank to have a fair shot at a good marathon.

Running:

Training

• Training at Low intensity but “trying” to race at a higher intensity
You cannot do all your training at one pace (normally slow/moderate) and then expect to lift that pace to fast/high during a race. It’s almost physically impossible especially over the longer distances. Avoid this by mixing up your weekly training regime with 1 time trial (5-8km) 1 interval/hill session and 1 tempo run (over any distance but at a pace just less than race pace but well above that of normal training pace)

• Training through an injury!
This is a common area of familiarity amongst endurance athletes. They stick to the program at all costs even if it means running through an injury. This will often result in a minor injury developing into a major one. First step to take when confronted by injury woes is get it diagnosed properly. Once you know what the problem is, you can then work on fixing it. It could mean the difference between taking only a few days off training as opposed to missing the race completely.

• Changing shoes and brand during the high mileage phase!
Some runners are gifted with a normal (or semi normal) foot strike. They are not the ones that sit with the problems. It is the other 80% that have to worry. Try and avoid switching shoes (during the big mile weeks) and especially to those of an alternate brand, if your happy with the way the shoes are treating your feet. You can do this when the weekly distance is not that great. You do risk plenty pains and niggles and possible long term injuries if you do it when your running long.

Racing

• Start Fast, Finish slow?
You will seldom recover sufficiently enough (to finish strongly) from an effort that had you go out hard in the beginning hoping to keep the pace going. If you got too hard from the start, you will end up taking more strain than you should have. The key to any successful race strategy is to be conservative at the start and then up the tempo if you have anything left towards the end. You must always run with something left in the gas tank, you never know when you may need it. The race is not over until you have finished the run leg completely. Remember that! Start Slow, Finish Fast!

• Walking when you should be running!
You always hear about this so called “2nd wind” that runners experience. When you’re in the doldrums and resigned to walking the rest of the way, push through the pain and mental barrier and try and find your second wind. It could be no more than a water table or less away. Try running faster (almost putting in a surge) at that exact moment and you will be amazed at how the body responds. Walking just prolongs the agony before the ecstasy of crossing that finish line.

• You cannot run properly on an empty stomach!
Your body needs some solids to feed off when its needs to cover 42km after having already completed 183.8km. Take the time after the bike to eat something solid (sandwich/cake) before you jump into the gels/drinks and other. If you start out on an empty stomach, the chances of running to your pace schedule will become increasingly harder as you get further down the track. Fuelling up before the start of the run may only then require nutritional top ups at the water tables as opposed to feasting on anything and everything you can get your hands on. If you start on reserve, you finish on empty!