I'm totally sunburnt and dehydrated!
*just a warning...its a pretty long post...but i can't help it...i had a great time there...but heaps of photos below!*
Spent a great weekend down at Busselton with Weiliang, Min and Ben. Went down specially to watch the annual Busselton Full Ironman Competition, as well as to support a mate who was taking part in it! Was a hell of an experience...i totally give full respect to these athletes man....i dun think i can ever take part in such an event in the near future, less in the entire course of my lifespan here on planet Earth!
Busselton is like a 3 hr drive south of Perth. We specially set of at like 3am early Sat morning so that we could reach at 6am, just on time to watch the flag off of the Ironman race. Was quite a scene when we got there....heaps of athletes all decked out in their fancy wetsuits and coloured swim caps with their entourage, support crew and loved ones backing them on. The weather wasn't the best to begin with, strong cold winds were blowing and it was pretty cold considering that summer is starting in like less than a week. As supports, i was already freezing my arse off!
Music blasting, supporters cheering...competitors gathered at the starting point of the swim leg. Just watching them gave an adrenaline rush kinda feeling...
There were like competitors from all ard the world...including a few from Singaopore! Other countries include Germany, Japan, USA, Belgium, Canada, NZ, HK,South Africa....hepas more!
BANG...the race started...oh my goodness...i never really saw anything quite like it b4. A sea of coloured swim caps...didn't even look like humans swimming...all u could see were lots of violent splashes...for a moment it kinda looked like bird wings just above the surface of the water...really! The lead guy was getting a great head start....awesome sight!
A new record was held for the swim leg...the first male competitor that completed the 3.8km swim, came in at like 44mins! (if u din know...thats hell fast ok!) So yea, if u were wondering...a FULL IRONMAN consist on a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, 42.8km run...all one after the other...so yea, it's one crazy competition alrite! And there water conditions for the race wasn't the best...super choppy due to the bad weather, and not to forget...the water was freezing...there was even a case of hyperthermia i think! its that bad!
The cycling leg was cool too....imagine 180km of cycling....my butt we be super sore man! Not to mention most of them were going at super fast speeds...definitely more than 35k/hr...and to mantain that speed for the course.....simply amazing k! This time round, i think the 2nd place guy from the swim leg overtook the 1st place guy due to some breakdown halfway...so yea, the first person completed it in like 4hrs plus. *that's damn fast too...go calculate the average speed la!*
It was great fun just standing there, supporting all the participants. Always saw such events on TV but never had a chance to experience one....so there i was watching the pros and just ur usual normal athletes sweat it off! I think half the time i was also looking all their bike...they came in all sorts if colours and models...had my eyes on countless 'beautiful' bikes...wished i could own one of those...then again, no point acting to 'pro' when i'm not caught up for such stuff!
I think one of the most inspiring athletes who participated and shd be given full respect was this guy,who i think was paraplegic...raced in his special wheelchair....and he was doing really well...somewhere in the middle of the pack. Amazing! RESPECT!
I reckon it was fun to watch the athletes at the transition zones...from swim-bike, bike-run.....one thing u notice in general was that majority of the athletes never really showed any signs of torture on their faces..in fact they were smiling...enjoying themselves...it also helped that the commentators were really good...funny, lively, and updates were great!
By the run leg, the sun was blazing...ok, aussie weather is crazy...first started off so damn cold in the morning to the extent that ppl wore beanies and scarfs....come afternoon...god, the sun was scorching...think the temp went up to abt 33 degrees! I was already complaining...imagine the athletes! Hence why i got sunburnt depsite having applied sunblock! Dun play play with aussie sun k! By this time, u can see most of the athletes all tired out...but they just keep going...and going...and going...wah lau, still can run faster than me despite completing their previous legs of the race! 42.8km....errr....no way man!
The atmosphere was really cool at the finishing point...ppl started gathering at abt the 8th hour thur the race, expecting the first winner to come running thru...cheering and mood steadily rose to climax....(ok,sounds a lil' wrong) but yea...true enough the first guy came running thru at abt 8 1/2 hrs! From the looks of it...he was surprised, and i must say he still looked in pretty good shape, not much signs of extreme fatigue...he could still dace and hop! hahah! And u know like how u see on TV, they high five the supports as they come running thru the finishing line...yea...was exactly the same! hahah...yea, so the first place guy was some aussie dude...think his name was Mitch Anderson....2nd place was some NZ bloke. Top ten finishers all came in under 9hrs!
Was one hell of an Ironman experience for me!
race start of the swim leg
scary....
watching and supporting from the jetty
Min and Me freezing in the cold...
swim finish
cooling down after the swim leg...
cycling leg
prarplegic athlete...respect!
running leg
ooo....