Multisport Canada – Welland Long-course race report
Got to race 2+ hours early – amazing how quickly you can travel on the QEW at 5:30am. So a very easygoing set up, body marking etc. The racking was simple and given it is not a large race for the long-course, it is easy to rack your bike and create some room to lay out your gear. The day was overcast and was threatening rain, cool but not cold. The wind was about 7km/h from the east, so it was looking like a great day, unless the clouds opened up and dumped rain on us, which they didnt.
Our wave started at 8:45, so I was in the water for about 15 mins before the start doing some warm-up efforts. For those new to triathlon, this swim is rather easy as it is difficult to stray given you are in a rowing basin and indeed, you can follow an underwater line for most of the course.
I started right on the buoy line and followed it all around the race course which makes me very surprised on the swim time as I think it was 100m long. The swim was uneventful, caught some feet every once and awhile but nothing really sustained. No major body contact and the effort felt quite sustainable. The swim time was 41:01 for 2,086m or 1:58/100m
Transition was methodical, no real hurry up offence.
Long run out with the bike to get to the mount line, which is included in the rather long transition time of 3:45. The first 5km was tough to settle in given the number of riders and the choppy nature of the road, railway tracks and the turns in the course. At about 5km, I took a gel and about 200ml of water. I had put gatorade in the front torpedo bottle and was sipping regularly. I started to just try hone in on the power at 230Watts and make passes without pushing watts hard. I just road the bike sipping gatorade and water. At km 40 I took in another gel with more water. There was no major wind on the bike and no major challenges. Again, this is a great course for those who are new to triathlon given it is a flat course or if you want to make a PB. With that said, it can be quite windy, although that was not the case today. I drank 600ml of water, 2 gels, 550ml of gatorade. The ride was 1hr 36mins for 56km.
Got out of T2, carrying 600ml of gatorade and felt quite good. I came out and tried to ensure that I stayed around the 5min/km mark. The effort felt reasonable and while it was a bit muggy it certainly wasn’t hot, which was a blessing. I just kept a good cadence and focused on going up and down the waterway. Again, this race is flat as a pancake and so it is an easier effort particularly if the sun isn’t beating down. I had a little bit of water at each station but no more than 40-50ml – just a splash while continuing to drink the gatorade. I finished the run in 1:14:31 for 14.5kms.
So overall, a solid race for me, I improved my placement out of the water from 12th in my age group, to 8th on the bike, to 5th place after the run.
This was John Salt’s last race, he has been a very good race director. I would highly recommend this race and I would also recommend the Barrelman race which uses the swim basin and parts of the bike, before making its way to Niagara Falls.
