Race 5. Triathlon Noirmoutier en L’ile. May 21 2009

One of the hardest parts of this race was getting into the race itself. It was Thursday and a public holiday in France so everyone wanted in, but with only 220 spots up for grabs there was going to be tears. I was very lucky and gained a spot at the very last minute. The island of Noirmoutier is pretty amazing in itself (not that having a triathlon there is meant to blow peoples mind away), as it has the spectacular ‘passage du Gois’. For people that spend 3 weeks of the year glued to the couch, with a tv remote in one hand and errr … your pump in the other hand listening to Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwan, you will remember the tour de France passed here in 1999, and the race was possibly decided by a big crash that held up all but 70 or so riders. At high tide the passage is a few meters under water, and for a few hours at low tide the 4.5km section can be crossed on foot, by car or doing a handstand (anything is possible). There is also a famous running race where they invite some super fast African runners and pit them against the best French guys. To tip the scales in favor of the Frenchies, the run is ‘contre la mer’ (against the sea), where the runners complete most of the race in shin deep water, as the tide speeds in. If you are too slow then you may need to swim the last bit, and the Kenyans arnt the best swimmers! The passage is slippery with mud and algae, and you can imagine running with heavy wet shoes, yet I saw the winners time on the news somewhere under 12mins for 4.5km!! Check this link for more info http://www.lesfouleesdugois.com/ Having built up all this background of the passage, I must say, we didn’t race over it, so forget about everything I have just told you and refocus on this…. The race site was slap bang in the middle of down town Noirmoutier. Well when I say down town, its not New York but with an overabundance of one way streets, lack of parking places and a few too many disgruntled locals driving their 1946 Renault at 14km/hr between their salt farm and potato shop, it was pretty congested! It was actually a really good atmosphere as parts of the course passed the café strip where a delicate blend of posh latte sippers and groggy fishermen could critique the passing of wet, semi clad, lycra adorned bodies, from the comfort of their alfresco settings. The swim was a straight line affair into the outgoing current followed by a climb out the canal by means of one of three ladders, strapped to the canal wall at the top and driven into the bottomless mud at the bottom. Great for spectators as they could walk along and watch the fight just 20 or so meters away. It must be said that it could be a little discouraging for competitors too, as watching an old lady with a walking frame gliding along effortlessly next to you, could make on feel a little inadequate in the water. The bike was 2 laps of 11km with a mix of wide straight roads on flat, narrow winding roads through the salt marshes and dangerous, technical cobblestone sections through the center of town. Ella was lucky enough to see a few stacks, including one where an unfortunate gentleman abandoned his bike and buried himself waist deep in a flower pot. Thankfully his pants stayed on otherwise his impersonation of a banana tree would have taken all of the attention off the race itself! The run was a 5km loop, where the last kilometer leads you along the swim canal to the finish arch. As for my race, I swam pretty much alone after the first 100m, trying in vane to catch one guy who had shot into the lead. I got to the ladder about 10 seconds behind him but passed him in transition and headed out on the bike in the lead. Before the race I had asked a number of people where the course through the center of the village actually goes. Saying it goes up, around and back, or follow someone else was not cutting it and everyone had a different interpretation of the course. I had warm up around all the streets but there were barriers everywhere and no arrows. So as I headed up the hill and around the little castle thing I was prepared to turn left or right and was even willing to go straight on. Thankfully the marshals kept me on track and I got around the real course without becoming lost (I do hope the guy that tol d me (and kept insisting he was right) to go the wrong way up the wrong road, followed his own directions, and is still riding looking for the turn around). I went hard on the bike hoping to get a big space between myself and last years winner, David Gandon. This happened and by the end of the bike leg I had close to 1 minute of a lead. Having been thrashed more than once in the past two weeks and also loosing races in disappointing circumstances, I decided to run hard and leave nothing to chance. I crossed the line close to two minutes in front with people saying “ah facile” Easy? No it was not!

Here is the swim start. I hung onto the pole just left of the bouy and got a flyer!

A special thank you must go to Elise for not only lending us her car but also giving us tickets to a Sound garden/ Lenny Kravitz concert the night before. What a girl! And dam that Laurent Suppi for stealing my secret girlfriend!