London

Race Report: LL2015 Event 4 Crystal Palace Triathlon - 10 May 2015

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You can't but help feel a buzz of excitement when racking your bike at the Crystal Palace Triathlon, the fourth LL2015 race this season.

The transition area is inside a huge sand-surfaced arena, adjacent to the Athletics track and you’d be forgiven for feeling you were racing somewhere altogether more elite.
 
There's only one distance on offer – a sprint, and it's all neatly contained within the pristine facilities of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, utilising the Olympic sized indoor pool, 2.2km bike track and a run through the grounds. You have to be quick to enter. All 600 spaces were snapped up within hours of entries opening earlier this year.
 
The swim consisted of 15 lengths, snaking up and down eight lanes and under the ropes every two lengths into the next lane. Competitors set off in ten-second intervals, starting in order of estimated swim times with the fastest competitors first. There’s lovely natural light in the stadium and plenty of room for spectators, who sit on the side of the pool nearest to the final length – nothing like a little pressure to keep up speed for the final 50 meters.
 
Out of the pool, it’s straight into the sandy-floor transition area to grab your bike. If you don’t usually put on socks after the swim, you might want to consider it for this race. Wet flesh and sand don’t mix well. (You may want to apply some chamois cream before you start too.)
 
It was a chilly start on the bike for those who had the early 9am starts slots. But any shivers on the bike were soon banished by a hill appearing almost immediately. It’s only short, but it’s there barely before you’ve clipped in your cleats.
 
I was expecting a smooth ride with a traffic-free bike track, but pot-holes loomed in the most precarious places, and there were more than a few sharp corners. With competitors starting every ten seconds, the course was crowded so it was as much a test of handling skills and overtaking etiquette as it was speed.
 
I'd managed six laps of the nine-lap course, and was just learning exactly how to manage my gears on the hill, when I got a puncture. There were some thorny patches on the course. Was I carrying a spare tube? Nope. Defeated, I wheeled my Trek off the track, and found my way around the grounds back to transition. I asked a marshal if I could still complete the run despite being out of the race. I wanted a time (and of course to write this race report).
 
The run was two laps of a 2.5k loop. Like the bike course, a hill appeared almost immediately. It finished with one and a half laps of the Athletics track - a euphoric finale. Spectators lined the edge of the track, so I couldn’t help but attempt a sprint for the final 100 meters, despite knowing my puncture would give me a DNF.
 
Race report by Helen Croydon, a journalist and member of London Fields TC and the Triathlon England:  London Region media team. Follow her on Twitter: @helen_croydon
 
If you've got a story to tell please get in touch with us email: jontrain@triathlonengland.org
 

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