I then dropped off my street gear bag and bike pump to get taken back to Cairns. By this point it was only 6am and the race was starting at 7.55am. I had my pre race cliff bar and off I went with my other pre race rituals. Then I met up with Bex and Nicky who had special t-shirts made with my face on them! I will add photos when I get a chance. We went to near the swim start and watched the half ironman fasties start on the bike. There were some cobbled speed bumps and lots of people were losing their water bottles because of the bumps. This was good to know before I had to go out there on the bike. Back to putting on the wetsuit with more sportslick and my first energy gel of the day about 15 minutes before the start.
Down to the water after saying my goodbyes and then I realised I was about to start an Ironman... Shit! There were 1654 registered athletes for the full Ironman and only 35 of those were professional- the rest of us start in one wave. Seriously, one wave with over 1500 people, that is crazy. This was the most crazy thing I have ever been a part of. It was amazing. The atmosphere, the cheers, the commentator, all of it was amazing. Off I went on my two laps. It was hard. The sea was not calm and there were a lot of arms and legs flying around. After maybe 500m I was settled into my slow rhythm and I was plodding along happily. I was swimming straight out into the waves but after a while the rhythm was there and I was breathing ok. Then at the third buoy off I went south - into what little wind there was, but more importantly against the tide. It was slow going but I was happy enough. Another turn at buoy number five and it got easier at last! A further right turn at the seventh buoy and I now had a bit of tidal assistance.
At buoy number nine (the first buoy on lap 1) I turned right and knew I was well over halfway. Not really sure of splits in the swim, but needless to say it was slow! I went out again and right along against the tide again and finally made the last right turn and made my long way to the swim finish. At this point I got a bit of cramp in my right leg, but kicked through it and it was all ok. I tried to use the waves to my benefit, but I'm not great at that. Eventually I got to the swim finish in an official time of 1:25:54.
Out I came up the beach and into transition. In case I haven't mentioned, it had rained a lot and it was still raining. That means transition was rather a mess! My feet got covered in mud and grass so I sat down in the change tent and started drying my feet off. That was when I met an awesome volunteer who unpacked my bike bag for me and told me to relax and take my time. I told him my wife would be happy I hadn't drowned, so it would all be easy from here. Little did I know what would happen soon after. I put on socks and shoes, took my sunnies (to keep the rain out of my eyes) and picked up my extra gels (two, plus the two taped to my bike). Off I went through the mud to my bike, then up the red carpet to the bike mount point. Transition 1 done in a reasonable time of 5:48 and off on the bike with total time elapsed of 1:31:42.
The bike started as expected... Cobbled speed bumps, rain and Bex and Nic shouting for me on the sidelines:-) all went well through the Palm Cove exit. I made some jokes, people laughed, Bex shook her head at me because I'm an idiot and one woman on the bike said I had cheered her up after a dreadful swim, so I felt like my job was done. Now to settle in for the real work - more than 6 hours on the bike.
I felt fine once I had spent about five minutes on the bike and this was as expected- I hate the swim, but it doesn't take too much out of me. I made the turn north towards Port Douglas feeling confident and ready to enjoy my favourite part of the race. That lasted for a grand total of 8.48km. I know that number well because it was the first (not the only) time I cried during the race. I can honestly say these were tears of anger. I got my bike serviced the week before the race and suggested I might need a new back tyre - the mechanic said "no, it is fine." I asked the mechanic the day before the race at Palm Cove and he repeated "no, it is fine." Two qualified people, what did I have to worry about?!?! It turns out I needed a new tyre. This was puncture number one. Once I had got over a bit of the anger I changed the tube, put the wheel back on and went to use CO2 canister number one. Oops... It went off but not into the tyre. Shit! Concentrate Joe, this second one is the last one you have... Sorted! I managed to calm down enough to fix it. Back on the bike and back on the road. I estimate 12 minutes lost here.
I got settled into my rhythm, constantly overtaking the people who had passed me whilst I fixed the first puncture. I cycled up the big hill to Rex's Lookout. It was a maximum of 900m in length and not very steep- Sydney hills are good training. At Rex's Lookout (about 18km in) I saw a bike mechanic waiting in the passing place. I decided to stop and pump up my tyre properly and grab a new inner tube and CO2 canister. This turned out to be a good choice. A further 2 minutes lost, but now I had the safety of another inner tube if the worst happened again (surely not, right?!)
I started to then make time up on the way to Port Douglas. I was riding within myself knowing there was a long way to go and the first 45km are not where the race is won. However, just as I was happy... At 45.5km I got that dreaded second puncture. Off the bike, change it, CO2 canister in, wheel back on, away I go - this time less anger (and no tears) and I had lost about 8 minutes more.
Now comes an interesting part of the race that I had thought about, but had never known the answer to. I call this "Things I never thought I would do as an adult". If you do the maths (which I had) I had already lost 22 minutes and I was only a quarter of the way through the cycle. Stopping for a pee on the bike we (Adam, Nic, Bex and I) had decided would cost at least 3 minutes, if not more. There was slowing down to stop, waiting in line, peeing and then getting back up to race speed. I didn't want to add another three or four minutes to the time I had already lost. So, as the Internet forums told me, wait for a downhill, check there is nobody behind you, get out your saddle with a water bottle in hand and relax. Make sure you squirt water on your leg before anything reaches your shoes and then sit back down and pedal away like nothing has happened. You are welcome to judge me, however remember this - you may never have been in a situation like I was and you may not be as competitive with yourself as I am, but I really am ok with it, I just can't believe this wasn't the only time I did it on the bike (I reckon I saved between 15 and 20 minutes- at least I was well hydrated). Also, the rain made it feel like it wasn't quite as bad as if it had been a dry day... Anyway, you may now look at me in a different way, but I made the right choice for me on the day!
Back to the cycle. I was on the way south to Rex's Lookout and the hill this way is longer but less steep. I felt that I wanted to stop here and grab another inner tube from the bike mechanic but about 300m before the summit (if you can call it a summit) I heard the air coming out of my back tyre again. I managed to get myself to the top and here I was, 70km done, three punctures, lots of technical officials and lots of reasons to think this hadn't been my day. I had been thinking about this for the last 30km and had decided I would run my bike to the top of Rex's Lookout if necessary - I was not going to quit. Mr bike mechanic - I called him Mr Trinity (from Trinity Cycleworks in Cairns) offered me an $89 tyre - what a bargain!!! I was so relieved. This meant maybe I could get on and concentrate on the stupid distance I was meant to be going rather than the stupid punctures.
Whilst I was fitting my new inner tube and tyre (Mr Trinity can hand me stuff, but can't help with the repairs) one of the technical officials came over. He said to Mr Trinity that he was required to help another competitor. Her name was Sharn McNeil - I had heard her story on Friday at the welcome dinner and will give you a short version here. She did a half Ironman at Cairns in 2012. In 2013 she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and in 2014 her friend Craig was helping her live her dream of becoming an Ironman by pulling her in a kayak for the swim, cycling with her attached on a recumbent bike and then pushing her in a wheelchair for the marathon. She had a puncture on the back wheel of her recumbent bike and Mr Trinity was required to help.
Now, I took my bike off the stand and thought about how bloody lucky I was that all I had to do was overcome three punctures. Suck it up princess let's get this Ironman done. By the way, Sharn finished under the cut off in about 16:40:-)
Cycling here we come. This time the puncture and resultant tyre change had probably cost me another 10 minutes, putting the total time lost at 32 minutes. I headed south to the turnaround point had cry number two of the day - how could I be complaining when Sharn was doing it so tough? At 83km I picked up my special needs bag and got my second Accel energy bar, two more energy gels and a third bottle of Accelerade. I was settling nicely into a rhythm and hit 90km in about 3:38. Shit that 30 minutes sucks. Never mind, on I go up to Port Douglas for the second time. This time no punctures, lots of smiles and shouts of thanks to all the volunteers - I did my best to thank them all - it must be an otherwise thankless job in the pouring rain for hours.
Back south I turned for 70km to Cairns. I was feeling really good and managed to knock out my best section - 33km at an average speed of 36.7kph. Apparently it was slightly downhill, although not that much. I passed Rex's Lookout for the fourth (two north, two south) and final time and shouted my thanks to Mr Trinity - I would be seeing him tomorrow to pay for that tyre! I went past Palm Cove and was pleased no more swimming was required and then hit the final aid station knowing there was 17km to go on the bike. The last 17km was done at an average speed of about 23.8kph due to the wind picking up and mostly due to the winding roads the route took to make the cycle up to 180km.
Now into Cairns and I was getting excited - I hadn't seen my fans for nearly 7 hours and they had no idea of the three punctures I had suffered. The last 90km took me 3:09 and I didn't get overtaken by a single person during that time. I was well impressed - clearly my controlled first quarter (along with the puncture breaks) meant I was feeling strong all the way home. It was great to see Nic and Evie near their hotel and then Adam and Bex near transition cheering me in. I felt good despite the punctures and under the circumstances was pleased with my official time of 6:47:07.
I then gave my bike to one of the "bike catchers" - so cool I didn't even have to rack my own bike!!! I headed into the change tent with my run bag and decided there was only a need to change socks and shoes, the trisuit still felt fine (although the pictures tell another story...) I picked up my race belt with race number on and three more energy gels, left my sunnies behind and put on my cap. Back out to the cheers of my adoring fans in a mere 3:18. Total time elapsed so far of 8:22:07.
Out of transition and onto the run. I am impressed if any of you are still reading, this race report does go on... But, stick with me, all we have left is a marathon:-) Bex and Adam were there waiting to cheer me on as I started. I actually felt alright at this point. Adam and I had joked that I should aim for a 2 hour half marathon and see how it went from there. What an idiot! I picked up my first wristband (blue) and thanked the volunteer as I went off on the first lap. I managed the first 8km in 45:48, so on for that 4 hour marathon pace. Then things changed... I realised I was a little bit tired and my quads were hurting with every step I took. I managed lap 1 (14km) in 1:24:18 and then the second lap started.
Wristband number two (white) collected and off I went... slowly! By this point it was still raining heavily (as it had been all day) and the first 4km of the lap is an out and back to the corner of the marina. There is a nice bit where the spectators are all drinking at a little bar and cheering you on. It was good to have the support of random strangers at this point in the day. It was starting to get dark and I knew I had to get my head down and get through the last three hours or so. I remember a couple of the volunteers out at the 2km aid station – they were checking the name on everyone’s race bib and cheering for every single person. It was a really nice touch and just shows how amazing the volunteers are at events like this.
Anyway, I got through the 4km very slowly and then it is 6km out to the furthest point (near the airport) with a couple of u-turns along the esplanade to make up the kms. This was pretty hard going. My quads were hurting a lot and it felt like the finish line was a long way away. I got through the half marathon in (I think) 2:11:04 and then I realised that I was over halfway through the run and that cheered me up a little. Out to the 10km point (24km through the marathon and 207.8km through the Ironman) and there was a short section that went into a dip which was waterlogged – good for the feet and then across a very short grass patch which was just pure mud by now. Back down the last 4km takes you all the way to the finish line and this is a great section to be running on. There were a bunch of girls from BondiFit in Sydney who had an SUV parked on the grass with Eye of The Tiger blaring out on repeat, there were loads of random people just cheering everyone on and then there was Bex, Adam, Nic and Evie near the finish to remind me I only had one lap to go. I am pretty sure Adam said “Bex will buy you a new tri bike if you go sub 13”. I didn’t believe him, but I really wanted sub 13 now. I had come to terms with the punctures (kind of… not really) but I would have been so upset with myself if I couldn’t break 13 hours. Lap 2 took me 1:33:56, so quite a bit slower than I would have liked, but I was getting there which was the important thing.
Lap 3 started with a big thank you to the volunteers giving out the wristbands – I got my third and final one and had a look and saw that it had the Ironman distances on the wristband. Even now, ten days later (and two days into my new job) I am still wearing that wristband! The 4km loop was slow again, but I made sure to thank the volunteers as I passed them for the last time. More lollies were eaten, more gels were used and more water consumed. I used 6 gels in total on the run, so one every 45 minutes (first one straight off the bike). Back past the finish area and the crowd were going crazy – only 10km and it would be for me! Out I went and put my head down and tried to slog it out. But I could feel myself getting slower. It sucked a lot. Then I heard Bex and Adam cheering for me and they managed to see me two or three times over the next 3 or 4km which gave me a real boost – probably mentally rather than faster kms! Then I got out to the airport turnaround point and made my way down the last 4.2km to glory and riches (maybe?!)
This last stretch was really emotional – people could see that I was on my last lap – the smile rather than the grimace of the first two laps was a bit of a giveaway! I was doing my best to keep it together and I had a little bit of energy left after struggling for the previous 20 or so kms and I think my last km was actually the fastest of the run! As I came down there was a whole lot of cheering and then I came into the straight before the finish line straight. I gave a little “whoop” and the crowd just went crazy! It was an atmosphere like I had never ever experienced. I was high fiving everyone in the crowd and trying to milk it a little bit but then I saw the man who was going to let me go down the finish chute and I decided to concentrate on that and what was about to happen.
I am not sure how to describe the feeling of the finish chute – you need to do an Ironman and find out for yourself. To know that you have just swum 3.8km in the choppy sea, cycled 180km with three punctures and then been stupid enough to run a marathon in the pouring rain all for this moment. You turn the corner and the lights are so bright and the crowd seems huge and really loud. Then as you come down there is the commentator, Peter Murray, saying your name as you cross the finish line with the words I would never have imagined hearing three years ago… “Joe Hedges, you are an I-R-O-N-M-A-N!” Then you cross the line and have your medal put round your neck by the winner of last year’s Cairns Half Ironman and get a finisher towel draped round you by one of the volunteers. Then I was with Bex and Adam and I knew they had been standing at the end of the finish chute watching me come down and cross the line. I seriously cannot explain quite how good that feeling is. I am not lying – the only way to find out is to do an Ironman. Seriously, 226km is possible for me – therefore you can do it too! Total marathon time of 4:33:37. This gave me an official finish time of 12:55:44 and a rank of 828 out of the 1654 starters – pretty much bang on halfway through the field.
Now… ten days later and writing this, I can still feel the emotion of what it was like crossing the finish line. I hope I can always recall that feeling, but just in case it is going to fade, which I am sure it will, I had better sign up for another one. Who wants to join me for Ironman Melbourne on Sunday 22 March 2015? Sound like a plan? Let’s do it and you too can try and understand what that feeling is like. I have had comments from people who have done an Ironman and they all say the same thing… there is nothing quite like hearing “Joe Hedges [replace with your name], you are an I-R-O-N-M-A-N!”
