Powerscourt WAR 2012 (Part 2)

With about 400 taking part - and over half of those in the (easy) Sport event which I'd entered - the entrants were split into four starting 'waves' at half-hour intervals. I was in the final 1pm wave. Having signed in the night before, and confirmed the time again on race day, I thought it'd be interesting to watch the 12:30 group going out, so I positioned myself at the start line for the final race briefing. The first couple of kms were on the bike, downhill and behind a jeep which would pace the riders and then pull away for the race to officially begin.

For some reason the start time went well beyond 12:30 so there was lots of waiting around before they finally headed off. As soon as they were gone, one of the race organisers wandered over to ask me was I not racing? The race number pinned to my top must have been a clue for him.

Turns out the 12:30 and 1pm waves had been merged into a single 12:45 start, and somehow no-one bothered to tell me. The guy who'd approached me obviously saw the panic in my reaction, and told me not to worry, to take my time getting ready and they'd give me 5 minutes extra on my time.

Problem was I hadn't warmed up, or stretched, and by now had a very full bladder. I ran back to the bike racks around the corner - mine was now the only one there! I had to empty my bladder there and then - the shame - and then final packing, helmet on, up on the bike, and off down the hill to chase.

The chase is on...

Not quite the start I'd planned, but the adrenaline was fairly pumping now. I was the last of 400 people out on the course, and f*cked if I was going to finish in that position. Print this post