Ricki’s story
What. A. Day!
Months and months of training and on the day it’s still not enough, without the grit to push yourself through the pain and achieve something incredible.
I woke up with a bug on the day, which affected my entire race, but the training kicked in and carried me through.
I was extremely lucky to be able to give Charl a hug on the swim start pontoon, settling some nerves. Entering the water knowing a watchful eye was fixed on me was very reassuring. The swim went entirely to plan apart from a rogue elbow to the face and was perfectly in line with my predicted time.
Lap 1 on the bike was great, maintaining a consistent pace and fuelling well. Lap 2 I felt rotten and it continued to get worse until I had to get off the bike on lap 3 on Black Hill and push.
At this point I was an hour from the cut-off and 12 miles (and a transition) from starting the run. I took some flu tablets and extra nutrition and decided it was all or nothing. I really pressed on, which the crowd fully acknowledged, then made it to the dismount line having made up time and with 25 minutes to get through T2.
About 400m into the run I’d forgotten my race belt, so had to go back to transition and ask a volunteer to grab my bag to find it.
My plan was to try and run the first 2 laps and aim for a 2.5 hr half marathon. I ate everything available at the first aid station, massaged some cramp out of both legs, then got to work.
At the 21km point I was on target. The second half of the marathon was purely mental. The crowds on the day were invaluable and it was a blessing to have family there to help me through.
I finished in the dark, but with all my family cheering me down the chute, alongside fellow Ironman and their families, Simon and John, who had stuck around after completing their race to see me home.
I heard the immortal words from the announcer and Charl was there again to put the medal around my neck. Tom and my family again helped me with all the kit and made sure I got back to the car in one piece.
I can’t thank my family and the NTC team enough. I’m sure everyone says this, and I’m not sure everybody will understand how much this means, but the support from family and NTC members is priceless, it’s what gets you through the months of long training and the events on the day, knowing everyone is rooting for you, both in person and at home, seeing the emotion, it’s powerful, life changing stuff.
Simon’s story
A few years ago I couldn’t swim more than a few lengths without stopping, didn’t own a road bike and had started running a few 10km races for fun & to keep fit.
Watching my son Jacob train and race with NTC I got talking to other members and thanks to their friendly advice and encouragement decided to give it a go.
Before I knew it I’d done a few sprint races and was starting to improve at all 3 disciplines.
The step from there for me was when NTC did Challenge Wales ( my first 70.3). I said never again after that race and those hills but within a few weeks I’d booked another 70.3 in.
So what next? I was at work listening to an audiobook by a bloke that did an Ironman with no previous race experience (George Mahood ). It inspired me, I though how cool would that be to actually do a full Ironman race.
The seed was sewn and all I had to do next was convince the wife to agree. She didn’t at first as we were so busy at home and work so the seed stayed just there.
I mentioned it a few times, researching races etc and one day we were chatting and decided to go for it. Beccy’s been brilliant, it’s a proper team effort as she picked up the slack at home.
Training went great and I was dedicated to my plan and didn’t miss many sessions at all until I got food poisoning a couple of months out from the race.
I spent three weeks recovering, which was very worrying as I couldn’t defer (I didn’t want to either after months of hard work) and I’d lost weight and strength, which knocked me both physically and mentally as I worried about race day fast approaching.
I recovered well though. Ricki and John were brilliant in reassuring me that we’ve trained hard and all will be fine on the day.
On race day I was quietly confident that I was ready even though I’d never run a marathon or biked 112 miles before. I’d swum the distance a couple of times, once in a pool and once in open water.
On race day it’s really quite emotional when the commentator is talking about your family, your “why”, etc. at the start line and then there’s the clapping and then Thunderstruck comes on and I’d got goosebumps - I was ready!
I went off aiming for 1:30 in the swim. As soon as my head hit the water my goggles started to fill up, trying to swim on was impossible as I couldn’t see a thing so I had to stop to tighten, empty and go again and they leaked again, just not as much.
I swam on a bit, my heart rate was all over the place at this point, but I slowed down, did a quick empty of the goggles and they stuck solid for the rest of the swim.
There was a bit of confusion at one point as to which of the buoys to aim for and I found myself with a group that had drifted off a bit and had to sharp turn to get around the right buoy!
1hr 30mins later I exited the water with my predicted time spot on, I felt good and ready for the bike!
As I grabbed my bike I saw my family. More of them had turned up than I’d expected and it give me an extra bit of a buzz!
I went off pretty fast and was ahead of my planned speed for the first lap so knew I could slow down a bit on the second and save the legs. This worked well and on the third lap I took it a bit more steady knowing the marathon was coming!
I was a bit worried about the bike cut off times pre-race but on the day I fuelled well, paced well and was pretty much spot on for my planned 14.5mph average speed over the 112miles.
The crowd helped a lot too, especially those at the top of Black hill shouting you on to get you up - the whole atmosphere was brilliant throughout the day!
The only issue I had on the bike was losing my tools and spare tubes on lap 2 as my tools bottle bounced off the bike going fast down a hill - luckily it wasn’t needed!
The run started a bit too fast, I was planning 10:30 min miles but went off at 9:15, the legs were feeing good (brick training had obviously paid off!) so I stuck at it for a bit and eventually slowed into my Ironman pace.
I had no plan for the run just to keep moving at around 10:30 per mile and walk the feeds. By lap 3 I was walking a few of the hills too!
Mentally I ignored the distances and focused solely on the laps, knocking them off one at a time and only focusing on fuelling and pace in between.
This worked for me, the distance is overwhelming if you don’t break it down. I hadn’t planned this, it just kind of happened on the day. The last lap of the run I knew I could walk it if I had to and still make it round but I decided to go for sub 5 hour run, no reason why other than that it looked possible - I carried on my Ironman plod – I’d named it this as I told myself to keep plodding on many times on the run.
Running down that finisher chute was unreal, ringing the bell on the way to the finish line and hearing those words I’d been waiting to hear: “You are an Ironman!”
The whole experience has been unreal, I didn’t know what to expect when I signed up and was lucky to have had Ricki and John doing the same race. I was so happy to see John at the finish line and when Ricki crossed that line we had done it, individually yes but also as a team in some ways.
It’s a bond that will we will always have. The best bit for me was having my picture taken with Isla just the other side of the finish line immediately after receiving my medal.
My “why”was simply to show my kids that if you put your mind to it you can achieve anything.
I wanted them to be proud of their dad and I’m sure they are although they will soon be bored.of me telling them that “I’m an Ironman”
John’s story
The swim was a fast two lap course around a swan infested lake - that was started by NTC’s very own Charl Clayton.
The swim felt fast even though I added a bit extra in after sighting the wrong bouy. On completion of the swim Tom Walker was there to assist me out the water and offer a crisp high five!
The ride, which consisted of three loops, got tougher as each loop was completed due to head winds and repeated hills.
My run started well, keeping steady pace but soon started to struggle, getting tunnel vision and was considering DNF.
After the Cola and chatting to people running around me I discovered a second wind, finding myself running stronger and harder, with my third lap being my strongest!
I think without chatting to Bib 150 I would not have found my second wind, therefore he saved my run! In a poetic way my Ironman came to an end by walking through the finishers gate and having my medal presented to be by Charl. It’s amazing where you can get with a volunteer T shirt!
As with all Ironman events it was a tough day, there was some low points but ultimately they only made the highs feel higher and the overall achievement even greater!
The highest point for me was being granted the absolute privilege to share in Ricki and Simon’s red carpet moment and being able to cheer them down the finishers' chute!
They have both fully committed to their training and it is clear to see it has paid off!
I would like to say a massive thank you to Tom & Charl, (Tom not letting me carry anything!), my parents for cheering me on around the course and finally Beth, who has supported me constantly over the last two years in every way possible!
Ricki Larkin: swim 1:46:23, bike 8:05:29, run 5:21:19, total 15:34:25
Simon Oakes: swim 1:27:16, bike 7:43:59, run 4:57:22, total 14:31:21
John Braithwaite: swim: 1:10:36, bike 7:05:02, run 4:40:12, total 13:18:13