Ironman UK 2010

1st August 2010

Nick Salway became the latest member of Hadleigh Hares to join the Ironman family after completing Ironman UK in Bolton on Sunday 1st August. Ironman UK is a tough course that challenges the best of athletes, and you need to have serious resources to be able to handle the punishment dished out by a cold swim, a hilly and in some places windswept bike course and then a cruel run course that starts with 3 miles of near cross-country. Race day started cloudy and cool but as the day went on it warmed up and in the early afternoon the sun broke through to provide the spectators and athletes with a glorious finish.

The race began at 6am with a 2.4 mile 2-lap swim in the Pennington Flash - a small lake nestling in the 500 acre Pennington Flash Country Park. Approximately 1400 competitors began the race with a deep water swim start. Nick fought through the crowds of swimmers and exited the water unscathed in 874th place in a respectable time of 1:23:27. A fast 8 minute transition in T1 saw Nick onto his strongest discipline - the bike. The 112 mile bike route wound through the outskirts of Bolton to the outlying hills where the athletes completed 3 laps of a 34 mile loop, each loop including the fearsome 2 mile climb (602 feet of ascent) up Sheep House Lane. Nick paced the bike beautifully, made up many places and completed it in an excellent time of 6:14:19 - 143rd on the bike and now in 255th place overall in the race. Another quick T2 transition (6:49) and Nick was out onto the marathon. The run route was devised by a sadist. The route began with a cruelly steep 1.5 mile off-road climb (used by local fell runners for races) before taking the runners through the outskirts of Bolton to within 30 metres of the finish line. Within sight of the finish the runners were looped round and headed back out of Bolton for another 16 miles of running before returning, exhausted, back to the finish. Nick started the run at a fast pace, before dropping to a more sustainable pace around the 5 mile mark. Cramping kicked in around 15 miles and Nick, refusing to walk, dug deep to continue running and hit his target of a sub-13 hour finish. With a respectable marathon time of 4:46:17, a jubilant Nick crossed the finish line in 445th place overall in a total time of 12:38:54 - well within his target time.

Not only did Nick complete the Ironman, he also raised £1200 for charity in the process. Well done Nick - Hadleigh Hares salutes you and welcomes you to the Ironman fraternity.