Being a mountain biker, it seems that multi-sport events are designed to both appeal to cross country racers and laugh at them from the top of the next climb. Not only do you get to ride your bike as fast as you can, but in this case you also have to do a lap of the Blue Lake in a Kayak and run 5.5km as fast as you can to avoid getting overtaken. It requires a lot more to go fast in multi-sport than huge quads and an encyclopedic knowledge of all the local trails. So, it combines the drenched in sweat-can feel my legs in a bad way-sufferfest appeal of XC with the knowledge that you will not be the very best at every single event. Sounds good to me.
Due to the diversity present in multi-sport, I was going to need more than just my speed on a bike. I run once or twice a week so I knew I could at least finish the run leg, but the Kayak would be a different story. You will not get away with the standard rudderless, very buoyant Kayak like what my family owns; you need something a lot faster. Luckily for me I got in touch with Fenn surf ski's and they agreed to loan me a boat. Check them out here; they lent me a Blue fin Ski in case you were wondering. Two Sunday afternoon practices later and I was ready to race.
Being my first ever multisport race, I found myself not entirely sure what to do warming up for the race. I am used to warming up for a bike, not a Surf Ski. I ended up doing a few sprints up and down the shore of the lake while the premier multisporters began their race. Arms and core suitably warm, I lined up between the buoys for my race. The funny thing about the 3D is that just about any 1 person human propelled watercraft is permitted to enter, provided they are in their own category. Outrigger canoes, K1s, Surf Skis and even Stand Up Paddle Boards (SUPs) graced the line in all their mixed up glory. The siren went and immediately a K1 behind me capsized... It was going to be an interesting race.
Before we were even half way to the first buoy it became clear who was a trained kayaker and who wasn't. O group of around 5-6 boys shot off in pursuit of the Premier racers leaving me in the middle of the main pack. 27 minutes later, after a solid but not astounding kayak, I beached the surf ski, threw my paddle to dad/support crew and ran off into the transition.
Shoes on, helmet done up energy gel eaten I ran out of the transition with the Giant and began the cycle leg. THIS was the leg I had been waiting for. Despite numb feet from the cold water I had passed six people before I even finished the first climb, and within ten minutes had shot passed one of the kayakers who had left the water a good four minutes ahead of me. Grinding up the gravel towards Dragons tail I knew this was my chance to claw back against the faster kayakers and shooting through Dragons tail I kept cranking past riders from all different categories. Flying up Lion's tail (lots of tail in this event) riders were more than happy to let me pass provided I called in advance. That seems to be the difference between multisporters and mountain bikers; when you call to pass multisporters are happy to defer to the faster athlete.
I bombed through Turkish Delight liked greased lightening and as I neared the end of the trail found myself side by side with one of the faster kayakers from my category, who I later found out was sitting in fourth place at the time. With my last chance to pull some time rapidly declining I flew through exit trail and shot out onto the road. Big ring? Check. Top gear on the rear cassette? Check. Standing up and cranking towards the transition? Check.
After a very fast transition thanks to elastic shoe laces, I was out on the run and holding fourth place. Not podium, but very close. Hoping I had enough of a lead from the cycle leg, I set out into the redwoods for a second time, this time on foot rather than on my bike. I was feeling reasonable to begin with; not the fastest, but survivable. And then the course started to climb. And climb. And then stairs appeared, which climbed some more. Tight from the kayak and riding sections, my legs didn't have it in them and I slowed down dramatically. It was about then that the fifth placed competitor rocketed past me and into fourth place. As he floated his way up the steps and into the distance all I could do was keep moving and hope for he best.
So I pushed on, and my lack of multisport training was slowly showing through. I am not a particularly slow runner, but 20km of other activities had taken enough out of me to slow me down. It was all I could do to push through and keep moving. At around the 3.5km mark I was caught by the 2nd placed racer from the U16 category, who chased me for another half a kilometer or so. But despite my best efforts, he proved to be the better runner and overtook me as well. With a kilometer to go I fought on and kept moving on.
It started as an echo in the distance, but it quickly became clear that I could here the race announcers in the distance. The number of spectators began to slowly thicken, and all of a sudden I rounded a corner and there it was... The finish line; 150 meters away. I have never sprinted so fast in my life. Spurred on by a final burst of adrenaline and the promise of rest combined with the cheering crowd, I flew through the final section and across the line. It seems I looked a lot stronger than I felt, as the MC gave me a quick shout out as I crossed the line
"And here comes... Robin Page in 5th place. Finishing strong."
So it would seem that I am better at multisport than I am at Mountain Biking. Without training, on the tail end of my race season, I finished in 5th place at NATIONAL CHAMPS, racing U19. Racing U19 in mountain biking the best I could probably hope for is to come top 20, and that's with months of training before hand. Here I was, a podium threat, having never raced multisport before. That, I think, is pretty awesome. So watch out multisport world, you haven't seen the last of me yet. I look forward to giving you a run/bike/swim for your money.
Robin.
