I volunteered to help out at Transition 2 at the Ironman today at the Macron Stadium. I didn't want to drive down because all the roads were closed so I decided to run down. Half way there though I bumped into Tony, Brenda and Lauren so just walked the rest of the way with them as they were volunteering at T2 too.
We got to T2 and were told that we would be racking bikes - my worst nightmare of a job! I hate touching the bikes for two reasons:
1. They're their pride and joy and I don't want to have the responsibility of handling them.
2. I'm told that, on occasion, athletes relieve themselves mid ride to save time on going to a toilet! Don't really want to touch their bikes after that thank you very much.
Fortunately for me, they changed my role and put me right at the start of transition so just after the dismount. I was tasked with stopping Joe Public from crossing into the transition area and also with directing the athletes to where they should rack their bikes.
I knew two athletes who were competing today, Ray McGloin and Colin Wood, so I was keeping my eye out for them.
I only noticed Ray once he had gone past me and that's only because I recognised his race number.
A short while later, I saw a guy come through dressed as Woody from Toy Story. After he has passed I suddenly remembered that I had seen mention of Woody on Facebook earlier this morning but couldn't remember what it was about so I got my phone out and had a look and it was Colin! Obviously seeing as his surname is Wood.
I went over to the changing/baggage tent at this point so I could go say hi to Colin, seeing as I hadn't realised it was him when he passed me. He was in really good spirits and didn't look at all like he had just completed the first two thirds of an Ironman. He looked fresh as a daisy!
The day passed by really quickly and before I knew it, was coming up to 4.30 - cut off time for the bike leg. It was a very tense time as you knew that any athletes coming in even just one minute late wouldn't be able to continue, which must be heartbreaking. A huge group off athletes came flying in just one minute before the cut off and I'm pleased to say they all managed to get through. Then it all went quiet. It was about ten minutes later that the next athlete came through and I really did feel for them.
At this point we were relieved of our duties and told we could go home so I got my gear together and set off running. When running along Chorley New Road I passed quite a few competitors still out on their bikes and it was so sad. It must be awful to be timed out, especially if you know you're capable of a decent time for the marathon.
Well done to all the athletes today, whether you made it or not, you're all pretty damn impressive in my eyes!
Total Distance - 3.4 miles
