Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
GulfWeekly teamed up with one of the world’s top trainers to help coach the island’s sports-lovers to prepare to take part in last weekend’s Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship Bahrain.
His weekly training programme tips inspired readers of all ages to try their hand at triathlon and many were inspired to enter in an event which attracted the leading names of the toughest of athletic endeavours.
As the global sporting spotlight once more shone on the kingdom the skies and tides decided to play their part. Andy Price was at the start and finish lines …
SO 21 weeks of training, many hundreds of hours of sweat and effort and finally the first-ever Middle East 70.3 triathlon was upon us.
A cast of 1,000 – be it for a team event, or as an individual – ranging from the newly-crowned world champion to an 85-year-old, members of the Royal Family, to those taking part for the very first time … and what an event.
Training took place on the Thursday and Friday at the swim location at Prince Khalifa bin Salman Park and we knew from the start that there was going to be an issue. The wind didn’t help but the currents so close to the Hidd Bridge made the swim unsafe and eventually the event organisers had to very reluctantly make the only safe decision and cancel the swim leg to huge disappointment … a triathlon is just not the same without the swim.
A great opening ceremony attended by the majority of the competitors took place on the Thursday night and early Friday saw the juniors and ladies races.
There were hundreds of children, with the youngest being around six (you are never too young to start). The highlight was the women’s 5km race where Kizzy Price (my daughter!) just held on in the last few metres to win.
And, so to the race day with grey skies, a strong wind gusting up to 30mph and the athletes assembling, followed by final bike checks and on to the start line. There can’t be many other sports where world champions rub shoulders with the amateurs as we do.
The professionals went off 10 minutes early followed by the pack at 15-second intervals.
They went straight into transition and on to the bikes and then the start of 90km cycling across the width and length of the kingdom taking in many of the most famous landmarks.
To those caught up in more traffic than normal and closed roads … sorry! As a result this turned out to be a very safe and, at times, fast race with strong tail winds.
My son, Jamie, recorded a fastest time of 80kmph on his trip computer (not sure what his mother will say) but all struggled when heading back into the wind in the south of the island.
Second transition from the ride to the run took place on the home straight of the F1 track with some able to change faster than others and it was off for a 21.5km run around the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) and into the Al Areen Wildlife Park with the finish straight down the F1 paddock.
There were many tired bodies but competitors were also swelling with pride at their achievements.
As I said at the outset of my series of training articles, set realistic goals and enjoy the moment … and did they ever as competitors walked around with large grins with their medals and prize event T-shirts!
His Majesty King Hamad was on hand to witness his son, Shaikh Nasser (and the driving force behind triathlon in the kingdom) come in second in his age category and His Majesty made time to meet a number of athletes too.
So, to the presentations and final dinner back in Hidd, where Daniela Ryf was crowned the Middle East champion.
And, just when you couldn’t think it could get any worse, my teenage son and daughter were kidnapped by one of Bahrain’s leading professionals (Eric Watson) and spirited away to R&B singer Ne-Yo’s after-event party back at the BIC as I took some competitors to the airport – kids it was a school night … I just hope St Chris teachers are not reading this … and Eric I know where you live!
So was it worth it? Well, the looks at the end were worth every moment of the training and coaching. These are not different people, they are all normal men and women, Bahraini and expat, who had a goal and decided to do something about it.
Yes, we had medallists, but just as important, we had people who had followed the GulfWeekly training programme determined to finish the event.
Just 21 weeks ago I had people starting this programme. There were some who bought a new bike and just went for it, following the instructions each week.
So what’s next? Keep checking out the Bahrain Road Runners website for forthcoming events and decide early and go for it. It’s worth it! If nothing else, see you all next year on the start line for the second Middle East 70.3 ...
