Blog » Ironman 70.3 Auckland
Ironman 70.3 Auckland
It was great to get up to Auckland for my first and last chance to race the 70.3. A real treat of a race in the end and I think all involved this year are pretty gutted that it was its final year. You would hope that it was simply the timing in January that didn’t allow the race to grow, because the event itself and the course were simply awesome. Not often, even at all, do you get to race downtown in the heart of a major city over that distance.
Anyway, Auckland turned on a stunning weekend and there were no complaints about the conditions.
The swim was pretty low key to be honest and I was happy to get out in the lead with Jimmy Seear right behind me.
We shot off on the bikes, but reasonably conservatively, as I think we both knew the draft zone in most NZ races is marginal at best and the group behind was big, meaning it would most likely end up as one big group. Sure enough it didn’t take them that long to catch us. And then there were 10 (+).
Mark Bowstead took off not too long after and had an awesome ride to come off the bike a couple minutes up the road. A few of us back in the group did what we could to break it up, but it really was a bit of a joke out there and we ended up cruising through the ride.
I had rested a little for the race and so knew I would have reasonable run legs, but also knew I would have to iron them out in the first few km’s. I tried a little to run with Browny and Callum early on, but that was a bit out of my league. I was happy to settle with Jimmy and Clarky Ellice for the 1st lap and it wasn’t until the end that I started feeling a bit more comfortable.
I was pretty stoked to run away from those 2 and catch Callum a few km’s from the finish.
A great run for me in the end and super happy to finish 5th.
A busy few weeks ahead now before my 3rd go at Challenge Wanaka. Can’t wait to try and go a 3 peat there on 22nd February.
Will update before the race.
Cheers
Dylan
