Volcano - saving the best for last

I have no idea who Steven Farnell is, but I bet this morning he is wondering how he could have shaved 18 seconds off his time at yesterday’s Volcano Triathlon in Lanzarote, because if he had, he would have won the men’s 50-54 age group. But he didn’t, so I got to stand on the podium! #finemargins

1st in M50-54

The Volcano was supposed to be my opening race of 2020. Due to the pandemic, it was initially pushed back 12 months to April 2021, then further delayed until November 2021, so it ended up being my final race of this season. But it looks like I saved the best for last.

While this season’s B races had gone well, with good performances at the Oulton Park Duathlon, the EpicMan Windermere standard and Castle Howard aquabike, my A races were not quite as hoped for – injury at Outlaw Half and major bonk at Almere. So I was hoping to finish on a high, maybe even a top 3 in my age group.

Great shot of the road down to Famara 

After an easy 2 weeks following Almere, I had switched to winter training mode so hadn’t been on my time trial bike or in open water for 8 weeks, but I was still in good enough shape for the standard distances of 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run.

The Volcano is Lanzarote’s oldest triathlon, with the first edition taking place in 1984. Race HQ is Club La Santa with transition on the field inside the running track. The swim is in the Lagoon, so salt water but protected from the ocean waves. The bike used to go up to the Teguise roundabout but now it’s two laps to Famara and back. The two-loop run takes you to the edge of La Santa Village, with the finish back on the running track.

Two lap bike course - either uphill or into the wind

Although a relatively small race, with only about 350 finishers this year, it’s quite competitive. It’s the Canary Island championships, there are some very fast people at the pointy end, and it attracts an international field; Lucy Charles won the female race in 2019. In my age group, a guy called Richard Hobson usually smashes it in about 2:05 but his name wasn’t on the start list this year. #gottobeinittowinit

We arrived at Club La Santa on Thursday, registered on Friday, then with a race start time of 10 am on Saturday we had a fairly civilised start to the day. Weather was warm but very windy – very windy indeed! After racking our bikes and hooking up our transition bags we had plenty of time to walk through and visualise how the transitions would work.

As we made our way down to the Lagoon, the race excitement became palpable. Indeed, you could smell the testosterone in the air at the swim start so Jacky and I both loitered further back, keen to avoid the opening melee.

Swimmers starting to congregate

The rolling start however kept it civilised, 6 swimmers going off every 10 seconds, and I entered the water about 8 minutes after the gun. Clear water, initially with the wind at our backs and another good swim for me, moving through the field. Once we hit the turnaround, the famous Lanzarote wind came into play and it’s pretty choppy. This is going to be a tough day! But I kept making good progress, out with 25 mins on my watch.

Quickly up the hill into T1, overtaking a few along the way. The transition area was very well organised, plenty of space and lots of marshals guiding you – kudos to the organisers. Smooth mount then out of CLS, left at the roundabout and towards Caballo before climbing up to Soo. 

Once settled, I reached up to put my visor in place, but the 40kph wind ripped it out of my hand. Bugger! Stop, dismount, run back down the road, retrieve it, re-attach it to helmet, run back up the road, remount and 30-odd seconds later I’m back on my way. (Take note Steven Farnell! )

Pushing downhill into the headwind

Worked hard up to Soo, continuing with the theme of overtaking as many as possible, before taking on the intense and gusty headwind coming up of the surfer’s beach at Famara. It’s downhill but you have to work hard and concentrate. After the turnaround, the wind was behind us, but now it’s uphill. This is indeed a tough day! As I re-approach Soo I see Jacky coming the other way – she’s out of the swim safely, good! Down to Caballo, very fast, very strong side winds, hang on for dear life, 180 degree turn then do it all over again. Only a couple of uber-bikers and one wheel-sucker overtook me, so I knew I was making good progress.

Staying low on the climb up to Soo

Back to transition, smooth dismount, re-rack and back to the transition bags. Stash helmet, running shoes on, grab cap, sunnies and gels, and run out. At the run exit, a marshal shouts something at me in Spanish, probably “Turn your race number around” because that’s what they normally shout at you at run exit. I reach down for it but it’s not there! Bugger! When I came through T2 in auto pilot I did what I did in T1 but in reverse and stashed my race belt along with my helmet. Turn around and run backwards for the second time that day, back to my run bag and retrieve my race belt. Another 30-odd seconds later, I’m back on my way. (Take note again Steven Farnell! )

Meander out of CLS onto the road towards La Santa village then settle into a nice pace. This feels great, clipping along quite nicely. But it’s downhill with the wind on my back. After 2.5k reality bites! Once past the turnaround it’s not only back into the 40 kph headwind, but it’s uphill back towards CLS. This is a tough day! Pace is dropping and there is still a ways to go. But it passes, next thing lap one is done, and the wind is on my back again. The return section of the second lap is hard work again, but I maintain a reasonable pace and I’ve still got enough in the tank for a strong finish.

Over the finish line in 2hrs 25mins

I’m spent. Find a quiet place to sit down out of the wind, it takes me a good 10 minutes to get back to the land of the living. But I’m pleased with myself; no sense of time or position but I know I have done the best I can, finishing off my season with a good all-round performance. I see Jacky coming in to T2, she is safe off the bike, good. Time to chill.

Jacky finishes!

Scores on the doors: 25:50 swim (96th overall, 4th in M50-54); 1:10:53 bike (47/2); 41:59 run (80/4); overall 2:25:01 (61/1). The male and female winners came in on 1:57:36 and 2:09:10 respectively, with the top 8 all under 2:05. Six M45-49 and one M55-59 were faster than me but the most important number on the day was the 17 seconds between me and Mr Farnell .