Budapest World Championships - 2010

Thanks for Julia Hodkinson for this report on BTS exploits in Budapest, where 5 club members (Chris Taylor didn't travel) qualified for the ITU World Triathlon Championships.

This year’s ITU World Championships were held in Budapest, ensuring a strong turnout from the European nations. As usual the Brits dominated most age group fields, with a strong presence from the Americans, Australians and, of course, Hungarians.

The event started on Weds 8th Sept with the aquathon – a 750m swim and 2.5km run, although from the results it looks as if the swim was long and the run a bit short! BTS was represented by Nicola Bate who did us proud coming 4th in her first ever event of this type.

The weather leading up to the triathlon was wet and grey, with lots of rain, and high winds and storms forecast for the Sprint Championships on Saturday. All the early action – registration, expo, bike racking etc – took place at the swim venue a few km out of the city, ensuring that everyone got well and truly soaked getting there and back. The transition area was a bog by race day, and the expo was basically a wash-out. The race web site informed us that the water temperature was 20 degrees and we’d be advised on the day whether wet suits would be optional or banned. In reality it was about 16 degrees and wet suits were a necessity.

Ian Lee-Emery and I were both competing in the Sprint Championships, which started with torrential rain. Fortunately the youngsters were off first and they got the worst of the weather. By the time the more mature athletes got going the rain had stopped and the roads were starting to dry out. The swim was in a large dock: Danube water but no current and not too much debris.

A long transition led competitors into a squelchy transition area and then out with the bikes onto a 2-lap, dead flat cycle course. The course had numerous ninety-degree and hairpin bends and with the vast puddles across the road hiding slippery manhole covers, most people were taking it fairly easy into and out of the bends. For Ian, coming into transition was a nightmare with a queue of the earlier waves trying to get down the narrow path at the side of transition to the ‘Bike In’ entrance. (He hopes never to record another 3min plus T2!)

The run took us along the bank of the Danube, past four of the main bridges connecting Buda and Pest and over the landmark ‘Chain Bridge’ (a larger scale replica of Marlow Bridge) and into the city centre, exactly 5km from transition. Boats were provide to take us back to the start to pick up our bikes and kit; Ian got on one straight away and was swiftly back in transition but by the time I finished heavy rain was causing long queues. I decided to walk back and arrived over an hour later soaked to the skin!

On Sunday the sun shone and Louise Croxson flew the BTS flag in the Olympic Distance race. The course was similar to the sprint, but with 3 slightly longer bike laps and a loop added on at the end of the run. Unbelievably the organisers had one of the bike turns in the wrong place, making the route significantly shorter than the requisite 40km.

Having put in a strong swim and bike, Louise was so pleased with her time and position that she inadvertently added an extra lap on her run! Without this, she’d have been well up in the top 25 or so in her 35-39 age group, and even with the extra 20 minutes she wasn’t at the back of her race.

Ian Lee Emery (40-44): 34/71 in age group; 227/575 overall
Swim: 12.12 / T1: 2.37 / Bike: 31.01 / T2 : 3.10 / Run: 21.15 / Total time: 1.10.13

Julia Hodkinson (50-54): 5/30 in age group; 97/329 overall
Swim: 13.20 / T1: 2.39 / Bike: 32.11 / T2: 3.14 / Run: 24.07 / Total time: 1.15.47

Louise Croxon (35-39) : 56/59 in age group; 384 / 499 overall
Swim: 25.54 / T1: 2.50 / Bike: 1.00.07 / T2: 2.58 / Run: 1.05.03 / Total time: 2.34.00

Nicola Bate (30-34) : 4/13 in age group
Swim: 16.17 / T1: 1.53 / Run: 11.43 / Total time: 29.52