It was really really interesting yet extremely tiring. I volunteered for the Mazda London Triathlon. For those of you who don't know what a Triathlon is, it is a sport in which you Swim, Bike and then Run a long long distance all one after the other. It's like a marathon in three different events.
I worked as a Marshall in the transition area. The Transistion area is where the competitors change between Swimming and Biking and where they change from biking to Swimming. The London Triathlon is the largest Mass participation Triathlon in the world with over 10,000 competitors in two days. It is split up in different types of races including the Super Sprint which is about 750 m swimming, 20 km biking and 10 km running up to the Olympic categories which is over 1700 m swimming, over 40 km biking and at least 25-30 km running. I can't remember what just now.
Below are some pictures of the transition area. You see how you basically have less than a meter to change. All the bikes are lined up and people obviously easily forgot where they were going. They were specified in special lanes but even then it was huge.
As you can see it was incredibly large. There were over 100 rows of bicycles and lots to keep track of including different racers transitioning at different times. People who were running colliding with those going out on bikes.
It started at 8 am on the Saturday and finished at around 8 on the Saturday as well. On the sunday however we needed to be there at 5 am and it finished at 8 am. you are standing the entire time and answering questions from competitors, leading people in the right place, checking different things. It was extremely tiring but very rewarding. To watch the nerves and anxiety of people before they start and the relief and sense of accomplishment when they have arrived is fantastic!!! I am inspired to do it one day but my swimming has to improve considerably.
As you can imagine I was completely dead on Monday though but otherwise this week has been extremely nice. Knowing that you have something to look forward to in two weeks time means that its easy to take a few days off now. I had a lovely Lunch with Bernie yesterday and have managed to get caught up on a lot of things that I've been meaning to do.
I leave you with a comic that I saw on the BBC yesterday. He's the One Line guy. He has some other good stuff as well. It's quite witty! Enjoy
No comments:
Post a Comment