Living in Saudi Arabia this is our 'local' Ironman race and as such is one to do. However I dont think it is one I would travel from outside of the region to do. The lap of the F1 track is the highlight on the bike, other than that it is a fairly repetitive ride along a large highway that isnt particularly inspiring.

Bahrain 70.3 – 10 dec 2016

Race review (general comments)

This was the first time I’ve raced Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championships in Bahrain. Last year I supported Caroline as she raced to finish 5^th Pro. She was racing again this year so I decided to extend my season slightly and also race. Ironman bought the rights to this race from Challenge in 2015. As such Ironman made changes including moving the swim start and some of the bike route (both Challenge and Ironman split transitions). Unfortunately due to very strong winds and tides they had to cancel the swim in 2015. Ironman reverted to the Challenge swim location for 2016.

I don’t enjoy racing triathlons with split transitions. They cause undue stress and can be tedious logistically and very time consuming. Bahrain is no different, with the swim start in the city centre and the finish around 40km away at the F1 race circuit. This year Caroline and I once again had a wonderful had a home stay (2 local athletes also racing) which made the process fairly stress free. That said it was still a pfaff. I heard complaints from some athletes including Pro’s that the logistics were tricky. There can be heavy traffic in Bahrain so short journeys can take a long time. The traffic also means that you can’t safely ride on the roads in the town centre. The volume of traffic and lack of respect for cyclist is very apparent. The best option we had was to drive to the F1 circuit where there is a 20km section of road with very light traffic that is also part of the bike route. It is here that the local athletes train and we managed to do a decent pre-race interval session. If you were not being looked after by local athletes then the best thing to do would be to hire a car to get about and allow for some race week training. I would strongly recommend trying to get a home stay if you plan to race here. Contact the Bahrain Tri club as they have lots of generous local triathletes who are happy to do this.

The weather this year was pretty much perfect for racing with temperatures sitting at around 18 to 20 degrees. The winds in Bahrain at this time of year can be very strong indeed and race day was no exception – 20 to 30mph gusting winds. A few athletes did get blown off their bikes while riding through the more built up areas – due to the high rise building causing unpredictable gusts. However the prevailing wind direction tends to mean that for a long section of the course you have a cross/tail wind, from the city center out to the F1 circuit.

This year saw around 900 (the biggest contingent of athletes being British) athletes race, which by ironman standards is pretty low and I suspect its a combination of:

The time of year, most athletes are in off season.

Last years swim being cancelled (almost cancelled this year/swim was apparently shortened for AG athletes).

Split transition.

Volume of traffic (difficult for practice rides/training).

Cost of flights and length of time to get there (Manchester to Bahrain approx 7 hrs).

Registration

Apart from driving to get there the whole process was easy and pretty quick to do. We registered on the Thu (race Sat) so the numbers were low, no queuing or waiting. The expo was good and had the nice addition of some local vendors and products.

Swim

The swim was in a sheltered lagoon directly behind the Four Seasons hotel. The single loop course was very well marked, and as is normal athletes had the opportunity to have a recce swim the day before. We had to get there by car and the parking was approximately 1km away from the swim start and transition area giving you a bit of a walk for the recce, for racking the day before and on race morning.

Transition/bags

T1 area was all carpeted and we also had lots of room to rack bikes, one of my pet hates is having limited room to rack. The run from the swim exit was about 400m which took you around the Four Seasons hotel grounds. Not perfect but the race team did a good job with matting and carpets.

Bike route and marshaling/aid stations

There were a few issues on the bike route this year. While the route was heavily policed and fully closed roads, there must have been some confusion amongst the marshals. Many athletes including some Pro’s went wrong at the start of the bike leg on a section which required you to do two loops. What I noticed was the lack of individuals on the route fully understanding how to control speeding triathletes and not being dynamic enough. What had perhaps not been assessed was that on the first section of the course AG athletes would hit that same section of road as other athletes/pros who had already negotiated that section. As is normal in a race environment athletes followed the bikes in front – not realising that some had done the loop and some had not. It was just not clearly signed. Some athletes therefore accidentally cut around 6 to 8 km off their bike distance. I nearly fell foul of this myself having overshot the first right turn taking me onto the short loop when I followed a rider in front of me who was subsequently DQ’d. If it wasn’t for another very sporting athlete calling me to turn right I would have done the same thing. I had to make a dead turn in the road and ride back to the turning.

However, once on the bike route it was really enjoyable with the roads heavily coned and (mostly, read on...) clear of all traffic, I did not once feel vulnerable or unsafe even with a disc wheel in the strong winds. I got the odd pip from the local drivers and a smile from children sitting in passenger seats but that was about it when it came to support. The bike aid stations were very well manned, with volunteers clearly having a great time handing out nutrition and fluid, always smiling and cheering. They did a fantastic job.

Unfortunately, even though the roads were heavily manned by police and the Army it seemed that some were not briefed that well. I had the misfortune of being knocked of my bike at 37.5 kmph (as seen on my GPS data) by a police car who’s job it was to protect the cyclists. He drove straight across the closed road from my right hand side right. He was not looking as he was being distracted by his colleges on the other side of the road. With the tail wind I was riding at around 45 to 50kph, and I had a couple of seconds to try and scrub as much speed off as possible. I hit the front brake too hard which lifted my back wheel, but I knew I was going to hit him. I aimed for the back of the car and in classic slow motion I was in the air. I landed heavily with the bike, garmin and nutrition being scattered all across the road. The force also lifted one of my feet half out of my left shoe. I thought my race was over so my first point of call was to tell the policeman my thoughts (I will leave what I said to your imagination). Within 5 seconds of ranting (could not have been more angry) at the driver I composed myself (Bahrain is not the place to get into a fight with a policeman) and took a look at my bike. I quickly established that it was likely to still rode worthy. The front wheel was facing a right angle, but once I adjusted that, collected my stuff, fluid and put my chain back on I was able to ride. The wheels were damaged and the rear deraillier had taken a bash, but it was ridable. All this took about 2 minutes in total and I was off riding again. Luckily no rider passed me while I was pfaffing around. It soon became apparent the rear mech was damaged so the gears were not running smoothly, but I found the gears that were suitable with a little grinding. Other than the crash, and I appreciate that is not a reflection on the race organisers who cannot legislate for bad police drivers, the bike was a really enjoyable experience riding through the major city roads and sky scrapers heading out to the F1 circuit and some sections of strong headwinds. The final few kilometers around the F1 circuit were great fun.

Transition 2

At this race you handed your T2 bag in at T1 and then found it waiting for you when you entered T2. Dismounting in the F1 circuit there were lots of bike catchers waiting to grab my bike. The run was then around 200m on beautiful red carpet to the red run bags. As an athlete you have not seen the transition area before, so you are not aware of where your bag will be. While the racks were numbered up and there were lots of volunteers helping to find your number it still took around 30 seconds for them to locate it so I could head to the change tent. I am sure when transition became busier later in the race this may have become a bit of a choke point.

Run route and marshaling/aid stations

Unlike the majority of 70.3’s I’ve done, the run is just a single lap as apposed to the multiple laps you normally experience. It starts with a very exposed and windy section, but at around 4km takes you into a wildlife park with monkeys and ostriches. It is flat and fairly sheltered for much of the 10km within the park. It was a bit bizarre but a really enjoyable run route with the section in the park on a single track meandering concrete road. Once out of the park the route had changed slightly this year with a long straight out and back section which gave athletes the opportunity to see rivals. I actually enjoyed this run route a lot it wasn’t boring as some of the multiple lapped races can be. The only down side is there were no spectators to cheer you on until you got back into the F1 circuit in the final 200m.

Toilets

Quite simple just not enough at race start

Security

All good no issues with personal belongings going missing and you always felt safe.

Expo

The expo wasn’t your normal format with lots of stands all selling compression kit and day sacks! There was a number of traditional stands and traditional food stalls. This is something I think Ironman should do more. It added to the feel of being in Bahrain. After the race Caroline and I ate from one of the traditional food stalls (chickpea stew) and it was amazing. It also gave us the opportunity to buy a few traditional gifts – a great idea.

In summary – we have loved both of our race experiences in Bahrain, mainly because we have been looked after so well by fabulous homestays. Although not selling out at the moment, Bahrain has a very active triathlon club and the race has the full support of Prince Nasser so I believe it will continue to grow. It is ideal timing for athletes looking to escape the December darkness in the UK and have a final blow out before the Christmas excesses. The split transition is the main negative, so if you are thinking of racing there try to hook up with some local athletes who can show you around. Allow plenty of time for logistics and do a good race course recce.