“Not sure the legs are going to hold up tonight” was the fear from some as the Lanzarote Ironman Awards Party kicked off last night to reward those whose superhuman achievements had taken them to a podium place.

It was a dark and chilly start to the event this year as 1500 athletes lined up on Playa Grande, spurred on by an enthusiastic crowd who had sacrificed sleep to lend their support to the pre-dawn start. At the swim section Rachel Joyce and Natasha Badman led the field for the women while Konstantin Bachor and Timo Bracht set the pace for the men.
It was a fast swim section, the conditions and tide proving favourable for the athletes and the leaders emerging from the water in under fifty minutes.

As predicted, it was the cycle section that proved the toughest test for many with the wind being “brutal” in some parts as one athlete described it and even some rain making an appearance during this section. Rachel Joyce maintained her lead for the women with Natasha Badman just five minutes behind her at the start, but Rachel increased that lead to eight minutes by time she returned to Puerto del Carmen. Konstantin Bachor and Timo Bracht continued to lead the field for the men with less than four minutes between them.

Local pro triathlete and Sands Beach Resort sponsored participant, Nico Ward began the cycle section in 20th position but quickly pulled out the stops for an incredible ride, gaining five places to 15th by the time he reached Famara and another four to get him to 11th slot at Los Valles. Coming into his strongest section, the marathon, Nico was looking determined to raise his game even further.

Back in Puerto del Carmen as the spectators waited for the first of the bikes to appear, the sun finally decided to join us, blazing from behind the clouds to add an even tougher dimension to the marathon. As the first wheels came into sight, rumours spread of a new record for the event, adding to the excitement and the party atmosphere being fuelled by the music and entertainment.

To tumultuous support from the crowds, the athletes began their final test under a fierce sun. First to cross the finish line, having made up the gap between him and Bachor to snatch the lead and take the tape in record-breaking time, was Timo Bracht. Bachor came in second place just four and a half minutes behind Bracht. Rachel Joyce maintained the lead she had taken right from the swim to finish in first place for the women and just three and a half minutes short of breaking the record which has been held by Paula Newby-Fraser since 1995.

After an incredibly exciting battle for fourth, fifth and sixth place, Nico Ward finished in fifth position with a run time of 2:50:37 taking his total time to an incredible 09:02:45. Congratulations, Nico, we’re all so proud of you!

As always, Ironman Lanzarote proved to be an incredible day. A huge debt of gratitude goes to all those who participated, volunteered and supported the race and to those who provided live coverage throughout the day. A special thank you also goes to James at James Mitchell Photography for his awesome photos.

We’re already looking forward to 2012.

Results:
Men
1 Timo Bracht GER 08:30:34
2 Konstantin Bachor GER 08:44:06
3 Esben Hovgaard DEN 08:54:38
4 Joel Jameson GBR 09:01:49
5 Nicholas Peter Ward Muñoz GBR 09:02:45
6 Gregorio Caceres Morales ESP 09:03:46

Women
1 Rachel Joyce GBR 09:28:12
2 Natascha Badmann SUI 09:43:40
3 Karina Ottosen DEN 10:10:15
4 Heidi Jesberger GER 10:28:33
5 Emma Ruth Smith GBR 10:31:08
6 Angela Niklaus SUI 10:34:05

Image by James Mitchell Photography

With training tapered off to rest muscles, nerves are on edge and tendons are twitching as there’s just one week to go before athletes line up at Playa Grande in Puerto del Carmen to kick off one of the world’s most gruelling triathlon races with the swim course.

Now in its 20th year, Ironman Lanzarote 2011 was sold out in just two months of registration opening when the lists were closed at 1450 registered participants, leaving 75 slots open for pro athletes. In total, more than 1500 athletes will compete.

Topping the nationalities participating is Spain with 32% of the field, followed closely by the UK with 26%. The rest of the field is made up of mainly Europeans but there are representatives from 40 different countries, from Argentina to Venezuela, making up the International starting line.

The race begins at 7am with the swim section which comprises a distance of 3.8 kilometres over two loops of 1.9 kilometres each. Anyone still in the water at 09.20am will end their Ironman challenge at that point. Although anyone who has witnessed the lemming-like run into the water at the start of an Ironman competition may think it looks like a free-for-all, in fact the athletes are grouped into three sections – pro athletes, those whose swim time is expected to be under 65 minutes, and everyone else.

Emerging from the sea and shedding wetsuits, athletes then run to the bike area for the start of what is arguably the most gruelling leg of the competition – a 180.2 kilometres of cycling. Involving over 2551 metres of climbing, including the long slog to Los Nieves and the Mirador del Haría from which the views are so stunning. Not that the athletes will be hanging around to take any snapshots, hurtling instead on the short downward before climbing again to Mirador del Rio before the worst of the thigh crunching is complete.

The cut off time for the cycle section is 6.30pm and anyone still in the saddle after that will have to pedal off into the distance, their challenge ended.

The final and most exciting section of the race is the 42.2 kilometres marathon run which consists of three laps – the first is 18.66 kilometres followed by two laps each of 11.80 kilometres. The distance is run along the Puerto del Carmen seafront of Avenida de Las Playas to Playa Honda with the second and third laps looping at Matagorda and the route is traditionally lined with thousands of spectators urging the athletes on to achieve new personal best times.

Athletes have until midnight to complete the final leg of the triathlon before time will be called on their efforts.

The leaders and podium places are expected to complete the course in a time of under 10 hours and the records being chased are a final time of 08:35:40 for men, held by Thomas Hellriegel of Germany and 09:24:39 for women held by Paula Newby-Fraser of Zimbabwe.

One of Europe’s most successful triathletes, former resident of the island of Lanzarote and all-round nice guy, Sands Beach Resort are proud to be sponsoring Nico Ward Muñoz in Ironman Lanzarote 2011. Recently moved to Denmark, Sands Beach (SB) managed to catch up with Nico in between a gruelling training routine, travelling and competitions to ask him how he’s getting on with his training preparations for the BIG event…

SB: Nico, why did you decide to make the move to Denmark, and what impact has that had on your training regime?
Nico: My wife and I decided to move to Denmark (back to her home town and close to her family) because of a good work opportunity for her.

It does affect training quite a lot, specially in winter time! I have had to adapt from living on Lanzarote, which is a paradise training site for triathletes, to a Scandinavian country. I have had to learn to go out on bike rides at -5 degrees Celsius and running in -10 degrees weather with snow and ice, finding new training routes and adapting to doing more indoor training with a lot of limitations.

But on the positive side, I believe this has made me stronger – mentally and also physically – as I have trained my body in a different way from the way I have been used to. I believe that during the winter I have improved my running and swimming to the next level and during winter/spring, with a couple of training camps on Lanzarote and at Sands Beach Resort (and some good indoor work at home), my cycling has also improved.

SB: Congratulations on your Ocean Lava Triathlon and Tristar 111 results at the end of last year! Which of those was the most satisfying for you and why?
Nico: Thanks! I believe the Tristar was definitely much more satisfying. Ocean Lava was a good, beautiful and well organized race with a great atmosphere where I had a great time, but unfortunately I didn’t manage to perform as I would have liked on race day, even though I finished in third place. I was not 100% fresh as I was a bit tired from my preparations for the Iron-distance Challenge Barcelona race in October.

On the other hand, at Tristar 111 Estonia, I managed to perform really well on race day with a world class Pro-field.  Finishing fourth, one place ahead of Australian Chris McCormack who 2 months later managed to win Hawaii Ironman, was something special for me.

SB: You’ve just competed in the Half Challenge Playitas Fuertaventura. In competition terms, how did the Fuertaventura terrain differ from Lanzarote?
Nico: The bike course is really, really hilly with hardly any flat sections and some very steep climbs with fast descents, and then one climb after another. I think the organizers have made a bike route where there is almost as much climbing as in Ironman Lanzarote but in only 90km!

SB: The ‘big one’ – Lanzarote Ironman 2011 – is just around the calendar corner. How is your training going for it?
Nico: I have focused the last months of my training in order to be ready for Ironman Lanzarote, but don’t forget that, as a professional triathlete I have to do many other good races during the year in order to survive.

Training has been good, and I have proved that I am stronger and on the right track with third and second placings respectively at Half Iron distance events at Marbella and Elche.
Now, all the hard blocks of training have been done. So from now until Ironman Lanzarote  it’s all about recovering and preparing the body and mind to be in peak shape at the right moment, even though I will still put in a couple of hard but shorter training days.

SB: Which Ironman discipline are most looking forward to? And which are you least looking forward to?
Nico: I’m looking forward to everything I guess. I want to improve my swim time from last year’s race. I have become a better swimmer and I want to prove that at a big race and to be one of the first men coming out of the water. I’ve also got a new wetsuit sponsored from “Zoot” which is incredible! The bike course will be really important to decide what happens in the race and I am looking forward to having a great ride on my new BH bike and enjoying it, even if it hurts a lot, the whole way. And of course the final marathon leg, which is my strongest discipline, is going to be spectacular.

SB: When we spoke last year, you said you were hoping to improve on your Ironman Lanzarote 2010 6th place finish and to be on the podium this year. How do you feel now? Any predictions?
Nico: My goal this year is to aim for victory, but if I don’t make it, a podium place would still not be a bad result.  I will be happy as long as I manage to perform at my very best on race day, and if I get beaten by stronger guys, so be it. Right now I’m extremely tired from my last really hard training blocks and from racing at Playitas, Fuertaventura – a really tough one with a very competitive pro field. But these next weeks I hope to recover well at Sands Beach Resort with some good rest, good physio treatment from Juan, healthy food and some good training days, so I can be 100% on May 21st!