The Outlaw...

[birdyman]

Brilliant, Mark! What a great report and a good result. Well done.

[KidStardust]

that's a tough day out Mark, and a cracking effort. the report is a great read as well. thanks for that.

[Faith]

Amazing Mark! Sounds like you had to be pretty resourceful!! Seriously amazing stuff esp in the heat.

[md6]

Thanks, I'm quite pleased with it if a little disappointed still. I just wish i had been a little better prepared and done myself justice...i know where that sentence might head so i'll stop typing now

[King Sad]

A different perspective … from a viewpoint of a volunteer at the Lincoln Tri Scoreboard feed station and sorry yes it is going to be long and detailed.

If you have never volunteered I urge you to do so; it is great fun, allows you to see what is going right and what is going wrong during a race and IMHO when the volunteer is a triathlete there is a special bond which helps them.

I arrived at 8:30 am as the last of the cyclist were setting off … yes the forecast was right, it was going to be hot.

The run had 6 stations and Lincoln Tri was manning 2; the station I was at was about 400m out from T2 and initially set up as 2x 2 table stations on the start of the run. On offer High 5 EnergySource drink, water, coke, High 5 Energy, High 5+ (caffeine) and High 5 Iso gels, orange, banana, crisps, jaffa cake, High 5 Zero (electrolyte) tabs, sunscreen and the all important Vaseline. We also liaised with families of a couple of triathletes who had been allowed a ‘special needs’ bag on the run for medical reasons as we could hand them over whereas anyone else would be classed as external assistance leading to a DQ. A number of times we had to ask family members not to do this and got some very frosty looks, sorry but it is cheating, no DQs please for such a silly little thing.

After a lot of frantic activity we were all set up and ready by 10:30. The temperature was rising and I was getting a bit apprehensive and suggested that we add Zero electrolyte tabs to the High 5 EnergySource drink which although it also contains electrolytes does have this note:

“The electrolyte level in EnergySource should be adequate for most race conditions. However, when sweat rates are very high, we recommend adding a High5 ZERO Neutral tab to every 500ml of EnergySource to boost the electrolyte content further.”

I suggested dropping in Zero tabs but after some discussion the decision was that we should only supply what was advertised in the race instructions. The Zero tabs were available on request for those who had bottles on belts etc.

When we heard the first rider was only 10k out there was an electric buzz in the air, final checks and then before we knew it he was in T2 and the first runner was heading towards us … and through. Before long a steady stream of individual triathletes were coming through. I was offering up water for a sip n tip and Isogels but had few takers for the Isogels. About an hour later more and more people were stopping and drinking an entire cup of water on the first visit and some were drinking two or more. I tried to suggest that this was not a good idea and offered up High 5, Isogel or banana but was ignored. This then became the trend for the majority, they were now drinking entire cups of water often two or three and ignoring the High 5, Isogels, crisps and banana; I was getting a bad feeling.

At this point we formed one station of 4 tables and had 4x 35 L barrels; at the reorganisation conflab I said ‘these people are drinking themselves into hyponatremia, we need to get some electrolytes into them’. The decision was made to devote one barrel to Zero, one to High 5 and two to water; this upped the rate at which we had to refill the barrels and I knacked my almost recovered back from lugging filled barrels from the tap to the tables. To make up the Zero we had to rip open the packets of tabs which contained 2x Zero and 1x Zero+, put the Zero+ to one side and then open each individually wrapped tab and drop it into the tub. The situation was getting desperate, people continued to drink large volumes of water. Then it happened the first collapse.

About 50m away I saw this runner just drop down in mid stride, seeing that he didn't move I ran over, a cycle mounted marshall saw him as well and called for a medic. The runner was conscious and reasonably lucid, I kneeled down between him and the sun to get his head in shade, kept him talking and trickled water on his head and temples to give some relief. Within a few minutes a medic took over and shortly afterwards took him away in the ambulance. From that point on we had an increasing number of runners who were sitting down, throwing up and generally looking totally f#####d, it looked like the ‘Burma railway’.

On talking to them and asking questions the same answers were coming back, ‘no I've had nothing to eat since breakfast … I've just been drinking water … no I've not had any Isogel or High 5‘. After ten minutes in shade, a banana and cup of Zero most felt OK to resume but at least one pulled out with one circuit left to go, a crying shame. I was being very protective of my boys n girls on the run ‘you’re looking pink there do you want susnscreen? … are you OK, looking a bit wobbly, want to sit down a second … how’s your tummy, eating anything? … what have you been drinking … have you been taking any gels … Etc.’ Some were asking for advice e.g. ‘should I have coke now on my second circuit?’ we would have a chat to see what was best for them but the decision was theirs.
http://www.thetriathloncoach.com/coache ... rformance/

About 5.00 pm things seemed to pick up a bit, it started to cool a touch and the runners seemed a bit brighter. More and more were drinking Zero or High 5 instead of just water and eating banana, crisps and jaffa cakes and there was finally a run on Isogels TFFT! At last we could have a bit of banter as names were printed on their numbers ‘alright Andy, how’s it going? … oh come on Andrea, making it look easy etc.’ The mood was definitely lifting, Got chatting with a very attractive lass in her early 50's (only way I meet women) but she was running with a team mate who dragged her away as they were looking at a sub 14 – bastard!

At last finally got to say hi to Mark – MD6 – missed Sarah – Tarka … but then don’t blame anyone for avoiding me looking like this http://24.media.tumblr.com/22f8fdf8a4d6 ... 1_1280.jpg

After the intense worrying period we were getting thank you’s, hand shakes and even a hug. These boys and girls had gone through hell, really did bring a tear to the eye at times. Thank you all. My shift ended at 5pm but I stayed until 7pm just to make sure the worst was over.

I certainly learned a lot about how to be more effective as a volunteer, I think I should have banged the drum a bit more about the electrolyte drinks earlier and have fed this back. High 5 who are a major sponsor do not do a bulk electrolyte powder, the Zero sachets were promotional packs and I think that the 20 tab tubes would have been better, 1 barrel, 1 tube, easy peasy. I really do think this is a shortcoming on an otherwise well staged event.

99.5% of the boys and girls were inspiring; but 0.5% are so bloody rude, you try to help but they are complete arses. One bloke on his first visit, 400m out of T2 stood and drank 4 cups of water and dropped the cups on the floor (strictly speaking a DQ under the no littering rule); he blocked others who wanted a drink, ignored my suggestions to ease up and blanked me when I asked him to step to one side so others could get to the table. He did that on every visit and the chances are he also did that at every station. The horrible part of me smirked when on one visit he did his routine walked 10m and threw up.

I don’t want to sound like an anal retentive arse and have no problems with anyone lobbing a cup at a bin and missing, many a time someone would stop or turn back to pick it up and I would wave them off and see to it myself. Sometimes a runner would have a handful of gel wrappers and struggle getting them into a bin bag on a fence, again I told them to give them to me, their job is hard enough and I am quite happy to do what I can to help. Knobs like cup dropper man though just f##k it up for everyone else. We have to keep the area tidy so that the event can be held again, to prevent anyone slipping on discarded banana skins, orange peel and cups and also to protect wildlife. I would spend five minutes every so often clearing up around the tables or walking between bins that were spaced 50m apart with a bin bag picking up discarded cups, those five minutes could have been better spent in dishing out drinks, fetching water, chopping oranges etc. I am sorry to say at times I let down the runners by not having what they wanted ready in time, I feel really guilty about that.

- An impassioned plea; read the rules, don’t want any DQs.
- Work on your nutrition/hydration strategy, it was ending in tears for too many people.
- If you have a special need, let the organiser know, volunteers quite happy to help.
- Please try to control families, we had runners with partners and children tagging along, blocking feed stations, one child was knocked over by a runner who himself almost went A over T, could have got a twisted ankle and a DNF.

On a MASSIVE positive, it was an MASSIVE honour to have been part of it and if I helped make a difference for anybody then I am over the moon. All the boys and girls – fantastic achievement, even cup dropper man – you’re an arse but an Outlaw, I am so proud of you all.
Please once again have a go at volunteering.

[Bopomofo]

Absolutely awesome. And having had my arse saved last Sunday by professionals, volunteers and even passers-by I can give a massive thumbs up to all those who help at these events.

I really fell that I am in debt to the race volunteer community and I need to repay that debt.

Also, you have learned a lot yourself. Conehead once advised to get yourself into a marshal spot at transition, particularly the bike start and stop box, to learn a huge amount. On a long distance race I'd plump for a feed station though, especially if it is laps.

Great work and a properly inspirational and informative race report.

#postoftheyear

[CCS]

Epic report - sounds like a really brutal race - well done!

Equally great report from King Sad from a marshall's perspective (and emphasises how tough the race was)!

[Jack Hughes]

Excellent race

Excellent report

And inspiring...

[JoddyBear]

And inspiring...

does this mean you're entering next year then Ian?

[Latinobeat]

Was watching the footage of this online last night and saw a BCTTT vest crossing the line, wondered whether it might have been you. My wife was fascinated with it then started to look a little worried. "Your......not.....thinking.......of ........doing.....that.....are....you." She said. I wasn't but the more I see of Iron distance the more it begins to appeal.