16 June 2013

400m Swim, 6km Ride, 2.5km Run, 6km Ride, 2.5km Run


This past weekend Aaron Thomas, Matt Sharpe and I made our way over to Barrie, Ontario for a fun new multi-sport event called E-Games. We competed in the Formula 1 Prospects race with 10 of Canada's olympic hopefuls. It was an awesome bonding experience with fellow Canadian athletes and being such a interesting format in which none of us have trained for, it made for such a fun race. With Rogers Sports Net's Cameras at every angle we all wanted to put on a show. Race hard, put it on the line and see what happens.

The race consisted of a 400m swim and 2x(6km ride, 2.5km Run) before hand, we all had the same question..... how do I race this....whats my strategy.....

The water was unusually cold, around 15degrees. I did a very short swim warm up as my face just froze. We all lined up and I chose far right. With shallower water and a clean line I had a really strong start. I pinned it to the first Buoy and settled in for a strong 400 pace. It was a bit hard to sight coming back into shore as we swam into the sun but I found my way. 

I had a nice fast transition and was off onto the first 6km bike.

I rode the first lap and a half alone but was joined by Sean Bechtel, Matt Sharpe and Tyler Bredschneider. We worked well together to build a lead which set us up for the first run of the day.

On to the first 2.5km I built a gap of about 20 seconds on second place. I felt super smooth and was running strong.

On to the second 6km ride I did a lap and looked back, Simon Whitfield was yelling at me on the sidelines, "Just go for it! Go it alone!" With the Lead car, and the TV cameras on the Motor Bike beside me, I decided to commit to the break.  My goal was to chase after the motor bike. On my own I rode hard for 6 laps of the fun technical course and came of the bike with a 20-25 second gap. 

For the final 2.5km run. I knew Alexander Hinton was pushing hard to catch me. I ran hard but started to suffer on the final lap. With about a 100m to go Alex came past me on the hill. I sprinted hard but just couldn't get there. 

It was a super fun super exciting race. I took a risk on that second 6km ride but came up just short. Either way, the E-games Formula 1 race was a blast and a nice tune up for next weeks Edmonton World Cup. 

Rogers SportsNet should have some awesome film of the event. I will be sure to pass on the showing times.

All in all, it was a great experience coming out east, hanging out with some good people with some fun, fast, friendly racing. I leave beautiful Barrie Ontario with 9 good friends.
More photographs and full results coming soon,
Hope all is well,
Andrew McCartney

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