Race report by Harald Kögel on the Ironman 70.3 Zell am See
Checking into the transition area was a highlight. No queuing and an extremely friendly helper who accompanied me to my bike spot and calmly explained the routes to me. Everything in the right bag in the right place, off we went. I would actually have slept well if it hadn’t been for the rain that was beating down on our mobile home. As announced, the weather changed during the night and it became significantly cooler. A thick cloud cover with wafts of fog but no rain accompanied us to the transition zone.
When I arrived there, I was greeted with wet feet as the rain flooded the soccer field where our bikes were parked overnight. The wet feet shouldn’t change until the end of the competition. With the second wave I swam my laps in the warm Zeller See completely relaxed. Only the repeatedly fogged up swimming goggles forced me to make a few short stops for orientation. As soon as we got on the bike, it started to rain. It doesn’t matter, I thought, because after just a few turns of the crank I noticed that my legs were ready for something today! I hardly noticed the 740 meters of elevation gain.
The only thing that demanded my full concentration to avoid falling was the sometimes very bad roads, as well as the many changes of direction and countless manhole covers, road markings and cobblestones. Feeding slowly became difficult because the fine motor skills with my clammy fingers decreased a bit. I’m always on the road without a heart rate monitor or bike computer and I don’t record any section times. But I knew after the two bike laps: this will be something! Completely soaked, I pushed my bike into the rake. The helper in the changing tent was awesome: put shoes down, fresh socks sorted left and right and put the wet clothes in the sack. Go to the toilet quickly (I should have had to for a long time). Fast is good – it took forever! But a lot lighter and with still willing legs on the running track. Just don’t make the mistake of Zurich and start too quickly in the euphoria, I had to keep telling myself. First we ran about 2km from the transition area to Zell am See.
In the village, the route zigzagged through the streets and then along the lake to the turning point, which was right in front of our campsite. It ran. I ran, and above all: I still ran at a comfortable rhythm. At this point I would like to pay tribute to Helen, my super fan. She’s been standing by the track all day in the rain to cheer me on. Thank you for your understanding and valuable support. After three laps and without taking a step, I was allowed to turn left in the narrow streets of Zell am See towards the finish! Overjoyed, I enjoyed the last few meters. And there she was again, wildly waving a Swiss flag. I grabbed this and carried it down the finisher line. My declared goal was to finish the race with a good feeling. Roy wrote an end time on my training schedule last fall. I would have been very happy with this one. Now I was still 12 min. more quickly!
With Roy’s plans, I managed a cool Ironman in Zurich last year and now this super nice experience in Zell am See. Thank you Roy! After the race I had to walk the 2 km back to the transition area to check out. With three sacks full of wet triathlon stuff on my handlebars, I drove to the campsite super happy. By the way, again with wet feet, since the bike was still in a “pond”. The schnitzel and the beer in the evening tasted excellent!
