The Equaliser is a half-iron distance triathlon run by Freak Events and the brain-child of Del Pitcher. The concept is a fairly simple but novel one: a triathlon billed as a "battle of the sexes", where the entire women's field set off 32m30s ahead of the men in order to find out who is top-dog.
There was a significant purse on offer for the top finishers, with £2k going to the first across the line, £1k to second, then £750, £500, and £250 rounding out the top five, and £100 or 6th-10th. This attracted a top-heavy strong field which made me a worry a bit for my final positioning!
I was a late entrant, having been talked into it over the past few months by my friend, Rupert, whose logic was that he was training for half-distance, I'd been training with him, therefore I'd be fine. He obviously didn't consider that he's fitter, stronger, and has been training better and more consistently for, well, ever really. It was also my first ever half-distance, having done lots of shorter ones and three iron-distance in the past.
So, onto the race day. A very civilised start time of 8:00am for the ladies and 8:30am for the gents, as well as it being relatively local, made for a sensible start to the day, but perhaps we had to pay the price later as we raced into the heat of the early afternoon.
Organisation was good, with ample parking very nearby, clear and welcoming registration marshalls, and adequate toilet facilities. Transition was fairly small, reflecting the relatively low numbers taking part, which made things easier in T1 and T2. The attending BTF official was checking transition and kindly advised me my bike was facing the wrong way which could result in a penalty, though I'm not convinced he followed up on that with other athletes' bikes who he didn't see before the start.
The swim was in Roadford Lake, a reservoir on the North-Western edge of Dartmoor. It was a perfect temperature and flat as a pancake, making a nice change from swimming in the salty choppiness of the sea or the artificial chemicals of the pool. The small field also meant a hassle-free start where everyone was very polite and respectful of each other's space, lining up in an unusually orderly fashion!
It consisted of two laps of a triangular course and watching the ladies start off half an hour ahead of us let us see eventual winner Hannah Drewett powering ahead and pulling out to what looked like a 300m lead by the end.
We set off and the men's field was soon strung out as expected. This allowed me to get into my stroke rhythm relatively well, but on the downside meant I spent a lot of time swimming on my own. On the second lap I was convinced I was, if not dead last, at best coming up the rear. I'm not a strong swimmer, but in most races expect to be in the top third out of the water.
As it turns out, looking at the results I was 51st on the swim, out of a starting field of 90 (with 9 DNFs), and 66 men, so I wasn't far off the back, when you consider the women had all but left the water by the time we were part-way round.
So, on exiting the water there is a steep grassy hill of about 30m that you have to get up to go into T1. This was fine and actually gave me a chance to gather myself. My friend and Exeter Tri club-mate Simon Parke came out right on my heels: in fact, he'd been tapping my toes (and drafting me) for much of the swim without me realising it was him!
Into T1 there weren't many bikes left- worrying- but my transition was good and I was soon out on the course having done a nice flying-mount without hitch. Unfortunately that was the easiest part of the bike leg! Turning left out of the carpark we were straight into a steep hill for a short, sharp climb. After that we, and this was the pattern for the day, were up onto another climb.
Basically, none of this route was flat and apparently had more climbing that the Ironman 70.3 event Wimbleball, which is supposedly the toughest course in Europe. Some tough sections did make for some nice fast decents on clear roads were brakes were largely superfluous.
After about 3 or 4 miles I was caught by two of my club-mates, Simon and Ian Dabbs.
We proceeded to work quite well together for the remainder of the bike leg- not drafting, but acting as motivators as we are all of a similar standard but with differing strengths: Simon is quite strong on the climbs so he'd pull ahead, and Ian is good on the flat and descents, when he would do the same. I'm somewhere in between, so we basically spent the next fifty miles concertina-ing within a few hundred metres of each other.
The bike was essentially two out-and-back loops so gave us the opportunity to see those both ahead and behind. Fellow Exeter Tri-er Rupert was stretching the lead he'd got over us on the swim further as expected. Race-leader Hannah Drewett looked phenomenal on her bike as she powered along seemingly effortlessly in the opposite direction.
The two compulsory-foot-down turnaround points were well marshalled by nice, enthusiastic people who gave clear directions for safety and were very encouraging.
There was also one bottle pick-up point at the start of lap two, with water, iso, and carb drinks available. I had an iso, provided by Olimp nutrition, which I found a little sickly for my liking, so will probably stick to Oral Rehydration Salt mix, High-5, or my own home-made concoctions given the choice. I used three gels on the bike and narrowly avoided a bonk, getting my timing just right as I felt the legs start to go about ten minutes after taking on my final SIS gel which kicked in just in time!
There was a fairly nasty bit of climbing at the end of the bike route, which wasn't really what you wanted but I was glad to get that over with- it really was energy sapping and the day wasn't getting any cooler.
My cycling is stronger than my swimming so I finished with the 38th best time on that leg, again a reflection of the strength in the field.
So back into transition I pleased myself with another successful flying dismount and a fairly quick transition. I did stop to put socks on, which I don't usually do, but it was a tough and largely off-road run so I wanted all the protection I could get. Those extra 20 seconds spent were well worth it.
Onto the four-lap run I felt quite tired from the go, and saw Rupert come through to finish his first lap as I started. I quickly made up the time lost to Simon on the bike and past him within a few hundred metres.
Out across the dam at the reservoir, this hundred or so metres was the only bit of road- the rest was on grass and trail, with a few muddy bits for good measure. Del had recommended trail shoes but I didn't want to risk wearing my new Salomon Fellraisers as I'd not had a chance to break them in, so used my Kalenji Elioruns instead; these provided just enough protection and grip, though they are actually a road shoe.
Some people don't like laps, but I find them preferable as psychologically it helps me to tick off and count down to as I go. It also meant running past transition eight times, where Del and Nicky were taking turns on the PA system to shout encouragement. The marshalls on the run course were all encouraging and friendly, and Dan Kinver (another ETC member) was particularly vocal!
Refreshments were on hand at transition where small cups of water and energy drinks were available, but I always struggle to drink from cups on the run, so tried to grab a bottle where possible.
It is never easy to do a half-marathon off the bike, but this was particularly tough: it was hot and had a tough little hill of several hundred metres at the latter part of each lap. This was particularly and increasingly draining (not to mention disheartening!) as each lap passed.
Running being my strongest discipline, now I seem to have recovered from my knee surgery, made me seriously mis-judge how long it would take me: I was hoping for something in the 1:30s. How wrong I was! I eventually plodded round in a pedestrian 1:51, which was still good enough to have me 30th for the final leg. The fastest run of the day was 1:28 though, further illustrating the brutal nature of the course.
I finished in 36th place (which included all the women who started ahead of me) and 28th man in 5:39:59, and I think on a flat course I'd be able to go sub-five, but we'll have to wait and see.
I don't think I'd call this race "enjoyable" given the tough nature of the bike and run, but it was certainly well-run and a nice event.
The fact that the race was won by a female by only a couple of minutes, and there was a fairly even gender spread throughout the field, shows that they got the timing of handicap about right, which made for an interesting concept that worked out well.
The fact that the race was won by a female by only a couple of minutes, and there was a fairly even gender spread throughout the field, shows that they got the timing of handicap about right, which made for an interesting concept that worked out well.
Verdict:
Organisation: 9/10
Clear and well directed. No ambiguity regarding routes.
Course: 6/10
Lovely swim, tough bike, but run route wasn't as enjoyable and not much opportunity for support. The absence of a draft-buster on the course meant that anything could have been going on at some points and with big money on offer the temptation to cheat may have been too great for some to resist.
Nutrition:
7/10
I was a bit disappointed with Olimp's drinks, but maybe their other stuff might be better. More water bottles would have been preferable as well.
Marshalls: 10/10
Not many of them but they were all great.
For spectators: 8/10
Great facilities at the cafe where you can sit and watch, whilst seeing the runners no fewer than eight times, but nowhere to see the bikes really.
Value: 9/10
At £95 (with early bird discounts and others available too) this was very good value for this distance. A good long-sleeved technical t-shirt in the goody bag was a nice touch too.
Overall: 8/10
A good, well-run race, but the course difficulty will probably put quite a few people off and big money and strong field made it a little intimidating I think.
