DAY 98 SUNDAY JULY 1 IRON MAN AUSTRIA

The clock radio went off at 4am and we ate breakfast provided by the hotel for all the IM people.  A fleet of taxis arrived at 5am and dropped everyone at the transition area so they could pump up their bike tyres (?) .   We went past the hundreds of sheds near the beach that people keep their beach chairs in.

There were two hot air balloons being prepared just behind the Start Area. We found a spot on one of the three piers that jutted into the lake and watched the calm water turn into a washing machine as the swimmers came past us.

There were 2,700 entries in the race but Bevan heard that some hundreds did not start because of the wetsuit rule. After they swam past us we funneled out of the beach gates into the park and headed over to the canal where they would emerge from the swim and found a good spot to sit and watch.  When the first swimmer arrived (he was a protege of B&V's coach, Woody) the only thing we saw was this:

We realised that the traditional Aussie call of "Sit down ya mug" was not appropriate in Austria so just waited impatiently till they moved on and then we were able to get front row seats and snap Bevan coming out of the water.

That's him being helped out of the water by a lady in green. He took 68 mins which was a slow time but they found the course was wrongly measured and they had done an extra 300 metres.  Vanessa had blue lips and was very cold with a time of 105 mins and could easily have withdrawn but pressed on.
We sat on a comfortable park bench under a tree reading a book for 4 hours while the bike leg continued.  Then we settled on a shady spot next to the running pathway where we could see them go past four times.  Last year the winner from Germany set a world record on this course.  The first runner to arrive was not him, as expected but an Englishman, although the German overtook him not long after.  He was tall with long bouncing strides.

WORLD RECORD HOLDER ABOUT TO LAP A GOOD RUNNER

BEVAN IS SECOND FROM LEFT, RACE LEADER IS COMING TOWARDS US BEHIND THE WHISTLER

Bevan came into view at 1.50pm and ran his hand across his throat as he went past us.  He only did about 6km of the marathon before dropping out.  He had lost energy in the second half of the 180km ride and his time was way out.  Perhaps it was too soon after the Regensburg day.  Two weeks is not  long to recover.  He also had a croaky, phlegmy throat.  Vanessa came into view at 2.40pm, only 50 mins behind Bevan and she is usually between 60 and 90 mins after him.  She appeared to be running strongly as we cheered her on.


  We moved to a spot closer to the Finish and when she was halfway through the marathon we saw her come into view with Bevan running beside her in his street clothes. We guessed he had withdrawn because we had not seen him for over an hour.  Bevan stayed with us while Vanessa struggled on.  He ran with her again until she only had 8km to go, when she decided she would be able to finish although the temperature was 41C, she was sunburnt on the back and very down.  It was very moving to watch her run up the chute and over the finish ramp as everyone cheered.

WHAT A GUTSY EFFORT BY VANESSA

Her time was about 11 hours 50 mins and we see her as a very brave lady to persevere to the end.  They gave her a double drip in the recovery tent as her blood pressure was down and she had trouble drinking.

THE IRISH SUPPORTERS SAT RIGHT BEHIND THE COMMENTATOR

 We jumped on our no. 10 bus at 7pm and followed the slower competitors along the canal as they did their final loops all the way into and out of the town, turning around only 200 metres from out hotel.  We slumped into our airconditioned room feeling tired but wondering how 2000 people could all possibly finish the race in such heat.