Tuesday 06th September; we are en route with a long awaited 14 hours travel to Beijing to attend the world triathlon championship finals the following weekend. The team is gathering in the waiting lounge at Newcastle airport. Heaton’s Jo and Andy with team support Guillaume and Lou all arrived early at the airport foreseeing issues with the transportation of the bikes (thankfully no issues!!) followed by fellow harriers and competitor Anna and John. The next day we are greeted by sunshine in Beijing, but a little hazy and a nice 25C. To be honest I don’t know what people go on about, the smog is not that bad in Beijing, nothing worse than Paris or London. An hour later we arrive at the hotel which has been overtaken by people in lycra shorts and 2 wheelers. Within 5 min the first celebrity is spotted, Helen Jenkins, current world leader, is standing around, probably lost. Then it is down to race registration followed by the first local dinner (but westernised) which was interesting but hunger is too strong so it all tasted...ok. The next day, cloudy today following last evenings storm, it is bike route recognition for the competitors now joined by harriers to be Graham while team support adventure to the local supermarket. The multi-storey Wal-Mart was a tough task and we spent over 1 hour not buying much. The fresh meat and dried fish section was quite overpowering and most product seem to be out of date: or was it the fabrication date?? We managed to get some bread, cheese and black tea and it seems that this would have to do for the next couple of days. No wonder Usain had chicken nuggets.
The afternoon is spent at the race venue, Changping Ming Tomb Reservoir, home to the Olympic Triathlon event, followed by a team briefing and the official opening ceremony. We actually missed that one as we were too busy waiting for a bus that never arrived. The following day, it is bright sunshine and blue sky, yeah. After a short morning run we watched the paralympic race in the afternoon followed by bike racking into the transition area and the usual marker tag on the leg. It is now the night before. Diner was just about identical to the first one but who cares the elite athletes are also having the same regime. If it is good for them it is good for us. After another round of sticky rice and beef/pork/chicken in oyster sauce, it is final race prep: number, belts, suit, bike shoes, running shoes, helmet, drinks, the list is endless. Final we look at the forecast on Chinese TV and it seems that there is a change of weather, morning showers. Saturday 10th 4am, up bright and early and heading for breakfast within 10min. We step outside to reach the restaurant this is where it hit us. The heavens have open and it is raining heavily. Not good for the athletes and definitely not good for the photographer! We decided not to walk to the venue and jumped in the shuttle bus at 5am towards the site. After the usual security checks we head to transition where the area is covered with a cm or two of water. Daylight is breaking through and an army of Chinese helpers are trying to clear it away, and this gives an interesting watch. And by the way it is still raining. First starters are due from 6.30 onwards. As we head towards the call up area it is getting more exiting, ouch and there are a strong smell of drains as well, yuk. This is where athletes split from the team support not before dumping a load of unwanted clothes. There have been a few comedy moments so far by totally unprepared athletes. Waves now starts every 5 minutes and come 7am everyone in the team has now started; Andy first followed by John, then Anna and Jo and finally Graham in one of the later waves. Things are now happening fast, by the time Graham comes out of the water (in style) Andy has nearly completed the bike course and I have lost all count of who’s where in the race. At this point I move away from the bike out/ transition area and towards the finish / run area. Everybody is working hard and trying to count laps for everyone is impossible, so as well as cheering and shouting names I try to takes as many photos as possible. Everybody has now finished and results are outstanding all round.
And it is still raining. We now have to wait until we can collect gears and bike before heading back the hotel for a wash and a change of clothes. We then head back towards the race site to watch the elite men race. Rain has nearly stopped. The following day it is down to the women elite race in a beautiful summer day. A great final race to the event and the last time we would see the sun in China. This has been a great experience supported by the thousands of Chinese volunteers helpful beyond anything seen in Europe.
Photos of the event can be found here
