Team MTBcut is pretty good at picking riders than can keep churning out the miles regardless of conditions. None more so than their only female member, Hannah Barnes. A former tri specialist and current record holder for the women's full distance Big Ben Triathlon, Hannah was keen to beat her own record and got close, going only 6 minutes slower than her 2009 effort.
Here's Hannah's full report:
The Dare2b Big Ben Nevis Triathlon, run by No Fuss Events, is classed as Britian's toughest off road triathlon. The event consists of a 1900m sea loch swim, a 90km mountain bike ride, and a 21km run to the summit of Ben Nevis and back.
Pete Scullion arrived from Edinburgh on Friday evening just in time for the race briefing. Pete was doing the half distance triathlon, I was doing the full distance event. I last did this race in 2009, and still have the record by 51 minutes, it was great to do such a cool event again but I put the pressure on myself to pull one out the bag. On Friday night my brother Joe tuned up my bike and Pete did some last minute tuning on his bike too.
It was a 5.45am start, as the swim started at 7am. Pete and I forced down some oats and banana and some energy drink then headed to the swim start. There was no wind which was great, and the swim went well. Well, I though it was until I saw the dude swimming beside me had chosen back stroke as his stroke of choice. I did the 1.9km swim in a bow-wave-making 42 minutes.
The ride set off along the tarmac and soon went straight up a steep road which was a wake up for the legs! We then turned onto a track and up a long continuous loose climb up and around Cow Hill. The descent into Glen Nevis was a really fast and fun with good jumps and flat loose corners. I gradually passed people and by the top of the Glen I was top ten and now first woman. The short descent at the top of Glen Nevis was great fun, really muddy and rooty and a good place to make up time as most people walked down. At the bottom my Mum was parked in my van with a selection of goodies.
I found it much easier to eat going down the road than getting food at transition then straight up the hill of doom. I had a quick stop and gulp of tea and pasta at the van each lap, but sometimes would just have a quick bottle swap and grap a gel and carbohydrate bar. Joe rode alongside me down the road which was great, chatting and keeping the pace up. He said 'to finish first, first you must finish'. Wise words!
I felt pretty strong on the bike for all four laps, and they seemed to go past smoothly and quickly. Joe said 'all you have to do now is walk up the Ben, you'll easily manage that'. I was 8th overall after the bike section which was good, but was a bit concerned I'd totally die on Ben Nevis as I hadn't done much running in preparation.
I had a nice quick transition and headed off on the run. My Dad and Fergy-baby went up Ben Nevis with me, which was great having the moral support. I was stumbling up on hands and knees for most of it, feeling totally delirious and suffering with a really sore lower back. I couldn't believe I wasn't being passed. It was so great seeing all the happy marshals getting closer through the rain and mist, cheering me on. Towards the summit it was wild, really windy and raining heavily. It was great getting to the top, then turning round and enjoying the run down. We kept a good steady pace, and I felt good and relaxed coming down. I gulped down the water from the streams so as not to cramp on the road.
Coming into the finish it was great having everyone to meet me for the final stretch, then Chloe from No Fuss was at the finish to spray me with Champagne coming over the line!
I finished 1st woman and 5th overall, with a time of 8 hrs 25 mins. I was really happy to place up there with the top guys. It was a great race, with the really fun and relaxed atmosphere that is No Fuss events.
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