Short distance triathlon
For many years, the KMD Challenge Copenhagen has been Denmark’s biggest triathlon event. In 2013, it was given the blue stamp of approval and its name was changed to KMD Ironman Copenhagen. In 2012, I took part in the short distance, the 4:18:4, which stands for 400 metres swimming, 18 kilometres cycling and a four-kilometre run.
Prize
I took part in this event because I won a prize. In April, I had taken part in Roskilde TRI’s IRT and won a running number in that year’s KMD 4:18:4.
What is IRT?
IRT is TRI spelt backwards, which is precisely what it is. The three disciplines are run the other way round. In this event, it is not a question of winning, but of taking part. IRT takes place at the end of the club season, when the whole family can take part. Participants do not start cycling until all the runners have crossed the line, and the same applies to the swimming. So there is no transition, where everybody has to be as fast as possible. The whole thing is concluded with coffee and home-baked cake, and there are prizes as well, although not for people’s individual performance. Winners are decided by lottery. The prizes are donated by sponsors, and I won the last prize that year, a running number for the KMD 4:18:4 on 10th August.
The event took place at Amager Strandpark south of Copenhagen, and Karin and our foster son, Nick, came along. We got there in good time to get parking space and to have a look around the course at our leisure.
Swimmers all bunched up
The first athletes were to enter the water at 6 p.m., and I stayed up front to make sure I was among the first, so that I wouldn’t have to stand there freezing, and so that we could get home again fairly early. At three-minute intervals, 50 athletes were dispatched at a time. I was in the second or third group and was a bit too eager, because I ended up in the middle, whereas I should probably have kept further to the back. I was almost “run over”, and was struck several times by other athletes’ arms and legs, including a blow to my face.
Totally shattered
I swam reasonably well to begin with, alternating between crawl and breaststroke. We were to swim around two buoys before heading back to land. But when I reached the second buoy, I was completely shattered from one second to the next. I felt just like a ball that had punctured. I had no energy left to swim at all, and swimming on my back was also a problem.
As instructed by the organisers, I called a nearby safety kayak. A female athlete also offered to haul me ashore, but I turned her down. Instead, I hung on to the kayak for a couple of minutes, after which I was ready to carry on swimming.
About 50 metres from land, I got into problems again. Again I called out to a safety kayak, but the oarsman was obviously so busy enjoying the good weather that his focus was not on the swimmers in the water. By the time it finally occurred to him that I needed help; I was so close to the shore that I shook my head and managed the final metres under my own steam.
Blood in my spit
After I got back on land, I was coughing incessantly and spitting blood. It felt as though I had sandpaper in my throat, which was most unpleasant. While I coughed and spat, I went up to my bike, took off my wetsuit and got onto the bike. The transition took rather a long time.
Good cycling – lousy run
The cycling bit went very well. I was still coughing as I rode, as well as spitting blood-red phlegm. The run, on the other hand, didn’t go at all well. I had absolutely no energy left. I alternated by running for a few hundred metres and then walking for quite a way. The four kilometres took me 29:30 altogether, which was incredibly slow.
My overall time was 1:34:15. Despite my throat irritation I had plenty of appetite, so we enjoyed a good meal with wine to go with it at one of Amager’s restaurants before driving home to Roskilde.
No serious damage
For the next few days, I still felt as though I had sandpaper in my throat, so as a precaution, I went to see my GP. There was nothing to worry about, and I was soon as right as rain.
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