Training Log Archive: Career Move

Itera 2016:
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Pre-race (Tuesday):
An early morning start for the drive down to registration in Killarney. When we enter the INEC, there’s a giant map of Ireland sitting in the middle of the hall and a dotted line leads from Westport to Killarney, with the different disciplines represented by different colours.

At the race briefing, once again it’s reiterated that kayaking is going to be key as there are a couple of long kayak stages in potentially difficult conditions. I’m feeling pretty confident. I’ve worked hard to get kayak fit so that I’m comfortable in the kayak for long periods, I think I’ve done enough on the bike and I’m strong on the trekking stages so even though my hip has been giving trouble and I haven’t done that much trekking/running recently, I figure I’ll manage ok. Peter is his usual stoic self and Sean seems confident but Mike looks slightly apprehensive and we’re all worried about how his collarbone will react to the stresses of races. TriHarder have pizza for dinner and then settle down for the night at the campsite. It’s really humid and I’m sweating so much, I’m starting to stress about being dehydrated so I can’t wait for the morning to come!

Stage 0 – 1:
My alarm goes off at 5am. We get a tasty breakfast bap and a food bag at the INEC and we’re bundled on the buses for the 5 hour bus journey to Westport. It’s a damp, grey morning and any hopes that it will brighten up as the day goes on are dashed by the time we spill out onto the lawn at Westport house.

After a captain’s briefing and a few photos the teams line up and at 12 minutes past 12 we depart on the journey of a lifetime
Stage 0 is supposed to be a 5k run around Westport but due to garda restrictions on closed roads it ends up being about 5 miles. Westport is hilly and it takes me a couple of miles to settle into a comfortable pace. Thankfully we were able to leave our backpacks at Westport house. This feels like a long run but we keep together as a team and after picking up our backpacks off the lawn, we head through the forest to the kayak put in. I fall on my ass down a slippy mud bank on the way. The kayaks are arranged on the lawn in our team numbers but they’re not the same as the ones that we saw at registration so we have to spend a number of precious minutes adjusting the seats before we’re ready to go. The sea is calm in the bay and I’m lulled into a false sense that this stage is not going to be as bad as predicted. Mike and Sean are in the first kayak and Peter and I are behind, trying as best we can to follow their line. The waves are high and we have to work hard as soon as we leave the shelter of the bay. There’s a few other teams around us and we seem to be holding our own. After a while the conditions worsen and we’re hit with 7 and 8 foot breakers attacking us from all sides. Peter and I are struggling to keep our boat straight (it keeps drifting out to sea) and to keep up with Mike and Sean and they have to wait for us on numerous occasions. At the captains briefing before we started, we were told that there was a strong possibility that this stage could be shortened and when we see a couple of teams pulling in to the beach ahead we follow in the hope that we’re being taken off the water. Alas it’s only teams taking a break but it’s nice to get out of the boats for a few minutes and get some respite from the conditions. The tide is ferocious now and we’re all knackered. Mike keeps yelping like a monkey as his collarbone is dragged to and fro and his broken ribs are given a jolt. It feels like we’re never going to finish when a boat pulls up beside us and we’re told that the course has been shortened and we can pull in at the Clare ferry pier. We’re all soaked through and the wind and rain is relentless but there’s a small hut near to where we put in that we can use for shelter while we change for the 15k trek along the beach. It’s lovely to be out of the kayaks and we quickly warm up as we jog along the new route. We catch 3 or 4 teams that finished the kayak ahead of us and do most of the trek with Basecamp AR. In a couple of places we have to cross through deep, fast flowing streams that are coursing down to the sea. The current in these is incredibly strong and it’s difficult to know see how deep they are so it ends up being a blind walk across them and we have to link arms to ensure we all get across safely. It’s an enjoyable trek and by the time we reach our kayaks again we’re well recovered and ready to do battle with the sea again. We have a long walk with our kayaks through streams before we reach the sea but thankfully the kayaks float most of the way and we don’t have to lift them too much. The current is unreal when we reach the sea and it takes a while to get ourselves into the boat, with Peter and I turning over and taking a dip before we get ourselves sorted. The 8k paddle has been shortened to 3k but its dark now and Peter and I are thankfully able to stay in Mike and Sean’s slipstream as we cross the more sheltered waters of Killary fiord. We have another short trek then to reach the first transition at Killary Adventure Centre.
Stage: 0
Run: 0:55
Stage: 1
Paddle/Trek/Paddle/Trek: 12:30

Stage: 2
It’s just after 1:30 am on Thursday morning when we reach our first transition. I can’t wait to get a hot meal and some dry clothes on and we all need to tend to our feet before the next trek. We have two special boxes in our team bag – one labelled FOOT CARE, the other BUTT CARE. Unfortunately we’ve made a bit of a boo boo because we didn’t realise that we wouldn’t have access to our team bag at this transition, only our personal bags so no hot meal and no foot care. After I get some dry clothes on, I make us coffee and we scrounge around in our personal bags for food. Luckily I have some baby wipes and powder that we can use on our feet because there was a lot of sand in our shoes during the last stage and it’s very hard to get rid of it on the go and I think it’s already done some damage to our feet. We leave transition within the hour and set out on the next trek with our head torches on. Originally there were 5 checkpoints on this stage with 3 in the Bens and 2 in the Turks. We thought we could get CP1 in the Bens and CP4 and 5 in the Turks but with the sea paddle having taken all the teams such a longer time than anticipated, a decision was made by the RD to scrap CP5. Our plan now was to get CP 1 and then make a decision on whether to go for CP4 or simply follow the road back to Maam for the next transition. We had to walk for a few kilometres on the road to get to the foot of the Bens and it was here we made our first nav mistake when we missed the right turn off the main road. We’d only gone about 500m when Mike realised the mistake so it wasn’t too costly. We followed the road up past a large lake and we were on the lookout for a left turn where the large lake joins a smaller lake. It took us a while to find this because we turned too soon and ended up on an island and that lead to a bit of confusion about which was the large lake and which was the small lake! I think the tiredness was starting to affect us now as we’d been on the go for nearly 24 hours at this stage. Anyway soon after this we got back on the right track and we were soon starting the steep ascent up the Bens. The climb up was slow and difficult and it was here that I was very thankful for my walking poles as they made life a lot easier. There are no paths to speak off and the terrain is rocky and rugged. The nav was difficult as there was a thick mist which got thicker the further up we went and visibility was reduced to a couple of feet. It took us a long time to find the CP because of this and it was only thanks to some smart nav from Mike and Sean that we managed it. I think it took us the bones of 6 hours to do it though. Once we had dibbed, we set about on the descent to the road back to Maam. We had decided that we wouldn’t have time to head up into the Turks. Mike’s collarbone was sore and all of the lads had sore feet. The road back to Maam was long. We were passed by the Japanese team Fujin Rajin at one stage. Mike speaks Japanese and we bumped into them a good few times along the course and they were always delighted to see us. They were flying along at that stage so we weren’t sure if they were short course or long course. We were also passed by Godzone, the pre-race favourites. They didn’t look completely happy and they told us as they passed that they were having a bad race. We later found out that one of their team was suffering from a viral infection and it had been touch and go as to whether he would be able to race or not. We were a couple of kilometres from transition when we had our first bust up. I wanted to jog the downhills. Mike was on a go slow mode and there was a bit of a clash of personalities resulting in me storming off into transition followed at a safe distance by the boys!

Stage 2:
Trek: 15:17

Stage 3:
When we got into transition just before 5pm, I started getting our meals ready. These have to be reconstituted with hot water and it’s quite difficult to mix them when you only have a plastic spoon. Every team was required to write a blog at this TA so Mike was busy doing that and Sean and Peter started to pitch the tents on the gaa field outside so we could have a sleep. Once we had eaten and organised stuff we headed for the tents. It was a nice evening, dry for a change but very humid and I only lasted in the tent for about 10 minutes. The lads were all out for the count so I went back into the hall and after I’d cleaned and powdered my feet again, I started to get ready for the next paddle. I had cut the legs and arms on my wetsuit last week to make it more comfortable and easier to get into and I put this on and then I got our pfd’s and seats and paddles organised. It was around 19:30 when I woke the lads and I think we were ready to leave by about 20:15. We had to portage the kayaks about 500m down the road to the lake on our little trolley and then that would be coming with us as there was another portage stage planned around Galway.
The lake was pretty calm and in total contrast to the sea and the plan was to get as much as we could done during daylight as the navigation was going to be challenging with all the little islands. After a couple of hours the weather worsened and the paddling became slower and more difficult. I think Peter was finding it hard to keep his eyes open and I suspect he may have nodded off a couple of times because every now and again I’d say something to him and we’d suddenly be paddling much faster. After another while we were all getting sleepy and we decided to pull over to one of the islands for a 10 minute nap. There was a French team following us and when we diverted to the island, they did too. They had pretty strong headtorches which they kept shining at us so it was difficult to get any shut eye but we got a bit of a break at least.
When we started back on the paddle we seemed to lose the French team and we were pretty much on our own now. We paddled away for another bit. My eyes were getting very tired now and it was hard to keep them focused. Everything was taking funny shapes and as we followed the front boat it looked like Sean, who was in the back, had monsters leaping out from under his arms. I had to shove handfuls of winegums into my mouth to try and stay focused. Shortly after this the weather became foul, with driving wind and rain making it very difficult to see even a few feet in front of the boat. We pulled over to another island to take shelter, even though shelter was difficult to find. We left the kayaks on rocks ans ducked in under some trees and sat down by an earthen bank. Luckily Sean had a large survival blanket that we could all just about huddle under but we were crammed together like beans in a can. The only advantage of this was that we needed the body heat to stay warm. Peter was most at risk of hypothermia because he only had his shortie wetsuit on and no leggings. Despite the miserable weather, being soaked through and the discomfort we all dozed off at stages and we stayed there until dawn.
The dawn brought a respite in the wind and rain and we set out in our kayaks once again. As we got closer to Galway Bay the paddling became much more difficult and progress was slow. We caught up to another team who were stopped for shelter and we discussed the option of paddling to the quay and portaging the boats for a while. Our average speed in the kayaks is usually between 5 -6 km/hr. At this stage we were only covering about 1.5km/hr and if you stopped paddling the boats would actually start moving backwards.

When we set off again we moved to the other bank and the going was slightly easier there for a while. About an hour later we spotted some people at the next quay and a big white van. Hopes soared that it was the organisers taking us off the water and we made a beeline for the quay. Even a long trek had to better than this kayak! Alas when we reached the quay we discovered that it wasn’t the organisers, it was 2 people from Wales in their camper van who were over supporting friends who were doing the race. But they did have fig rolls for us! While we were talking to them the other team who we met earlier came over thinking they were being taken off the water. The look of disgust they gave all of us when they discovered that wasn’t the case was comical! As we got ready to depart again, Peter was handing back the fig rolls and became unbalanced and capsized our boat so at least we provided some entertainment for our Welsh visitors!
As we moved away from the quay the going was so difficult that when we turned the corner up from the harbour we could see the other team about 300m in front of us. That was the progress they had made in 10 minutes. We still had roughly 13k of paddling left before we reached Galway and despite my reservations, we decided that we would be better doing a portage. We turned around and headed back to the harbour again and got the boats out. While we were getting the boats up on the trolley, the lovely Welsh couple made us the nicest cup of hottea and then we set off, all happy to be out of the boats and jogging along by the trolley.
The plan was to portage for about 3k and then slip back onto the lake. The weather had dried off and we made good progress with the boats. Unfortunately the land at the end of the 3k was private and we couldn’t cross it so we had to turn around and come back the way we had just come and then go further down the coast and hopefully put in there. We made a mistake here and went down a road we shouldn’t have so we added a couple of extra kilometres to our trip. There was a bridge on the road where we might have been able to access the water but it was difficult and I’m not even sure it would have lead back to the lake anyway. We’d done about 8k portage at this stage when we passed a hardware/animal feed/grocery shop. We stopped here and Sean and I went in for provisions and to ask the owner if there was access to the water from the road we were on because it was difficult to see from the maps. The owner was a lovely man and he was revelling in the absurdity of 4 randomers rocking up to his store with their kayaks. He was fairly sure we could access the water where we showed him on the map but he was going to ring his friend who had a riding stables that way and she’d give us access anyway.
We stocked up with bottles of Coke, chocolate and jellies and we went back out to Mike and Peter who were sitting in the coal shed on a pile of briquettes. They had been having a bit of discussion about the 20k trek that lay ahead of us on the next stage. The lads all had very sore feet and we were way behind schedule so it was unanimously decided that as we were going to miss the cut off anyway, it would make life a lot easier if we skipped the trek and got a taxi instead. Once this was decided the whole demeanour of the team lifted and we resumed our portage with raised spirits. The road back down to the lake was quite undulating so by the time we reached the water again, I was more than happy to get back in the boats. The portage took us 4.5 hours and once we got back on the water we had less than 5k remaining. The tide was still against us and it was just as difficult but the break had freshened us up so it was well worth doing in the conditions. As we were paddling across the bay we were met by a boat which seemed to appear out of nowhere from the reeds and told that we were allowed to use the old river entrance. The boat carried on so we figured there must be at least one team still on the water behind us.
It took a few minutes to find the river entrance with all the reeds and a couple of times I thought we were never going to get off the water but once we reached the river, in spite of a strong headwind, we started to motor again. We were half way down the river when the team who had passed us when we were talking to the Welsh couple came up behind us. They seemed knackered and we pulled away from them again after a quick chat. Finally we spotted the green ITERA flag on a quayside and as we were pulling the boats up the gangway we got the delightful news that the 20k trek had been cancelled, we were finished with the kayaks and that our bike boxes were waiting for us in the carpark!!
Stage 3:
Kayak/Portage/Kayak: 22:30*

Stage 4 – 6:
This was only a makeshift transition so all we had was our bike boxes and no gear bags. I had fortunately put all my bike clothes in my bike box so I was able to change out of my wetsuit into dry gear. Sean and Mike had dry gear too but Peter was not so lucky and he had to beg, steal and borrow dry clothes. There was a few marshals around to help us get on the road as quickly as possible including a couple of racers whose teams had been forced to retire. This meant we had loads of help making up our bikes and packing up our wet gear and in very little time we were cycling off on the road to TA4.
Before leaving Galway, Sean took us on a detour down Shop Street for chips. It was packed with pedestrians and Mike was a little nervous about being back on his bike for the first time since the accident and I was confused. I thought we were in Kinvara. But they were good chips. Shortly after we set off again, I realised I’d left my rucksack in the chippers so I had to drop my bike and sprint back up the road in my bike shoes to recover it. Out of Galway, through Oranmore we went and about 30k down the coast till we reached transition at 21:50 on Friday evening.
At registration we were given the opportunity to be involved in a research project that was being conducted by medics from UCC. The study was looking at the ability of endurance athletes to cope with extreme physical stress, sleep deprivation and mental stress. By taking blood samples before, during and after the race they would be able to examine biomarkers that reflect the function of the heart, kidneys, muscle, immune and metabolic systems. And this, as well as being really interesting, would provide a means for improving future performance. Our first blood samples were taken at registration and at TA 4 the doctors were on hand to take mid race samples. I got mine done first and then raided their chocolate supply before diving into my kit bag for supplies for the next stage. Mike was under a bit of pressure because as well as getting his bloods taken and sorting out his gear, he had to meet with the organisers to be told about several route changes affecting a number of maps. And transition was closing at 11pm on the dot!
We were the second last team to leave at 10:59pm on the road to Ailwee caves, where we had two control points to pick up. The night was cold and wet, although we warmed up once we were cycling and we reached the caves just before midnight. There was a couple of teams in the cave but by the time we’d changed into trekking shoes and Mike had taken the cleats out of his bike shoes, we had a clear passage. The bikes came in with us as we went deeper into the caves until we reached a barrier where we left the bikes and continued down into the heart of the caves with waterfalls thundering on either side. There was some climbing to be done and some teeny gaps to wriggle through ….


…. before we dibbed our controls and headed back to the bikes for a magical bike back to the outside world. It was pouring rain at this stage and even the large campfire that was burning outside the caves was unable to stave off the cold. We wanted to put up the tents for a sleep but the caves were closing and as we were concerned that we would be locked inside the complex, we cycled a few kilometres down the road looking for a spot where we could get some shelter from the wind and rain. That spot was behind some ditches but it did the job and we stayed there until dawn.
On awakening we continued on our journey down the coast, heading for the Cliffs of Moher and our next control points. First though was a stop for breakfast in Doolin, where we devoured four full Irish breakfasts and a mountain of toast. It was very windy when we got going again and as we reached the cliffs it had strengthened to gale force. It took a while to find the first control because it was in a quarry and we thought we didn’t have access rights. The second control was at Hags Head, which is the most southerly point of the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs here form an unusual rock formation that resembles a woman’s head looking out to sea.

As you would expect this is a popular tourist attraction but as it wasn’t yet mid-morning, the narrow path that leads up to the point wasn’t too busy. We were pushing our bikes because of the wind but we were still moving along at a good pace and we caught up to a couple who were on the path in front of us. They weren’t too obliging about letting us past and when we did try to they kept speeding up and slowing down again. About 100m from the top the bank flattened so we moved to overtake them here. Mike jumped down in front. I was following but as I went to jump down a gust of wind caught my bike and the bike and I both did a somersault narrowly avoiding the gentleman who exclaimed loudly ‘C’est dangereux’. I apologised and soon we were at the top and dibbing our next control.
We left Clare on the bikes and proceeded towards the ferry which would take us across the Shannon into Kerry. The ‘ITERA’ ferry had to be cancelled due to the high winds and that meant we had a slightly longer bike to the commercial ferry. We bumped into the Japanese team a few times here as we were stopping for food. Peter was struggling here a bit and we had to force feed him a couple of times with Coke and jellies but we were using our pace line to good effect and the last 20k before the ferry Peter and Mike were bombing along as we rushed to make the 17:30 ferry. I was dropping off the pace but Sean was back with me and he was giving me a push up the hills to make it easier. We came into Killimur at 17:10 which gave us a bit of breathing space. As we were ascending the last hill Peter fell over on his bike, a combination of fatigue and low blood sugar and I think we were all glad to finally get on the ferry and have 20 minutes to relax and recover!
We got off the ferry in Tarbet and after another food stop at a garage we battled on into the headwind. We had decided to skip the coasteering because Mike wouldn’t be able for it with his collarbone and Peter didn’t want to do it and we’d also ruled out the trekking in the Brandon Mountains because of time shortage/feet issues so it was a long bike to TA6. Shortly after we had passed the road down to the coasteering, we stopped for a 15 minute nap. One of the organisers, Jim, caught up with us here and told us that there were further route changes, the swim that became a paddle was gone, the bike along the Kerry Way was gone and we now had to make our way to a new transition in Glenbeigh.
This was potentially good news as the Kerry Way would have been a tricky nav although it meant a very long bike had just become a bit longer. We had a small hike a bike around Tralee where we had to lift our bikes over a heap of gateways and we had to follow a narrow walkway. Mike was fading badly here and he fell off his bike, luckily onto his good shoulder and before we started a long steep ascent we pitched the tents in a field and slepr for a couple of hours. The bike into Glenbeigh was pretty straightforward after that and it was four very happy adventure racers who rocked into the hall at Glenbeigh in the early hours of Sunday morning (05:40), ready to pack away our bikes and start on the trek up Carrauntoohill.

Stage: 4 – 6
Bike: 32:47

Stage 7:
Transition … hot drinks, gear change, Mike had the blog to write and the bikes had to be boxed up with the wet gear. Peter disappeared for a makeshift shower and Sean was busy yapping to the marshals but eventually we were good to go and hoping to make the most of the daylight hours, we set off from TA 6 as quickly as possible. We were following the Kerry way to the base of the mountain and then the plan was to follow the Black Mare Ascent (I think this is what it’s called. The most popular ascents are via O Shea’s Gully or the Devil’s Ladder but the race route didn’t follow either of these) up over Cahir peak, which is the third highest peak in Ireland and up to Carrauntohil. It was a nice morning and the rain was falling in a soft mist. The trek along the Kerry Way was a good distance but it was very enjoyable and team spirits were high since we knew that to finish as a ranked team, we just had to bag the two mandatory controls and then high tail our asses back to the finish.
We crossed a fast flowing, deep river that we shouldn’t have and it was a bit of an ordeal to cross back when we realised we were wrong but we soon got back on the right path to start the main ascent. It was a bit misty at this stage and visibility was limited. It was also quite windy and the higher we went the more ferocious the wind became. We climbed peak after peak and every time I hoped in vain to see the Iron cross rising out of the mist. Eventually after 11 hours of hiking we summited and found the CP.

The wind was dangerously strong and the mist had thickened so it was a case of moving quickly on to the next one which was at the end of the Cnoc na Peiste ridge.
We’d done this trek in training but that was back in May and conditions couldn’t have been more different as it was a beautiful summer’s morning with excellent visibility. There was 5 peaks to ascend and the CP was on the fifth one. Each peak had several mini peaks on the way up and Mike was driven demented by Peter and I asking “Is this peak 2 or peak 3”, “Is this peak 3 or peak 4” “Are we there yet”!!!! The wind was dangerously strong and we had to concentrate fully to avoid being blown over. It took another two and a half hours of climbing before we were there and that wasn’t bad going considering the conditions. So now controls in the bag, all we have to do is get down. How hard can it be???
Bloody hard is the answer. Daylight was beginning to fade as we descended, it was wet and windy and the mist was so thick now that visibility was limited to about 10metres. Peter was panicking and in his haste to get down off the mountain, I thought he was either going to disappear into the fog never to be seen again or topple himself off a cliff. Sean had really bad vertigo and was struggling to move quickly enough to keep warm. There seemed to be sheer cliffs everywhere trapping us and no way down off the mountain. Peter led us down some of the way until we spotted the lake and then we were able to use that as a reference point. We wanted to follow the lake down to where it met a large river but this was easier said than done as there were endless cliffs and waterfalls to negotiate and at times we had to go back up and around in order to go down. I did most of the descending by scooting down on my backside on the wet grass. I felt safer this way as I was less likely to lose my balance and it was actually quite fun. Although I made ribbons of the pants I was wearing and I’d only bought them a couple of weeks previously! After what seemed like forever we reached the lake and what a relief that was! If we followed the lake around now it should meet a river and then the road. It was difficult terrain to cross with lots of slippy rocks and gnarly boulders and snags of heather to trip you up. By the time we came to the river we were all exhausted and short of food and water. The river was exceptionally wide and it thundered down the mountain. We kept by its banks for a while but the banks were steep and it was scary because we couldn’t see where we were going. After a while we met another river entering at right angles and we were screwed now. We couldn’t cross the main river, it looked like we couldn’t cross the tributary, we couldn’t see anything and we couldn’t go down any further because it was too steep. And that was when the bothy came to our rescue!
We were all soaked through and freezing and the only way to keep warm was to keep moving so we had no option but to get the bothy out and huddle under it till dawn when we hoped we’d be able to figure out the next move. The ground was rocky and the bothy was tiny. Our breathing was causing water vapour to condense on the surface which then flowed down in rivets so that at times I thought it was raining inside the bothy too. It was also claustrophobic and a couple of times I had to frantically exit only to return just as quickly because it was so cold outside. We did a few complex manoeuvres before everybody was happy but we did manage to sleep in fits and starts. Towards dawn I woke and could hear an animal breathing outside and then I felt a sheep’s foot land on my arm as it pawed inquisitively at our shelter. Mike thought I was dreaming when he heard “Feck off sheep”! We also saw the lights of a couple of other teams and heard them shouting to each other.
Dawn brought a welcome respite in the wind and rain and after we had put on what dry clothes we had remaining and divvied up Peters remaining rations, we realised that we could easily cross the tributary river half way down and that there were ITERA arrows on the other side of the main river. We had rounded the lake on the wrong side so all we had to do now was get across the main river and in the daylight it was easy to pick out a place where we could cross. The flow was still strong and it was pretty deep but it was safe and once we were over all we had to do was follow the arrows and we would be well on our way on the route back to TA 7 at Lord Brandon’s cottage.
Stage 7:
Trek: 26:10


Stage 8:
When we reached Lord Brandon’s cottage, we saw several non-competitive teams who had been sleeping there, who were waiting to start the last stage which was a 13k paddle across Killarney lakes in Canadian canoes. There was only a limited number of these canoes but as a ranked team we were able to skip the queues and take the remaining boats which were waiting for us by the banks. Helmets and pfd’s on and we were ready to haul the fairly heavy boats 500m to the put in. I can’t say I was too ever too happy in these boats. They’re not very stable and really difficult to manoeuvre. The first part down the river was nice though. It was a lovely morning and you could actually see the mountains and valleys for a change. Peter and I capsized going through the main rapid and we had a nice swim as we were swept down river.

We had to keep to the right bank once we hit the lakes to avoid being pulled too far down by the wind and that meant we overshot the entrance to Muckross lake. That was soon rectified and after a difficult paddle across the lake, where we were constantly being tugged in the wrong direction, we came gleefully to the itera flag. There were loads of marshals on hand to help us bring in the boats and then Mike’s mum appeared to give him a big hug. She also had the most amazing sugar coated, jam filled donuts and with this sugar high we trotted off on the final kilometre to the finish, crossing the line at 11:56 am

Stage 8:
Canoe: 4:08
Total race time: 144:25:37*

C • Great report! 7