The Rubicon Middle Distance (Ripon)

This could be a long post. I have done this three times and I love it. Every race has its own personal stories and this edition had a few. Check out the video below to get a brief flavour the race.

I was racing against my brother Robert and my son Sam. Neither had done a middle distance tri before and whilst Robert was only aiming to finish, Sam is competitive. He's a much faster runner than me but I am marginally quicker on the bike and I was expecting a close race.

The event is staged in the grounds of Newby Hall with its magnificent gardens and offers on-site camping which we took up. This took a lot of stress off the morning routine and although there were no showers the field was adequate for the event. The weekend also features a kids race on Saturday evening and a Standard distance, the Trident, this made the camping field busy with a nice family atmosphere. Mark tries to make the event family friendly and I think he gets it right.

We got to transition at the Hall, haveing registered the night before, setting up was not as relaxed as usual because Robert was stressing pretty hard but I guess it took my mind off the race. Once we were setup we went to the unusually entertaining and informative race briefing given by Mark, his routine on drafting is legendary and is almost worth the entry fee on its own. After the brief comes the walk to the swim start, I like the walk and the buzz that goes along with it but some athletes don't.

The swim is in the River Ure which is pretty peat stained and you can't see your hands. on the other hand it is really pretty and it's 1700m down stream, a turn and 200m back. The dock for swim exit is quite difficult but there are always loads of hoiker outers

Always keep your toenails triimed!

on hand to assist. The swim exit and the run to T1 through the gardens is absolutely knockout and made extra atmospheric by the lone piper that accompanies us as we run up the lawn.

T1 done, its out on to the ride which is advertised as fast and flat - and it is. I reckon the slope from the swim to  T1 is worse than anything on the ride. The route which is two full loops and a small loop looks bonkers on a map but actually makes sense. The two big loops center around an out and back smash up the A168 which is pretty quiet and has a great road surface. Either side of the main road there are sections of country road some, of it slightly technical. I had a good ride but made a proper mess of dismount. I slipped as I dismounted, and reflexively grabbed the brakes and ended up in a heap of bike and man.

Having negotiated the rest of T2 without as much embarrassment I set out on the run. The run this year featured a scaffolding bridge to get us across the bike traffic. The climb up was comically steep and Mark has promised it will be better in 2016. The is mostly in the grounds of Newby Hall and features the Home Farm and the Chapel. It really is a stunning run. It is four laps with one very well run aid station. The race pack has promised two stations but for the last two years there was only one. This caused some grumbles but it didn't seem too much of an issue to me.

I spent most of the time on the run panicking that Sam was about to come past me but in the event that didn't happen. The finish area is well supported ant there is a great buzz as you go through, as well as some great banter from the guy on the PA. It made me smile, I might have laughed if my foot wasn't hurting so badly. That'll teach me to forget to cut my toenails. There was also some nice support from the locals in the village of Skelton on Ure.

Robert completes the set of Middle Distance running brothers.

I finally finished in about 5:12. I got a bit worried when Sam wasn't right behind me but his friend Gemma finally found him flat on his back and crippled with cramp just over the finish line about 30 minutes behind me. It took quite some time to get him to be fit to move. It was a bit worrying for a Dad but I would have been more upset if he'd beaten me. Robert came in, in around 7:00 hours. I think he enjoyed it but he has since told me his 1/2 iron distance days are over.

So that's my not so brief overview of the Rubicon 2015. These things are personal for many reasons but my advice is do it. It's laid back, well organised, fun and takes place in beautiful North Yorkshire and 4 out of 4 ain't bad.

Results
Event Website
Garmin trace