Wimbleball Lake – Ironman 70.3 UK (18.06.2010)

Great Britain is different than the rest of Europe. That is the same with the Ironman 70.3 which is 3 and half hour southwest of London. On Sunday Faris Al-Sultan and Ina Reinders will fight more the topography of the course than anything else.

On Thursday both of them came by plane to London. The last part of their journey they did by car which was even longer and more challenging. The further they get the roads became narrower and narrower. They started to dought if they are still on the right way to an Ironman race.

But it was the right one. Ironman 70.3 UK is the Erupean version of the Californian Wildflower. The race venue offers a beautiful scenery but it is in the middle of nowhere. There is not much infrastructure and most of the athletes camp because of missing accommodations in that area. There is no internet access and just party a mobile communication net.

But for all nature fans this is a perfect spot. The lake, which cuts itself in the landscape, can just be swam in on race day and twice the days before because of security reasons. Those are not quite clear for some of the athletes. Anyway these rules have to be accepted. On the bike course there is no flat part and the run course is even tougher with about 900 meters of altitude differences. That is not the easiest race Ina and Faris chose. But that is the way they like it!