Last weekend the 21st edition of the Powerman World Championships took place in the Swiss town of Zofingen. This race was my main goal for the year and has the reputation of being extremely hard! Although this was the first I'd participated, my hopes were to win the event. The distances were 10 kilometres of running, followed by a 150 kilometre time trial and a last run of 30 kilometres. Because the very long distance is new to me, the preparation has been very different, and I didn’t feel as confident as I usually am pre-race. The field was very strong with amongst others the Swiss winner from last year, Andy Sutz, the New Zealand triathlete Richard Usscher, Jason Spong (RSA) and Anthony Leduey (FRA). The start was at 8.48am, exactly 48 minutes behind the womens start time because there is also the extra competition called 'the battle of the sexes'. This is an extra prize for the first male or female across the finish line.

The first run comprised of two 5 kilometre laps with a total of 250 metres of climbing, and this was considered a warming up for what was to come! Although I must say that I found the pace of the first run quite fast, so naturally let the other athletes do the work. We came into the first transition with a fairly big group and all the favourite athletes were present. On the bike there were three laps of 50 kilometres, each lap included three hills making a total of 1600 metres of climbing over the total distance covered. During the first bike lap no one wanted to take the initiative and we were not going very fast. Because of the very big group it was difficult to respect the 10 metre drafting rule. I was afraid to get a penalty, so I put myself in first position at the foot of the second hill of the day. I was riding my own pace and once over the top I could see that I had a small lead. I didn’t know what to do, because this was a bit earlier to take off alone than I had planned. But the legs felt very strong, so I decided to give it a try without over-exerting myself. I extended my lead continuously and meanwhile the group behind me fell apart. During the bike I didn’t have any weak moments and I came into the second transition with a lead of 9 minutes over Andy Sutz and Josh Beck (SUI).

Before the race it was the second run I was most apprehensive of. Not only because of the distance, but mainly the hard running course. More than 500 metres of height climbed, most of it off-road, spread over two laps of 15 kilometres. Loudly encouraged by the spectators I began the second run, and it went very smoothly. But I was still a little worried, wondering if I was running fast enough or not, and waiting for confirmation that the other competitors weren't gaining on me. After 5 kilometres I caught Erika Csomor, the first women, and halfway around the first lap I got the news that I had extended my lead. I also got to hear that I was running and biking record times, but I didn't occupy my mind with that. After one lap I was a few minutes under the old record time, but I was still afraid of hitting the wall during the last lap. I kept taking my nutrition, which my coaches handed out perfectly, and my energy level stayed up. The muscles started to feel very tired over the last 10 kilometres making it feel extremely hard, but I expected nothing less at that stage in the race.

The last few kilometres were downhill and I began to realise that I had produced an impressive performance. I crossed the finish line very very happy in a new record time of 6h11min35sec, more than 9 minutes faster than the old record. Last years winner, Andy Sutz, was second 16 minutes back, shortly followed by Anthony Leduey. This might just be the strongest and most impressive win of my career so far, so I will make the most of it and enjoy it!

Regards,

Joerie.