Sibaya Durban Ultra Triathlon 2007 race report
May 29th, 2007 by Robin Frankland 
What an interesting race! Big surf, even bigger hills and a trail run that really tested the legs but at the end of the day it was a good event and I certainly hope that it’s back next year.
The day before the race my kids asked if they could go to the beach. Since I wanted to check the swim course out I obliged them but to our surprise the beach was closed due to high seas. This got me thinking that the organiser’s contingency plan for a duathlon event might just become reality and I resigned myself to this before going to bed that night.
Race day came and the swells had dropped some but it was still rough out there. As a result the start was moved some 500m up the beach which meant that you had to run the 500m back to transition on soft sand which was a precursor to the tough running that was to follow later.
I had a reasonable swim. Most sea swims are held in areas that have very few waves and having to negotiate 1-2 metre surf on the way out and in was a challenge. That said I came in my usual 5min behind the leaders which given that I have a shoulder injury was a pleasing result.
The bike course was a story of two halves. The one being up and down a hill and the other being flat, fast and windy. I relished this and put in a big effort to ensure that I started the run in the best possible position. Unfortunately it was only 60km which didn’t give me enough time to really make a difference but I came into T2 close enough to where I was hoping to be at that stage.
The run was a killer. Starting down a steep hill that would have to be negotiated on the way back, it was more like an XTerra course than anything we are used to. The surface ranged from sand to stone with a little tar thrown in at the turn around. I was surprised at the times given the terrain and everyone seemed to be flying out on the course.
My run was good by my own standards and mediocre by everyone else’s. Not that I am complaining though because given that I was ill for 2 weeks before the race as a result hadn’t really focussed on this event that seriously, I can be happy with how my day ended.
My heartrate graph, click to see the big image
While the organisers did a great job the time keepers, Championchip, didn’t. I don’t really want to get drawn into the protracted debate about the merits of them and their competitors but they were also responsible for the time keeping at the Duel Ultra, a race we still don’t know the official results of. The times they posted had team entries mixed amongst the individuals and when I used their sms service to get my result, it returned a provisional result for the Duel Ultra.
This is frustrating because the organisers have a great race and to have a service provider mess it up is unfair.
