PSOF Championships 2013 - Challenge Henley

SioUx - I suspect not on account of the Henley Royal Regatta

sioUx wrote (see)

Can they not move this to end june/ start July?

Anyone know if Bala on next year?

 Chuckles if you want a race that date outlaw has just opened.

Well start with the half,

Then the other half

Anyone thought asbout what warm up races they are going to do pre Henley? Esp the half?

Bala middle would seem to be a good option for Henley? Hilly, with an uphill swim. About 10-12 weeks before?

or Marshman for an early warm up?

Cowman would be another good one

I would use Marshman and warm in the same sentence...!

No ... nor would I usually   

Lazy, numpty question if I may:

Does Henley offer a relay option?

Back from the Henley Half after posting a 5:45:53 time so very pleased -  rubbish swim (I seem to have developed OW issues), nailed the bike and and OK run.

Well done Fraggle - thanks for the help before the swim looking forward to seeing your race report. You looked great on the run.

Just a few words on the event for those considering doing it next year. On the positive side

• Thames swim fine with wave starts, fair but undulating cycle course (maxed out at 65km/h), standard out and back run along the Thames
• Superb organisation and well manned cycle feed stations by very friendly people who could not do enough to help
• Great athlete support at T1 and T2 by volunteers made it very slick 

On the negative side:

• I found the swim ramp to get out of the Thames at the end of the swim impossible. Far too steep and thought I would never get out - but this could be an age thing!       
• Few if any km markers on the run so no idea really how far you had to go
• 1 bag of crisps, 2 biscuits and 3 pieces of pineapple at the end was not what really what was expected. But this may have just been for the Half Arsed runners.
• Collection of T2 bags at the end needs to be far better organised.

In summary, I will deffo do this again next year.. The fact it is late in the season means you can do this having already done one in June/July. On the flip side if this is your only IM/Half then keeping training up during the late summer I found a bit harder.

When I was at the end in bag collection resplendent in my yellow and black I was approached by one of the organising team who knew that a fair few of us might do this in 2013 and offered the chance to give us a discount if a few of us do it. I am not sure how this would work but it all helps so if I do get an email offering this I will post it here.

They seem to like Pirates......!!!           

Thanks Challenge Henley and see you in 2013.

Well done Bedders, your report may have just tipped me over the edge.

I am in for 2013.
Now need to decide between half or relay.

Any idea of the date for Henley next year?

Bedders - have done my report on the other thread lol!

A few more comments from me

Swim - yes the wave start meant that i didn't get bashed at all, and in fact felt like I was on my own most of the time. It was bloody freezing though, so two swim hats may be a good idea. Apart from cramp I had no probs getting out of the water as there were plenty of helpers.

Bike course : as Bedders says its undulating (approx 1500ft of climb per lap, and 3 laps for the full distance), the road surface itself is very poor, and there was not much warning when approaching some of the tight turnabout points. The feed stations and marshall were fabulous and cheerful.

I have read that the bike course may be changing for next year though, as there have been compaints from the locals.

Run : it's a combination of road /towpaths and off road, some of which is a bit stony/gravelly underfoot. Plenty of crowd support through Henley, but once you're out on the run loop it's quiet apart from the feedstations.

For the Half-Arsed there is no cut-off time - and I think the last finisher was 8.50ish - they only ask you to let the Pro's doing the Full have their moment of glory if you're finishing at the same time. Although the cut-off for the full is 16 hrs, the last finisher was 17 and a few minutes, so they don't seem to pull you off the course.

oh, and be prepared for any type of weather!

fraggle a lot has been said in the past about the swimming conditions was the current anything to write home about and what was the water like? Was it as rough as nottingham was this year?