Ironman 70.3 Budapest Race Recap

When this summer one of the most beautiful European capitals received its own Ironman 70.3 race, held right in the city center, I was excited. I had visited Budapest about eight years ago and loved the city with its iconic landmarks, the Chainbridge and Buda Castle, now parts of the racecourse. An easy 2h flight away I sure wasn't going to miss this one so a little over a week ago we packed our bags and flew to Hungary for the race on August 23. I set myself one goal for the race and it was to qualify for the 2015 world champs in Zell am See, Austria.

The bike, ready for action the morning before the race on the only hill of the racecourse.

The race venue was just south of the city center, on the Buda side of the river Danube. We swam in the river but in a calm bay, well clear of the strong currents of the main flow. The water temperature was around 20 degrees Celsius, which meant wetsuits were allowed. I took the start a bit too easy and was stuck behind a row of slower swimmers. Fighting my way through took some time and I lost my opportunities to draft anyone, all too common for my swimming performance. I managed to get out of the water just under 30 minutes and at around 20th position in my division.

Start of the M30-34 division

Beforehand, the course in Budapest was advertised as a fast one so I thought a PB would be possible, maybe even a sub 4-hour time. On the bike course it turned out, however, that while it was mostly flat, the course had many tight corners to it slowing it down. In addition, being a two-lap course meant a lot of passing which was difficult at times once all the age groups had started. I did ride the second fastest time in my age group, thanks to my new Cocoon Flume C.P. aero shirt, but at least breaking 4h was immediately out of the window. The scenery on the course was spectacular and I have to give it to the organizers for getting such big parts of the city's roads closed.

The Chainbridge, devoted to the athletes on race day.

The run course was almost completely flat and on pavement. I ran my best ever split, under 1:20, but considering the course and the conditions I should have done even better. As this was a B-race, I didn't taper as much as usually and this probably took away the sharpest edge from my running performance.

The last 100 meters.

Crossing the finish line in 4 hours and 10 minutes I did make a new PB, but only just. More importantly, I finished third in my age group, which easily earned me the slot to the world championships in Austria for next year. Mission completed!

One for the podium!