INSPIRED VICTORY
On Kona weekend, Luke Voss was vying to defend his own title having stayed up to watch Jan Frodeno and Daniela Ryf reclaim their Ironman crowns…
It’s Kona weekend, so there’s no extra motivation needed for me to race the Osprey Autumn Sprint! I thought it would be a great way to round off the season three weeks after my ‘A’ race at Weymouth 70.3. And after a night of watching Frodeno and Ryf crush Hawaii I was ready to race, yet somewhat sleep-deprived, the next morning.
Having won the last two editions I’m feeling confident, despite laying off swim training recently. I climb into the pool to start the 300m swim, and all goes according to plan as I catch people who started ahead of me. T1 is chilly, but thankfully quick, and I’m soon on the bike. The course is short and sweet, with a climb for the first mile, and my tactic is simply to go hard from the off. Portland is notoriously windy and today is no exception; there’s a tailwind on the way out, which is great, but a mighty headwind all the way back to transition makes it hard to stay down on the aerobars.
I arrive back at T2 and am glad to be back on my feet. The run is a mix of gravel and road, and I try to pick up speed on the tarmac as off-road running isn’t my strength. Shortly after finishing I find out I’ve secured the win for a third time on the bounce!
I’m already looking forward to 2017, and I’ll be aiming to improve on third place in my age-group at Weymouth and also win a medal for the University of Bath at the BUCS champs. The BustinSkin races are always fantastic, with an atmosphere rarely seen at local races. Thanks again to all at BustinSkin for a fantastic end-of-season race!