THREE Guernsey triathletes saw months of preparation pay off when they competed in the renowned Austrian Ironman. Consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and full 26.2-mile marathon run to finish, the amount of training required for the event is substantial and Hubert Nicolle and husband-and-wife team Carl and Katrina Thomson rose to the challenge.

On race day, conditions in Klagenfurt were good but hot with temperatures reaching around 30C.

However, that did not deter the spectators from turning up and creating a Tour de France style atmosphere, especially on the hills of the bike course.

Nicolle, competing in his first ironman, established the fastest swim time of the Sarnian trio.

‘I was particularly worried about the swim stage as there were over 2,200 competitors all starting at the same time and I had heard of other races where the swim start can be quite aggressive,’ he said.

‘However, I started relatively near the back of the pack and then picked my way through the crowd, meaning I didn’t get caught in any fights.’

Exiting the water, there were then 180km of rolling hills to tackle, some with a gradient of around 10%.

The stunning scenery helped to keep the athletes focussed and Carl Thomson soon established his prowess on the cycle section. Both he and Katrina had been meticulous in their preparation for the ride.

‘The bike went really well,’ he said.

‘Katrina and I put in a lot of hours over the winter and spent a considerable proportion of this focusing on hill climbs knowing the profile of the course.

‘We were both really pleased we put in this specific training as the bike course had some particularly steep sections.’

With around seven hours of racing already under the competitors’ belts, it was on to the relative relief of a flat marathon course.

‘The run was more of a shuffle really,’ said Katrina Thomson.

‘However, running through the Ironman City at the end was an incredible experience and made all the lonely hours spent on a bike on cold, rainy Sundays worth every minute.’

All three Guernsey triathletes made the distance well inside the cut off time of 17 hours, completing the course in less than 12.

‘A thoroughly enjoyable, if tough, experience,’ Nicolle said.