Two starts, one flat, no cycling shoes & one Victory!
Kraichgau Germany
June 14th, 2009
After what's already been an amazing European Campaign with Half Ironman victories in both France and Austria, Macca set his sites on one last race leading up to his Title defense of the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt Germany to be held on July 5th. What looked to be a great day had a few twists and turns that only the unflappable Aussie could have handled before the day unfolded completely.
It was a beautiful day in Kraichgau Germany, just out side of Karlsrue, and Macca had toed the line as the race favorite once again. The defending champion in the event he had dominated the year before, Macca was eying off 3 major European victories, in as many weeks, in 3 different countries. The Half Ironman race couldn't have started better with Macca calling it a 'great swim' where he was away in a large bunch with fellow Aussie Paul Ambrose, the great Spencer Smith and South Africa's Raynard Tissink. They had a small lead on the group behind, including legendary Thomas Hellriegel and the up and coming Sebastian Kienle.
"I was first out of the swim and attacked quickly on the bike," stated McCormack. "Ambrose followed me and we were gone". At the 25K mark of the bike course and while still leading, McCormack punctured a tire and was forced to retire from the race. "I flatted and was out. I didn't take a spare with me since it was only a Half, so my day was over", McCormack said. "I had to walk my bike back to the finish line and just assumed I'd spend the day watching. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed at that point."
However, when McCormack finally got back he was told of a new race. The Olympic Distance race was set to start in just 45 minutes! Always up for a challenge, McCormack decided to start over and race again! The Olympic Distance event was actually the larger event on the day with over 2,000 athletes racing.
"I just said sure and threw my stuff in the car and they drove me back to the swim start again. As it was two separate transition areas I had to reorganize everything in about 5 minutes. All the roads were closed because of the race so it was really hard to get around. I got to the swim start and pulled on my wettie" [aka: a wet wetsuit]. "It wasn't until about 60 seconds before the gun went off that I realized I had left my bike shoes back at the other transition area after checking out of the first race. So I thought it was game over for a second time today and I wouldn't be able to complete this race either. But the guys said to just start the race and they would sort something out while I was swimming".
So for the second time that morning, McCormack toed the line as the race favorite and started the one mile swim. "I swam like a fish and broke away", said McCormack. Breaking away from the pack, McCormack exited the water about 30 seconds up on the chase pack.
"I was just hoping there were going to be cycling shoes at my bike when I got there", stated McCormack. "When I got to my bike I saw that the guys had organized shoes for me so I just grabbed my bike and took off as fast as I could. But I couldn't put the shoes on as they were way too small, so I had to do the bike ride with my feet just sitting on top of the pedals for the entire 40K. It was a tough hilly course too so I really struggled on the bike but was still able to stay away."
McCormack was able to hold off the group behind and ended up putting an additional 90 seconds on the lead chase group before transitioning to the run. As always in Germany, the crowds were just massive at the event. Outside the Ironman's in Germany this event draws the largest crowds with over 4,000 people racing in the two races.
"The crowd was just huge and I felt good on the run," said McCormack. "I put together a solid run and held on for the win. Normally I'd be very upset with only one win in two-starts, but in the case of today, I'll take it!"
* Chris McCormack will defend his Title at the Ironman European Championships at Ironman Frankfurt on July 5th.
