Experienced #TeamTCUK athlete, Ed Crisp, chose the Aviemore Offroad Triathlon to round-off his 2022 racing season. If you fancy a race that's a little bit different from the traditional road bike triathlons and you're up for a bracing swim starting from the UK's highest beach, this could be the event for you in 2023.



Pre-race

How were your preparations leading up to the race?

The run up to the Aviemore Offroad Triathlon was helped by another sprint tri I had signed up for getting postponed allowing me to focus on more appropriate offroad race specific training. I had managed to complete most training sessions and reached a level of consistency.

Did you feel that your training had prepared you sufficiently?

The first time I entered this event I thought I was in pretty good shape. I had trained well but that was for on road triathlons up to Olympic distance. The reality was, although fit enough to complete the event, I very much underestimated the terrain.

Race specific training and a few days training around the racecourse area really helped.

Swim

Time:29.38

How did it go? The swim went well. The water in Loch Morlich was a bracing 13 degrees. It was a deep water start with a course covering 1000m.

I picked a start position near the front of the pack and went hard from the start to get warm. After about 400m I managed to drop the hangers on and came out of the water in fourth place.

What were the positives/negatives?

Positives: The swim went well and I’m glad I went for an acclimatisation swim the days prior as the water was about 5 degrees cooler than the open water I had been training in.

Negatives: The organisers mismeasured the swim. I clocked about 1782m which isn’t necessarily a negative for me as a stronger swimmer but it did cause a few issues for less able swimmers especially first timers who had just trained to the advertised 500m distance.

T1

Time: 3.23

How did it go? Bit of a slow transition. As it was a mountain bike ride I decided to ride in my trail running shoes rather than switch to cycling shoes. Note to self: take your wetsuit off before putting your shoes on. Doh!

Took my shoes off and tried to dry my freezing cold feet to get socks on which had gritty sand stuck to them.

What were the positives/negatives?

Positives: Going for flat pedals and deciding to ride in my trail shoes was definitely the right way to go.

Negatives: Socks full of gritty sand didn’t make for very comfortable feet but they were that cold I didn’t really notice till my feet thawed out later in the event.

Bike

Time: 1.19.52

How did it go? The bike leg went ok. It was a bit of a gamble using a new bike that I had only taken for one ride prior to the race, however, my new bike set up was more able to handle the course particularly the second half which is very technical single track riding. On the downside is that the new set up only has a single chain ring which meant I lost a bit of top end speed on the hard packed forest logging roads.

What were the positives/negatives?

Positives: I was far better prepared for the mountain bike course and managed to ride more of the course than previously.

Negatives: Nothing negative to speak of, pretty much went to plan

T2

Time: 0.00.14

How did it go? Basically just passed through after dropping my bike and helmet

What were the positives/negatives?

Positives: Riding in my trail running shoes was the right decision and did make for a rapid transition

Negatives: My right foot still hadn’t thawed out by this stage



Run

Time: 52.53

How did it go? The run went as well as expected. I’m still struggling somewhat from a hamstring injury earlier in the year and have been pretty much confined to the treadmill for run training.

The run course covers some varied terrain including swampy moorland, forest trails and a final steep climb upto the turn around.

What were the positives/negatives?

Positives: Having run the course before it was good to know exactly what to expect. In the final 2km my right foot finally thawed out.

Negatives: The hamstring injury means that I’m not running at full speed and hope to have another run at this when I’m back up to speed.

Post-race

How have you recovered from the race? Now that it’s done, what are your future race plans?

Recovered from the race on holiday up in the Scottish Highlands eating deep fried food! Going to spend the off-season rehabilitating my hamstring injury and to try and get back to some fell running. I fully intend to have another crack at this event next year although I hope it gets moved back to its original August date when it’s a bit warmer and less midgey.

Race review

The Aviemore Offroad Triathlon is organised but Durty Events and is centred at Badaguish Centre in the heart of Glenmore Forest in the Cairngorms.

The start line is at the side of Loch Morlich with views of the Cairngorm ski resort in the distance.

They have two course configurations to choose from: the Short Fast Durty 500m/12km/5km or the longer Long Hard Durty 1000m/18km/9km

The Short Durty course is not too technical and is a great introduction to offroad racing. There is also a non-competitive version for those still not sure if triathlon is for them.

For the more proficient mountain biker and trail runner, I would highly recommend the Long Durty, Racing against out and out mountain bikers is always an eyeopener.

Committed fell runners would enjoy the varied terrain and the view from the turnaround point is spectacular if you want to take a second to drink in the view.

If you fancy a crack at this event a couple of words of caution. Loch Morlich is the highest beach in the UK at 312m above sea level and, as a result, the Loch can be a few degrees cooler than you may be used to. The second half of the Long Durty is a very technical course so it’s not for the faint hearted.

The transition is split. The start line is approximately 1.8km from the car parking at the Badaguish centre and they stop vehicle movements between certain times so make sure you have a plan together for setting up your transition and getting to the start line.

It’s a good course for spectator, they will see you several times. It’s a great friendly race in beautiful surroundings.