Triathlon Internacional Portocolom

Last month one of our coaches, Graham, flew over to Mallorca for his first race of the season. Here is a short race report from the Triathlon Internacional Portocolom.
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This is a gem of a race; it’s well organised, in a stunning location, and has over 1,000 competitors. They have a kid’s race on the Saturday, that are as big as any other across the world. Then on the Sunday the adults get to race over two distances: 500m/1k ...swim, 50km/100km bike then 5km/10km run. With the option to race as a relay team it has everything, including warm sunny weather.

Once the bike was rebuilt post-travel using a combination of sticky tape, self-tapping screws and believe it or not a big stone wedged under my seat to keep it in place I was ready to race. Well… take part!
The swim was in the bay of Portocolom with its crystal clear turquoise water. Once the long awaited BANG of the starting gun went so too did my heart rate. I can tell this is my first race of the season!

Out of the water and onto the bike. The route takes in one of Mallorca’s most famous cycling climbs, San Salvador. Twice. The rest of the route takes you in an undulating loop through the countryside. Finished the bike feeling good coming off the final decent of San Salvador, but with the previous 90km another reminder that this was my first race outing this year.

Onto the run, heading through Portocolom and along the beachfront to the turn point at the lighthouse. My target was top 10 in my age group (secretly it was top 3 but cracked ribs and a burst knee made me re-asses my goal to keep me motivated). I started slow but managed to get even slower! A quick toilet stop was apparently all I needed as the speed came back shortly after. I finished in 8th place, 10mins off the podium which is easy to pull back next year (providing there’s not another cracked rib!).
The finish area was as good as you will get; with huge TV screens, thumping music and a very large crowd to bring you home. There was even a free bottle of wine with your medal.

This is a must do race early in the season.

You Can Sport have been lucky enough to secure ourselves 10 slots for the 2018 edition. This will form part of a week-long training camp in Portocolom. If you are interested then email us at [email protected] and we will add you to the mailing list to receive more information about the event in the future.