Austen Smith reporting on his Ironman Leeds

Two years ago, at the age of 46 I set myself the challenge of completing an Ironman 70.3 by the age of 50.  

Last Sunday I completed the inaugural (full) Ironman Leeds, having already completed the Dubai T100 and Challenge Sir Bani Yas 70.3 over the previous 8 months.  

I arrived in Leeds the Wednesday before. After checking into my hotel, I went for an easy run and it immediately started raining, surprisingly there were lots of other runners out getting wet.

I had taken my Dolan TR1 bike over in a Bike Box Alan which meant rebuilding it was relatively easier, only having to reinstalling the pedals, rear derailleur and wheels. The issue came on Thursday when I tried to adjust my seat post which had become stuck, a quick dash across the country to Dolan Bikes HQ and the issue was resolved. I then drove back to Leeds to do a recce of the steepest climb on the bike course, Black Hill Road which tops out at 19% with the total climb being 1.5km long. I came away thinking it was tough but doable. A short easy run at Roundhay Park finished off the day.

Friday was the first day of registration and I managed to get myself a low bid number, 299.  Saturday was pre-race routine which consisted of a short bike, run and swim. I had done plenty of open water swims before, but this was my first lake swim. I felt good after and glad I had the opportunity to swim in the lake before race day. I then racked my bike and transition bags.

Then came Sunday. I arrived early to setup all my nutrition. For the bike this consisted of 1500ml of water with a total of around 140 grams of carbs split between the TR1’s built in hydration and my BTA system. I had the same split across two bottles in my Tririg kappa bottle cages fixed to my Tririg Beta Bottle Carrier, three Stealth gels on the top tube and 3 in my Naked belt.  For the run I had a 500ml Naked flask with 45grams of carbs, a gel flask with around 60grams of carbs and 3 caffeine gels to replace those from my Naked belt after the bike. Whilst in the transition tent we heard a loud bang, later social media posts confirmed somebodies tyre had exploded.  

I got to the swim start early too and self-seeded aiming for 1.5hr swim finish. It was at this time the emotions started to kick-in. I was in the water at 6:40am, whilst I got off well part way down the first straight my rhythm wasn’t what it should have been, I was struggling to breathe well, and the doubt started. I swam wide at the turn and then settled in, toward the end of the first lap I saw an ice cream truck on the lake shore and noted when I see that again I’d be almost finished in the swim.  

There was no aussie exit on the swim, so I found myself fighting to get across to the timing arch whilst others were heading for the exit. The second lap was going well until with about 500m left I got a kick in the face, so I had to stop for a few seconds to compose myself and get back to swimming.  

As I finished the swim it had begun to rain, but I was out of the water, for me the hardest part done and the first thought that I had this. It was quite a long run from the swim exit to transition. In transition the visor to my Rudy Wing Dream helmet had come off in the bag but as it was raining, I didn’t consider that a bad thing.  

Given the wet roads I took the first of the three-lap bike course steady, trying to remember where I could go hard and where to take it easy for the upcoming laps. When I got to Black Hill Road I took the advice from the YouTube video I’d watched to drop straight to the lowest gear even though the start of the climb was fairly flat. As the climb dropped from a 19% to 12% gradient, I could hear loud music and see lots of spectators which brought to mind images I’d seen of Roth, whilst maybe not the same numbers, to see people there in the middle of nowhere screaming encouragement was a great boost.  

This wasn’t the only incline though, in fact it appeared there was more climbing than descending and, on several occasions, due to the speed on the climbs, my Forerunner 965 thought I was in T2. On descents I was able to get up a good speed, but it was quickly interrupted by either another climb or sharp bend.

I upped the pace on the second lap and was speedily coasting passed others spinning their pedals on road bikes, there was a lot of roads bikes. At one of the U turns I saw my son and parents which was another boost. I hit Black Hill Road again and conquered it, the descent allowed time for recovery, then came Stair Foot Lane which I didn’t remember being as tough on the first lap, whilst not as steep as Black Hill it was another killer.

Lap three was another 2.5hr slog and during this lap I made use of an aid station for the first time grabbing a Maurten gel which seemed to give me the energy boost I needed, so I will be trying these again.

With about 50km left I thought to myself just one loop of Al Qudra. I knew once I reached the village of Arthington then it was time to face Black Hill one last time. Doubt crept in again that I would be able to make it this final time. I’d been in the saddle for over 6 hours, the tension on my cleats was tight so unclipping before falling would be challenging. The music was still blaring and crowds still screaming. I got out of the saddle and ground away, with screams of encourage and screams from myself I made it and for the second time I thought to myself I’ve got this, 17km left to T2, so easy down the stick. 

As I headed back into Roundhay Park to T2 I saw the guy in front loosen his boa dials and take his feet out of his shoes, Idid the same and executed an almost perfect flying dismount just before the line. It was then onto the run, my back was in agony from the bike, but I still managed to maintain near the pace I had in mind.  

As with the bike course the run was up and down with twists and turns. Being nearer to Leeds city centre the crowds here were larger with residents having set up ad hoc aid stations outside their homes, the atmosphere was amazing, and I made use of all the high fives and Mario power up boards. At the official aid stations, I poured water over my Omius headband and took in more electrolytes. After halfway I thought to myself I was doing well but I started to tire, not as much as I’d been told to expect but enough to have to slow to a walk at times, so I gave myself small goals, run the downhills, run to the next tree, walk the uphills, walk the aid stations.  

Collecting the fourth wrist band on the run was probably one of the most joyous moments of the day, knowing the finish line was an hour or so away.

I entered Roundhay Park for the last time and took the windy downhill turn to the finish line, crossed the last timing chip mat, rang the bell and remembered not to ruin my finish arch photo by looking down to stop my Garmin.

Training for a full Ironman has taken a lot of commitment and time away from my family. On the last lap in my mind, the first words to my wife after crossing the line would be "never again".  So, the next one is Portugal Cascais 2026.  

By Austen Smith