Winter Ball Buster..Human race event.

OK so last race of the season for me, the Human Race Winter Ball Buster sponsored  by CEP.
And what a corker it was!
I entered this race way back, the idea being that it was a fall back if I didn't do well enough at the Wiggle London Duathlon to earn a spot on the the GB team for the European long distance duathlon championships in Copenhagen 2016. I was still really looking forward to the Ball buster with it carrying such kudos as being a toughie as well as it being such a long standing event. However, the weather forecast was horrendous! Strong winds and torrential rain. So the night before this is all I could think of.
We had a long slow journey down to Surrey the day before and it was dusk by the time we arrived at Box Hill. We wanted to be there in day light to recce the course. (I wanted to know what this famous hill was like, especially from the cycling point of view.) We ended up recc'ing in the dark and Friday night traffic, which in hind sight wasn't the best of ideas.  Especially as I was going to be running the first lap so this would give me a really good recce before tackling it on my bike !

A  short while later we went to ASK, in Dorking,  to carb up ! We had telephoned and booked a table for 7pm. However, an hour after placing our order we still hadn't had any food brought to the table. (They were very busy)We quietly brought the matter to the attention of a waitress who apologised . She wasn't sure what had happened but she said that she would arrange for us to have our starters for free. A short while later the Manageress then came to our table to apologise and insisted that we have all of our food for free! This we thought was a very generous gesture and felt it worthy of a mention.

Back to the Ball buster. This was the 25th anniversary of this race and it has a reputation for being a particularly tough duathlon...so clearly I was drawn in. Basically its 40 miles.. 5 laps of an eight mile loop incorporating Box Hill on each loop, so run it once, cycle it 3 times and run it again at the end! If you haven't finished the last lap of the bike by 11am you get pulled off the course. So its not for the faint hearted. All this alone is tough enough but the weather conditions were just as forecast...torrential rain and strong winds. Transition opened at 6am in the dark at the top of box hill. It was already a quagmire! A staggered start from 8am...waves of 10 people every 10 seconds to avoid congestion on the first lap. 

Staggering at the start.

OK so not the clearest of pics! But it's the only one of me racing!

The 8 mile loop I'm sure is beautiful in different weather! The box hill climb is just over 2kms and includes hairpins. The rest of the route undulates and is narrow and uneven in places but it was the wet leaves and debris from the trees that slowed me down yesterday. There were a few 'offs' from others more gung ho than me on the bike. The scaffolding of the transition area blew down at one point so this gives an idea as to the conditions we raced in! Prize giving was also called off as it was so awful at the end.
The first run took me just over an hour, the 3 lap bike 1 hr 29 and the last run 58 mins. This was pretty much what I had estimated so I was really pleased with this in these conditions. (final time 3:31.10) I was 8th female, 1st F45-49, (2nd F40-49) 

Andy Greenleaf was the overall winner breaking the course record. Ali Moult was first female with a clear lead over second place.

As always a big thanks to Ron for sorting my bike and getting me to the start line in time, as well as putting up with my worrying the night before! and thanks to Neill Williamson who gave me a new pair of legs on Thursday.
This race is right up my street ! I LOVED it !!! but I really need to be less of a wus when it comes to riding downhill. 

Great hoodie

You get a great hoodie for your efforts, the organisation was perfect, and the marshalls deserved a medal for standing out in those conditions.

Special thanks go to Nelson Training and Charles Hinitt and associates (accountants) for their generous sponsorship this year.

Last race of a busy year for me and it was definitely a great one to end on. I highly recommend it. 

And to finish, the traditional post race celebration, Curry and Champagne !

Cheers !