Race Coverage

Following the Yellow Brick Road...

Saturday, 16 July 2011 03:00

(Photo - A bunch of Sanderses and a dog.)

By Nate Sanders

Kansas 70.3 Race Report - It was the end of December and my brothers & I were all hanging around the La Casa de Sanders for the New's Years Eve/Kansas 70.3 signing party. We had been talking about signing up for a 70.3 for a few months and it has always been a goal of mine to complete one. So after my brothers completed the Boulder 70.3 last yr. I knew I had to do it.

At about 10pm, just 2 hours before the price increase....we all signed up for the Kansas 70.3. We toasted with a shot of POM juice and the race prep, strategy and smack talk began. Would Erik beat his big bro Nate this year? He came in 2nd to Nate at the Boulder 70.3? The training commenced &.. Coach Nate was in full swing. Erik & I are lucky to have a brother that is as dedicated to his professional life (He just graduated from podiatry school and is officially a Doctor!) as he is to being an amazing triathlete and helping coach us along the way. Nate sent us weekly training plans and tips that were never short on the details.

June 12 was marked in my calender reminding me of the big race everyday. It was all coming together though and doing a few practice bricks definitely gave my legs a good dose of what it would take to complete the race. Sometimes I thought the day would never arrive....until all of the sudden race weekend was upon us and we were ready to race! We each seemed to have that X factor for the race too. We all thought Coca-cola would save the day mainly because Macca said it is one of his favorite training fuels and we thought the caffeine boost would be the most excellent fuel during the run. Meanwhile, Nick had another X factor....a pair of loaned Mad Fiber race wheels!

RACE WEEKEND. We decided to camp onsite at Clinton State Park where the race is held. Clinton State Park is a beautiful park and the reservoir was a nice temp. There is a whole section of campsites reserved for racers to camp and we stayed about 800 yards from the race site. I would definitely recommend camping as it makes it much easier to do the pre-race packet pick up and bike drop off and also you don't have to worry about traffic into the park at 4am on race morning! It was great to just be able to walk over to the transition zones and drop off any remaining gear and start the race.

At 6:30am the race gun went off and the pro's motored around the lake like cigar boats. Within 45 minutes we were all into the 70.3. It was a pretty windy day and there were whitecaps in the water. Nonetheless that 1.2 mile swim went well for all, although some of us wish we had swam better (no names mentioned here). Erik started 4 minutes ahead of Nate on the swim but coming into T1, Nate had made the time up on Erik. They left T1, literally side by side. Meanwhile, Nick was still in the water swimming a serpentine course. Once on the bike's, Nate tried to convince Erik to stick to his biking strategy, but Erik (who had just finished his season racing at UND on the College Race Circuit) said he was not giving in to Nate's plan. So Erik took off and left Nate in the dust with his pacing strategy behind(mainly because Erik's bike plan was to race like the pro's on the bike!). Nick's strategy was to just let the Mad Fiber wheels do their thing and take him into a 56mile PR. The course truly lived up to the description of rolling hills. The tailwind on the way out made the ride back into Clinton State Park a tough task at hand. Needless to say I had a fairly enjoyable bike ride, trying to take it all in....There were quite a few beautiful vistas. We all anticipated mile 50 where there was a mammoth hill to climb before the final dash into T2.

The run was a mostly flat scenic two loop course through the state park. The run is where a 70.3 really gets interesting..

Erik came off the bike with about a 2 minute lead over Nate into T2 and the chase or should I say hunt was on. Erik's strategy, try to maintain a steady pace and hold off big bro. Nate's, negative split and run him down at the finish like the Brownlee brothers (drinking solely coke along the run as well to make up for his lack of Red Bull on the bike)....

With each sighting, Nate was assessed his bro's facial status (poker face) and knew he was slowly realing in his little bro. Nick showed up about mile 6 and Nate knew he would be able to hold off his age group rival. Once Nate saw Erik start walking at about mile 10 on the run, he knew he had him. He did not pass him on the course though. Erik still came in ahead of Nate across the finish line. However, Erik had started 4 minutes prior to Nate at the start. Thus, Nate won the sibling rivalry (but at a price).

My first 5.5 miles I was on about a 7:30 pace and then it hit me. Despite my strategy to drink 8oz of coke, I really started to lose it. My legs were going rubbery and I was in the Ironman trance. For a few miles longer I ran along. It then became a test of survival from aide station to aide station. At mile 12.8 I saw my brother (who had already finished!) and my sister in law. With one last jolt of energy, I ran into the finish line, hands up in the air! I remember Kevin Garnett winning his first NBA finals with the Celtics....Anything is possible!!!

About an hour after everyone had finished, it was time to eat BBQ sandwiches and stuff. Nate was looking dazed and confused. Soon he was in the med tent puking. Next came the IV's, two of them and the interrogation. What did you have to drink on the bike...water. How about the run...all coca-cola (about 20oz worth)!!! Nevertheless, he survived but the sole coca-cola strategy is out on the next half marathon run.

Finish times:

Nate: 4:53:17

Erik: 4:54:59

Nick: 5:10:12

Court: 5:59:36

The journey down the Yellow Brick Road was quite an adventure and worth every workout!