Spain 9,
Sept. 27, 2026,
Hi Everyone,
I was up at 6:30 in order to drive to Pontevedra which is 20 minutes away. I wanted to get a parking spot in the huge free parking lot close to the start. Despite the size of the lot, it fills up rather quickly. Sign in was from 8:00 to 10:00 but I was concerned that there could be a line up. There was no line up and I picked up the race kit for the group.
We are 4 our group, 2 girls and 2 boys averaging over 70 with me being the oldest of course. Our team members, Andrew, Alice, and Janice were great sports and fun to be with. We all came from different places in Canada beginning in NFLD and finishing on the west coast. When introduced, I put on my Newfie accent which impressed the Newfoundlander, explaining to the group that I spent 1 year in St Johns as an intern in 1976.
The group for the relay race was put together by our general manager. The ages are all added together to give a total which gave us our positions for the start. In the relay, each of us does all 3 parts of the race. The different legs of the race are much shorter than a sprint, 250 meter swim, 6 km bike and 1.5 km for the run. Because the race is shorter, people tend to go faster risking to run out of steam for the run.
We stood around for a few hours as our group, being one of the oldest, was starting at the tail end of the race. It was chilly with a slight drizzle on and off. I was already shivering by the time it was my turn to start as being the oldest in the group, I was placed 4th for the start. As each person finished, he/she tagged up with the next member of the team. As I was the last, I didn’t tag up and proceeded straight to the finish line with the cheering crowd waiting for me. I got my medal right away while the others received theirs afterwards.
The water was not too cold, and the swim was only 250 meters so I opted to forgo wearing a wet suit. I waste a lot of time in the transition phase pulling the soaking wet wetsuit off. The swim went well for me and I was happy with my time. The bike part was short but I made the mistake of pushing a little too hard especially on the 1 hill. I was tired for the run, more or less gasping for breath. With 200 meters to go, I was exhausted. An American ran up beside me to give me the encouragement that I needed. ‘Come on Brian, only 200 meters to go.’ It could have been 200 miles for me at that point. ‘I will run next to you. We will do it together.’ My team mates watched me crossing the finish line and cheered me on. They said that I didn’t look too bad, at least not as bad as I felt.
The American, Mike, was way over 6 ft tall and 15 to 20 years younger than me. We spoke for a while afterwards. He is from the west coast of the US and played semi-pro hockey. Wow. I met the 2 girls, Alice and Janice and we went out for beers and a sandwich split 3 ways. By that time I was feeling better and had gotten my usual over confidence back.
I just finished drying my wet clothes and packing. Tomorrow I will drive to Vivo, 1 hour away, to return the rental car and then take a train to Madrid. I have an 8:00 train so I will be up at the crack of dawn. I need the relaxation of a 4 hour train ride.
Love,
Brian
