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| Guido Gosselink finishes his 3rd Ironman distance in 1999 within 9 hours. |
Ironman Florida takes place two weeks after Hawaii and is therefore the first race to get qualified for Hawaii in 2000. On the website of the oganisation it sayss that 10 slots are available for the professionals and when I look at the preliminary startlist I don't see the names of the well known world top guys. That is not to be expected for an Ironman race two weeks after Hawaii. After contacting the organisation I can still enter the race as professional, where the race for age-groupers is already full. The organisation arranges a home-stay with the Gadd-family for me. Then the first deception: there won't be prize money, even though the entry form states that only professionals are racing for prize money. It's a strange thing to have a professional division without any price money. As I consider this race as an extra chance to qualify already this year for Hawaii as a pro I decide to book my flight. There are still 10 slots to grab and with the same level of competing in Switserland (6th) I would be qualified then.
When I arrive in Panama City it is raining for the first time in three months. That day I train with Chris Brands and his girlfriend Minouche (also from the Netherlands) in an indoor swimpool. It rains 15 centimeter that day, but in the afternoon it is dry, so we can run. The next days the weather is getting better every day a little bit. In the night it is still quite cold (7 degrees) and we'll start on Saturday at 7.00, so it will be cold in the first hours of the race, probably. The seawater is about 22-23 degrees, no need to worry about that! On Wednessday I swim 45 minutes in the sea and I run for 45 minutes. On Thursday I do a bike ride for an hour and a half and that's all for the training of the 1999 season!
The pro-field has been enlarged with top-Germans Lothar Leder, Wolfgang Dittrich, Uwe Widmann and Andreas Niedrig and Anssi Lehtinen from Finland. These last two have both had a top 20 finish in Hawaii two weeks ago. For Niedrig this is his fourth Ironman after New-Sealand, Roth and Hawaii and for Lehtinen is this after Ironman Lanzarote, World Championship Sweden, European Championship in Almere and Hawaii already his fourth Ironman Distance and fifth Long Distance race. Compared to these guys my 3 Ironman Distances and two 3/4 Ironman Distance race are not really extraordinary. For most of the professionals Ironman Florida is an extra race where you can already qualify for Hawaii 2000 during the 1999 season, so next year would be less full. Then the next deception: in the local newspaper I read that the number of slots has been brought down to 3 for the man and three for the woman. With more professionals competing (20) and less slots (3) the changes are much smaller now.
Anita Brinks and Roy Beernink drop by unexpectedly in Panama City. They organise the Dutch Olympic Distance Championship in Holten and are on holiday in the US. They were staying in Pensacola, 150 km from Panama City, when they read about my participation in the race on internet, via my newsletter and a story on the Triathlon Lijst Nederland (TLN). They even join the large volunteers group for the race. They are real fans, coming all the way to America to cheer me up!
On
race day it is warm already early in the morning. With 1700 triathletes
we're waiting on the beach, with a special start area for the professionals.
I have a good start and end up in the second pack. The fast Germans swim
in front. I leave the water in 9th position in 54 minutes, probably the
course was a bit over 3.8 km. I start the bike leg in 6th position and
start conservative. When Troy Jacobson (USA) comes by, I ride with him.
In the end it appears that it was a bit to much, but with only 3 slots
to compete for and no prize money for the other places I take the risk
of getting nothing or all. At the 120 km mark I have to let Jacobson go,
the American Long Distance champion. I pass Wolfgang Dittrich and some
others pass me. The bike course is with 183 km a bit long and the windy
course with some slopes is not really fast. Lothar Leder warned for it
already at the pasta-party. My bike time of 4.47 is 8 minutes slower than
the three fastest bikers (Niedrig, Leder and Jacobson in 4.39). In 8th
position I start the run. My pace of 14-15 km/h is only realisable in the
first 10 km and the first three positions don't come into reach. Lehtinen
passes me and runs a 2.55 marathon, two weeks after Hawaii this is enough
for a third place, behind Leder with a 2.49 marathon and Jacobson. I pass
Brian Barkhouse (CAN) and the tired bike leader Niedrig, so with my 3.10
marathon I finish in 6th position. Again an Ironman in 6th position and
my third Ironman Distance in 1999 within 9 hours.
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Lethinen does not take his Hawaii spot the next day by not showing up, so number 4 Ric Rosenkranz (USA) is lucky. If the on the website mentioned 10 slots were there, I would have had one also and knowing this gives me the feeling that it has been a good decision to show up here, with the information I knew on beforehand. Chris Brands ends up in 25th position and 4th in his age-group. He takes one of the 15 spots for the 30-35 categorie. It was a nice end of a good season. Now it is time for some rest and holiday...
For
a complete result list take a look at the website
of the Ironman Florida.
