Hi Blog Followers
Well another 24 hours closer to the event with less than 24 hours to go.
Yesterday (Thursday) was Registration Day where the crew and I turned up at Peppers Resort Hotel in Noosa and were walked through a series of tables. The first was where I signed in as “attending” and given my official athletes bracelets, followed by the official folder for the Support Crew to follow and the Athletes Welcome Pack.
The Welcome Pack was the official Ultraman Australia backpack containing support crew T-Shirts, labels for our vehicle, official swim cap and a few other goodies.
Next was the chance to raid the goodies bag given to us at the Coconut Essence fuel table which I indulged in as did the Support Crew.
A briefing on the routes for Day 1 and Day 2 bike followed by Day 3 run, then of course the merchandise area where I indulged (hope Mel isn’t reading this lol).
The final couple of phases are the medical checks which consists of a blood prick test, heart rate check, weigh-in on the scales followed by a series of questions, then onto Steve King the official commentator for Ultraman Australia for an interview with the Support Crew.
Once finished we hit the road and drove the course of the Day 1 Bike Course. It was great to view this again and recognise so many features, plus the Support Crew feel better with their navigation checks.
The highlight yesterday was meeting so many people again from Ultraman Australia 2016, not just athletes but support crew members who have become athletes for 2017.
Today was the welcome breakfast which we all made the most of and then we attended the briefings for the 3 days, all of which were followed by athlete introductions which was great. After this we drove the double Marathon course for eyes on again and familiarity which was great.
Tonight no doubt, after my nightly skype with Coach Ray, I’ll leave the Support Crew to liaise with Ray and I’ll disappear into my own little world as I usually do the night before a major event. The nerves will creep in, but that’s all part of it.
Take care team. There will be a slight delay on Saturday’s blog to be written up after Day One, which consists of a 10km swim and 140 km cycle.
Regards John Humphries (aka Humps, aka UltraHumps).
Here is the article from UltraHumps during the 2016 campaign: