Keith Broadfoot shares why 3 Peaks is a must do event.
I had entered this event two years ago but ended up giving the entry to my doctor as I wasn’t convinced that my body would handle the load. However, having since completed a couple of marathons and L’Etape I didn’t have any fears for 2018 and once FOMO kicked in when everyone was signing up around Christmas it was a pretty easy call to enter this year.
SBR camp was the start of training. Having a group to train with certainly kept you accountable when you were tempted to skip a long ride on the weekend.
I know it’s a cliché but for me the journey to the start was the most memorable part of 3 Peaks, the friendships with my MP teammates doing 3 Peaks and the broader training group strengthened during the lead into the event. Everyone always had a positive and can-do attitude which makes training fun and really enjoyable.
We had several training weekends away, SBR, Kangaroo Valley and Husky with Danny Moore and Tony Golden mapping out some epic rides to prepare us for race day.
3 Peaks is comparable to Ironman in terms of training commitment, we had several weekend rides where we didn’t get home until early evening, but the toll on the body was much easier in that the recovery after the weekend ride was way shorter as we didn’t have to contend with the pounding on the legs you get from the long runs.
Going into race weekend I was very relaxed and happy with my training, We were fortunate that over the 10 weeks of training we didn’t lose an entire weekend to bad weather. As when it rained Saturday we were always able to reschedule to the Sunday.
I’d ridden over 2.5 thousand kilometres since January with lots of climbing so if I didn’t mess up the pacing and nutrition then I felt I’d finish it without too much drama.
My race went to plan, I was cautious on the first downhill and rode the first two peaks with something to spare. At the lunch stop around half way I had planned to take a 10 minute break and stretch etc but as I pulled into the rest area I saw Peter and the sub 10 hour group preparing to leave and decided to only stop briefly and try and hang onto the group.
The 2nd half of the race went quickly as you are largely on the flat until you hit the final peak and WTF corner 35 kms from home. I found WTF okay but felt ordinary on the later stages of the climb and had to walk a bit as I went through a rough patch but got myself together for the last 20 kilometres and came home without too much drama.
The organisation of the event is excellent, the roads are closed to traffic for the majority of the route, the ability to have your own nutrition sent on to several of the rest stops is a welcome option.  Add in some phenomenal scenery and you have a recipe for a must do event.