Race Recap - Challenge Vieux Boucau 2025

The start gun for the Challenge Vieux Boucau, the second-to-last race of my season, finally went off on Saturday morning, an hour later than scheduled.

🏊 Contrary to the instructions in the race briefing, some athletes chose the direct line across the beach to reach the water and the first buoy faster. I ran straight into the water, which in hindsight turned out to be a tactical disadvantage. Our group lost contact with the leaders by the first buoy, but we were able to reduce the gap when the front briefly strayed from the ideal line. The field stayed tight and I exited the water in 29th place, as close to the fastest swimmers as ever before, with a 1 minute and 30 seconds deficit to the leaders.

🚴‍♂️ On the bike, our group split, and I found myself in the second chase group. A fellow competitor missed a turn, and I seized the moment to launch an attack. Fifteen minutes at full speed, then the realization: it wasn’t enough. I dropped back into a smaller group and found a good rhythm there. The 90 kilometers were demanding but fair - the 20-meter spacing rule was consistently observed and a referee rode alongside us at all times. With an average speed of over 44 km/h, we entered the second transition zone, where we saw the first chase group ahead of us again, the pace apparently having dropped slightly in the technical section.

🏃 At 16th place, I began the half marathon. The start was tough, with several runners overtaking me and my motivation dropped. I fueled well, mentally regrouped, and regained focus. In the second half of the race, I picked up the pace together with two other athletes, gaining position after position. On the final lap, I fought back to 15th place, until shortly before the finish a French competitor used the inside lane at a u-turn and narrowly passed me.

I finished 16th in 3:46:56, my second-fastest middle-distance time ever. With every race, I see progress, a great feeling on the way to the season finale in two weeks under the Italian sun.