The Blacklake Xtri is located in the mountains of Montenegro. I headed there with a support crew consisting of the regulars, my mum and dad, but also my brother, as on this race you are required to have a support runner to go over the mountains. This was going to be another epic adventure that pushed me to my limits.
I arrived in Croatia with my parents a few days before the race. I wasn’t feeling particularly confident as we have had a tough summer at home with smoke and forest fires which really disrupted my training.
After a night close to Dubrovnik airport we were headed for Žabljak in Montenegro. A quick Google found a fun route through Bosnia, with a breakfast stop, which seemed the best option.
Crossing the border was pretty straightforward but we noted the long border queue getting back into the EU and then moved on to the town of Trebinje. The terrain is pretty wild and barren but the restaurant was amazing. It was like an oasis in the middle of a mountainous rocky desert. It was beautifully finished, with a lovely river at the bottom of the garden and excellent food. It really wasn’t in keeping with the area around but an absolute gem. They also had some pet monster trout which I always enjoy.
I then selected a detour to see a fort. Firstly, the road network was being updated which made the route challenging and as a result a combination of me and Google decided to test the off-roading ability of our van. Given the last time this happened we ended up stuck in the sand at 14,000ft in the Chilean desert only to be rescued by the police, this time was fairly uneventful even if it was a miracle we didn’t get a puncture.
The road below was the good road!
The rest of the journey was without incident although we did drive through some grass fires and smoke. It seemed slightly unfair to travel across the world for more smoke but when we arrived in Žabljak it was clear skies.
Žabljak is a mountain ski resort town. It is also unlike any ski resort I have been to. The housing is a little strange as it’s spread out over a large area but our Airbnb was in the center of town.
The next couple of days were spent on pre-race preparations. Most things went smoothly. Blacklake itself is absolutely spectacular and the water conditions were perfect during the practice swim. We went to view the mountain summit which was sufficiently intimidating. The admin around getting into the lake was a bit of a pain as it’s in a National Park so you have to pay every time you enter and the race briefing got a little confusing in places but eventually we had all the information. Our home life was also a little stressful as they had decided to dig up all the roads around the house at once. This made the driving to and from stressful and when trying to relax it was similar to trying to sleep through an earthquake!
By far the biggest stress was that my bike derailleur broke in transit. This is a very fragile piece of kit and I genuinely thought I might not be able to race. After lots of looking and quite a lot of feeling this wasn’t my race, we found a coffee/bike rental shop that had a proper workshop out the back. I have no idea of their level of experience with bikes like this but they had some screws that worked and were in the process of welding someone else’s bike. My fix was not ideal but it was hopefully enough to hold my bike together.
The night before the race I actually wasn’t very nervous. I had a feeling it probably wasn’t my day. Between the smoke at home crushing my training and no swimming for a month, the broken bike and a really hard course, I just had a feeling I might not finish. For the most part I was ok with that but I had dragged my parents out to support, and my brother out to run the middle 14k. So I at least had to give it my best shot!
Very early to bed as it was a 3:30 start!
Race Day
My alarm went and I went through my normal pre-race procedures. As I had taken a sleeping pill I actually slept really well. Unlike bigger races this was a bring your bike race morning and collect tracker etc.
The arrival and set up worked smoothly and it was a really nice temperature with some light rain. (The forecast had been all over the place in the week building up so we had no idea what to expect).
After a bit of waiting around it was time to put the wetsuit on and line up. I had gone for a non-thermal wetsuit but wetsuit boots as there are two running sections in the swim as you move between the two lakes.
The Swim
The swim consisted of 500m across lake 1, run 100m to the other lake, 1200m around lake 2, 100m run back to lake 1, 1900m swim around lake 1. (Fun fact about the lakes is at different times of year the water flows in different directions between them)
The race started in complete darkness and after bumping into a few people I got into some clear water and had a great line of sight to the first light. I have done a few dark swims and this is by far the best lit race I have done. The swim was so easy to navigate. They provided the swim buoy and barely noticed it which was a great improvement after getting very tangled in mine at Patagonman (my fault).
Given I had only swum twice in the previous 6 weeks it went amazingly. The temperature was perfect, the sighting was easy and my body felt good. It was controlled the whole way and turned out to be one of the most enjoyable, and best, swims I have done. I could have easily kept going.
I was about 5th or 6th out of the water. This was ahead of my, and my family’s expectations, so they weren’t really ready for me. Supporting these events is really hard and long and you always need to be ready. After a quick transition I was out onto the bike 4th I believe. With GPS tracking rather than timing chips it is quite hard to know where you are.
The Bike
182km with 3,350m elevation.
I figured this would be my hardest leg. I felt light on cycling and with the elevation I just didn’t know how I would hold up.
The ride started in the dark with slightly wet roads but most importantly very clear roads. The first section is a beautiful rolling/downhill section through the grasslands. I was conscious of not pushing too hard as it’s a long day.
The first 30k was a no support zone so there was nothing to think about apart from controlling the speed and effort. For a period I was a little concerned I had gone wrong as no support vehicles or bikes passed me and I couldn’t see anyone ahead or behind. As it turned out the people in front were long gone and the ones behind were coming. (My bike is very fast on flat/down hill and I will say it’s slower uphill but that might be on me).
After the first aid zone I found the first climb. This was a solid effort but on a day like this, it’s drop the gearing and keep the heart rate down. Just keep it aerobic and keep the legs turning. A few stronger cyclists were starting to catch me but I felt I was holding my own.
Then came the big descent. This scared the life out of me. It was a bumpy road, steep and sharp corners that were not well marked. I am not the most confident bike handler at the best of times and this was too much. I was on the brakes the whole way down and even at that speed I was uncomfortable. With every bump my hands were getting further bruised, I nearly had to stop just to give my hands a break.
I did make it to the bottom but I was not happy and had lost a lot of time to people. Had the road been wet, on my rim brakes and carbon wheels I am honestly not sure I would have made it down. Or if I had it wouldn’t have been done safely and I would have been a wreck!
I was happy to see the course started to go up again. Back to the easy steady grind.
This is a good place to mention that the scenery was breathtaking. It really is a stunning and unknown part of the world. It’s just maybe better to drive through than cycle over! Also my support team were doing a great job. Stopping lots to keep me well fueled and hydrated. In previous Extreme Tri’s I have stopped for chats but given the challenge of making the 10k run cutoff there was no time for that. Shout what I needed, get it and be on my way.
The weather had also decided to be kind. Nicely overcast. Enough to protect from the sun but not low enough to ruin the view. Things at this point were going pretty well. I was 90k in and feeling good.
The next 20k was the least interesting part of the course. We went through a larger town and slightly industrial area with busier roads but the kms were ticking by and I was making good time.
Sadly the sunshine and roses were about to come to an end. From here things started to get tough. Energy-wise I was starting to go through a low point, which isn’t uncommon. It’s sometimes hard to put a finger on exactly why but it is usually a lack of nutrition so I increased the intake but I was feeling tired and flat as there was a long way and a lot of climbing to go. The supporter stops were getting more frequent to try and get back on track and use the morale boost to get me going again.
Unfortunately things continued downhill. At 130km my left knee started really hurting. This was new to me. I stopped once to rest. Stopped again and took on some anti-inflammatories and painkillers. Stopped again to get food. I was really struggling and was in a lot of pain. I couldn’t push any power. The stops were now every km and I was so close to throwing in the towel.
My saving grace was this section of the course was a gentle downhill/flat section that didn’t need me to push much. I was able to keep going and thinking a few more kms and wait and see what happened. I couldn’t see how I was going to get up the final climb though.
Having family out on the course is an amazing morale boost to keep you going. It is also a constant reminder that people have spent time and money to come and help you do this. This is what kept me going and I just kept saying go until you can’t. No taking the easy option.
It wouldn’t go away but I managed to roll through to 160km and the start of the final climb. My brother had reappeared to support which was a major boost and the knee was bearable at this point. I had started to lose places but these races are not about position. They are about surviving.
I soldiered up the final climb and through the last feed zone. Then it was a rolling section through to T2. I was beginning to feel really tired and this was also coming through in starting to feel cold. However, given the effort had gone in this was hardly surprising. My brain was starting to drift which is also a sign of tiredness. I got one extra nice surprise at the end of the ride. In my fatigue I misremembered the roads so T2 actually appeared earlier than expected.
I was glad to get off the bike.
My pitstop team were stars and before you could blink (or at least a lot quicker than most others) I was changed, warmed up, a sandwich in my hand, and starting to run!
A strong team really does make these races a lot easier.
The Run
42km – Black shirt route 1,650m elevation – White shirt route 800m elevation
The run course has a T2A where the route splits. To head up into the mountains (black course) you have to make T2A by 10:30 (hrs racing). You also have to have a support runner (why my brother was there) as well as the required safety kit. If you make T2A before 10:30 you can choose, after 10:30 you have to do the white course.
In the slightly confusing briefing they had made it very clear that your support runner had to run the middle 14k with you. To me, the instructions implied they couldn’t run the rest.
The first 3km is rolling before 7km up the side of a mountain on a road. I set off alone but it turned out everyone else ran with their supporter. My brother was nursing a hamstring injury from a few weeks before so probably wasn’t too sad to be missing the uphill slog. His physio had cleared him for a 10k hilly run.
I knew the splits and was aiming to come to T2A with 30 minutes to spare. Not pushing too hard, walking and jogging to make sure every 1km split was within the target range to make it.
With my condition coming off the bike, my knee hurting (it hadn’t gone away) and starting to feel the effects of a long day I had a decision to make as I started the run. Do I load the white route or black route onto my watch? I was leaning towards the white route. The sensible option. The responsible option. The less painful option. The extra cop out is if you make the T2A in time but do the white shirt route, you still get a black shirt. I didn’t know how much more pain I could take.
I selected the white route.
Ahead of schedule I rolled into T2A in thick low cloud. I assumed, maybe hoped, the black shirt route would be closed for safety. Taking the decision out of my hands.
I asked the officials if it was open. “Of course”. My response was along the lines of dammit! To which they laughed and said I should probably be disqualified.
I was moving OK despite the pain. My brother had come all this way to do this section. In Patagonman the swim was shortened due to cold water, in Starvation the run black course was closed for trail maintenance. It was time to do a full course. Brief check with my brother, safety gear checked and we were going over.
We set off into the clouds!
The Middle Mountains
What came next is hard to put into words and pictures don’t even begin to do it justice. I know that my brother and I will not forget it.
As mentioned my brother’s physio had cleared him for a 10km hilly run. Little did he know he was setting off on a 32km mountaineering adventure!
We started up a gentle gradient into the mist. In no time this turned into scrambling. Another athlete who we overtook advised us to use the wire lines in place on the rocky and cliff sections to help us up.
At the top of the first gully I took the low road, a path along a cliff edge. I am not scared of heights but one glimpse over the edge, under a foot away and I didn’t want to look back. I looked back one more time to confirm and yes I was right not to want to look. It was terrifying. The cliff just disappeared off into the distance. My brother took the higher path with the line but by his reaction that wasn’t any better.
There was more scrambling, more climbing and slowly we came out above the cloud as we made the first summit. At this point morale was pretty high. I felt good, probably from using different muscles and my knee was holding up ok.
The next section definitely got a bit blurred. It was downhill to start and we ran where we could but the opportunities were very limited.
We were making good progress and overtaking quite a few groups. It became clear that an athlete’s speed through this section was mostly dictated by their supporter rather than the athlete. It is hard to get people to come all this way and I think most people are grateful for anyone. I was fortunate to have one of the strongest supporters so we could move at my pace. The terrain was not to be taken lightly and it was anything but easy going.
After a rolling downhill section there was a short uphill that I was confident was the second summit. This meant that the climbing was nearly done. My brother was less convinced. As usual he was right. This was the first time, of many, that I really regretted not having the black course loaded to my watch. I had no idea where we were on the course and we just had to follow the flags.
As we didn’t know the route we were also starting to doubt our watches. We felt we had made good progress over the last 2hrs but our watches said we had barely moved. Again it was me that was wrong. Maybe desperation kicking in.
The scenery we were moving through was rugged and impressive. The cloud cover slightly limited the visibility but I was very grateful for the cloud cover. Coming through this section on a hot day would be brutal.
We crossed a cool empty mountain lake before the real ‘final’ climb began. This included some more scrambling with ropes, climbing boulders and just a relentless grind straight up the mountain. I took one fall but luckily nothing serious. My brother stopped at one point to let out his inner botanist and examine some local plants. He later regretted this as he picked a bottleneck and the effort required to catch up again put him in the red. I didn’t mind as it slowed him down a bit.
He used to be a very serious runner but a busy life and family means he doesn’t have the time he used to. The joke became we know how to balance a race, I have to do an hour swim, 7.5 hr bike and a 10k and then we are even. Light humour is key to keeping going when things get tough.
We did finally reach the top summit where a marshal ticked us off. It was downhill all the way home from here and things were positive. There were even a couple of dogs present. Not sure what they were doing up here!
Downhill and easy from here. Nope and nope.
The initial descent is so treacherous. We could barely see the trail/flags, it was loose scree underfoot and any sections that weren’t scree people had already stepped, so instead were muddy and slippery.
It turned out we had been great at the uphill grind but were less good going downhill as we got caught by a couple of groups. I would say they were taking it too fast but each to their own. One of the dogs from the summit also joined the descent and made a mockery of the route as he happily trotted down. I figured it was going to stick with us for food but no, it patiently waited to be let past and then disappeared off into the cloud. Nice to have the distraction though.
The next section was a snowfield where we were large boulder hopping. To be honest by this point the route should read more like a fictional treasure map: Head into the clouds, turn left and traverse the endless cliffs, run through the grasslands, cross the extinct lake, climb the roped gully, slide down the slippery scree slope, cross the boulder field not stepping on the snow and then….. and then we aren’t even half way through the run!
To be fair after the boulder field the terrain did improve so we could run sections. We were making good progress again but my knee was now pretty sore and downhill was proving hard. I had to sort of drag my left leg rather than bend it. The final section of the descent off the mountain took us into the forest. This was easier running to some extent but avoiding roots became essential and I just wanted some flat to rest my knee.
We finally reached a bridge that felt like the bottom and a path out when two issues started to rear their heads. The hills had not finished and water was beginning to run low.
We thought this bridge marked the beginning of the flat section, the hills behind us. Oh no, the route went up again. It did this 2 or 3 more times and each time was mentally deflating. We couldn’t help but feel for some of the support runners further back who had been struggling. We were having a hard enough time keeping positive as the hills kept coming. If you were in a worse state and arriving in the dark it would have been even worse.
Eventually we did emerge into a car park where some supporters were waiting but no parents. We were completely out of water and mostly out of food (apart from some sandwiches I had made my brother carry the whole way and then didn’t eat! Ooops!). Luckily we called them and they were only 1km down the road. At this point in the race and this tired small things can seem dramatic but you are on the edge.
We connected with them and refilled my water and I set off alone. I forgot my tracker in my backpack but luckily remembered when they caught me about 500m down the road. This would have been awkward and my brother joined me again.
From here on it was mostly flat although it started with a hill. Getting bored of hills! When you have such large mountains and you look at the elevation profile, it can look flat but still have not insignificant hills.
We briefly got a little lost with another two runners. We didn’t actually get lost but we had to work quite hard to make sure we had the right route. We overtook them and were doing faster sections and walking sections whereas they were holding a more steady jog. We continued on these forest roads for what must have been an hour or so and it was starting to get dark but it was good underfoot.
We were having a discussion about whether we should put our headlights on as it was getting pretty dark when BAM! I kicked a root and just collapsed forward. I had no energy to even put my arm out to catch myself or control it and just rolled over onto my shoulder. I was fortunate to be wearing my running vest which had a packet of pringles in the back. I had gone down hard and the pringles were completely crushed. I had got very lucky. Apart from some scrapes on my hand and leg I was injury free but a bit shocked. My brother was also clearly quite shocked, he had seen it just before I kicked it but hadn’t been able to call out in time. It would have been brutal to get this close and fall 10km from the finish.
After dusting myself off and taking on some food and water we got going again. The two steady athletes behind had nearly caught up. About 1km later they did catch up at a junction in the road. The map on my brother’s phone said go straight. There was clearly a flag indicating a right turn. Another person arrived and just continued straight on without hesitating. The other two checked their phone and on the race Whatsapp it said go right. Same distance as straight just a better route.
At this point my brain wasn’t really working and was relying on my brother to make the decisions. I was exhausted, just putting one foot in front of the other. Watching the time tick up and the kms tick down. Small goals, onwards and upwards. Any hills by this point were a walk and where there was any concern over directions he would run ahead or around to check and I would just keep moving forward. Jog where I could walk where I couldn’t but always forwards. So tired and my knee was so sore.
We finally came back into the town which marked the last couple of kms. The other two were only just ahead and had we been racing we probably could have caught them but positions in these races are not important so I just continued at my pace.
Eventually we emerged onto the Blacklake beach and the finish. I didn’t really appreciate being made to run down the beach a bit and back up for the finish photo with the mountains (you couldn’t see in the dark) in the background. I didn’t want to take another step but we crossed the line and collapsed.
I was completely empty and had given everything. No way I would have been able to do it without my parents running around supporting and my brother keeping me company on the run. He gets a special mention as he was not prepared for 32km and the elevation and he soldiered through and paid the price the next day!
It was amazing and the most awesome day. I loved it from start to finish and overall was very happy with my day. Would I go back and race again? Probably not as it is so hard I am not sure I would want to push that hard again over the same terrain. Would I go back and support someone? 100%. It was an epic adventure and I would love to be involved again.
Post Race
The restaurant at the finish line was open so we grabbed some food. I could barely eat my body just needed rest. After a solid sleep it was time to pack up and return to the lake for the prize giving.
It was fun chatting with other racers we had passed and hearing about their experiences. Collecting the Black Course T-shirt was also special. It had been earned. They also have a really fun tradition where you nail your name onto their results board. It is cool things like this that make Extreme Tri much more exciting and friendly than Ironman which is just a corporation.
With all this done it was time to say goodbye to my brother who was flying home and we drove back down to Dubrovnik for a final night.
After battling the long EU border crossing we got into Dubrovnik to find that our Airbnb was in the old city and you can’t drive there. We were only going to be there briefly and with me not moving very well this was not ideal. Our van also didn’t fit in the carpark. We had sort of known about this but maybe not done enough research.
We quickly pivoted to a different Airbnb by the airport in Cavtat. It was actually the perfect solution and the town had a lovely little waterfront with lots of restaurants. The trip finished with a perfect dinner as the sun set and concluded a pretty special adventure. These will always be very fond memories as it is such a pleasure to be able to share these fun/brutal experiences with family.
It wasn’t quite the end as the next day I sent my parents home with my bike and smelly race kit, sorry about that, as I was heading to Athens to meet my wife for the relaxing part of my holiday. And boy did my knee need it!
