Zauzeo sam 5 mjesto sa dobre tri minute zaostatka za pobjednikom. Skroman plasman s obzirom na količinu boli i vručine koju sam morao pretrpit nebi li se domogao toga plasmana.

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It has been a while since I moved from Copenhagen to Island of Hvar (CRO) where I furnished my race impressions.

What a great race! Although I do not like chilli races (it was 16C in the wather and up to 17 on the bike) I had almost perfect race.

After the swimm I was 7th (4 minutes behind first group). Like last year I made a quick first part of the bike so on the 50th Km I reached group with NO1 Tim Berkel. Still we were far from super biker Björn Andersson (cca 8 minutes) and Stephen Bayliss (4 minutes) who were the fastest at that time.

Due to bad experiences from race in 2010 when I was penalized I was very careful when rode in a group, avoided any drafting and penalties. Soon Tim got 4 minutes penalty and some TOP riders too. After about 130 Km I felt strong and I continue to remain concentrated.

On the last 30 K of the bike I made the wrong decision and didn’t tried to go with Christophe Bastie (FRA) and Tim (AUS) who increased the speed. I figured that Tim has a penalty and I count on that.

After bike 180 km I was 6th (19 minutes on Björn, 4 minutes on Stefan and cca 2,5 minutes on Tim ). I immediately got penalty for early unleashing my halmets and I was very upset about. I was losing precious time for it and start to run unknowing of my position and pace I managed. After I pass Stefan I even thought he was in the second loop.

I ran a while with Tim and on 23rd Km we pass Anderson and from that time on I rise up to second place and was able to keep it for next 6 Km when I was overtaked from Jimmy Johnsen (DEN).

Last 12K for me was only about “keeping the podium”. I didnt tried to accelerate. I was satisfied for Today:).

Now when I think about I understand I could at least try to keep second place if not to win. After all this was an Ironman distance and a lot occurs in our heads. You must want a victory if you want to get on. No one will let you go easily and in Copenhagen great athletes like Tim Berkel and Jimmy Johnsen have proved this rule for me:).

The race was well organized and I enjoyed my last kilometer of run in center of Kopenhagen. I even maneged to make it as the fastes finish overall. Was proud to close the Podium in time of 8:12:18. It is my personal best time on an ironman distance race an first Croatian PRO medal in some Long distance triathlon event.

see my finish

full results

Thank you Govind Puri very much for logistical support during the race and taking this film.

Iben and Finn, you are my gratest supporters inside Denmark! Thanks!

Here are some nice comments:)

“Dejan Patrcevic from Zagreb, Croatia, is 35 and has been doing triathlons for a decade. In 2002 he placed 10th at an European Cup in Belgrade, and placed 19th at an ITU World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and took 19th at the 2007 ITU European Cup. More recently, he was 7th at the 2010 ITU long distance race in Ibiza. But his best performances have come in the Ironman as he placed 24th in his Ironman Hawaii debut in 2008 — two places and one minute back of Marino Vanhoenacker – capped off by a 2:50:58 marathon. After Sunday’s close third place finish, Patrcevic should also be known for the all-around excellence of his 49:32 swim, 4:34:47 bike and second-best 2:44:00 run.”

slowtwitch.com

“I had Jimmy and Dejan breathing down my neck, so I got my nutrition and water in and I think Jimmy had worked hard to catch me,” said Berkel. “I managed to pull away towards the end but that last 8 km is something you don’t wanna do in an iron distance race.”

Tim Berkel

Overall Men

1. Tim Berkel (AUS) 8:11:15
2. Jimmy Johnsen (DEN) 8:11:50
3. Dejan Patrcevic (CRO) 8:12:18
4. Mads Vittrup-Pedersen (DEN) 8:13:21
5. Esben Hovgaard (DEN) 8:21:07
6. Egoitz Zalakain Erbiti (ESP) 8:26:52
7. Christophe Bastie (FRA) 8:27:32
8. Stephen Bayliss (GBR) 8:34:52
9. Hans D. Nillson (DEN) 8:36:18
10. Frank Horlacher (GER) 8:39:37 *M40-44

Hvala svima vama koji ste vjerovali u mene, nakon ovog rezultata samo je pobjeda na ovakvom rangu utrke za mene novi izazov. Ona je danas bila blize nego ikad prije.

Prva medalja za Hrvatsku u PRO konkurenciji na nekom dugom triatlonu!

Vrijeme (by Garmin forerunner 310XT)

49:32 plivanje 3,8km + 2:23 prva tranzicija + 4:34:37 bicikl 178,4km +1:39 druga tranzicija+2:44 (tocnih 42km)

=8:12:18TOP 10 muski

1 Tim Berkel AUS 8:11:15

2 3 Jimmy Johnsen DEN 8:11:50

3 10 Dejan Patrcevic CRO 8:12:18

4 35 Mads Vittrup-Pedersen DEN 8:13:21

5 8 Esben Hovgaard DEN 8:21:07

6 27 Egoitz Zalakain Erbiti ESP 8:26:52

7 28 Christophe Bastie FRA 8:27:32

8 6 Stephen Bayliss GBR 8:34:52

9 9 Hans D. Nilsson DEN 8:36:18

10 672 Frank Horlacher

Opsaka autora: Bio sam dobar dio vremena na trcanju DRUGI, cak sam u jednom trenutku hvatao na prvo mjesto.

Imao sam najbrzi finis u zadnjem kilometru trcanja!

U nedjelju u 7h ujutro startam na najvecoj triatlonskoj utrci u Danskoj. Challenge Copenhagen je dio svjetske serije i na startu ce se pojaviti vise od 2 000 triatlonaca.

Moj startni broj je 10.

Moj profil

Prosle godine sam nakon bicikla bio 6ti ali zbog ozljede koljena nisam mogao otrcati maraton.

Ove godine je staza ostala ista, 3,8km plivanja u moru u neoprenu, 180km ravne staze na biciklu i 42km trcanja u centru Kopenhagena.

Nakon kratkog perioda u kojem se nisam natjecao vrijeme je za dobru utrku.

Moj cilj je uci u TOP 5, pokusati popraviti svoje vrijeme na biciklu od prosle godine 4:38 i otrcati najbrzi maraton u karijeri.

PRO startna lista

https://secure.onreg.com/onreg2/startlist/index.php?id=1029&search=true

Prati live rezultate na

http://www.challengecopenhagen.com/
vijesti na twitteru

http://twitter.com/#!/challengecph