Copenhagen 2023. SIX IRONMAN FINISHES IN THE FIFTIES

Joining our amazing, local friendly and inclusive Glenrothes Triathlon Club a decade ago at age 46 was a life-changing event. Some club members do one or two of the three sports, swim, bike, run. Annual membership is £25 - what are you waiting for? 

Copenhagen is arguably the happiest city in the world, in the world’s happiest country, what a happy place for an Ironman race! Step into the Scandinavian arena!

If you are new to Ironman and reading this blog, it's a 3.8km swim, then a 180km cycle, then a 42.2km marathon, all sections are timed, if you fall behind the cutoff time at any point you are classified as DNF Did Not Finish. In most circumstances for those who participate, the preparations take years.

(The Ironman organisation are having technical issues with releasing 2023 timing summaries for Copenhagen, we were told that 2,900 had registered, and it's seemingly the case that less than 2,000 finished? This would mean DNS Did Not Start and DNF are above 30%, but less than last year's combined DNS/ DNF of 39.5% - I will amend this section of blog when official results publish.)

UPDATE 11.9.2023 - 1556 Male Finishers, 323 Female Finishers results now live. 

Thoughts especially with Messrs Stuvemark and Mochizuki who missed the finish line by 1 second and 3 seconds respectively. 

As we were told over the tannoy at the swim start that there were 2,900 athletes initially registered this year, from 67 countries. With 1,888 finishers before the 14 hour 45 mins deadline, that gives a DNS/ DNF rate of = 34.9% (last year was higher, at 39.5%)

Since finishing the Austria 2023 Ironman two months ago, in the interim my ‘normal preparation and conditioning’ was disrupted so-to-say initially by recovery time from Austria, and then by having a two week holiday in Spain in July. When in Spain, I ran 8 to 10km every morning before sunrise, and was swimming open water in the sea every day. No cycling though. 

Normally I would increase training in the 8 to 4 weeks out from the event, up to say 20 hours per week. This time around I didn’t do that, I just held it at 10 to 12 hours a week, and then had 6 days off before the race. 

Not sure if tourist-walking 30km the day before an Ironman is best advised, but caught up in the magic of Copenhagen that’s what happened. Also managed to get a good roasting of sunburn as well. What a place!

Registering the day before. Every time you do an Ironman they give you an Ironman bag. Including the one I got for the Edinburgh half Ironman, and one extra last year, I now have 8 in total! More Ironman bags than my wife has handbags LOL!

Signing the 2023 competitor wall: 

And so to the day itself. 4.30am wakeup. Breakfast then half an hour in the hotel lobby, breathing, relaxing, visualising. Timing chip on left ankle, so it won’t get caught in the bike’s chain on the right. One switch stop on the urban train and I am at Amager Strandpark beach lagoon for 6.30am. Final check on all kit, and bring the bike tyres to the right pressure. Wouldn’t want to be any later, they lock the bike areas at 7am! Breathe. 

On goes the wet suit. I spray my slimline AquaSphere mask with the magic stuff that keeps it crystal clear in the water, rinse it and put it on. Ear buds to help remove end of swim dizziness. Swim hat goes over the google straps, so the googles don’t come off if I get kicked on the head by other swimmers, which has happened twice before.

Into the water swim warmup zone. Water temp 20.4 degrees. Check the mask tightness is just so. Water now between wetsuit and skin, water warms against the skin. We are now ready. Breathe. 

Into the 7.20 to 7.30am swim start line. I cannot believe how lucky I am to be here, and in this moment once again. The clock ticks. Every 5 seconds the buzzer gives a buzz, and 6 competitors are released into the swim. 

‘I am One with The Force and The Force is With Me!’. Everything is absolutely calm. I very VERY purposefully restrain my heart beat and blood pressure. Relax. 

Buzz. I run into the water, dive in and we are Game On.

The only thing I will now focus on is breathing. Set the swim tempo to the rate of breathing. Relax, let all the training kick in. 

It's quite a technical swim. 6 turns and 4 bridges to swim through, and very regular sighting ahead required. I can say that in the training pool I now have my Total Immersion swim technique working very nicely indeed, but out here in the open water surrounded by so many other swimmers, there's a lot more to think about! 

The next thing I will think of after starting, is only about getting to the first swim bhuoy 300 metres away. When I get there, I will say to myself, ‘Congratulations on getting to this bit, now all we need to do is get to the next marker’. One small stage at a time, because if you contemplate the enormity of the entire 140.6 miles ahead that’s possibly too much! 

The Danish sea water doesn't seem as salty as it is in Spain. Funny that. 

The water is clear enough to see everything below. So I can see how fast I am going. Lots of sea reeds, I rake my hands through them all, no panic. The reeds are all over my face, I roll side to side to shake them off. No worries!

It’s overcast and raining. Hadn’t budgeted for that. My mask is tinted, would have been better vision this morning with a clear lens. *makes a note* 

3.8km swim done in an hour and a half, quick transition and onto the bike. I am now 50 minutes ahead of the cutoff time. We head north on closed slippy wet roads through Copenhagen city centre. The competitor cycling directly in front of me at near 30km per hour, a disastrous lapse in concentration, his front wheel clips a small traffic cone in the middle of the road, and bang down he goes with a sickening crash onto the tarmac. Sair yin. A stark reminder about keeping 100% focus on safety. 

What’s at stake on the fastest cycle sections? Put your swim outfit on, get in your car, drive on the motorway, open the car door and jump out. That, is what is at stake if you get things wrong. 

Smile your way around!

Two cycling loops in stunning rolling countryside north of the city. 112miles (180kms) averaging nearly 30km per hour. I overtook 140 other competitors during the cycle. 

On loop 2, ACDC 'Highway to Hell' blasting out their sound system, and I am up through the supporters funnel a full hour ahead of the designated cutoff time. Good. 

The cycle stage completes in 6 and a quarter hours. Arrive back into Copenhagen centre, 1 hour and 15 mins ahead of cutoff. 

It’s now 3.45pm, on go the running shoes and running cap, and the marathon begins. Not feeling great, I have to say. Beginnings of the feelings of leg cramp. Nausea and hungry at the same time, yet unable to eat. But - Time is now on my side. 

Thousands and thousands of spectators. They can see competitor names on each person’s Bib. Person after person shouting eg ‘C’mon Nicholas, you got this!’ ‘C’mon Nicholas, go Go GO!!!’ I am going as fast as I can! 

Coming into the scenic iconic 17th century waterside legend that is Nyhavn, my very lovely wife Gaynor is there. So I stop and chat. Gaynor has seen me near delirious on these occasions, so I am keen to convey that all things considered I’m doing fine. 

My two youngest daughters Isobel and Ruby are there an hour later. Another stop for a wee chat. A kiss and a cuddle from a sweaty Ironman! By this point, every single competitor who is still in this race has a Triathlon suit that is soaked with visible salt stains. Loss of salt causes cramp, I counter this with an electrolyte pill, one on the bike, two on the run. 

Time is on my side. I back off and settle into turbo walking at 8mins 30secs per kilometre. I cover some sections quicker. But on the clock I don’t now need to cover sections any quicker when my goal, is simply to complete. Enjoy a very, very fast long walk! 

Many of the 140 folk who I overtook on the cycle earlier (if indeed they are still in the event), are no doubt now running past me! Never mind, time is on my side. Keep the energy, keep the focus. 

The marathon consists of four 10km+ city centre loops, each time you loop you get a different colour of wrist band. Photo below, about to collect the final one, which is blue! 

We've now been on the go since dawn, and those of us still on the course are heading into golden hour. What a day, what an occasion. 

I have zero doubt writing today a week later, that I could have covered the 2023 Copenhagen marathon section at least an hour faster, if I had shifted into perpetual running, having done most of my recent training in the 6min 30 to 7 minute intended zone. 

But what I don’t know, is if I would have been able to cross the finish line at all if I had done that. Aye, check yourself before you wreck yourself. Each to their own in this fine balancing act. Look after yourself. Keep moving. This sights, the views, the crowds, what a place. Take those sensory snaps my lad, it’s now a part of you. 

18 kilometres or so out from the finish line I am joined on the ongoing turbo walk by fellow competitor Matt, a music teacher from Southampton. He says, 'You look like you are totally on a timing mission, if that is the case do you mind if I join you, I have £2,000 charity funds at stake for a children's hospital, and I must make the finish line'. We had a great chat for the next two hours. 500 metres to go, 'On you go Matt, go ahead and take your finish!' 

A few seconds later, I am up the Christiansborg Palace Square, red carpet finish line: 

Crossed the finish line in 14 hours 5 mins, with an hour and 40 mins spare. Job done. (Normal Ironman 17 hour cutoff deadline is reduced to 15 hours 45 mins for Copenhagen) 

The 2023 Copenhagen result:

- Ties the Glenrothes Triathlon Club (GTC) record for the number of successful Ironman finishes. The record of 6 finishes has been held by Doug Stewart after Ironman Wales 2022. 

- The first ever GTC Ironman six finishes-in-a-row, for any club member in their fifties. 

- The first time any GTC member has finished Ironman Austria four times, and Copenhagen twice.

- The first time any GTC member has completed three Ironman events in the age group 55 - 59. 

- I'll need to have it verified, but I think Copenhagen 2023 might be the fastest swim split, and fastest bike split for any GTC member in their fifties. All these different age categories, such is the joy of Triathlon. 

- Finish time is a new Personal Record, by 6 minutes.

Thank you for the Memories Copenhagen 2023, the City of Happiness. 

All best wishes, 

Nicholas

Ironman Class of 2023  

FIVE IRONMAN FINISH LINES IN THE FIFTIES!!!!!

The day itself Sunday 18th June 2023 was Father's Day. 

I dedicate the finish and medal to my 3 daughters, Anastasia, Isobel and Ruby. 

It was wonderful to participate again, representing Glenrothes Triathlon Club - GTC at the most legendary race in Europe. 

The 2023 result is: 

- The first ever GTC Ironman five finishes-in-a-row, for any club member in their fifties. 

- The first time any GTC member has finished Ironman Austria four times. 

- The first time any GTC member has completed two Ironman events in the age group 55 - 59. 

(Official Sportograf Austria photos beneath this blog) 

Drum roll please, awaiting the first 2023 Ironman cyclists at St. Veit): 

Ironman Austria 2023 was brought forward by a month this year, perhaps because of the truly extreme heat of July 2022? Nevertheless, whilst not as hot as last year, through the apex it was still a truly roasting 38 to 45 degrees in the direct sunlight this year, very hot indeed! 

If you are reading this blog for the first time, Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, then a 112 mile bike ride, and then a 26.2 mile marathon. All sections are timed. If you fall behind any designated cutoff times, you are out of the race. The entire challenge must complete within 17 hours. 

From a previous blog: 

Glycogen? Back in 2018 I trained for and successfully completed the Edinburgh Ironman 70.3 which is half the distance of a full Ironman race. I then basically tripled+ the training and conditioning to become an Ironman in Austria in 2019. Since then I have never stopped weekly conditioning, and will usually do some form of training 6 days a week. A swim, an indoor or outside bike ride. A run or a fast walk. I am only conditioning 10 to 12 hours per week (and more in the months leading to an event), but I never miss a week, and that's maybe why it appears to be the case that I have the glycogen to go the distance. Albeit it's a very, Very big push on the day itself. Especially in my fifties. 

12 hours a week? Albeit having reached the plateau in 2019, that's 7% of my entire week! And it's certainly not wasted time. Surely it's time invested? It's fitness, wellbeing, wellness. Thinking time, fresh air! 

Whilst none of us ever has any guarantees in life, surely by maintaining weekly conditioning, this at least has some form of prospect of hopefully delivering lifetime health and longevity? In any event, my accumulated combined Strava statistics now show that I have covered a total distance swimming, cycling and running/ fast walking, which is now very close indeed to the 40,075km circumference of Planet Earth! 

Five consecutive successful Ironman finish lines? Over five full Ironman races that's now a combined 703 miles of successful racing! I can certainly say that I am happy to have delivered the strategic planning, and conditioning levels, to the point where the racing has never broken me. Austria 2022 was admittedly very close indeed. 

Whilst there are always very obviously competitors seeking to create new personal timing records, I am always fully embracing the original spirit of the occasion, and trying simply to ensure that by carefully delivering consistent tempo, I actually do reach the finish line. Previous statistics show that the non-finisher rate can be as high as 39.5% as seen at Ironman Copenhagen 2022. 

This year's water temperature in stunning Lake Worthersee was circa 22 degrees, so unlike last year wetsuits were allowed. Despite all best preparations in the pool, and 3 good practice sessions this year in the lake itself, nothing ever prepares me for what it is like on the morning itself. It's so difficult to relax in the water when there's so much going on around you. Start line canons going off. Helicopter overhead. Drones filming all over. Thousands of spectators. It's an epic circumstance on a sensory level alone. 

Swim completed, and straight onto the bike. A massive new change for me this year, with the brand new addition of a set of raisers and new elbows to hands carbon fibre arm rests via New Zealand's FastTT. 

A huge thanks to David and Douglas at Singletrack bikes Kirkcaldy, figuring how to order and assemble this bespoke gear was a significant task.

These new ergonomic carbon arm rests have delivered absolutely totally unprecedented comfort on the bike, thereby enabling me to hold and sustain a reasonable aero tuck position for most of the flat and downhill sections on the 180km cycle. I cannot begin to say what a difference these new arm rests have made. The bike itself is also slightly more aero due to the angling of the arm rests and the resulting change in air flow, and hence it is also faster. (If you are a cycling enthusiast, it's circa 15 watts at 45km per hour.)

New larger rear cassette gearing was also added this year, so spinning up the mountain climbs was much easier than before. The combined climb distance for Ironman Austria cycle section is higher than cycling up and over Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain.

During the cycle this year I overtook just over a hundred fellow competitors, and was only overtaken (whilst cycling) by 3 others. 

Over previous Ironman events I have certainly suffered on my bike, especially on the latter half of the cycle. Aye, LOL there's apparently no such thing as pain, it's just weakness leaving the body. 

These new 2023 cycle adjustments have transformed matters completely. If anyone was to ask me for an opinion on the single most important consideration regarding Ironman equipment, it is aligned as comfort on the bike. 

It's also maybe the case that I was the only competitor wearing trainers and using flat pedals on the bike, as opposed to being 'clipped in' with proper cycling shoes. May each find what works for each! (In my case I have concluded Hoka trainers for great ease running out and back into transition areas, as well as flexing the feet along the pedal depending on how I am cycling, and then also having the easy luxury of dangling the feet here and there for a right good stretch, it all works for me ...) Thumbs up. 

It was always going to be the case that as soon as the weather forecast was known this year, the management of heat exhaustion was going to be a key factor on the day. So, the first half of the cycle was hammered out at near 30km per hour, then I backed off and time was taken at each aid station midday onwards, to totally drench myself in cold water. 

Seeing one ambulance after another whizzing past sirens blaring, focusses the mind. The Man with The Hammer is always there, it's best to avoid meeting him. 'Stay safe!!!' I also passed the air ambulance chopper when it was about to take off with someone on board obviously in an extreme circumstance. Noted their bike was getting left behind as well! I presume collected by the end sweeper bus? 

I stayed really well hydrated as well, alternating bottles of water and caffeine water. Five white chocolate chip cookies and some Jelly Babies did the trick for the cycle! Fancy gels and protein sports bars? I've tried these but just don't like them at all. Stick with what works ... 

Whilst I am going for energy-saving tempo all the way I can confess that I did shift the cycle into 'up tempo mode' a couple of times on the second half this year. Epic scenery, closed roads as smooth as, truly and totally consumed with the joy of just being there. I don't know if I am the only guy who talks to his bike, but I do so the whole way round! 'C'mon buddy, we have this today. Sweet Jiminy Cricket would you look at this next section, can you even believe we are here this morning? Let's stay safe, let's do this! Into aero, 80 km per hour downhill let's go!!!' My bike and I have certainly now been through some adventures together. 

Safely onto the marathon section, and still very hot starting loop 1 of 2 at 4.45pm, the first 5k in direct sunlight. 

Onwards and onwards. This final section is the same distance on foot as Markinch to Dundee, and if you are late you don't get a T shirt or a medal! Loop 2 had obviously cooled down by then. 

I manage my electrolytes with an emergency foil of electrolyte pills. If you have a sneaking suspicion and feel that you are about to get shot by the cramp sniper, then take a pill. I accidentally lost the pills somewhere around the 10k mark, so I backed the pace off to hopefully avoid cramp. It worked. 

'Nicholas Russell. YOU ARE AN IRONMAAAAN!!!' I'll take it age 55! 2023 finish line footage, many thanks via fellow Glenrothes Triathlon club member Gary Breckenridge. 

Up and onto the biggest stage in Ironman world sport! 

*Noise up!*

2023 finish line photo via Sportograf: 

As always thanking my lucky stars that I joined our amazing local, friendly and inclusive Glenrothes Triathlon Club a decade ago. Annual membership £20 - so what are you waiting for!?!

And as always so very grateful to the many individuals who have guided me and helped and encouraged along the way, over the last 10 years in Triathlon. 

I can confirm that I have Ironman Copenhagen in the diary once again, for August 20th 2023. A few days off for recovery now, and then I'll get back to the ongoing conditioning. Let's see how Copenhagen goes, and then I'm going to speak with my very lovely wife Gaynor and my daughters, and very carefully consider what happens after that. 

All best wishes, 

Nicholas 

Ironman Class of 2023 

Sportograf photos: 

IS 5 IN A ROW POSSIBLE? IRONMAN AUSTRIA 2023 CONFIRMED!

And so once again, to the subjects of current and future fitness, wellness and wellbeing. For the more that I have progressed, and stepping now into my tenth year of this, I realise that everything is thereby inextricably linked, and applicable both to the body and the mind. 

As Kate Winslett apparently recently said, 'Life is short, and it is here to be lived!' I agree!!!

Now at age 55. If you had suggested to me way back in 2017 that having already spent 3 years working on personal fitness, that I would go on in the next 5 years, to become a quadruple Ironman finisher in my fifties, well that would have certainly made me laugh and tell you that circumstance would not be probable. 2.4 miles swim, 112 miles cycle, then run a marathon, all sections timed? Just goes to show that anything is indeed possible. 

Copenhagen 2022 finish: 

Sincere gratitude as always to all fellow members of our amazing, local, friendly and inclusive GTC Glenrothes Triathlon Club. My further future with Ironman remains to be seen, but I can confirm that I have now signed up for another go at Austria in 2023. This will be my fourth time participating in the most legendary race in Europe, date is June 18th, let's hope it isn't as hot as 2022, that 112 mile cycle that day in 43 to 48 degrees sunlight was rather hot for this Scotsman. 

I am taking the trip to Austria this year with fellow GTC member Gary Breckenridge, who is participating in an Ironman for the first time. No more beautiful a place in the world to do so. 

Here's a quite incredible and poignant photograph from a 19 hour 11 minute 21 second finish line of the 2022 London Marathon. The image certainly encapsulates and celebrates a remarkable achievement, Congratulations ladies. And a finish line moment you'll never ever forget. 

And the image above however can certainly also begin to provide a further understanding about Ironman, what makes it totally different, and how it has grown to become a global sport. Park runs, beach runs, circuit runs, half marathons, marathons you name it. These take place all over, and most do not have any cutoff time at all, for many participants it's simply a matter of somehow eventually getting to a finish line. If you finish, then great! Any finish at all, is better than not trying to start. Each and every person of course has their own story. Sometimes the slowest of walks can be the biggest challenge ever. 

And this is where Ironman totally differs in extremity, because every single section is timed on the clock. If you fall behind the cutoff times at any stage, you are out, classified with a DNF - Did Not Finish. DNS (Did Not Show) and DNF combined for Ironman Copenhagen 2022 was 39.5%! That's out of circa 3,421 entrants. 

GTC recently circulated an Excel throughout the 150+ local club members, and I can see that my fourth successful Ironman finish now has me in second place in the club's Ironman rankings. In first place is Doug Stewart from Ladybank, with six successful finishes. In order to achieve this result, Doug finished Ironman Lanzarote 2022 with only 10 minutes spare before the 17 hour deadline. A few months ago, competitor 1719 Doug was back on it once again, and finished Ironman Wales with *taps mic* only 3 minutes spare!!!! Crikey!!! I actually went to bed that night having very carefully considered the info on Doug's tracker on the Ironman App, after the first 10 kilometres of the entire 42.195 kilometres of the final marathon section, and at that point if Doug had maintained his existing speed, he would not have finished within the time limit. 

Getting up first thing the next morning and seeing the successful end result had me a whoopin' with joy for Doug personally, and yet another successful finish for GTC. 

I certainly now fully understand that in order to achieve the seemingly impossible in these contexts, sometimes you need to put everything on the line. It's difficult to grow anything in the comfort zone. There's a very fine line for anyone in being able to endeavour to create a sublime combination of conditioning and preparation, which then allows actual ability to relax and approach the scale of such a challenge on the day in a calm and very well measured way. But as I now know, difficult roads often lead to lovely destinations. The cost of winning (whatever your win is) can be high, but you don't want to know how expensive regret is, when that bill lands on your table. 

Years ago when I completed the Edinburgh 70.3 Ironman (which is half the distance of a full race), I didn't subsequently double my training / conditioning for my first full distance race the next year. I tripled it, and the rest. My own tuppence, but that's the level of respect that even taking the start line deserves. 

Having the cojones to take the start line? Courage doesn't mean that you don't get afraid of the scale of what lies ahead, courage simply means that you don't let the fear stop you. Whilst there are others around you out there on the first section on the swim, you are absolutely on your own. But I would not take a start line, if I didn't feel I was ready. 

There are those closest to me who have, very understandably, expressed concern about 'What happens if something untoward happens to you on the day?' I have truly given this so much thought recently, but ultimately we cannot live our lives in a state of fear about something that we cannot fathom. I underline, I am not trying to break myself on the day, I am hopefully conditioning so well in advance, that I can steadily and relentlessly progress on the day. 

Life? We all have 3 things in common: 

More and more frequently these days I am asked about Ironman by individuals in Balbirnie's brigade. 'How is it possible to swim 100 metres in 2mins 14 secs, and still be able to breathe easily as if you were just walking?' - 'How is it possible to ride a bike for hours at 30km per hour?' - 'What do your legs feel like the day after an Ironman?' - Yep it's certainly quite a cocktail. Great fun answering as well! :-) 

Easy answers. Do the work! With that in mind I am now well over 2,000 training sessions logged over on Strava, and nothing is stopping. More than 36,000 combined kilometres of progress. The future of course, always depends on what we do in the present. 

Me at age 55: Should I do it? 

My family: You decide

My friends: If you are able to do so LOL 

Everyone else: No

The Universe: No

Me: I'm doing it. 

There are many triathletes in the world, who are still competing in age group triathlon well into their sixties, and indeed beyond. If you think you can, well why not? There's surely no point in getting the fear about tickling The Reaper, if you have prepared for the event. 

[Please don't take that comment as a tickle 😂] Failing to prepare is another matter. 

Again in a personal fitness context, Ironman conditioning led me back in a truly unexpected way early in 2022, after a 35 year break (!!!!!), to the wonders of Alpine skiing. I purchased new ski boots and a pair of ex rental skis, jumped in Tesla Russell and headed over to the French Alps, twice! 

When I was a lad I had the opportunity to ski in the Scottish Schools Championship, and onwards 35 years I have found myself in 2022 in a state of total disbelief, albeit helped with unexpected fitness and modern era ski boot technology, being able to ski much better than when I was young. Two ski trips in 2022, zero falls!

The first 2022 trip was to Valfrejus, the second was to Val Thorens. The latter is the highest ski resort in Europe, and has over 600km of pistes across the span of the 3 valleys, with a state-of-the-art ski lift network which in itself was a revelation from how it was back in the 1980s! With modern era skiing, many of the the pistes are flattened down each night by piste-bashers, first thing in the morning it's like gliding across a smooth corduroy carpet, truly surreal in scale and landscape. 

Looking around the ski slopes, there aren't masses of people at all age 55 and over. Although those over 75 seemingly get to ski without needing to pay (the circa £300 per week) for the lift pass, I have noted this for the future!

I have been taking multiple ski trips through the 2022/ 23 winter, treating each of these as 'winter fitness camp', taking a break from the daily conditioning routines of swimming, fast walking, running and cycling, and focussing instead on hard core all day skiing (hence working on a very different type of leg conditioning), followed by Yoga each evening, then swimming, and thermal suite. The legs, after all, are the main weapons for Ironman. 

For the first time in my life I went on a solo trip, specifically as I wanted to rack the distance. 

Thereafter I had a truly amazing week in Les Arcs, with 25 fellow members of Edinburgh Ski Club. Numerous of those on the trip skiing in their sixties, and beyond! A massive thanks to fellow ESC member Chris Wieczorek who previously had 5 years, 6 months per year with British army ski division, competitive grand slalom, downhill racing at 80mph etc etc!!! Also is a formally qualified ski coach. So I found myself on the very grateful receiving end of a few days of friendly coaching and advice from Chris. Specifically (and enabled with new modern era carving skis), the objective was to transition into carving, whereby you ski at circa 40km per hour, with each turn aligned as an accelerating torpedo!

'Position the weight like a goalie ready for a penalty! Track the shoulders down the fall line (both shoulders towards the lower downhill), weight set forward on the shins in the ski boots, initiate each carved turn with the big toe, track the turn with imaginary rally car headlights on each knee, drive the carve via pressure on the inside of the downhill foot, slingshot and accelerate through the carve, weight forward over ski bindings through the carve, zero weight on the upper ski but angle it and track the edge with exact same alignment as downhill ski'. All in the blink of an eye!

Here's coach Chris following my progress at Les Arcs, filmed on HDR GoPro.

I then had an amazing week with my very lovely wife Gaynor and youngest daughter Ruby at Alpe d'Huez, 'the Island of the sun' in the French Alps. 6 days of fitness and ski sunshine. I think it's fair to say that I am turning into an Alpoholic! This was Gaynor's first ski trip, after a few days concluding that skiing down the mountains, 'it's all in the hips!' Memories of a lifetime 💕

Having returned to skiing last year, with an extremely shaky start on sparse icy snow at Glenshee, I've now quickly got back to the point where I am thereabouts able to handle expert level black runs (black being the hardest rating you can find in Europe, focussed only on expert level). At Alpe d'Huez 

in this case I successfully made it down the legend that is the 16 kilometre La Sarenne, the longest black run in Europe, twice! 

Back home in Scotland, as is the routine I am at Balbirnie House 7 days per week, mostly all mornings. In spare time the relentless Ironman conditioning continues. All work combining to then hopefully arrive at late spring 2023, and accelerate everything into the requisite final conditioning for Austria Ironman 2023. Have at it! 

The calendar year 2022 was Balbirnie's busiest year in history. The house provided the 2022 backdrop for a quite incredible 193 weddings. I am certainly finding that everything in relation to fitness and wellbeing are also helping me to maintain a vision as company MD, as to how we need to keep on as always, embracing innovation and change in all that we do. The evolution within hospitality is a never-ending task. 

Blessings counted as always. 

All best wishes, 

Nicholas 

MD/ Balbirnie House 

3 DECADES COMPLETED! GM AT BALBIRNIE HOUSE

Then and now, 31st October 1992 and age 25, Balbirnie's new arriving GM, then fast forward 30 years! 

By a considerable timeline, I am also now our company's longest serving employee 😍

5 years ago today, I published a blog about our first 25 years of working at Balbirnie House, so if you wish to do so, you can read that article and then keep reading this one. Today, I talk about the last 5 years. 

Well, how time flies! That's 3 decades of Balbirnie hospitality past in a flash! Here we are today after all these years, finding myself still in the Balbirnie House GM hot seat, but with the hotel now defined as 'Best Wedding Hotel', global category via Haute Grandeur, for the third time. What a remarkable hat-trick for Scotland!!! It is in all contexts absolutely incredible, and surely something that none of us will ever see happen again, for any other hotel in the world, ever? 

These are career-defining circumstances for everyone working here, and no matter what all of us end up doing in the future, nobody will ever be able to take away the history that our brigade has accomplished for Balbirnie House, and the history that we have achieved for Scotland. Everything has been driven by our absolute best endeavours with the warmth of welcome of Scotland hospitality. 

What a place to work. What a place to run. Never ever two days the same. Different customers, different visions of special events, different challenges. Up to 500 guests per day. A football coach has much to think about each week in getting 11 team members ready for a couple of games of football. Us, we have 115 individuals on the pitch, and the game is 24/ 7 - and we always know we never get second chances. As Yoda says, 'Do or Do Not, There is No Try!' Brimming with individuality, driven resolutely by the joy in getting hospitality right. Always looking to respect the past, and acknowledge all those who contributed to get us to where we are today, but at the same time to embrace change and innovation, and find new ways to work wherever that's possible. This is a very different hotel to the one I started in 30 years ago. 

I can assure you, that we are so very honoured and it is so profoundly humbling for our brigade to be on the receiving end of these amazing awards, and knowing that today is never a dress rehearsal for tomorrow, it certainly drives one and all to keep doing our best. 

Even more remarkably today, I actually get to work alongside the actual team who have delivered these most recent results! The collective philosophy remains the same, keep trying to do our absolute best in hospitality each and every day. 

If you'd like to see a truly surreal quick 50 second clip from when Balbirnie won the first global wedding hotel award, click here. 

My sincere thanks to everyone who I have had the pleasure of working alongside over the many years at Balbirnie House. So many people, and impossible to even begin to mention any individuals personally. Again, there are many of the team from the earlier years highlighted in this extensive 18 minute film summary which we issued for the first global award back in 2019. (Same intro as the quick clip above) 

Marinique De Wet, Founder of Haute Grandeur global awards said to us at that year's awards dinner, 'Balbirnie House does things just a little differently'. Indeed!

Since starting at Balbirnie House I have always maintained the working ethos, that I work for our brigade, not the other way around. And in turn, we all work to do our best for providing our best hospitality to our extended local community and beyond. Both of these aspects have worked well. 

GM - Generally Manage, General Manager. In 2005 I also took on the role of MD - Managing Director. Manage the Directors! Company directors of course have all legal obligations and responsibilities of running our Limited company. 

Writing back in 2017, who could have predicted what would happen in hospitality, in the next 5 years? From Balbirnie's perspective we were certainly on a great roll in 2017 with 'business as usual' from 2017 ongoing until March 2020, at which point we arrived at the pandemic lockdown.  

When I say 'business as usual', that doesn't mean that we've ever arrived at a point whereby we can say anything about it has ever been easy. We've never stopped trying to skip any part of the hospitality struggle, because that's of course, where the character of what we do is made. 

Little did we know on the night that we closed on 20th March 2020, anticipating it would perhaps be for a few weeks at most, but we would end up being locked down all the way until 6th July, in that process taking a £1M financial hit. Many hotels and special events venues will be remembered for how badly they handled the circumstances, especially in relation to weddings. Our approach to the eventual contrary was basically, for our wedding planning department to do everything we could possibly do, to help each and every client. Most thankfully we were also able to subsequently financially re-construct and keep on going. 

When we did re-open in July 2020 it was only with 10 gazebos outside, and what an epic summer we would then find ourselves in. We had said on social media, 'There are only a dozen of the team here, we can only bring more colleagues back to work if we are busy!' Very quickly we found ourselves catering for 200 to 300 dining guests per day in those 10 garden gazebos, the public support defied belief. Our sincere gratitude as always. Each time we were able to bring another colleague back to work, all those on duty went to the front steps and applauded our incoming colleagues back into the hotel. 

I didn't know it then, but apart from a few days of sanity holiday break in late autumn 2020, I wouldn't take a single day off work for the next year. More aptly stated, I couldn't justify taking a day off until we could re-stabilise what were still nevertheless very severe ongoing financial losses. Winter 2020 saw us shifting the garden gazebos into our Millennium Ballroom. Then the hospitality sector got banned from serving alcohol inside, so we opened Courtyard al Fresco outside for winter. What an adventure all round. 

In late December 2020, the next nightmare, when we had another stark choice, 'Close completely again, or become a Takeaway!' As I saw it, a chance to keep the house heated, water running, and fully secured 24 hours per day, so Takeaway it was. 

Memories of a Lifetime with what then happened. Public support yet again defied belief. Once again, our sincere gratitude as always. 

Throughout the apex of all ongoing pandemic challenges and restrictions, our management team were empowered to transform the impossible into what is possible, upon reflection we certainly did everything we could to maintain all momentum to keep Balbirnie on track for the full re-opening. The simple truth is that great teamwork was at the heart of all that was achieved through those difficult times. 

Onwards we went, helping one wedding client after another with ever-changing dates. In February 2021 we constructed financial year budget beginning 1st May 2021 and all was looking good ahead, only however then to find that we had truly severe trading restrictions placed on everything through May, June, July and the first third of August 2021. We kindof got going again through autumn 2020, then the government told everyone once again, not to go out for any festive celebrations. Hundreds of our guest bookings cancelled overnight. 

Fast forward to today, and Balbirnie is back to 'normality', and the rest. We are providing the backdrop for almost 200 weddings in calendar year 2022, and 2023 is looking truly amazing as well. Our entire hotel brigade is being remunerated at base level rates above national minimum wage, and that's in industry-leading contexts also regardless of age. Unlike many hotels elsewhere, we are completely, fully staffed, with a waitlist of 150 individuals as well. Early in 2022 we joined industry colleagues, having firstly very carefully researched and noted that the new digitalised service charge systems are certainly now applied industry-wide, in defining a 10% discretionary food and beverage service charge, to replace the previous system of cash gratuities. All aspects integrated and considered, we can confirm that summer 2022 has seen our best ever brigade retention and consistency. 

It is also fair to say, and I don't say this lightly when reflecting on all the amazing contributions which have been made by so many individuals to Balbirnie's journey over the last 3 decades, but I feel that our management team is currently perhaps at its strongest and most consistent in history. 

Human Resources? Headed up by Rebecca Harper who has had 6 years working here, over recent years we have invested in converting all aspects of Human Resources into becoming digitalised across the entire span of 115 individuals in the team. From convenient and easy initial Zoom interviews, to contracts via Docusign, 80 page digital company Constitution, and then into training modules via Flow. It's slick, fast and efficient. Working hours are recorded via digital fingerprint time-keeping. Moving into my next decade, an absolute priority will be on ensuring that our Flow training is delivering the absolute best we can, in terms of world class training and inspiration.

Remote guest check-ins on mobile phones. Nearly every single reservation digitally-automated. All of this is a world away from 1992, when everything was done manually. I think that today, technology has therefore created more capabilities for us to focus on hospitality. 

In the interim, the last five years of accumulated global awards recognition have been simply incredible to see. Each time something unexpected has happened therein, we've not changed anything, we've simply kept on doing what we do. 

Interviewer : 'Mr. Russell, what attracted you to the hospitality industry?'

Nicholas : 'In a word: pleasure. It's like, my pleasure in other people's leisure!'

Through 2022 at Balbirnie this year, we are seeing remarkable circumstances with in-house records being broken one after another, for future wedding bookings. I can absolutely assure you dear readers, that such contexts are driving us as ever before, to do absolutely everything we can, to maintain great value for guests, to keep Balbirnie House continually looking at her best in history (whilst we contend as always with usual significant wear and tear), and to ensure that our hotel brigade is completely fully equipped, totally motivated and driven to do our absolute best in hospitality, on each and every unique day. That's how 3 decades have been delivered, one very special day at a time. 

Our next interior design project is now confirmed and in progress, it's The Orangery Gallery next up, providing a beautiful new entry to the Orangery itself, as well as leading through to our Millennium Ballroom. This is being designed around the artwork of Archie Forrest, Scotland's leading contemporary Colourist painter. This project will finalise in the first two weeks of 2023. 

Archie Forrest: 'Plum Tomatoes' 

Our many blessings counted as always, and thanking my lucky stars that I am married to my very lovely wife, fellow company director Gaynor, and we have a shared vision of what we are working with today at Balbirnie House. As friends all know, whilst I am technically the boss of Balbirnie, I always highlight that LOL my wife is in actual fact, the real boss. This has been confirmed in this lovely article a few days ago in The Courier. 

These last 5 years I've certainly been busier than ever before. Ending in 2020, five years spent voluntary for Scotland reporting on emerging capabilities to embrace the future blockchain democracy revolution, that was a hobby which became so much more. And as for continued progress with wellness, wellbeing, fitness and very specifically somehow finishing four Ironman races in my fifties, representing our amazing, local, friendly and inclusive Glenrothes Triathlon Club, well anything is possible. To do that I have now surpassed 2,000 Strava training sessions. I'll deliver two further blogs on these niche subjects in the next few weeks. 

Finally for today, I'd like to say a huge congratulations to our daughter Isobel, who has just passed her theory driving test with an amazing result, and is now working in our kitchen brigade as a chef in The Balbirnie Bistro. 

Onwards we go, into my fourth decade of hospitality at Balbirnie House.

All best wishes, 

Nicholas  

MD Balbirnie House