Sub8 & Sub7 – DEKRA Lausitzring Race Circuit given the Green Light
The Pho3nix Foundation Sub7 and Sub8 project has be given the green light to race on the Dekra Lausitzring Motor Racing Circuit – designed for racing and speed – in Germany on June 6th or 7th 2022 (dependant on weather).
The Sub7 and Sub8 Project will pit Alistair Brownlee and Kristian Blummenfelt against completing a seven-hour iron-distance triathlon while Lucy Charles-Barclay and Nicola Spirig will attempt to go under eight hours. The men are looking to shave up to 21 minutes off the current record and the women just over 18 minutes.
The event has somewhat of a love/hate relationship with triathletes as the record-breaking attempt is designed to capture global attention and will not be recognised as a new Ironman record, due to the artificial nature of the event.
And here is the contentious bit. Each athlete will be able to pick up to 10 pacers to aid them on race day and be deployed however the athlete sees fit across the three disciplines. In addition, there is no restrictions on the bike equipment to be used, other than no mechanical propulsion is permitted (so I guess being towed by a Ferrari 599 SA Aperta is out of the question.)
Can the time-record be broken?
The swim should be quite safe. Lake Senftenberg facilitates a straight point-to-point swim course to minimise turns and maximise speed. On this 3.8-kilometer leg, the athletes will need to match the average world record pace over 1500m by swimming 100 meters every 1 minute.
The 180-kilometre bike is where the race will be lost or won. This is where athletes need to pack for ‘draft’ with support teams (pacers) swapping in and out on the bike leg to leave each athlete enough energy for the marathon. Every little element will need to be optimised on the 5.85km oval race track to maintain an average Tour de France time-trial pace of 45-50 kph.
Then the final hurdle – the small matter of a marathon run, a 42.2km test of resilience and will power to see who can go Sub7 and Sub8. In order to achieve that, the athletes will need to average 5km in 20 minutes – more than eight times in a row. Again, this is where support runners will need to swap in and out to maintain the pace.
Do not be surprised to see some familiar faces in the athletes 10 pacer team e.g., Jonny Brownlee pacing for his brother Alister and/or Norwegian Gustav Iden pacing fellow countryman Kristian Blummenfelt. Also, athletes could call upon pro-cyclists and pro-swimmers to join their 10-man pacer support team.
Just like the successful sub-2hour marathon by Eluid Kipchoge, with no rules and the sole goal of getting a person to race as fast possible I’m expecting at least one of the four to break the time record over the Iron-Distance Course.
Whilst many of you may be sceptical now, you know full well that you will be sucked in and will probably set aside time to sit and watch the whole thing unfurl. The event will be broadcast and streamed live with the date and timings released closer to race day.
