Marbella 70.3 World Champs - the Zone3 Way: Community, Competition, Coffee

We kicked things off on Friday with something a little different: a floating espresso bar. Coffee and smoothies, served on the water. In partnership with Girona Racing Academy, we hosted a relaxed-but-purposeful swim start session for athletes to test out the course and shake off any nerves.

It started on the beach, where athletes lined up to run through the motions. They practiced beach starts in small groups, getting a feel for running across soft sand, timing their entry, and diving into the open water. The goal was to take the guesswork out of race morning.

From there, swimmers headed out for a short loop of the buoys, getting a chance to get familiar with the water temperature, visibility and current before race day. And along the way they could hop aboard the boat to collect a well-earned coffee or smoothie from the Zone3 espresso boat floating just offshore.

The whole session gave everyone a moment to settle their nerves, fine-tune their technique, and build confidence heading into the weekend.

Pros, age groupers, and community teams all turned up to get their swim and caffeine fix.

Our Zone3-sponsored pros Rebecca Anderbury, Matt Collins, Laura Addie, Marta Sanchez and Katrine Gräsbøll Christensen came down to swim, chat and connect.

Girona Racing Academy athletes, the Nebula Tri Team, and Zone3 Ambassadors and age groupers made it a proper gathering. It was everything we love about this sport - shared energy, mutual respect, and a few strong flat whites to get things going.

On race day, we brought the noise - literally.

We teamed up again with Girona Racing Academy to create a cheer zone on both the bike and run course, right outside Explorer Ride café. Think: pounding playlists, cowbells, banners, and full-on support for every athlete that flew past.

It didn’t matter who you were or what kit you were in - if you were out there racing, we were there for you. It was loud, fun, and full of heart. The kind of atmosphere that reminds you why you do this sport in the first place.

We had three pro athletes on the start line - all of them racing in Zone3. Every one of them raced hard, and we couldn’t be prouder to see them representing the brand on a world stage.

Matt Collins showed real grit in his first champs as a Pro, finishing in 4:09:40, and placing 52nd overall in the mens race.

"World Championships, an opportunity to test yourself against the best in the world and that’s how I saw this race. I knew with my level of fitness, I would not be challenging for the win but I came in hoping a good day would leave me being competitive, with a stretch goal of making the top 15, which was in the prize money.

However the week got off to a terrible start, like many, our luggage didn’t arrive. Thankfully, my bike did arrive but what we didn’t have was all the tools to build the bike and some of the spares.

So the next 48 hours were spent trying to source parts at the expo and chasing up the luggage including a dash up to the airport where we successfully acquired it.

So stress over, it was time to get ready to race. The nice part of the week was the Friday where I got to meet up with the Zone3 crew at the coffee boat swim where I recce’d the swim course and enjoyed time chatting with other athletes at the coffee boat. I loved the course, which is one of the nicest swim venues I’ve had the pleasure of swimming in (clear water goes a long way towards a nice swim).

Then I got a chance to recce the bike course which I immediately saw was going to be a tough one with a 30min climb early and some insanely fast descents. Saturday passed serenely and then it was race day. As normal I was nervous, I knew I couldn't make a mistake. Unfortunately my terrible reaction time let me down for the swim start and I entered the water already a body length behind and 400m full gas left me on the back of the main group. Then as we made the third turn, a gap opened up two bodies ahead of me and I was powerless to shut it down. At this point a coloured cap came round and I stayed with them to the swim exit. I was surprised and pleased to see it was Gustav Iden who I came out with, however a small mistake with my elastic band snapping as I mounted my bike left me with a 15s gap toshut down. 

Onto the bike and I chased hard to shut the gap down with Max Neumann before getting to work on the climb. I did both climbs just above threshold and managed to bridge up to a group of good runners including Matt Hanson and Dylan Magnien. I felt good and tried to push on the descent but I saw I was still losing time to the front. This meant on the second long climb I decided to go all in to limit the gap and actually pushed one of my all time best powers both for the climb and for the entire bike leg however it only limited my deficit to the chase packs ahead.

The run was about seeing what I could do off such a hard bike, being so far back I had nothing to lose, so was happy to push slightly the first lap meaning I ran with Dylan Magnien and went through 10km on track for around a 71/72 run split.

However the second lap was where it got tough with a recurrence of a niggly calf problem from around 14km and I started to run out of energy around 16km which I tried to correct by taking on some nutrition but my stomach promptly said no which led to me throwing up at 19km and jogging in to a 79 min run for 52nd.

Not the result I came for but one in which I’m proud of as I know I gave it everything and only small mistakes and one rather large one meant I finished further back than I desired. I know I can do better, as my podium at Eagleman proved that and that is what I want to focus on next year. I was the second youngest in the field and with development I am hoping that I can improve my consistency and be closer to the front in more of my races."

Rebecca Anderbury had a strong day across all three disciplines, finishing in 4.33.11 and taking 14th.

"Take a bow Marbella! 

This worlds was up there with one of the best race experiences I have ever had. The sense of community in the build up to race day was incredible, and I enjoyed bumping into friends and supporters every time I left the hotel. The race village had such an amazing vibe, it was electric down there all the time!

I’m usually the kind of person who avoids crowds pre-race but even I couldn’t help but be swept along by the excitement of it all.

Easily one of my pre-race highlights was the Zone3 coffee boat swim. It was great to meet some of the ambassadors who helped me practice my swim starts and let me swim in their feet out to the coffee boat (thank you GRA for also providing a smoothie for us non-coffee drinkers!)

The atmosphere continued into race day with supporters turning up in their droves to cheer us all on. I’ve worked hard on my swim this year with the help of my coach and Zone3, but a misstep into the water saw me well off the pace I usually set and I was much further back that I would like. I rallied to drag myself back up to a set of feet but it was a disappointing swim for me that doesn’t reflect the work I’ve put in. It was also incredibly choppy!

The bike is my happy place and I was so annoyed with my swim that I was able to harness my frustrations into some real power, particularly up the first climb where I was able to close the gap. Bad things come in threes, and I lost not one, but two bottles within 30km, the second of which managed to knock the chain off. Not exactly ideal but I was proud that instead of having a tantrum I used the frustration to fan the flames for the rest of ride, and I put together one of my best 70.3 rides of my career.

Out on to the run and the supporters had done us proud. I felt like a proper celebrity running out of T2. My legs were pretty tired after a long ride, and mentally it was a tough experience to keep plodding forward but I kept my head (and my pace) for one of the most consistent run splits of the year. I was hoping for a slightly quicker run but after the effort I’d had to put in on the bike, I was chuffed with my performance! It reflects the end of a challenging but great season for me and the progress I have made both physically and mentally.

I might be ready for a break right now, but I am so excited to continue the journey next year.

14th in the world 🥹"

Katrine Gräsbøll Christensen put together a solid race with a 4:33:29 finish, landing 15th place.

"Marbella was an amazing location for a world championship, stunning and tough course that had everything! The atmosphere was fantastic and the amount of people overwhelming. I had no expectations leading in to the race, as it has been hard to get back to training after Kona.

In general it was a decent race, but my circulatory system was still clearly marked after Kona.

The water was a bit wavy, but I had a good swim. Giving me confidence in my continuing small progress in swimming.

On the bike my legs felt quite good and I really enjoyed the climbs, but about halfway I had abnormal heart rhythm with rapid and irregular beating that forced me to stop for some minutes. It took me some time to get it under control and to get back pushing, but I’m proud I managed to get back in the race.

I loved the run course it had a bit of everything. I also think I managed to pull off a good run performance, despite my reduced run load this year.

Overall, the day was very emotional for me ending a season I’m very proud of with a top15 at the Ironman70.3 worlds.

Plus I got the opportunity to practice my swim at the coffee boat with Zone3 Friday morning, which was a really nice and casual way to prepare for the race. Amazing swim condition and great company, what’s not to like!"