Ironman Worlds: From plantar fascia tear to dream result for Nikki Bartlett

A fifth place at the Ironman World Championship exceeded all expectations for bubbly British star, Nikki Bartlett, who fought back from a potentially career-ending injury to have a dream day in the south of France.

The 37-year-old who gets married to long term partner Bex Milnes next weekend could start the celebrations early after she moved through the field from 29th after the swim to eighth off the bike and then running through on the marathon to a scarcely believable fifth place.

“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” Bartlett said. “I came in hoping for a top 10 and the dream would be the top five. That’s something I’ve always wanted as a pro in my career and I got it, and I’m chuffed to bits. I still think I’m going to wake up and it’s going to be race day!”

Originally a promising runner, Bartlett turned professional nine years ago and has won six middle-distance races and two Ironmans, including Ironman Wales last year. 

Last summer she was managing an occasional flare up of plantar fasciitis, a painful condition in the arch of the foot that can be hard to shift and often a nightmare scenario for runners. But it was following that race in Tenby in September that her health really took a downturn.

“I wasn’t concentrating on the start gun, ran into the sea [to catch up] and tore it,” she says. “I didn’t know [at the time], but I tried to do Ironman Portugal [the following month] and it was insanely painful on the bike. 

“We got a diagnosis and it was severe plantar fasciitis with a tear. I don’t think I walked or ran for 3-4 months, I didn’t cycle for three months and could only swim which was urgh! I felt bed bound.”

Bartlett started rehabilitation in February and was doing light 30min jogs in March. “It’s been a really slow progression,” she added. “I only run three days a week now because the risk versus reward is too high for me. I have to treasure and savour every run.”

Everything was tried to alleviate the symptoms including a PRP injection, two cortisone injections, and “being in and out of boots”,

She added: “This condition has ended a lot of athletes’ careers. It got to the point where I just wanted my health and day-to-day life back. I couldn’t even walk the dog.”

That Bartlett was second in Ironman 70.3  Les Sables D’Olonne in June and won Ironman 70.3 Swansea in July shows her undoubted talent, but it was truly time to shine against the world’s best in Nice. 

“I had a great swim. There was a bit of carnage and I got absolutely battered, but I managed to get on to good feet and came out and had a great ride and great run and it all fell into place.”

A chunk of the 112-mile bike leg was spent trying to match the pace of fellow Brit Ruth Astle and Germany’s Anne Resichmann, two of the strongest riders in the sport, who were also working their way through the field.

“I paced the climb at the beginning of the ride up and Anne joined us at the top. They were riding really strong and I thought: ‘I need to stay in my own bubble here’ as I kept getting dropped by them and I didn’t want to get to the run and be destroyed.

“Anne unfortunately crashed which was horrific to see. She’s one of my favourite competitors to race against, but luckily she looked okay and was just shaken up.” 

Having three times raced Ironman Wales – Bartlett finished in 9:52:02 in Tenby last year and 9:15:47 in Nice yesterday – how do the two courses compare?

“Pretty much on par, I think,” she said. “[Racing Wales definitely helped] mentally, knowing how tough, up and down, and left and right it would be. We’d turn a corner and go up a hill for I don’t know how long. I was in the Peak District preparing for that one.

“The run in Wales is more hilly, but in Nice it’s deceptively hard. It’s a constant leg turnover. It’s hot on the way out and then you turn and hit a headwind. I had to stop having a sneaky peek up [along the bay] as it looks so far and instead just focused on 10m in front.”

The plan worked a treat with a 2:57:24 marathon to finish, but it was never going to be anything but hard work “I came into this race and thought I wanted to aim for top 10 but dreamt of a top five.

“When I was 1.5km from the finish, Bex shouted for me to soak it up because it’ll be the best 1.5km I’ll ever have. I thought, I’ll soak it up when I’ve reached the finish line, but right now I need that finish line!”