Lanzarote Information

I had the opportunity to interview Bella Comerford, as she was back then in 2002, just prior to the Lanzarote Ironman event. It was just after the press conference in Puerto del Carmen and we were walking along “The Strip”, Bella was a newcomer to the Ironman here that year, and was already making the headlines. Bella had raced in Ibiza the week before and her feet were blistered and in a terrible state, there were many who said she shouldn’t race in that condition, but Bella, who was quite amused by the attention, said she’d be fine, and went on to come in third!

Last year, Bella returned to compete in Lanzarote Ironman 2008, and with the support of partner Stephen Bayliss, she won the event.  Bella and Stephen married on the 29th November 2008. This year both members of ‘Team Bayliss’ will be competing on Saturday, with the benefit of 6 weeks local training at Club La Santa. You can read Bella’s profile here on the teamTBB site, we caught up with her this week for a second interview………

What's the hardest section on the Lanzarote bike circuit? 

It depends how the wind is blowing, that’s what can make it more difficult.  Some days it’s easy on a part that can be really difficult the next because the wind is blowing!  Lanzarote has done an amazing job on nearly all of the Ironman bike course roads.  They’re now smooth and perfect, which is a huge difference to years ago when much of the roads were very rough.  There is only 1 rough part left ….…..its a 2km section from Nazaret to San Bartolomé – that part is not so nice!

Who cooks at home?

I cook!  Stephen is the mechanic!  I like to keep my customer happy so I always make a nice meal!  We decide that evening what will be best for us to eat, but always some nice meat with good vegetables or salad and some pasta or rice.  I don't think I cook extravagant meals, but my customer says every night that it is "the best dinner ever!!"  so my ratings are pretty good!!  :)

What is your favourite place in Lanzarote and why?

I love the beautiful part near La Geria, I think the very black landscape is amazing, with all the vine plants all neatly planted with their own hole and wall to grow in.  But it was difficult to pick one part really, it is such a stunning island - every way you look it has a beautiful and amazing part to it.

What's the one thing that you would recommend everyone should do in Lanzarote?

Get a bike and ride around the whole island!!  Or if you can’t ride, rent a car and do it!  The whole island is worth seeing!

Do you have a favourite restaurant or café on the island?

Stephen and I like nearly always like to eat at home, but we did go for a very nice  meal at Bellavista between Tinajo and La Santa.  It has an amazing view of the ocean looking down to Club La Santa, La Santa, the Mirador del Río and the island of La Graciosa. The meal was very good and the chef was a great marathon runner who came 2nd at the Lanzarote marathon last year!

You've been in Lanzarote for the past 6 weeks with Stephen, has it all been training or have you found time to chill and relax?

Stephen and I spend a lot of time training!  There is not so much "chilling out" time in mid season.  But we’ve had an afternoon here and there to relax.  One time we enjoyed a trip to Playa Blanca (since the Ironman does not go there, we hadn’t seen it!) and we had a nice drink at the marina.  Another time we went to Puerto del Carmen to buy some new clothes!  After the Ironman we’d like to go for coffee at the Mirador del Rio as the cafe there looks lovely.

You've been missing TV whilst staying at Club La Santa, what do you like to watch?

Stephen likes to watch ANYTHING!!  If the TV is on, he’ll get glued to it!!  I’m not so fussy, as I’m almost always too busy to sit down!  But sometimes it is just nice to sit and relax in front of TV! If we had to pick something, ..we like to watch sport.  At the moment it has been the Giro d'Italia, if we had more time in the afternoon to sit down, we would love to see more of that.

You were adopted by a kitten at Club La Santa, have you found a new mum for him when you leave?

Oohhhh, the kitten!  (I call him "The Kitten"!)  It is such a cute little thing, and in real need of a mum.  I found him because it had such a loud voice - he was wanting something!?!!  It looked thin so I started to feed it,  he shouted 3 times a day, so I fed him 3 times a day.  There was no way I can take it with me, so I told a couple of the girls I got to know from The Green Team about him, and they will look after him now.

Where are you heading off to after Lanzarote? 

When we leave Lanzarote, we head to our home in Switzerland!  We’ve been on our travels for almost 5 months now, ..moving from one training venue to a race, to another training venue to a race etc etc!!  So we are looking forward to being home again,  we have a small apartment in the mountains of Leysin and we love it!

What's your next event?

Our next race is the UK Ironman 70.3 on June 14th.  All going well, we’ll both be there racing.  I won it last year and Stephen came 2nd so we will see what we can do this year!

Are you and Stephen competitive with each other?

We don't think we’re competitive with each other, we just want the best for both of us, and happy to see each other doing very well.  Stephen is a very good male athlete, and even though I am a decent girl athlete, when we’re doing our training (unless its a purposefully easy season), I can’t keep up with Stephen in the swim, bike or run.  When training, we often leave the house together for our sessions and we join back up to cool down together.

You have competed in so many events! Do you have a favourite one?

I have so many great memories of the races I have done, It’s difficult to pick one race.  My 7th place at the World Championships in Hawaii last year was very special – to get a top 10 there is really difficult,  my goal was to come in the top 10, so to finish 7th was just brilliant.  All of my 11 Ironman wins are very special to me, I can remember every single one of them perfectly.

How cool would it be to have a Team Bayliss first for you and Stephen in Lanzarote Ironman 2009? 

For Stephen and I to both win on Saturday would be a perfect dream come true.  It would be very very very special!!!!  However, we try not to think about "just winning", instead we’re concentrating on each step we do before and during the race to make it possible to put ourselves in a position of winning. This year is a competitive field in both the men's and woman's events, but we’re not scared!

Is there anything else you would like to tell us?

Thanks for interviewing me!

Good luck Bella & Stephen, please give them a big cheer on Saturday,

Bella is competitor number 33 and Stephen 6

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Ironman Lanzarote 2011