A merry band of Viceroys boys headed to Grafham Lake for the Anglian Water Olympic Triathlon hosting the final 2014 European qualifier: Clarkie, Mark Yeoman, Peter Bell and Matt Storr. All triathletes pushed themselves to their limits, lining up against some of the best age groupers in the country trying to achieve the qualifying standard for the GB team at the Europeans in 2014.

The approach of Viceroys to the race was mixed:  Clarkie had considered not racing as he was still not feeling on top form  from the race the previous weekend, but thought he’d give it one more blast before the end the season; Peter went there with the intention of testing myself against a quality field and seeing just how much he’d need to improve to get to the GB qualifying standard; having limped home last  Saturday, Mark was under no illusions that only having ran 3x 5km in 5 week, a tough 10km was going to be too much for even him.

And so the race began: ‘ The race ended up being a test of how much I didn’t want to have my first DNF rather than how fast can I go and could  I finish in the top 3 in the 45-49 AG,’ explained Clarkie. ‘My swim went well,  I got some good advice from Mr Yeoman about the charge to the first buoy and keeping right as the wind would take a lot of swimmers off course.  I swam well, got lost on the last bouy as full sun in your face meant no one could see where they were going! But I came out the water in second place which was great for me, a PB for the distance.’ Meanwhile Peter was certainly not so happy, claiming a ‘Shockingly bad swim, and worse, I have no idea why. I took Mark’s advice about where to line up at the start and went fast at the gun. However, for some reason I struggled sighting the buoys and I spent a lot of time zig-zagging across the course. I was devastated when I came out the water, only to find my bike being one of the last still on the rack!’ Mark the Shark had a good swim and lead the way but the final buoy eluded him in the sun and he went off course, frustratingly losing the chance of setting the fastest swim. Continue reading →