Viceroys Lara Clay, Rachel Hall, Kyle Young, Tim Ferguson, Peter Bell, Mick Tumilty, James Turner, Lance Keeson, Phil Sumner, Andrew Hedges and Kevin Dargue all headed to Docklands over the weekend of 2nd / 3rd August to take on the London triathlon; as has become the norm with Viceroys mass events, they hit it hard and with style. Rachel, Phil and James all timed PBs, Kevin completed his first (but not last) Olympic distance tri; Mick, Pete, Tim, James all smashed the sub 2.30 barrier. Lara and Phil clocked a swim PB, Rachel a bike PB, Lara and Kyle were both so confident with their cycling that they cycled a little bit extra of this section of the course (oops!).
Our triathletes tell us a little more about their racing, beginning with Lara: ‘this has got to be the year of ‘make sure you read the race pack instructions’…
The swim was pretty brutal. Even before we set off, it seemed everyone around me was incapable of treading water without kicking me (Andrew described his 30mins 06 secs swim as ‘violent, a bit like a scene from Fight Club’). The start was a bit if a mosh pit to begin with, as it was last year, and the only way to avoid it was getting into some clear water and not drafting. At the turning buoy a girl hooked her arm around my neck and pulled me into a headlock! Hopefully it was just her swimming style! In the second half I managed to draft off some feisty toes, so much splash I struggled to breathe on occasions, but good to draft off. Swim time was 24:33, much improved on last year’s 27:51 and a PB by 2 minutes.
The bike started out fantastic, I was loving every minute. Off to Westminster I went, thinking there was a positive to such an early wave – I got to see the sights of London! On my second lap to Westminster my (man’s) saddle was proving rather uncomfortable! It was so wide it hurt my inner thighs and made my legs and feet go numb!’
Andrew was a little more poetic in his description of the bike course: ‘undulating, a bit like a scene out of E.T’
Anyway, back to Lara: ‘As I approached Billingsgate Junction on the way back to Excel I saw James, which I thought was weird as he’d started 40mins after me……..the realisation of my error still hadn’t kicked in! Onto the run, my legs were agony, I could hardly walk, let alone run! I battled through with the help of James, Tim and shoulder-tapping Pete and ended up taking over a minute and a half off the run compared to last year (although it was still a very slow 56 mins).
My finish time was over 3 hours, a little odd as I was hoping for something between 2:30-2:40. I then realised that James wasn’t cutting corners at Billingsgate, I should have turned there too! Worked out I’d added about another 15 very uncomfortable km on the bike.
Thankfully Monday night swim group wouldn’t let me forget it either!’
Ooops… and to finish, a few more stats:
Andrew: Swim: 30mins 06; Bike: 01hr 03mins; Run: 42mins 42secs Total: 02hrs 21mins 55secs Total: 02hrs 21mins 55secs
Phil: 02 40
Rachel: Swim 00:29:25; Bike 01:24:15; Run 01:02:47 Total 03:05:56.
Kevin: Swim 29.43, Bike 1.07.49, Run 45.40. Total 2.30.50
Peter: Swim 27:18 ; Bike 1:06:23; Run 37:09 Total 2:16:08
Michael: Swim 00:33:11, bike 01:02:13, run 00:43:09 TOTAL 02:24:04
Tim: Swim 00:28:18, Bike 01:03:43, Run 00:43:19, Total 02:21:24.
James Miami Vice Turner: Swim 00:23:15, Bike 01:00:13, Run 00:40:12, Total 02:09:27.
Kyle: 3.18
