Viceroys Fab and Trevor travelled to the south coast to complete the Portsmouth Triathlon. As 
they were unable to register the day before they had to be there before 5.30am, arriving bleary eyed at 0515 in the morning, registered then set up in transition – in the dark!
they were unable to register the day before they had to be there before 5.30am, arriving bleary eyed at 0515 in the morning, registered then set up in transition – in the dark!‘This was to be the last race of the season for both of us and the Standard distance. I hadn’t done an Olympic for three years as I had been content to just do Sprints so I was a little apprehensive. The swim was in the sea and the tide was low so this necessitated a “sea run” to the first buoy. The bike was fast and flat consisting of one long loop of 12k out through the Naval Dock Yard then four shorter laps of 7k The run was again a fairly flat two lap course out and back by the sea.
My race went well from the 7.00 am start. Apart from the “sea run” out to the first buoy, the swim was good. I exited the water from my Age 50+ group in 6th place out of about forty so I was pleased with that. Then on to the bike. The course was all closed roads which reminded me a bit of London Tri and because it was flat I managed an average speed of 33k. Three of the swimmers who were out before me were very fast on the bike so I didn’t see them again. Two others I overtook and I was overtaken by one behind. As this was the first wave I found myself doing the first two laps completely on my own relying on marshals to tell me where to go. It wasn’t until lap three that I started to see other riders emerging from the later waves. Back into transition and still in fifth place in the wave, I walked the bike back to my position feeling stiff and in pain from the ride. Out on to the run I didn’t think I would complete it as my legs were very painful. However this seemed to wear off and I settled into the first lap which went surprisingly quickly. By the start of the second lap however quite a few younger competitors from my wave had overtaken me but I was still in the lead in my actual age group, not for long as I was overtaken by a very good runner who was the same age so I ended up finishing 2nd in my age group and in a reasonable position overall.
I think Fab must have decided that the race was going to be too easy and too short! So she managed to do an extra 100 metres on the swim and did entirely her own thing on the bike! She completed three long laps of 12k and one short one! Adding another few miles on the bike. Out on the run she was going well when she was misdirected at the end of her first lap and had to retrace about another couple of hundred metres. To add insult to injury she was placed as DNF because she missed the lap-mat on the bike! It was a great shame as she may have won her age group if she had completed the course properly! ‘
As raced and reported by Trevor Hartley
