Five tackle tough Lakes challenges
FIVE Rossendale Triathlon Club members travelled to the Lake District last weekend to take part in triathlons, with three attempting longer distances for the first time.
The Lakesman triathlon is a well established event based out of Keswick on the shore of Derwent Water which offers competitors the choice of a full distance or half distance race.
Rebecca Simms opted to take on the half distance for the first time, a 1.2 mile swim, followed by a 56 mile bike and a 13 mile run to finish.
Rebecca completed the swim in just over 50 minutes, the bike in 4 hours and 3 minutes and the half marathon run at the end in 3 hours and 2 minutes giving her an overall finish time of 8 hours and 6 minutes a great result and fantastic achievement.
Michael Hilton has raced the half distance on numerous occasions so knew what to expect. Despite a poor swim time of just over 44 minutes Michael put in a superb performance on the scenic bike route posting a great time of 2 hours and 41 minutes.
Michael started well on the run, his strongest discipline but the heat of the day started to take its toll and he finished the run in 1 hour and 44 minutes giving him an overall time of 5 hours, 18 minutes.
Two club members, Steven Gregory and Lucy Parker decided to challenge themselves to the full distance event. Steven has completed full distance events before and was last at The Lakesman Triathlon in 2018 as part of a relay team. Lucy was attempting this distance for the first time.
The full, or iron distance triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26 mile run.
Always at the sharp end in races, Steve didn’t disappoint this time either. Despite suffering stomach problems he still managed to finish 10th in his Age Group with an overall time of 11 hours 47 minutes. This broke down into a swim time of 54 minutes, 52 seconds a personal best, a bike split of 5 hours, 44 minutes and a marathon run time of 4 hours 59 minutes. Steve was disappointed he couldn’t perform to his full potential but showed true grit and determination by completing the event.
Lucy had been training hard, particularly on the bike with long hours and big mileages and was really happy with an overall time of 13 hours and 31 minutes. This time placed her as the 26th female overall and 7th in her Age Group, a fabulous result. A 7 hour, 12 minute bike and a 5 hour, 32 minute marathon showing that her hard work over the last year paid off.
Lauren Navan also opted for the Lake District but decided to take on another well established and challenging half distance triathlon, A Day in the Lakes. This event is based at Pooley Bridge on the shore of Ullswater and starts with a 1.2 mile swim in the lakes clear waters.
This is then followed by an undulating 56 mile bike route and finishes with a half marathon of 13.1 miles. Lauren has improved massively in all three disciplines since joining the club and a finish time of 6 hours and 7 minutes and 8th in her Age Group for her first half ‘iron’ distance triathlon is a fantastic achievement.
Lauren’s time splits were 40 minutes for the swim, 3 hours, 10 minutes for the bike and 2 hours, 9 minutes for the run.
To round off an outstanding weekend of triathlon for Rossendale veteran member Tony Gretton raced at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire.
Tony is concentrating on Sprint and Super Sprint triathlons and had already had a great result at St Anne’s in May with 7th place in his Age Group.
It was another trophy to add to the cabinet as Tony finished 1st in the Vet 60 Age Group at Cholmondeley with an overall time of 1 hour, 29 minutes. This broke down into 13 minutes, 8 seconds for the 400 metre swim, 46 minutes, 31 seconds for the 20km bike and 26 minutes 28 seconds for the 4km run.
The club hold weekly run, bike and swim training sessions and always welcome new members. If you’re interested visit our website, Facebook page or just come along to Marl Pits track in Rawtenstall anytime after 6pm on a Thursday evening to chat to members and coaches.