MEET THE WINNER Having competed in

Twenty-two-year-old Tim Gordon is doing a PhD in marine biology. When he isn’t studying life in the deep sea, he’s beating deep fields of athletes with his multisporting prowess…

running events for some time now, I took up triathlon and multisport races a couple of years ago because I enjoyed the extra training variety. I entered the Devil’s Aquathlon because a friend who lives in Cheltenham challenged me to it. It sounded like fun so I visited for the weekend and we gave it a go.

I’m not a

great swimmer, and I was 15th out of the pool after a 2km swim in Sandford Parks Lido. I knew a tough 10km run up and down the infamous Leckhampton Hill would be challenging for those in front of me, and I had the chance to make up some places. I went hard out of transition, passing lots of runners and I ended up gaining 6mins on the leader, which was enough to take the win. I didn’t expect this at all and it was a really nice surprise!

I haven’t actually

done much racing this season, and instead I plan to concentrate on some winter fell races and get out on my bike some more. Beyond that I haven’t really decided what I’m going to do in 2017, but I’m sure there will be something in the pipeline fairly soon.

The Devil’s Aquathlon

is a great end-of-season challenge, and the combination of a swim in the lido followed by a very interesting run course makes it a brilliant event. If one thing’s for sure next year, it’s that I’ll be back to defend my title. Bring on next October!