TriPurbeck Girls Storm Vichy

Still smarting a bit from some over officious officiating at Alpe D’Huez, Fran was out for retribution in the Half Vichy on Sunday along with Liz Hall who has been building for this race for a while. We woke up on Sunday morning to perfect conditions for long distance triathlon racing – blue skies, no wind and an air temperature of 43oC – doh! The race organisers were forced to reduce the iron distance Challenge Vichy to a half distance race due to the heat effectively meaning that 2 identical races ran in two waves. The organisers erected 5 cold showers around the loop of the run course and stationed paramedics everywhere to pull out competitors who looked a bit dodgy (I think). Liz had a good swim coming out in 35minutes while Fran had a mare – partly because she was cagey due to a torn intercostal muscle, partly because it was a non-wetsuit swim and she sank, partly because the bloke in front of her at the start didn’t move and the 20 blokes behind her swam straight over her and partly because her chip fell off her leg and she had to fist swim for a bit so she didn’t lose it. Apart from that it went well! Normal service resumed after transition with Fran ripping through the 20 or so girls ahead of her into 2nd place as the bike developed. Liz was also biking very strongly on a fairly flat course. Fran overtook the 2nd place girl riding a very flashy timetrial bike and was a bit disgruntled to see that her competitor chose to illegally tuck in on Fran’s wheel for a tow. A few miles later she was still there so TriPurbeck’s turbocharged titch put her foot down and dropped her. Turns out the girl in question is the 2008 Spanish national road race champion!

Back at base Fin got stung by a wasp and 3 of the paramedics rushed to his assistance with oxygen bottles and a defib – not that he is a drama queen or anything. Fran arrived back before my earliest estimated possible time in 2nd place having biked the 59mile course in 2hour 39min (work that out) on a road bike. She overhauled the girl in front of her quickly to lead after 5oom of the run. Liz posted a brilliant 2hr 58min split on the bike  and ran out strongly. Spanish road racing lady turned out to be a good runner and overhauled Fran at about the 5k marker, winning the half. Fran ran well fnishing 2nd in 5hr08mins in front of packed grandstands. Liz ran so fast that I completely missed her come round the first lap and clocked a sub 2hr half marathon to finish in 5hr 41mins.   

So in summary…….

Fran won her age group by a mile even if the 2 races were amalgamated.

Liz went up a level in this race and took 2nd place in her age group - great result.

If the two races were put together, Fran would have finished 7th overall beating some of the pros – the prize money for 7th place was 1000 euros! (only elligible if you have a pro licence).

Finlay is recovering from his wasp sting but is still very happy to talk about it.

When we eventually got to the 50m outdoor pool in the afternoon the temperature reading was 56oC in the sun.

 Liz on the podium