Five things to know about Wimbleball 70.3

So, along came the weekend of the year when all the proper triathletes head down to Wimbleball for UK ironman 70.3. I went with them. Peter (already done it 3 […]

So, along came the weekend of the year when all the proper triathletes head down to Wimbleball for UK ironman 70.3. I went with them. Peter (already done it 3 times in case anyone thinks they are harder), John Skilton (no he’s not doing it is he?), Gail (raised a lot of money last year), Mandy (only learnt to swim last year) and Fran (must have taken a short cut) were joined by friend of Tripurbeck, Paul (my wife’s 38 weeks pregnant so I’m off to a race where there is no phone reception).

So what are the 5 things you should know should you be planning on going next year?(by the way we’re going to have a TriPurbeck camp! with flags and everything so get training)

1. Park next to sneaky John Skilton – all those holidays have left him possession of all the stuff you need for impromptu camping.

2. Take wellies.

3. Don’t run next to Mandy, she will try to take your mind off the pain by talking to you about how the sheep need a sheer.

4. Don’t rely on me for supportive comments – with Gail really struggling on the final lap of the run I came out with the all out encouraging “come on Gail you are nearly there, well sort of , actually you have got quite a long way to go but just keep plugging away” (sorry!)

5. Don’t enter any races against John Skilton or Paul – they are sneaky and go too fast.

6. Fran is fast.

7. I can’t count.

So here is the summary:

John went very fast and mullered his 6.39 target (not sure why he chose such an odd number) by 12 minutes. I never saw Paul as he went so fast I was looking in the wrong places – 6.19 is a proper time, especially when you factor in the 9 minutes he took in transition the first time around (????) and he didn’t even go for a poo unlike last year. Peter clocked a decent time but I suspect he is saving himself for something else. Gail was going very well but suffered on the run, mostly due to the incompetent support offered (see comment above). Fran, the diminutive demon, clocked a fairly remarkable 5.32, finished 16th overall and was mixing it with the pros until a dodgy gel saw her drop off on the run. But, and this is an important but, with out a shadow of doubt, for me the biggest performance of the day came from Mandy. Nevermind making the cut off, 39 minutes for 1900m swimming for someone who couldn’t front crawl 18 months ago, 4ish hours on the bike on the toughest 70.3 course in the world for someone who used to uncleat up steep hills in case she fell off and 2.10 for a half marathon after that. That is what TriPurbeck is all about!

Awesome (as Annie would say) stuff guys – who’s in next year?

 

 

 

About Ade

What ever your goals in life may be, there is always time to achieve them. You might want to lose weight, run your first 5k, or improve your personal best, whatever your specific goals are you can achieve them with structure, time management and determination!