Triathlon with mates!

Result: 4th team / 68
Date: Saturday 20 September 2014
Format: 400m open water swim (x3), 15km flat road bike (x3), 5km flat run (x3)
Race website: http://www.thefixevents.com/content/the-tri-challenge-team-triathlon-2014/
Full results: http://www.thefixevents.com/content/the-tri-challenge-team-triathlon-results-2014/

My 2013 TRI Challenge race report finished with “Aim for the podium in 2014, guys?”. Well, we did aim, we had fun, and we came a fraction closer, but fourth place again is a fair reflection of how we were all feeling on the day.

We definitely feel like regulars now, and it was great to catch up with Dave and The Fix Events team. This race is a highlight for me every time, a refreshing change from the individual competition of the rest of the season.

As it turns out, versus my own performance last year, I was 7 seconds slower on the swim, 9 seconds slower on the bike, and 12 seconds slower on the run. It had to happen sooner or later I guess! Luckily, both Jon and Andy went faster than a year ago. Breakdown of our fourth place:

Swim: (A – Gareth) 5th, (B – Jon) 1st, (C – Andy) 7th
Cycle: (A – Gareth) 11th – 37.9km/h, (B – Jon) 4th – 38.7/km, (C – Andy) 9th – 38.2/km
Run: (A – Gareth) 7th – 3:40/km, (B – Jon) 12th – 3:56/km, (C – Andy) 28th – 4:06/km

What that doesn’t show is that I spent two of the bike laps in the overall race lead, and we didn’t get run off the podium until the last 2-3 km of the ninth and final leg of the whole relay. The race was dominated by Ful-On Tri again, who this year made up the other 9 teams in the top 10! We had great banter with them from start to finish. I do wish I had a club like this on my doorstep.

But next year – I mean it – we’re going to finish top 3! 🙂