Jan Fletcher took 1st female spot and 1st place in the PSUK National Standard Triathlon Championships at the Blithfield Triathlon in the West Midlands in her final race of the season on Sunday 20th August.
The 1500m swim was in Blithfield Reservoir, a balmy 19 degrees and comprised of 2 laps. Given the bright but low sun, it was difficult to sight the buoys, but Jan came out in a competitive 8th position out of the 44 female competitors.
The 39km undulating bike leg was 2 laps of the surrounding roads, taking in some beautiful scenery. Being one of Jan’s strongest legs, she improved her placing, passing a number of competitors and at times felt like she was playing cat and mouse whilst overtaking and being overtaken by 2 other females during the latter part of the course. As she headed into T2 and out onto the final run leg, she had no idea what position she was in.
The gruelling run leg was two out and back 5km laps and incorporated a lot of lumpy gravel paths and went part way across the reservoir dam before returning to the sailing club. Jan twisted her left ankle at the start of the run in one of the many potholes which made for a more challenging final leg. She pushed on as hard as she could despite the challenging terrain and was aware that she had passed a number of other females on the run but none had passed her so was hoping to have placed well.
The final results confirmed Jan was the 1st female to finish the standard distance triathlon and that she had also taken the PSUK National Standard Distance Triathlon Championship title.
