3 members of Wight Tri travelled to the New Forest to take part in the Challenging events triathlons.
Jonny Woodhouse completed his first standard distance triathlon in the New Forest on Sunday, racing in the Huntsman Triathlon.
Jonny placed in the top 50 after crossing the line in 02:28:44. The conditions were challenging as the torrential rain and hail caused havoc for competitors. Jonny completed the 1.1k swim in 00:32:30, the 33km bike course in 01:07:51, and the 9km run at 41:41.
Jonny is now looking forward to starting marathon training for Manchester in October later this year. Russ was also doing the standard distance, but with a combination of the hyperthermic conditions and a mechanical problem on the bike, he had to pull out after the bike leg.
Richard Bulmer took on the middle distance triathlon, as a warn up for Ironman Vitoria Gasteiz in Spain in July and his first race of the season.
Richard had a good swim even though he hadn’t swum for several months. The swim of 1.9km was an easy 39 mins on a no pressure rolling start which was very well organised and appreciated by all.
However, on exiting the lake, the heavens had opened and he was met by very heavy rain throughout most of the race. With a long 850m run to transition, Richard decided to don lots of clothing to keep warm on the bike; arm warmers, cycling jacket, rain jacket, and gloves and it proved to be the right thing to do as it raining for long periods with strong wind throughout most of the bike.
The roads were generally in poor to very poor condition in parts and there were many punctures from other riders. The rough road conditions and wind sapped the strength from his legs and it became a long and tedious 90k, which Richard completed in 3hrs 21 mins.
Onto the 1/2 marathon run which he took very steady, suffering from cramp for long periods and had to keep walking to ease it off. However, with the help of energy drinks and gels, he was able to pick up the pace at the end and finished in a slow 2hrs 3 mins and well outside his best.
He completed the course in 6hrs 31 mins and 6th in the 55-59 age group. At the end, Richard responded with the following statement:
“All in all a day to stay in bed!”
