Originally planned to be held at Yaverland Sailing and Boat Club, but due to the sewage outfall into the sea at Yaverland, the event was quickly transferred to Totland Esplanade.
However, another outfall occurred at Totland on the morning of the event, and the Event Organiser had to make the safe decision for the triathlon to be changed to the duathlon format.
With the transition on the seafront, all 15 competitors started with a 2.7 km run, taking in a hilly climb up to the clifftop returning back downhill to complete an out and back flat section halfway to Colwell Bay, to return to transition ready for the bike leg.
This was a choice of a short 17km loop or the longer, hillier 27km loop which took the cyclists up over the hills and along the coast towards Brooke, before turning to meet the shorter route which meandered out to Yarmouth prior to the return to T2. The final run was either 1 or 2 laps of the first 2.7km run.
Both the Male and Female Club Champion Awards were up for the taking and held over the long course of 2.7kmrun/ 27km cycle/5.4km run. The Nominated Time Club Champion Award was also decided on the day, with nominations from either short or long courses.
All competitors were set off at the same time, with Dean Pike and Sean Williams setting the pace for the men, coming into T1 only a second apart with Dean in 10:26 and Sean in 10:27.
Upfront for the women, were Jan Fletcher, who had just returned from Valencia, having achieved a superb Bronze medal at the European AG Sprint Triathlon Championships, and 2nd claim Wight Tri member, Millie Williams, who completed their first run in 11:50 and 11:36 respectively. The battle continued out on the bike for both couples.
However, Jan’s bike strength and experience quickly shown through as she passed Millie in the first few miles, making up over 5 mins by T2, posting 56:18, with Millie in 1:01:28.
Meanwhile, the men were changing positions continually, with them forcing the best of performances out of each other, but no one was giving in!
With Sean completing the bike in 48:38 and Dean 48:40, they ran in and out of transition together and continued locked together for both laps of the run. It was a superb match to watch, each matching stride for stride throughout.
However, the final sprint finish of Dean, just saw him stretch away from Sean in the final few metres. They had run 22:04 and 22:09 for the 5.4km run, to give them overall times of 1:22:06 and 1:22:09 respectively with Dean winning the Wight Tri Club Champion Award.
Jan continued with a very strong 2nd run to finish in 1:33:41, having produced a fast 24:05. A fitting finale to an exceptional season by Jan. Millie finished 2nd in 1:42:31; surely a star of the future!
Perhaps disappointed to be pipped at the post, Sean soon bounced back as he was awarded the Nominated Club Champion Award. With a nominated time of 1:22:00, he had finished only 9 seconds outside this time.
Although this is the last event of the Wight Tri 2020/21 race season, Wight Tri will soon be holding their Annual Awards Evening and AGM and also the first event in the 2021/22 Winter Duathlon Series. Details for both events will be published on the WT FB Page.
Glad to see that Southern Water are minimising any ‘unnecessary’ sea discharges from their systems!