Wight Tri member, Nick Kenny made another long journey from the Isle of Wight to take on the Sandman Legend Distance Triathlon on the island of Anglesey in Wales last weekend.
This is a 1900m swim, 92k bike and half marathon distance event in a stunning location.
Raceday started as a beautiful morning with the sun rising behind the vista of the Snowdonia mountain range providing the backdrop for the sea swim in the Menai strait. The sea was pancake flat, with dolphins joining competitors in the water, easily visible from the shore.
Nick had a good swim, exiting in just over 34 minutes in the middle of the pack. There was then a 19km run across the beach to transition. The bike course was rolling hills with a couple of steep climbs. Nick was awestruck and kept looking around enjoying the views forgetting he was in a race, but he felt strong and eventually got his head down and made up a lot of places with the terrain suiting his cycling style.
Nick completed the cycle leg in 2:53 which was the 9th fastest overall bike split. The run was the toughest half marathon he had ever done. Undulating and all off road through sandy forest trails and sections along the beach.
Unfortunately Nick felt he had got his nutrition wrong as on the second lap he was exhausted and dizzy and was losing places in what is usually his strongest discipline.
However, he took a break at a feed station to hydrate and take on fuel which really helped and then managed to catch a couple of people who had passed him earlier on. With a run time of 1:48, he finished 10th overall and second in the 50-55 age group in a time of 5hrs 25 mins.
After the race, Nick said:
“It was a great day’s racing in beautiful surroundings, Sandman is definitely the right name.”
