Club Aquathlon 15 August 2008

Report by Alex Ilyat

After the cancellation of the official Aquathlon that was organised with the RNLI we decided to run a mini aquathlon on the Friday evening. The forecast for the 15th wasn’t too bad and it had been dry all day, however on the way to Tenby the heavens opened and the wind picked up and it looked as though the curse of the Aquathlon had struck for a second time. But the weather couldn’t deter a small but dedicated group of triathletes – Luke, Jake and Les Watson, Darren Evans, Dave Astins, Rhi Ace, Ian Cooper and me.

The sea conditions weren’t too bad, a little on the lumpy side maybe. Ian’s sister provided the safety cover and tried to direct stray swimmers in the right direction as we were using a couple of makeshift buoys which were a little small. The Watsons brought up the front and rear of the 600m swim in the tough conditions. The dash up the sandy beach into transition was no piece of cake either.

The run section was mostly off road, firstly down towards the golf club then along the cycle path before tuning left to head back towards the beach. The final 800m of the two lap course was along the beach. The tide was on the way out which left a band of slightly firmer sand to run along although it was still tough going. Luke stormed around the 5k course with the fastest run time of 17:50 to finish in a time of 27:07. The only battle for position was between Darren and me, unfortunately Darren is recovering from an injury so the victory was slightly hollow and I’m sure it is safe to say it will be the only time I can overtake him in a race.

A generous sponsor provided the prizes for the race (I expect to see my name on all the T-shirts next year!) Prizes were awarded to the top three men and first lady (the only one!). The team prize was won by team 2 (Jake, Dave, Alex and Rhi) in a time of 2:08:46. You can see photos of the presentation at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29560286@N02/sets/72157606761193884/ Notice how Luke is eating his prize in every photo!

Despite the conditions I think everyone enjoyed it so hopefully it will feature on next year’s race calendar.

P.S. Thanks to Brian and Ellie for time keeping and to Emily for cheering.

Results below: