Four WightTri members, Laura Abrook, Nina French, Kev Winchcombe and Nick Kenny took on the Outlaw Bowood Half Ironman Triathlon, taking place at Bowood House, Wiltshire.
Starting with a 1.2 mile swim in the Bowood Lake, followed by a 56 mile cycle around the Wiltshire countryside to finish with a 3 lap, 13.1mile run through the Bowood estate. It was a beautiful weekend away with performances that matched the toughness of the course.
This was the first event for Laura, having given birth to twin girls only ten months ago, and for Kevin who despite carrying a long term Achilles injury and unable to run at all for several months decided to race anyway, but defied medical knowledge by finishing.
First to finish of the quartet was Nick who had a solid performance to finish 17th in the 50-54 category in 5hrs 12 mins seven secs, with splits of 37:51 for the swim; 2:47:29 fir the cycle and finishing with a swift 1:41:37 for the half marathon run.
Kevin, also in this age group, swam well to post 37:49 for the swim, and then completed the cycle route in 3:10:08. However, he showed his true courage and determination to complete the run in 2:49:13 to finish in 6:47:39, despite being in pain!
Even though Laura’s babies didn’t give her the best preparation on race morning, or allow her to really train at all, she showed how tough she is, to complete such a long event so close to giving birth.
A super swim (38:31), a solid bike (3:25:02) and a really strong run (22:47) to finish, awarded Laura with a 6:37:28 overall time and 34th in 30-34 Age Group. However, the best award was waiting for her at the end … her husband Josh with her twin girls!
Nina had a super race, with excellent split times in all disciplines, starting with a 38:01 swim, storming the bike leg with a 3:03:21 split, and 2:12:06 for the run, to finish in a very commendable time of 6:04:45 and 5th out of 24 in the 55-59 age group.
Many congratulations to all, racing and competing in the true spirit of triathlon.
News shared by Liz on behalf of Wight Tri. Ed
