A small middle distance race organised by Freak Events the race had many ‘quirky’ aspects to it to make it seem like an interesting challenge.
Firstly I had never done a middle distance event with a pool swim – in fact I’ve never raced a triathlon with a pool swim! The pool is within Millfield School surrounded by stunning countryside and situated near Glastonbury.
As pool swims generally are the 1900 metres felt pretty monotonous, my time of 34:50 seemed pretty slow and I can’t even blame an inaccurately measured course or the weather conditions (lesson learnt – stick to open water).
Once out on the bike we raced along some winding country roads, some roads being so narrow it was a struggle to squeeze past cars coming the other way. An undulating start to the bike course but feeling reasonably fast.
Then came the next highlight of the race at around the 20 mile mark, one of the reasons I had entered the race, we were going to race up the 7 mile climb through Cheddar Gorge and then race straight back down it. Was great to be racing with such great scenery, however being bank holiday weekend it was pretty tough trying to dodge traffic and tourists and at times got pretty dangerous! Once surviving the Gorge it was straight back along the same roads to the school ready for the run. With all the stopping, starting and dodging through Cheddar I was pleased with my time of 2 hours 41 minutes for the 52 mile bike course.
The run consisted of 5 laps around the school grounds and had been slightly shortened due to the rain the previous day. Mainly off road, and on grass for large sections, this was a pretty tough run; a short, steep grassy bank had been thrown in too just in case your quads weren’t cramping already. Despite being tough it was a good run route and the five laps seemed to fly by. Pleased with completing the run in 1:08 for the 10 miles it was good to head for the finish.
My final finish time was 4:28 giving me a fourth place finish overall. Overall a brilliant race set in a stunning location, certainly well worth doing!