MIKE BRIDGE THIRD WELSH MAN

This has been quite a successful triathlon season all in all, having finished third under 23 in the British Olympic Distance Championships (one-mile swim, 25-mile bike, six-mile run) and second overall in the City of Nottingham Triathlon. These and few other top three finishes meant I qualified for the World Championships in Switzerland. However due to a problem with my race licence (apparently I don’t have one!) I was unable to attend.
However a second overall in the Welsh Sprint Distance Championships (half the Olympic) went some way to making up for this (especially the rather lucrative prize fund). Unfortunately things did not go so well at the Welsh Olympic Distance Championships three weeks later in Bala (before anyone says it, no it was not too windy on the bike!).
I woke up feeling as though I had a severe case of man flu, but as I had driven for four hours the day before and paid 50 quid to enter I inevitably was going to start. The lake temperature was 14 degrees centigrade, which is b****y cold. I lost over a minute on the swim to my usual rivals clocking 20:21, then about 30 seconds on the bike a respectable, but not great, 1:05, but the worst came as I entered what is usually my strongest discipline, the run. Here my body finally said enough is enough as I crawled up a never ending hill somewhere in North Wales. I lost over four minutes on the run leg. The upshot was I finished third Welsh man, but way behind the hordes of English, who made the trip, finishing only 15th overall. The course exacted quite a toll on the rest of the field as well with runners normally sub 30 boys struggling to do under 36. The bike course saw a few people go around in 58 minutes, but most of these were later disqualified for drafting (riding on a wheel). Overall a poor race for me, but one that means Bala will definitely be seeing me next year to exercise some ghosts.

Mike Bridge