London Olympic Distance Triathlon

Sunday, 10th August 2008

Last weekend saw the largest gathering of triathletes in the world with over 13,000 taking part in a sprint and Olympic distance races at the Mazda London Triathlon. For the Hadleigh Hares, Tim Bowman, Doug Grimwade and Paul Barton took part in the 40-44 age group Olympic distance race and Marianne Aitken took part in the all-female race. Centred around the massive Excel Centre the 1500m swim took place in the Victoria Dock, the 40km cycle ride saw the competitors enter Central London taking in many sights on the way and the 10km run required two laps of a flat course running the perimeter of the docks.

With Barton, Grimwade and Bowman starting at the same time it was to prove a very competitive race. With Grimwade trying to erase the memories of a bad race at London the previous year and Bowman determined to beat Grimwade for the first time this season a closely fought battle was on the cards. Bowman exited the water first in 29:13 followed closely by Grimwade in 29:20 and Barton in 30:07. Grimwade and Bowman duelled on the bike leg, each taking the lead from the other several times, but it was Bowman who came into transition first completing the bike leg in 1:08:29. Grimwade followed closely in 1:08:49 and was determined to catch Bowman on the run leg. Barton completed a solid bike leg in 1:09:43. So it was all down to the run leg. Hard work by Grimwade allowed him to pass Bowman after 2km and Grimwade completed the first lap in 20:29 staying 30m ahead of Bowman who completed the lap in 21:22. Despite a massive PB on the run by Bowman he was unable to catch Grimwade who completed the run in 40:54 compared to Bowman's 41:49. An elated Grimwade was crestfallen to discover he had been given a 2-minute penalty during the race and this meant that Bowman was the first Hare home in an impressive 24th place in a time of 2:24:34. Grimwade dropped to 32nd place finishing in an overall time of 2:26:07. Barton finished in 65th place in an overall time of 2:31:48.

Aitken started with a solid swim under crowded conditions with a time of 33:10. An impressive bike leg of 1:18:02 provided Aitken with the platform she needed to aim for a personal best time. A solid run leg with negative split lap times of 25:37 and 25:17 bought a tired but happy Aitken to an impressive 33rd place overall and a new personal best of 2:47:54.