The MyTriClub “Old Man” Middle Distance Triathlon took place on 5th June, named after the Old Man of Coniston mountain, rather than the nature of the field. This was a truly stunning course: a 2000m chilly swim in Coniston Water being followed by ascents of Wrynose and Hardknott passes (maxing at 33% gradient) and continuing on a 74km loop back to transition, with the fell run following a 20km loop taking in Wetherlam, Swirl How and finally the towering Old Man, before descending through old slate quarries back to the Lakeside.
A total of 60 took to the start line in the 12C water, completing two laps in fairly calm conditions. The relatively sparse field suited me well, settling into a good rhythm with some intermittent drafting helping me on my way. I exited the water in 15th position (not that I knew that at the time), as ever pleased to mount my trusty steed and get cracking on my strongest discipline. I was slightly unsettled to be overtaken in the early stages by one man going seemingly infeasibly fast, but I later discovered that this was a team cyclist en route to an event-record cycle time. The single track road up to Wrynose came around all too soon, but thanks to my new 11-28 cassette I plugged away quite happily, passing a number of athletes and was told at the pass (by a couple of tourists who I was hesitant to believe that I was in 3rd position). The remaining 60km were fairly solitary, P2 only coming into sight towards the end, but the ride felt strong in pretty decent conditions. T2 was fantastic, taking P2 and being informed that P1 was the lead team. I headed out on the run, through Coniston village and up the track to Coppermines Valley, causing a little confusion as I passed a number of entrants for a pure fell-run race! I knew these fells well and continued happily up the slightly scantily marked route, conserving energy by reverting to a powerwalk. A couple of hikers taking a break informed me that everyone behind me had taken a different turn up the hill, although I could clearly see the markers around me, so I shrugged and got on with it! Towards the top of Wetherlam I was joined by the lead team runner, who had clearly lost about 5 minutes from his wrong turn, but the company was welcome and I, as a novice fell-runner, was able to follow his line on the initial descent. The remaining path was clear – a rocky scramble to Swirl How, followed by an undulating ridge run to the Old Man and a steep decent through the slate quarries back to the path down to Coniston. By this stage the seasoned fell-runner representing the first place team had disappeared ahead and I was nervously looking over my shoulder for the next man behind me. But happily I only saw him in the closing stages about 500m behind! So I crossed the finishing line, slightly bemused, as first solo athlete – how did that happen!?
Not that they’ll mean that much, but splits:
2000m swim - 33:06 (15); 74km bike – 02:44:28 (2); 20km fell-run – 02:05:43 (4)
Overall 5:25:56 (2, first solo)
