Swapping their buckets and spades for swim, bike and run gear saw Michelle Convoy, Julie Barrow, Andrew Coker, and Alistair Doig visit the seaside to tackle the annual Great Yarmouth Triathlon hosted by ActiveTrainingWorld.

Both KLTC ladies and Coker (debuting at his first-ever triathlon) chose the Sprint Triathlon = 750m swim, 21km bike, 5km run. The event began with a beach start and a North Sea swim, (which is much more challenging than a typical open water or pool swim).  Heading North along the seafront on the bike leg they cycled inland to ride round the surrounding Norfolk countryside before returning to the seafront for a multi-lap run leg on the promenade to the finish line.

Julie barrow was first home in 01:25:18 and 2nd in her age category,  Barrow enjoyed the sea swim, but vowed for her next sea swim triathlon, to be in the Caribbean.

Coker was next home for our club, setting his first sprint time in 01:30:25, "After completing the lap of Anglia cycle ride in 2019, I decided to give triathlons a go with the intention of doing Hunstanton then Wells last year. I set about learning to swim with the help of the brilliant tri club coaches. To cut a long story short everything got cancelled. I got covid in January and eventually found myself on Yarmouth beach at 7 am about to do my first sea swim."

Convoy placed 2nd in her age category with 01:44:04, "It was a really good bike ride and run, but the swim had to be cut short due to crosswinds. I enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend it, and will do it again. It was my first time swimming  in the sea, I think I liked it and would like to do more."

Doig wanted a little more and chose the ‘challenge’ event which featured a 3-lap 2250m swim, 62km bike, and a 15km run. Doig finished 12th overall in 03:46:14.

“I toyed with either the Olympic or the challenge, but went for the challenge, for a challenge. I felt the sprint would be too short but the challenge did get a bit lonely, although that was probably because the revised swim lap was so short for the Oly/Sprint."

"Dodging the mobility scooters on the run reminded me of Mario cart at times, either trying to overtake them or avoid them as they headed towards you.”

Outlaw X weekend 2021 took place in Thoresby Park, Nottingham.

Helen Melville and John Sayer represented KLTC on the day. 

The so-called 70.3 distance tests both your mental and physical strength as you swim 1.2 miles (1.9K), bike 56 miles (90K), and run 13.1 miles (21.1K)

Competitors swam in Thoresby Lake, then mounted their bikes to embark on a spectacular ride through the north Nottinghamshire countryside before completing their epic journey with a half marathon run through 1000 acres of unspoiled English countryside within the grounds of the Historic Park.

Debuting at this distance Melville set a time of 06:32:51. 

“The swim was ridiculously weedy, a channel had supposedly been cut, but it was so shallow and full of weed that people were wading at points! The transitions were massive too, the swim out to bike out transition was probably nearly 1km! The bike was great though,  I had a tailwind for the first half and whizzed along at nearly 19mph average, but unfortunately watched that tick down on the second half biking into the wind."

"My aim was to not walk on the run but I underestimated how much the bike would have taken out of me, despite nutrition and HR strategies going bang on to plan. Made it to mile 6 without walking, then an uphill section on rough grass got the better of me."

"I swam in the lake my dad used to fish as a child, cycled past my first ever home, ran past my grandparent's home where my dad grew up and where we played as children. Ran past the church we got married in and the hall at the start/finish where we had our wedding reception so all in all, it was a pretty special race. Having the family finishes back on and having Grace finish with me was great. Will go back next year. To volunteer!!!!!!!”

Sayer finished in 07:27:15. "It was a lovely day out with a half distance PB for me.  I’d like to thank the club for all their support in readying me for this event" 

Also part of the Outlaw X weekend was an event designed to encourage the next generation of triathletes over the weekend saw the Future Outlaw Run. Starting close to Thoresby Hall, it took junior runners 1.2 miles (1.9km) on a flat and fast course around the estate, mostly on tarmac except for the short, unpaved woodland path. A slight downhill run into the finishing line saw both triathlete's children set impressive times. Mini Melville set a time of 14:18 with mini Sayer close behind in 14:40.

Thompson

 Emma Thompson travelled North West to IRONMAN Bolton for her 70.3. This was her third attempt at the 70.3 distance. Bolton being a particularly hilly event saw Thompson swim in the Pennington Flash lake, before taking to the bike and enjoying some beautiful scenery amongst the other endurance triathletes, finishing in the heart of the town centre. 

Thompson set a 9min PB at this distance with 07:07:40.

"Swim seemed easy, although the lake was totally minging. The first 20 miles of the bike was a breeze really, averaging 16.5 mph. Then the hills hit, really tough but the weather was great and the support on the route was awesome! I felt great on the run till mile 9 then everything hurt! The run was pretty grueling at times, long drags but some nice downhills too! all in all a great day, I really enjoyed it."