King’s Lynn Triathlon Club’s local heroes Jamie Sparrow and Dan Guppy were on top form at one of the area’s sporting highlights, the Norfolk Superhero Quadrathlon.
Involving a 1mile swim from Gun Hill to the quay at Burnham Overy Staithe, a 4mile kayak through the creeks, a 45mile cycle around North Norfolk followed by a little 8mile offroad run involving beaches, marsh and more water, The “Flying Fish” team finished the swim just out of the top 10 but improved to 5th place by the end of the ride. Despite sparrow having nasty road rash from coming in to T3 in a dramatic fashion, the dynamic duo posted the fastest run of the day to finish first overall and win the coveted Lord Nelson Cup in a total time of 4hrs25min19s (20min51/50min01/2hrs05/1hr05).
Meanwhile over at Rutland Water, Chris Playford decided to take part in the Dambuster triathlon but avoid the 10km run, otherwise his 1.5km swim in 26min and 21mph average on the bike over 42km would have seen him in the top rankings for his AG.
Jemma Redhead and David Hicks were also mixing things up a bit in Bedford’s Box End park by racing a 10km solo SwimRun. Involving a series of alternating runs (6) and swims (5) with as much buoyancy and swim aids you can strap on and still run with to counteract swimming with shoes, SwimRun is a sport that continues to grow in popularity year on year. It was the first event for both and Redhead was the first of the pair to finish in a time of 1hr49, but Hicks crossed the line shortly after in 1hr53. Jemma admitted afterwards that she enjoyed it way more than she thought she would.
The club are looking forward to hosting their first Aquathlon of the season on Sat 29 June, as part of their weekly open water swim training session. Details can be found online at www.kltri.co.uk or their facebook page.
