London Triathlon

25 July 2017 - By James Montgomery

A 4am alarm on Sunday morning was required for Andy Notley who was taking part in the London Triathlon at the Excel centre. Opting for the ‘Olympic Plus’ distance in preparation for the Vitruvian in September, the race consisted of a 1500m open water swim, an 80km bike & a 10km run.

A last minute trip outside to find some clear sky for his Garmin to get a fix saw Andy in the 2nd wave of the 7am starters, and so the first part of the swim involved navigating his way through the 1st wave tail enders, with the usual melee of bodies & limbs in all directions! A good swim time of 24:04 was posted and he was into transition & trying to recall where his bike was in the vast expanse that is the Excel on triathlon weekend…

Onto the bike, which was a 3 lap course passing by famous London landmarks to Westminster, before turning for the return trip to pass Excel & the screaming crowds before doing it all again, and joining a growing stream of cyclists from later waves. Although initially a little apprehensive at the thought of the longer bike section, Andy was pleased with his average speed & completed the element in 2:17:34.

Onto the run, which was also a 3 lap course, taking triathletes along the waterfront parallel to London City airport before turning back towards Excel, with an elongated ‘S’ shaped route inside the building itself, a much longer indoor section than on previous years. Despite dreading the run after the longer bike Andy felt comfortable & came in to complete it in 49:10, and the race in just over 3hrs 36mins, placing 33rd out of some 250+ competitors.

For anyone considering a triathlon, the London tri offers multiple distances over the whole weekend, and with plenty of support & lots of spectator friendly viewing areas for all 3 segments it makes for a good event for all abilities, plus with races starting throughout the day you will always have someone ahead to chase down and get in front of!

Great effort Andy!

Splits:
Swim:     00:24:04
Bike:       02:17:34
Run:       00:49:10
Overall:  03:36:05