9th overall – 8:36:24*                *bike shortened to 153km 

Having completed (I hesitate to write ‘race’) Challenge Roth two weeks previously, I was in unchartered territory at Bolton this year. I had entered the event as a backup in case of something going ‘wrong’ at Roth which might stop me from from finishing in Germany. As it turned out, something (illness) did go wrong but I still got to the finish, albeit with limited ‘racing effort’ required. All in, this left me in a little bit of a quandary about Ironman UK and tackling another full distance event so soon. Ultimately, I recovered faster than I’d have expected and there just seemed no real reason not to race in Bolton given that I was healthy and had the training tucked away to race the distance… perhaps just not two weeks after having already raced 140 swim, bike and run miles. Time would tell!

Finishing Ironman UK for the 6th time and the relief of reaching the finish carpet. 

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44th overall – 9.02.22

I started racing long course events over ten years ago in the summer of 2007, and since then I have heard story upon story about how fantastic an experience Challenge Roth is. I certainly don’t ever recall being told it’s not worth the trip, that’s for sure! So finally, this year I managed to make a plan to be in southern Germany in July to give it a go for myself, and start my eighteenth Ironman distance event. A ‘bucket-lister’ without doubt.

First out of the water, which ended up being the highlight of my day…. but it was fun!

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4th place – 4:11:32

For me, racing has always been a means to travel, and generally to places I haven’t otherwise visited. Weymouth was another addition to that list. The trip was supposed to be bolted onto me competing the previous weekend on the Pembrokeshire coast at Ironman Wales in Tenby. However, since I’d had to withdraw from that race because of an ongoing niggling hip issue, I was now solely concentrating my efforts on this shorter Ironman 70.3 event instead. Given how challenging the weather appeared to be in Tenby, coupled with how tough the Weymouth ride would prove to be, it perhaps ended up as a blessing in disguise.

‘The quicker you run, the sooner it’s done’… or something like that… 

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