Brighton and Hove Triathlon Sept 15th 2019

Brighton and Hove Triathlon was a qualifier for the European Standard distance Triathlon in Tartu, Estonia 2020 and that alone was a good reason to do it. I had already qualified for the European Sprint Distance triathlon in Malmö, Sweden 2020 earlier in the year, so that would start to make 2020 look interesting.

The main reason to take part in this race is another reason entirely. The race director John Lunt is my oldest friend in the sport of triathlon. My first multi discipline event, was one of the earliest events that he put on, it was also my first swim run event ever. That was the Damp Dash at Kingston about thirty years ago. I had entered the half distance race 400 swim/5km run but it was cancelled due to a very low entry.

John rang to tell me that, I tried my best the chicken out of the whole thing but John talked me gently into doing the full distance event 800 swim and 10km run, after I told him that I had only just learned to swim front crawl and that I had not been running very long either, just a few months. He didn’t say goodbye to me until I agreed that I would see him in the morning on poolside.
Photo here was at Johns Run2Music Brighton run. I got conned into going dressed as Madonna, ridiculous I know.

I had a wonderful time at that race and was hooked straight away. He was nice, His chief aide, now wife of many years Nicola, was so helpful and all the young athletes told me that I was doing well as they passed me on the run. It was all so friendly and such fun. Since then I have lost count of how many of John’s races I have enjoyed but his races alone must amount to well over a hundred. Of course John Lunt is so well known in the sport internationally, now having also masterminded the 2012 London Olympics triathlon and the Commonwealth Games blah-de-blah-de blah.

Brighton and Hove is a fairly new event; I think only four years old. I have done three of those four anyway. Why, because I know that it will be a professionally run event. The whole team are brilliant. It has a sea swim twelve miles from my home just along the south coast and I love the sea. The bike ride is dead flat, and in laps of Hove Kingsway, a big wide road with lots of crowd support and the run is along the classic promenade, all of which also makes it a perfect event for beginners and old hand alike. It is a fun race but it is also very strictly controlled and that is comforting to beginners, particularly young women and the children in the races put on to encourage new triathletes into the sport. There is even a scoot-a-thon the day before for the teeny weenies.

 

Last September I was not even the oldest competitor because my friend Geoff Geering was doing the sprint distance in the 85-89 age group, whilst I did the full standard distance in 80+. There was an even older man at 87, who I think did the super sprint distance though I am not totally sure, but certainly showing triathlon to be a sport for all ages and categories and leanings. All triathletes.

 Geoff and I were both interviewed the day before for BBC TV that added to the fun. I think my finish time was 3.45.20 and my husband Steve, was a couple of minutes slower…. which was not altogether popular. We were not racing together, because we were in different wave starts. All told though, such a fun event in marvellous situation. Brighton and Hove seafront is picture postcard impressive. I was born in Brighton. Little old Brightonian me, pre-war by a couple of weeks.