Redcar Sprint 2022 ETU Qualifier, 25 Jul 2021

After a successful race last weekend I have gained a lot of confidence and the aim of this race was to enjoy it with less pressure than last week. The race was draft legal with a sea swim which was only 14 degrees. Before the race I was concerned by the water temperature but on race morning the swell and waves were more of a worry.

I had a shocking swim and came out the water in 20th a couple of minutes back. I didn’t panic but instead just tried to get through transition as quickly as I could to get chasing on the bike. I made up a couple of places in transition before chasing down a few girls on the bike and finding a group of 4 girls to work with. We worked well for the first 3 or 4 laps before a group of 5 men joined us and I was more worried about staying on my bike around the technical corners in a big group. I dismounted my bike safely and came into transition in 6th place, 90 seconds off the leaders. 

Another quick transition and I was straight out on the run and chasing. I overtook two girls and was then in 4th place. The run course was three laps with an out and back section so I could see I was closing the gap on the leaders. On lap 2/3 I ran past the lead group and led the rest of the race to win, finishing with the fastest run and second fastest bike splits of the day.

I was so surprised how I managed to catch up and win the race after such a bad swim. Huge thank you to Tim for all his help with my bike and run coaching which is clearly paying off.

Mia Hawkins