English Age Group National Championships Box End, 4 Sep 2021

The race start was 8:30am and it wasn’t too cold with water temperatures over 17 degrees. I hadn’t had an ideal lead up to the race with 2 weeks out the pool after being kicked in the chest at Mallory Park but I was feeling good and ready to race. The swim went okay and I came out the water in 8th place, 50 seconds down on the leader.

After a quick transition I set off on the bike in 6th place. Although it was a mass start, the bike was draft-illegal which doesn’t play to my strengths. However I had a strong bike leg and managed to gain a couple of places, heading out on the run in 3rd.

The run course was slow due to the long grass and hills. On starting the run, I couldn’t see anyone either ahead or behind me. I settled into a good pace and made up some time and could soon see 2nd place ahead. I kept on pushing and ran past into 2nd place. After a strong finish I finished 2nd female overall and 1st 20-24 female.

Mia Hawkins