Eastbourne Triathlon European Qualifier, 12 Jun 2022

Eastbourne was another European qualifier and my main aim was to finish in the top four to gain automatic selection for the GB Age Group Team.  

As I arrived at the venue the sun was out, the sea was flat calm and there was very little wind…perfect conditions for me! 

The race started with a sea swim and I entered the water in the front third of competitors and soon settled into a nice rhythm, finding myself swimming with a small group of other athletes. The swim seemed to go by so quickly and before I knew it, I was running out the other side feeling strong and debating whether I should have pushed a bit harder.  

Into T1 and straight out onto the bike with no issues. The bike course was the hilliest course I have ever done. As soon as you set off you are heading uphill and it felt like it was climb after climb. Reminding myself that however far it went uphill we would have to come back down so I pushed hard on the hills and found myself moving up the places. The downhill was fun, I hit a top speed of 57km/h and again took a number of places. 

T2 also went smoothly and I felt strong entering the run. The first km (according to my Garmin) was slow although this may be due to the slight incline and the fact the path was very loose gravel and I felt my feet slipping a lot. However, I picked the pace up and focussed on catching those in front of me. With about 1km left, there was nobody within reach to chase down and as the course doubled back on itself, I noted that the closest runner behind me was roughly 20seconds behind so I steadied myself and decided to be smart as I felt a bit of cramp appearing in my calf.  

The wait for the results was a long one and I had my fingers crossed for a top four finish so you can imagine my surprise when I found out I had won my Age Group. This season is turning out to be a good one!

Alli Coleman