English Sprint Distance Triathlon Championships, Blithfield, 20 Aug 2023

These types of national championships usually attract a high calibre field so I knew this would make for a tough race. After a knee niggle in the week and a half leading up to the event I wasn't sure how this would go. I figured I would either feel some pain and not go so well, or I would be relatively well tapered and go alright!

As usual with triathlon the mass start nature of the swim allows anyone to put themselves in any order in the swim. As usual this led to a bunch of people putting themselves at the front on the start line only for them to swim 100m full gas and blow up, all after managing to cause chaos and end up entirely in the way! I really do detest this part of triathlon. After these first few minutes of carnage I did manage to get into some space and find my rhythm. Through the closing stages of the swim it got busier again as we began to swim through the slower standard distance athletes on their second lap. All in all a slightly chaotic affair but nothing new!

Heading up to transition I heard a spectator shout "15th out the water" as I ran past. This meant I had done ok and provided that the rest of my race went smoothly I would stand a good chance at a top 10! After a slightly clumsy transition I was out on my bike and pressing hard on the pedals. The course was quite busy with the standard distance having gone off first. I was riding through their field which by this point was almost a continuous line of riders. They were moving much slower than I was so it was obvious they weren't doing the sprint. I also managed to catch and pass a few athletes who I knew were doing the sprint, though this didn't last long as a few minutes later the same train of riders came past me again. This passing happened a few more times along the course until eventually I lost touch a little bit, I could see the group not so far ahead but the gap wasn't worth closing. The bike course was really enjoyable, the slightly rolling terrain meant for punchy efforts up the climbs and opportunities for fast descending on the aero bars for those brave enough.

Coming into T2 I knew I was probably still in contention for a top 10. The run course was an out and back with 50:50 gravel track:tarmac pavement. I started strong and managed to pass a couple of others who seemed to be struggling. The gravel track ended and we were out on the pavement when the first few athletes came back past us in the other direction. I knew this meant halfway couldn't be far and I would need to kick up a gear to make back as many places as I could. I counted 8 guys ahead of me at the turn around point, two of which were only a handful of metres in front. A top 10 was guaranteed. Eventually I made it back onto the gravel section again and Emily was coming the other way, I shouted to let her know she was currently 5th lady knowing that she could see at least 4th - hopefully this helped spur her on! Inside the final kilometre I managed to pass another guy, he was moving quite a bit slower than me, but I still kicked on knowing that no place is safe until you cross the finish line! At the final corner and drag up to the finish I looked back over my shoulder and I was clear, nobody in sight. Thank god I didn't need to sprint against anyone, I eased up slightly and jogged over the line.

6th place overall, I was absolutely chuffed with this. I wondered how I'd done in my age group, this was difficult to know without looking online at the results. After collecting my kit from transition we checked and I had come 2nd, a great result. Looking back over the results in a bit more detail I actually managed to swim, bike & run faster than the winner in my age group, by 2 seconds. But I had shelled out over 40 seconds in sub par transitions, clearly something I should pay more attention to.

David Shepherd