Chris Hobson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
On October 7th 2018, I competed in the Goole Sprint Triathlon along with my wife Liz and Liz's sister Jill. This is a very good entry level triathlon, with a pool based swim and a very flat cycle and run course. This means that there are a really wide range of abilities in attendance and an interesting selection of bikes from the ten grand plastic knives to mountain bikes and shoppers. It is a fairly small event with just 143 finishers on the day. Last year the day was marred by some pretty grotty weather, both wind and rain. This year the weather was much kinder, a bit of a chill early on, there was ice on the car windscreen when we set off, but bright and sunny and very still. It is October so cold mornings are to be expected. Among the SUVs and estate cars I spotted a Porche Carrera with a bike on the top. I had a happy moment when a female triathlete spotted my Outlaw drink bottle and was suitably impressed.
When putting in their entries, competitors have to submit an estimate of their probable swim time for the sixteen length 400 meter course. The pool is divided into four lanes and swimmers are started four at a time at two minute intervals with the slowest going first. This meant that Liz and Jill, being slightly slower swimmers than I am had a bit of a head start on me. The staggered starts mean that your lane usually has between three and five swimmers in it as people finish their session and get out while new starters are jumping in and setting off. I was very lucky to have swimmers who had fairly accurately reported their abilities and we swam up and down without getting in each other's way at all. I found that I had gone off a bit too fast on the first half and had to ease off a little for the second half but recorded a swim time of 11:14 which includes a brisk walk, no running allowed on the slippery poolside, to the transition area. T1 took me 2:44, mainly due to me wanting to wrap up against the chilly weather, putting on socks, helmet liner and gloves. Some did quicker transitions but froze half to death on their bikes.
The 20k bike course goes North out of Goole close to the banks of the river Ouse, through the village of Hook and then West, still by the river and under the M62. We then turn North again, over the old swing bridge to do a short loop around Knedlington before heading back over the swing bridge to go back the way we came. My bike time was 43:27.
Into T2, time 1:36, and then out onto the run which goes out and back along the footpath beside the bike course. I was delighted with my run time of 21:19 until I remembered that the course is slightly under 5k. My overall time of 1:19:38 was outside my best time for the course but I still had a lot of fun. My position was 107/143
The online provisional results page is a little confused. The times differ slightly from the one on my instant print out, as does my age. I'm 60 on the print out but only 50 online. There was only one other sixty year old competing, his time was 1:07:10 so I'm not going to be winning my age group any time soon. I was also narrowly beaten by my sister in law. She was already a better cyclist than me, having taken part in time trials in the past. I usually beat her by being faster on the swim and the run. Not today, her time was 1:18, position 101/143. Liz came in at 1:46:30, position 140/143.
So a great time was had by all. For us that was the last Tri of the season. They wind up around this time as it just gets too cold to be running around in wet clothes. We headed off home and, with the early start and the event being just a sprint, we were home in time for dinner.
When putting in their entries, competitors have to submit an estimate of their probable swim time for the sixteen length 400 meter course. The pool is divided into four lanes and swimmers are started four at a time at two minute intervals with the slowest going first. This meant that Liz and Jill, being slightly slower swimmers than I am had a bit of a head start on me. The staggered starts mean that your lane usually has between three and five swimmers in it as people finish their session and get out while new starters are jumping in and setting off. I was very lucky to have swimmers who had fairly accurately reported their abilities and we swam up and down without getting in each other's way at all. I found that I had gone off a bit too fast on the first half and had to ease off a little for the second half but recorded a swim time of 11:14 which includes a brisk walk, no running allowed on the slippery poolside, to the transition area. T1 took me 2:44, mainly due to me wanting to wrap up against the chilly weather, putting on socks, helmet liner and gloves. Some did quicker transitions but froze half to death on their bikes.
The 20k bike course goes North out of Goole close to the banks of the river Ouse, through the village of Hook and then West, still by the river and under the M62. We then turn North again, over the old swing bridge to do a short loop around Knedlington before heading back over the swing bridge to go back the way we came. My bike time was 43:27.
Into T2, time 1:36, and then out onto the run which goes out and back along the footpath beside the bike course. I was delighted with my run time of 21:19 until I remembered that the course is slightly under 5k. My overall time of 1:19:38 was outside my best time for the course but I still had a lot of fun. My position was 107/143
The online provisional results page is a little confused. The times differ slightly from the one on my instant print out, as does my age. I'm 60 on the print out but only 50 online. There was only one other sixty year old competing, his time was 1:07:10 so I'm not going to be winning my age group any time soon. I was also narrowly beaten by my sister in law. She was already a better cyclist than me, having taken part in time trials in the past. I usually beat her by being faster on the swim and the run. Not today, her time was 1:18, position 101/143. Liz came in at 1:46:30, position 140/143.
So a great time was had by all. For us that was the last Tri of the season. They wind up around this time as it just gets too cold to be running around in wet clothes. We headed off home and, with the early start and the event being just a sprint, we were home in time for dinner.
