Author: Connor

Weather: mild & cloudy drizzle towards the end 

Today I took part in the University of Birmingham Aquathlon – a bit of nostalgia for what could have been 10 years ago when I missed out on my first place university! After a quick scope of the campus I registered and got set up at transition then waited for my race brief at 11:30. 

Going into the swim I was apprehensive as the people in my lane had slightly faster estimated swim times than myself. Sixteen lengths of the 25m pool later and being comfortably in front of the other competitors in my lane, I approached the wall to exit. Turns out I had nothing to worry about as I exited on 6:56, over 30 seconds quicker than I anticipated. The walk to transition meant my chip recorded 07:22. 

Struggled in transition as I forgot to undo my elastic laces so had difficulty getting my trainers on, but like a true triathlete (unlike most other competitors) I stuck to no socks and talcum powder! Out of T1 in 57 seconds according to the chip and into the 2 lap 5k run. 

I purposely didn’t go flat out in the swim as I wanted to save some energy for the run, something I’ve learnt from experience last year. Lap one went great, and after some tricky uphills I got the hang of it and went into lap 2. 

Final kilometre I realised that I might actually have a chance of beating Josh’s estimate of 34mins (I said 37) and in the final stretch I had 2 mins to play with so was fairly confident. Finally crossed the line in 33:56 on my watch and a time of 33:39 on the chip. 

Very well organised, got a nice event specific tote bag for participating. Would 100% return next year, really enjoyed the event and definitely interested in more swim/run events!