Distance: Sprint Aquathlon

Weather: wet and muddy, but not too cold!

On 1st December last week, as most people were out Christmas shopping, Solihull Triathlon Club sent a delegation to the infamous Splash ‘n’ Dash held at Wombourne Leisure Centre, South Staffordshire.

This race consisted of a 400m pool swim followed by a 5km out-and-back run on a disused railway line, commonly known as an Aquathlon.

In the pool first was Karen, closely followed by Adam and Morgan, and then Els and Connor. The start times were seeded based off estimated swim time, which meant there were a range of abilities on the run course.

The swim was 16 lengths of the 25m pool, with lap counters in place as you swam. Transition was poolside, so once you had your two lap warning it was a final push to exit and swiftly move over to your pre-paced bag at the side of the pool. After a quick dry off and running shoes on it was out the side door and on to the run. The course started by running across a football field towards the railway line, which was already fairly wet and muddy. Early swimmers gained a slight advantage as the run course only got muddier as the rain came down, which was more like a cross country event by the end. After a 180 turn at 2.5km in, you were on your way back (past the cafe we later ate in for brunch) towards the finish. First over the line was Adam, closely followed then by Morgan, Karen, Els and Connor.

Once all the results were in, the club came away with some incredible results – 2 age group podiums (Adam and Karen), and Els who came in as second female overall. Congratulations to all five members and everyone who travelled to one of the wettest events we’ve seen this year!