If triathlons are a mystery to you, you’ll love these great reports; we’ve got one from first timer Diane and one from more seasoned competitor Claire. A number of TRC runners took part including Anne, Rob, Claire, Diane, Jon and Lisa, with Anne Maskell winning overall ladies and Alison Joslin and Jonathon Ford-Dunn both winning their age categories. Sounds like a great Sunday to me!

Helston Tri, Sunday 5th June

Anne Maskell, Rob Pope and Diane Boardman

Diane takes the plunge

Earlier this year in March I decided to speak to Anne Maskell about doing a triathlon, my intention wasn’t to enter one this year but to wait till 2012 and maybe attempt Penzance triathlon. However, Anne had a different agenda for me, she suggested that I enter the Helston triathlon to be held in June, errrr “What the hell?” I thought, I explained that although I adored my Amsterdam bicycle it clearly wasn’t up to the job and that my intention was to invest in a road bike. Anne was having none of my excuses and kindly offered to lend me one of her bikes from her fleet, so that was it I signed up almost immediately and the following weekend I was out on the bike with Anne.

Unsurprising the time between March and June went in a flash and before I knew it, it was Sunday 5 June 2011 and the triathlon was here! Anne let me borrow the bike beforehand to get some much needed practice in, although maybe I didn’t do as much as I should have, this was also the case for the swim and run. I don’t think comprehensive race preparation is my bag given my past form.

The triathlon is a pool based swim of 400 metres at Helston pool, 16 mile bike ride and 3.5 mile run. Your start time is based on your estimated swim time, Anne told me to lie on the entry form and put a slow time down, otherwise I would end up with the fast people and then panic, this was a good plan. Next year I’m going to put down 15 minutes as it means you get to start early i.e. 8 am and then have the roads all quiet and get back to see the professionals i.e. Anne in action.

The event was really well organised and everyone was really helpful and friendly. The rolling start time means you have no idea how everyone else is doing so you can concentrate on your own race and performance without worrying about the people around you. You even get the t-shirt before you start the race, so you’re at least guaranteed a memento even if you end up dropping dead half way round. Luckily, I didn’t drop dead, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, it was pretty immense and therefore I will definitely be entering Penzance and Helston next year.

In transition!

The swim turned out to be my worst event, although going into the event I thought it would be the strongest. I had a ‘OMG is that water in my goggles, how the hell am I going to be able to see on the bike if I lose my contact lens’ moment, as I started the swim, I was hoping for 8 minutes, but I think I managed it in 9 mins. My breathing was all over the place and I had do swim a couple of lengths of breaststroke rather than front crawl, however, I was still swimming faster than the guy in the same lane as me. I managed to get through the swim and climbed out of the pool for the first transition. As I left the pool a counter (the man who gave out the prizes – Chairman of Tri-Logic said well done Truro) then as I left the pool door there was Anne shouting “COME ON DIANE!” I bombed it up to the transition area while being cheered on. I managed to scoff a Jelly Baby and pop one in my tri top, I threw on my non-cycling sunglasses (fashion sunglasses), clipped up the helmet, popped on my shoes and tri-belt and I was off. The cycle turned out to be the most enjoyable part, the roads were quiet and the marshals were so encouraging and helpful. I had road tested the route a few weeks before and this stood me in good stead as I knew what to expect. A few hardcore male competitors overtook me and maybe a lady who I met at the poolside, but for the majority of the ride I saw few riders. On the way back I managed to overtake this man heading past Culdrose and I thought “COME ON!” I was making good time and was under the 1.15hr time I had taken in the trial. Before I knew it I was back in the transition zone and ready for the run. I took the run easy, during which a few competitors overtook me. I did manage to run up the hill into the school field and then ran towards the finish.

Anne said I would feel really good after my first triathlon and she was right, I felt strong throughout the race and at no point did I think “OMG why am I doing this?” that is a common train of thought in races (running) over 7 miles especially off-road ones. Although I probably could have pushed myself harder my aim was to finish the event comfortably and not feel like I was ready to drop dead on the finish line. I loved every minute of it! My shame time would have been anything over 2 hours, so finishing in 1 hr 50 made my day! I loved the cycling element and can’t wait to get a road bike, maybe cycling is more my bag than running after all?

Anne is now encouraging me to try open water swimming, which hopefully I’ll be trying out this weekend! Although I won’t be entering Perranporth triathlon, I’ll leave that to the professionals i.e. Anne.

Well done to Anne who won the ladies event and age category and Jonathan Ford-Dunn and Alison Joslin who won their age category. It was nice to see Claire Longman, Lisa Wallace and Rob Pope in action, well done guys! Let’s hope we can get some other TRC-ers involved, you don’t know what you’re missing!

Diane Boardman

Claire gets on her mountain bike…

Sunday 5th June was the date for a lot of people to start their triathlon season and there were 6 (I think) TRC members lining up at the start of the Helston Triathlon. A couple were competing for their tri clubs but we should take some credit for them (especially as they were winners!!).

I’m not sure how the race is officially classified because the Swim is shorter than a normal Sprint Triathlon but the Bike and Run are slightly longer. This was unfortunate for me as the swim is my best bit, my running ok and my cycling pretty rubbish! I have only ever before raced in fairly large triathlons where there are a lot of people on mountain bikes like mine but at Helston my husband and I were definitely in the minority!

The atmosphere at the start was brilliant, everyone very chatty and friendly but there was a lot of hanging around due to the staggered start based on your estimated swim time. The pool swim was a first for me (I have only done a few triathlons before but all have been open water mass starts) but it was very well organised even though for me, because I had entered a fastish swim time, it meant I was starting along with all the fast triathletes who were inevitably going to overtake me on the bike and I was very worried I was going to be the last person out on the course.

The bike course was great, apart from the hazard of other cars (one man came off worse to a car at one roundabout – he is ok I think after a night in Treliske), and a couple of longish hills, it was quite flat for Cornwall! I did however get overtaken by a LOT of very fast people and I’m sure there were only a couple of people left behind me by the time we got to the 2nd transition. I was very happy with my bike time though (I went extra fast due to worrying about being the last person to finish I think).

The run was a nice combo of road and track with a short killer hill just before the finish. I was pleased to actually overtake one person on the run and very surprised with a 7:40 first mile considering the way my legs felt coming off the bike (it felt like a 10:40 mile to me!).

All in all, a very enjoyable race, if anyone fancies giving a triathlon a go, for Cornwall I would say this would be a good one to enter next year. I think I’ll be doing it again (and maybe next time I’ll have invested in a road bike – anyone got any recommendations?).

Claire Longman

Race Album

Race Results

Full race results are available to download on Cornwall Council’s website.