220Triathlon Edição 334

32 / 132

MYWIFE, THETRIATHLETE
Last year, my wife decided to attempt her first
triathlon and in June signed up for a six-month
subscription to 220. I decided to join her and
so the training began. We both had our
favourite disciplines, mine being the bike but a
hopeless swimmer; Sarah’s a proven swimmer
but not comfortable on a bike. So we had
areas to spur each other on.
Having never ridden a race bike I donated
my old racing bike to her – a 2005 Giant OCR
(any excuse to upgrade for myself!) and her
24km ride times came down from over an
hour to 55mins.
On race day we set off at the same time – I
was obviously slower on the swim and set off
on the bike a good few minutes behind. There
was one section of the ride that terrified Sarah
– going under the airport runways at
Manchester – but by pure luck I actually
passed her part way through the tunnel and
gave her a ‘whoop whoop’. Later she tol
this helped her as she could see me for t
duration of her worst part.
We both completed the race and in do
so felt pleased to finally say we’ve done o
and raised £1,500 for the charity, Tommy
For my wife, the pure emotion was writte
over her face, which is captured perfectly
this finish line picture [right]. All her hard
paid off, including smashing her PB on the
down to 51mins.
What’s next? Well maybe another coup
of triathlons this year… which means I’ll get
to upgrade my TT bike!
CHRISTIAN FOX, EMAIL
STAR LETTER Sarah Fox completing her
first triathlon at the South
Manchester Tri
ting the Star Letter
onth Christian, you’ll
a pair of Aqua Sphere
y jammers (£29.99), made
TA recycled fabric and as
y Ross Edgley on
p48, and a pair of Kayenne
goggles (£23.99). More info at
32 I I FEBRUARY 2017
INSIDETRI
Got an opinion to share? Then email us:
TRI TALK
HAVE YOUR SAY
NOMORE IRONMAN
On 14 July 2016, I saw the tragic terrorist attack in
Nice unfold on the news. Around the same time, a
friend of mine and I had been trying to decide on
an Ironman-distance race for 2017. We got our
heads together and realised there was one
obvious choice – Ironman Nice, to show terrorism
will never be the winner. We entered the race in
August, booked the flights and started training.
The date was in the diary – Sunday 25 June!
All was going well until I received an Ironman
e-mail in November: “Out of respect for the
victims of the horrific attack in Nice on the 14th
of July this year, no events will be organised on
the ‘Promenade des Anglais’ until July 14 2017.
Consequently, Ironman France and the City of
Nice have worked together to set a new event
date for all athletes.
“After much deliberation and numerous
meetings, the new date has now been set [23
July], which will make Ironman France the first
event to take place on the promenade after the
attack. This new development makes the 2017
event a truly special and symbolic one. With you,
we can show the world that Nice is still standing,
and will continue to celebrate life and sports in
spite of this tragedy.”
Ironman proceeded to close the race entry
page and place a ‘Register your interest’ page in
place. I agree with the reason to delay the race,
but I disagree with Ironman leaving the race entry
open following those tragic events. I hoped
Ironman would support those athletes who had
already entered the race by covering their change
in flight or accommodation costs because they,
after all, had left the race entry open.
Despite numerous e-mails to Ironman I finally
received a blunt response. No they would not
offer any compensation for those already entered.
But we were given a choice of three options: a full
race-entry refund; automatic entry into Nice once
the new date had been confirmed; or a transfer to
any other open Ironman race in Europe or South
Africa free of charge. Free of charge? When I’ve
paid £500 to race Nice?
I ask the question, has Ironman the brand
become so big it’s lost sight of the athlete? I was
part of a large club who flew to Mallorca last year
d me
he
ing
ne
’s.
n all
in
work
bike
le
For wri
this m
receive
Berkle
from VI
worn b