Cheltenham Lido Triathlon 11th September 2011
Following a Summer of training, a blustery yet warm morning greeted the Striders ladies Tri-team as they took on the Cheltenham Lido Triathlon.
Spurred on by fellow striders and families, the 6 team members took to the water impressively with some stylish strokes on the 500m leg. Rachel Elkins and Jo Wilkie took the early initiative and were quickly out and into transition. With all team members safely out within 15 minutes, it was on to the bikes, where Wilkie worked really hard to catch and press on past Elkins, enduring a near miss in the process! The trio of Beckie Boulton, Louise Allsop and Lisa Boyd were in hot pursuit but, after lagging behind in the swim, Helen Howes had it all to do and knew she was going to have to find another gear to catch her team mates. After battling the cross and headwinds in Cleeve, ‘Cav’ Howes managed to close the gap and the four team-mates remained close for the remainder of the leg. With ‘Brownlee’ Elkins retaking her lead position during the final transition, it was clear that both she and Wilkie would finish before the hour mark and, with running as their speciality, the remaining 2.7KM leg was never going to trouble them. With all team mates finishing in under 1.07, and a team finishing position of 14th(2ndladies-only), a great sense of pride was felt.
Also running for Striders was Matt Puddy who finished in a time of 1:05:51 - not bad for a first attempt!
Well done all – it was a pleasure to watch!
Jon Howes
The results were as follows:
8th– Rachael Elkins – 56.21
10th– Jo Wilkie – 57.35
50th - Helen Howes – 1.04.47
53rd- Lisa Boyd – 1.05.05
61st– Beckie Boulton– 1.05.51
62nd– Louise Allsop- 1.06.05
Total time – 6.15.44