Thank goodness Sunday was a nice warm spring day. I say that because Mike Cross lent me his tri-suit and being new to the sport I was pretty unprepared for this form of attire and the fact that he told me that I was permitted to cycle and run around the countryside wearing this, without being arrested was a pretty tough test of loyalty on his part. Anyway, having been assured that this was a genuine article and completely acceptable in this sport, I donned the said suit.

The swim went quite well I thought, Chris Curtin wont because he told me that I could swim much faster than the 7 min 24 secs I eventually clocked. I did make a bit of a mess of the exit from the pool to the first transition area because we were told that the transition was not to be timed. So having completed the swim I rather casually exited the pool and had a chat with a pretty blond called Marshall about where I should leave the rubber hat they gave me for swimming. I probably lost a few seconds before going past over a mat that bleeped and only then realised that I might have been a bit naive about the timed area.

Outside the pool there were more members of the Marshall family who were very helpful about getting me to prepare and line up by another starting line for the cycle ride. These people are very proud of their name because they each had a bright yellow vest with their name emblazoned across their chest. In fact there were hundreds of these Marshall’s all along the cycle and running course and they really did help me go the right way!

The bike ride went quite well too. I had no idea how fast to go but realised that I might have set the pace a little too slow when an old chap breezed past me. I can say that because I was wearing a sweat band and dark glasses and so he couldn’t tell that I had even greyer hair and more wrinkles than him. If he had known that I was a ‘Super Veteran’ he might not have felt so satisfied. I decided to use him as a pace maker and (being thoroughly aware that I was not permitted to slip stream) set off after him. He was very fast on the downhill but I pegged him back on the uphills.

The next transition area was timed and I did this very quickly because I wasn’t wearing ‘clips’ I just jumped off my bike, took of my helmet and legged it out onto the course. That’s actually a slight exaggeration; because for some reason my legs wouldn’t work properly. I could hear my breath and lungs at work and my arms were pumping back and forth but my mother’s friends at the old people’s home could have shuffled along quicker than I. It took me about a mile before I could get any sense into my legs.

Eventually I found a place where the results were being presented by a pretty amazing computer. It told me that I had won the ‘Super Veteran’ (over 50’s) pool and that my times were; Swim 7.24/ Cycle 45.17/T2 0.44/Run 22.43. Thanks Mike; it must have been the suit.