Triathlons and Marathons!

We've had a busy couple of Sundays here as Dylan (my husband) was competing in the Tadcaster Triathlon and then the Leeds Half Marathon.

The triathlon was a sprint distance triathlon so the swimming part was indoors which made it simpler as there was no wetsuit to negotiate and this was a distance of 500 metres in the Tadcaster Swimming Pool. After that there was a half mile sprint up the road to the Molson Coors Brewery which housed the transition area. The bike leg was a 14 km ride on road around the surrounding villages, then back to transition and a run for 7km.

It was a lovely day to be spectating at a triathlon, with my camera and without the children and Dylan did a really great time of 1 hour and 15 minutes, which was 15 minutes faster than the time he did the Leeds Sprint Triathlon last year, which is a testament to the hard training schedule he has completed in the last 12 months.

There were 207 triathletes who took part and finished, including the elite. Dylan finished:

• 90 overall out of 207
• 39 out of the 108 his category (age 18 to 40 - not bad considering he is in the upper age limit!)
• Swim: 96 out of 207
• Cycle: 43 out of 207 (WOW!)
• Run: 110 out of 207

Highlight of the day was when he ran he half mile from the pool to transition across the town, barefoot! He is interested in barefoot running and decided to do this after making an informed choice and it gave him an advantage over other swimmers exiting the pool who stopped to get socks and footwear on. Many of the spectators thought this was amusing, shocking or downright weird... everyone was pointing and whispering as he ran past with a grin on his face and his goggles in his hand! I heard one woman say "He must be really hard, or completely insane"! Made me chuckle!

Here are a few photo's I took:







The Leeds Half Marathon took place the week after in the city centre. It was the first running event that Dylan has taken part in and at just over 13 miles, it would be the furthest distance he has ever run, including training sessions.

The atmosphere was very different to that of a triathlon. It was a huge event with 1000's of runners of all abilities, shapes and ages taking part. It was very well organised and very official-feeling compared to a triathlon and I have to say it wasn't as enjoyable as far as spectator sports go! Still we had a lovely day and Dylan did really well.

He completed the course in 1 hour and 51 minutes which is an amazing time for his half marathon début. This placed him 1195 out of an approximate 5000 runners. I am not sure how this places him in his category (he ran as a 35-39 yr old male) but to finish in under 2 hours at his first attempt is just amazing!

Here are a few photo's, including one of a friend's husband; A, who we met up with and who made his début half marathon too. A also ran a fabulous time of 1 hour 54, so very similar to Dylan and he is planning on running in his first full distance marathon later this year: