The Avenger Middle Distance Triathlon
Tiff reports in from The Avenger Triathlon
The race was so well organised and marshalled brilliantly across all 3 disciplines. The lake was colder than expected but once you got going it was fine. We had to do 3 laps of the course. The bike course was stunning, and despite being very windy we all had a great bike split. We had to complete 2 laps crossing from Warwickshire to Worcestershire and back into Warwickshire again. The run was 4 laps with the halfway point of each lap meeting for a stretch. 4 laps was a bit gutty but I did see Tom and Jon on my way round. Whilst I didn’t see Catharine, I did half expect her to catch me up as I did suffer a bit on the run, having to walk the uphills. A great weekend away with friends and a well-run event – can thoroughly recommend to any Tuffs.
PS – Oh by the way I beat Tom’s bike split!! He did unfortunately experience a puncture followed by a flat replacement tube, but on paper, he’d been chicked 😀
And some more from Catharine
As Tiff said, The Avenger was a brilliant event. It was held in the stunning setting of Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, with the lake swim and run taking place in the grounds. I enjoyed the swim a bit too much and, by the time I’d ambled back into transition, my bike was looking a bit lonely on the empty racks! Sadly I didn’t see the other Tuffs on the bike (despite Tom’s ‘supposed’ 12 minute puncture stop…hmmm), but I amused myself with my cheese sandwich and spotting some brilliant place names (North Piddle teeheehee!).
After being chicked on the bike, Tom felt like he had something to prove and had set off at quite a pace on the run, only to burn out shortly later…Jon found him staggering along and kindly slowed down to offer him motivation to keep going, only for Tom to discover a second wind and leave him behind! Tiff did not need to worry about me catching up – after managing to run (if the speed that I achieved could actually be classed as running) for one of the four laps, my legs went on strike. My motivation was knocked further when a marshall tried to spur me on with a shout of “well done, last lap!”. After a sad shake of my head to confirm that this definitely was not my last lap, his answer: “oh dear”. As I finally started my final lap, I saw Tom finish and knew the others would be close behind him, which gave me a bit of boost. The last 5k was a bit lonely but Tom nobly kept me company for the final 2k loop. We were going to go for a cheesy finish line photo but sadly the photographer had given up and wandered off by that point!
Nicole Ewer very sensibly opted for the standard distance event! She had a good race, including a great swim. Plus, she had the added bonus of still being able to walk normally at the end, unlike the rest of us who had developed a cowboy-esque swagger!
I’d definitely recommend the event, and do it again myself (with a ‘little’ bit more training next time!). Well organised and super friendly (although I think we all wanted to throttle the marshall in the woods after 4 laps of her singing “who loves tri, WE DO!”).
