Shephard defies heat to finish sixth in British Triathlon Championships
A TRIO of Stratford Triathlon Club members travelled to Cambridgeshire for the Grafman British Middle Distance Triathlon Championships at Grafham Water.
Richard Shephard, Tim Tandy and Dave Clarkson were among the country’s best, vying to be crowned national champion.
Interestingly, a new rolling start system was introduced at the event, so rather than 1,000 competitors going off together, the athletes were held in pens based on finishing times and the released quickest going off first.
Shephard was in the first wave, while Tandy and Clarkson were in the second. Shephard was up with the leaders for the first 950m lap, before exiting the water and going back out for the second lap to finally exit in 29.09.
Meanwhile, Tandy and Clarkson were battling amongst the hundreds of similar-paced competitors, with Tandy having a superb swim to come out of the water in 33.14 with Clarkson at 39.35.
The bike leg was made up of several out and back legs which took the riders out to St Neots, Kimbolton and Bedford before returning to Grafham.
With the course being flat to rolling, it was going to be fast all day and not to Shephard’s liking as he didn’t have the legs on the bike to make up ground on the leaders. But he still managed to cover the 56 miles in under two-and-a-half hours.
Tandy and Clarkson were also making the most of the bike course and mashing the gears to take full advantage against the clock with both going under three hours.
Being a middle distance race, it was now only a matter of completing the half marathon run to finish. This was easier said than done as the temperatures rose on the hottest day of the year.
Taking in the two-lap run course around the reservoir, Shephard was quickly on to his run legs and was soon making up time on the leaders, moving from eigth to sixth but he was unable to get to the front runners.
Tandy and Clarkson were both on to the run but unlike Shephard the legs were suffering from the fast bike course, battling cramps, but they managed to tough it out to claim respectable finishes.
