The actual Hertfordshire Spring Triathlon may have been cancelled but that didn’t stop the county’s triathletes from competing in a version of the event.
The original was due to be held at Stanborough Lakes in Welwyn Garden City but in its place came a duathlon, no swim but two runs, one over 3km and the other over 5k, separated by a 20km cycle.
To ensure compliance with social distancing rules, athletes participated alone, completing the event in any order in outdoor locations of their choice.
To add an element of competition, event organisers Active Training World generously set up a dedicated events page where participants could log their times for each of the activities and compare their performance with their rivals.
With official organised triathlon competitions suspended until at least the end of this month, the event proved a fun and highly popular alternative with 84 triathletes from three of Hertfordshire’s leading clubs, St Albans’ Tri-Force, Freedom Tri of Letchworth Garden City and Hoddesdon Tri, all taking part.
In the male competition, Hoddesdon’s James Croft logged the quickest time, finishing in 57 minutes eight seconds, closely followed by the Tri-Force pair of Jonathan Turnbull and Kevin Walden in 1:00:28 and 1:01:44 respectively.
Michelle Reeves of Freedom Tri was the fastest female finisher and fifth overall in 1:03:44 with team-mate Kathryn Berry in second with a time of 1:06:36.
Emily Taylor of Tri-Force claimed third place in 1:08:53.
The St Albans-based club, who also use facilities at the University of Hertfordshire, had the best of the age group competition with participants ranging from junior to 70-plus placing first in six categories.
Tri-Force chairman Simon Perkins said: “As a club we have been putting on a full programme of activities to keep our members active during lockdown and I am delighted by the excellent response to this event from triathletes across Hertfordshire.”
For further information about Tri-Force go to the club website http://tri-force.co.uk/ or email triforcemembership@gmail.com
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