Congratulations to Les Humphrey who came a very creditable 4th in the European Triathlon Championships in Lisbon in May 2008. He was beaten by athletes from France and Spain.
Swim (1500m) 35.17, bike (40k) 1.34.19, run (10k) 59.17 - Total including transitions 3:14:37
Les writes:
"I travelled out from Gatwick on the 7 May to be part of a 160 strong Great Britain team to take part in this years European Triathlon Championships situated just outside Lisbon.In total there were nearly 800 athletes taking part from most European countries.I was representing G.B.along with one other G.B athlete in group M, 65/69 years old. In my group were competitors from France ,Spain and Italy.The age group events were programmed to take place on the Sunday so this gave me the opportunity to watch the Elites on the Saturday many of who were still looking for final qualifying places for Bejing.Unfortunately the Brits did not feature in the medal positions.
Having watched the elites it was my time on the Sunday to put in to practice all that i had learned from the Elites.Sadly the legs,heart and lungs had other ideas.
The swim was a 1500 m open water swim held in a generally enclosed dock with water temperature of 18 centigrade therefore a wet suit swim was compulsory.The course was in the shape of a letter M so three bouys to negotiate.My age group was included in the over 50s male swim wave which meant that there were about 100 of us starting from a deep water position.The start wave was very physical with swimmers fighting for a favourable position, however after about 100m i was able to get some clear water for the remainder of the swim.I eventually completed the swim in about 35 mins to make the short run up the slope into Transition No1 to collect my bike.
The bike leg should have been two legs of 20k but due to the problems of finding a suitable turn the total bike leg turned out to be an extra 5k long, and this incorporating a very bumpy cobblestone section around the transition areas..This was all held on closed roads including part on the local 3 lane motorway. Imagine the M25 beng closed to traffic just for the use of cyclist no i was not dreaming we did use the local motorway.
Into the final discipline of a 10k run which consisted of two laps, fortunately flat, run along the coastal footpath.
The last 800m approaching the finish were lined with many of the GB friends and supporters whose support at the end of three hours was very wellcome.I later learned that i had finished 4th in my age group and first of the two Brits."