8th August 2021 - Ironman UK – 3 x Success, 2 x Kona Bound & 2 x DNF's

Well, it’s been a busy month and now the dust has settled, it’s time to share what five brave Team PTC athletes got up to at Ironman UK.

In typical Bolton fashion, the weather did not disappoint. Two hours of torrential rain during the bike leg played havoc with the roads and riding conditions with Ironman UK seeing its highest number of bike crashes and DNF’s.

Barry, with a decent swim of 1 hour 27 minutes and Ian with a better than expected swim time of 1hour 50 minutes, both fell victim to the punishing weather and tough bike course with T2 unfortunately marking the end of both of their races and their first attempt at an Ironman distance race.

This left Sam, Tom and Liz out on the course who all somehow managed to exit T2 in one piece.

n his first ever Ironman, and only his second triathlon ever, Sam managed to execute a near perfect race finishing 2nd in his age group bagging himself a much coveted golden ticket to the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Sam finished the swim in 1 hour 18 minutes, finished the bike leg in 6 hours 30 minutes and the run in 3 hours 40 minutes bringing him home in 11 hours 38 minutes and an amazing 90th place overall.

Ironman veteran Tom also had a stellar race finishing the swim in 1 hours 29 minutes, finished the bike leg in 6 hours 30 minutes and the run in 4 hours 10 minutes bringing him home in 12 hours 22 minutes – a new Ironman PB and also securing a roll down golden ticket to Kona.

In her first ever Ironman and with life throwing a book at her in the months leading up to the race, Liz had an amazing race finishing the swim in 1 hour 8 minutes, the bike leg in 7 hours 55 minutes and the run in 4 hours 56 minutes bringing her home in an overall time of 14 hours 32 minutes and a 2nd place finish in her age group and a very realistic chance of also securing another golden ticket to Kona. Unfortunately, the Ironman gods we’re not shining in Bolton the day after the race and a roll down slot never materialised for Liz despite her awesome time.

Now that entries have opened for the 2022 Ironman UK in Bolton – who’s going to be joining Team PTC for next year???

Coach Pat.