…and the race is run

14 September 2010

And what a race it was! For a London 2012 activation event it certainly packed a punch and the elites and the celebrities certainly egged each other on to the end.

The event also really opened my eyes to the contrast in the stages, what with strong swimmers dropping back on the bike. You definitely see the difference in the events that require the arms vs the legs as well.

The run section of the Tri-City-Athlon, the one that most competitors felt most confident about, saw our by now slightly aching entrants complete 3 laps of Regent's Park, passing by London Zoo and the various ponds and lakes that the Royal grounds are made up of.

Unlike the swim and cycle sections, it was now becoming evident that there were certain groups of individuals in the field that would position themselves near the front for the start of the run as they would almost certainly be leading out the pack, and this certainly came true as the runners left the spectator area to the tune of the London Community Gospel Choir and large rounds of applause.

The first couple of hundred metres was definitely a loosener for some as they stretched out their legs and found their pace and as with both the previous legs, the competing pack stretched out relatively quickly and were back round the course within 10 minutes, hardly time for the spectators to don their fancy dress costumes for the mini-challenge we'd laid on for them to get in the spirit of the event.

By the second lap the front runners were looking ahead to the tail-enders and using them as a target to pick up the pace. As to be expected this also gave the lesser paced competitors a gee up and as the rain trickled down they certainly did that, which stopped the weather from dampening anyone's spirits!

Within 20 minutes, and to many people's astonishment we were preparing ourselves for the first finisher and just 14minutes later our winner, Jonny Brownlee crossed the line to loud applause and cheers, the first Tri-City-Athlete to complete the run course.

But that wasn't the loudest cheer, as our 130 continued to cross the line to shouts and cheers from the impressed crowd.

Once the competitors had crossed the line and as is customary for any event where we have our French colleagues involved, Champagne was handed to all competitors, which was taken by many as a shot of water, such was the thirst they'd built up.

All competitors managed to finish the race by just after 7.30pm and the winning competitors were presented their medals, subsequently followed by a serenade from the choir.