Pickering triathlete Geoff Wynn is winding down his season after racing in local, national and international competitions this year. Here, he reports on his past four races, reflects on his 2023 season and looks ahead to next year.
It feels a bit weird doing a season round up when we're only just leaving summer but all my big races were in the first seven months of the year so I'll pick up where I left off, a return to domestic racing after the Duathlon World Final in Ibiza in May and straight into trying to qualify for next year’s finals.
This is a regular qualifier and a venue I've done well on before. Race day soon came round and I found myself in my favourite (read cheapest) hotel in Southport. Think of Fawlty Towers and you won't be far off. Race day turned out to have great weather which was a blessing as the bike leg is along the marina wall and if the wind gets up it can make things interesting trying to pick the right wheels to make sure the bike doesn't turn into a sail! The race went well, not a spectacular performance but I did manage to take the fastest run split in my age group and got myself an automatic qualifying place for the World Sprint Triathlon Final which will be held in Malaga next year.
Four weeks later I was back into racing, this time at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire in a standard distance duathlon - my first ever time at this distance. Now, anyone reading who knows the Castle race series or has experienced their courses will know that race director Brian Adcock does nothing 'standard'! His courses are usually a bit longer and he loves throwing some hills in and some tough off road running. Having spent the night under canvas and been woken by thunder at some ungodly hour, I was pleasantly surprised to get up to dry weather and unfortunately a blazing sun! Not what you want when your race starts at 9.45am. Having got set up in transition I spied Big Bear Bikes’ own Mike heading out of the lake as he was competing in the Gauntlet, so I shouted a few words of encouragement and thought at least he'll be out suffering in the sun longer than I will.
Off to the start line and two laps of 5.5km of trail running with a sickening climb at 4.5km of each lap, I ran myself up into 9th position overall and out onto the bike. 45 out of 46 kilometres completed when I got a sinking feeling something wasn't quite right. A quick glance down confirmed it - flat front tyre! I consider myself very lucky because in 11 years of racing this is the first mechanical failure I have ever had but at the time it may as well have been the end of the world. Pointless trying to fix it now as I would lose too much time so I had to run the last km pushing the bike and watching people fly past me. Having made it into T2 I was acutely aware of how hot it had got and I now had 5.5km of running to try and claw back as much time as possible. Emptying a full bottle of water over my head I shot out of T2 and began reeling people in as quickly as I could. Pushing on I managed to make up a few of the places I had lost and finished 11th overall. Somehow, despite the flat tyre, I had managed to get another automatic qualifying place, along with the sprint duathlon this will be held in Townsville in Australia.
Three more weeks passed before my next race and on the 8th of July I found myself heading north for the Woodhorn Museum sprint tri, which was a qualifier for the Sprint Triathlon European Final. It was a bit bizarre as the race didn't start until 4pm so I found myself at a bit of a loose end waiting around but it was quite pleasant not having to get up early. The weather forecast wasn't on our side for this one, with rain due all afternoon and having met up with a friend from the 2022 GB team he gave me a run down on the course with words of wisdom regarding a couple of corners and roundabouts that could be quite slippery in the wet. We were the last wave to set off and this gave us the opportunity to watch a masterclass by rising GB star Daniel Dixon who got round the 800m swim at a pace I'd do 25 metre sprints at.
Ten minutes later than scheduled we were off and I found myself in T1 alongside my mate Stu, exchanging pleasantries as we mounted our bikes (thankfully that was the last I saw of him as I managed to out-bike and run him for the bragging rights). Taking the tight bends cautiously I stayed upright on the longer than normal bike leg and came into T2 feeling ready for the run. Out of T2 for two 2-mile laps of the lake and museum, and I managed to push on passing people from waves in front of us and avoided being overtaken by anyone from mine. Crossing the line, I'd come 3rd in my age group and again posted the fastest run split, which meant I'd managed another automatic qualifying place and now had just one race to go.
As far as triathlons go I count this as a home race as it's so close I get to practice and train on the course on a regular basis. I mentioned it before but I’m not really a fan of standard distance racing. It's too short to have to pace yourself (like you would in a 70.3 or full iron distance) but it's a long way to go full gas (as opposed to a sprint distance) but when a qualifier is on your doorstep you can't turn it down. Knowing a lot of friends would be racing it also meant it would be an opportunity for some friendly rivalry and bragging rights. In addition, my friend’s son was going to be racing on the Saturday in his first ever triathlon and I'd been helping him train so it was going to be a great weekend for both racing and supporting. I like to give a little bit back too and so I was marshalling the races on Saturday morning before turning spectator in the afternoon and then competitor on Sunday morning. Once again the British weather had other plans for us and the Saturday was a wash out with continued rainfall all day which caused a number of crashes in the sprint races and turned the kids race into a mud bath! After watching my friend’s son complete his race I went home to fine tune my bike, making sure the brakes were going to do their bit in the morning as I didn't fancy becoming another crash statistic.
Sunday morning arrived and after being woken multiple times through the night by heavy rainfall I was not filled with confidence to say the least. 30 seconds after loading my bike in the van I got a flurry of texts from friends at the venue saying the bike legs were all being cancelled on safety grounds, I remember feeling a slight joy and thinking right let’s go have some fun with a swim and a run. This also meant it would be my first ever aquathlon but left the question "will it still stand as a qualifier?". I knew exactly what the run course would be like after the continual rainfall and I'd had the foresight to pack my best off road trail shoes. Castle race series had even sent an email out mid week advising competitors to use trail shoes not road shoes but upon entering transition this had clearly been ignored by a large number who still thought their Nike Alphaflys (other super shoes are available) would be the best choice. Pre race banter reached fairly epic levels with almost everyone I knew racing racked close to each other and the pre race bets were placed before we headed down to the great lake.
Looking back at the start it seemed half of the entire race field was in our wave (I'm told it was over 200) and what commenced from there was a two lap 1500m swim where the first lap was arms and legs everywhere getting punched and kicked from every angle. The front pack of qualifying races aren't for the faint hearted but by lap two I'd gained some free space and worked with another swimmer to take turns drafting off each other. A long run uphill into transition and the bizarre process of getting straight into my trainers rather than mount a bike and then back down the hill and off for almost 11km of slipping and sliding through the mud! At the bottom of the hill I heard my friend’s kid shouting and looked up to see him proudly in his finisher’s t-shirt from Saturday. We exchange a high five and I got a little boost of adrenaline as I took the first turn into the mud fields and spied a friend slightly ahead.
Settling into a consistent pace I started to pass multiple people including a couple of friendly rivals. Two miles down and I see a friend who made the mistake of running in his road shoes so I pass a quick comment as I overtake and thank god I had the sense to put treads on. Halfway round I’m passing the friend I saw at the first turn and make sure to dig in and pass quickly just so he doesn't latch on and come with me. The next 2 miles soon passed and before I knew it I was within a mile of the finish and I started to push a faster pace in an effort to drop an athlete who had been stuck on my heel for a mile or so and I felt sure was in my age group. It worked and soon there was daylight between us and then up the last hill before the finish and then it was foot down for an all out sprint over the last 200m before crossing the line. We had a nervy wait for a few days before British Triathlon confirmed it would still stand as a qualifier and yet again I had managed to get an automatic qualifying place.
During 2023, I’ve competed in five qualifying races and earned five automatic qualifying places for the following:
Sprint Duathlon World Final - Townsville, Australia
Standard Duathlon World Final - Townsville, Australia
Sprint Triathlon World Final - Malaga, Spain
Sprint Triathlon European Final - TBC
Standard Triathlon World Final - TBC
I set out this year to give myself a number of options for racing in 2024 and I have managed to do that. It's unlikely I'll be able to attend all five unless I get six numbers on the lottery in the next few months but I'll be holding out for the decisions on who gets awarded the two European finals before I decide where I am going to concentrate my efforts. I've had a couple of weeks off to take a break and I've just entered Brigg sprint triathlon in October so I have something to round the year out with, and I've set a personal target of trying to break my 5km PB so I've got a little bit to keep busy with and keep the training going.
My thanks once again go to all the team at Big Bear Bikes for their continued support, it's hard to believe five years have passed since David kindly invited me onto the supported athletes team and I'm eternally grateful for the opportunities it has presented me with.
