20.07.10
Gullane Beach Tri
"They talk about Sun, Sea and Sand, well two out of three aint bad, four intrepid GRC Tri members lined up for the Gullane Beach sea swim triathlon. The day started with registration and a nervous wait for the tri suits delivery that Richard was going to race in. Thankfully the guy from Aquasphere turned up and Ashleigh took delivery.
After several visits to the toilets it was onto the beach for , Richard decked out in his new Ironman wetsuit, (no more transformer look). On the way down Ashleigh forgot her chaffing cream, Robert saved the day by running back to the car to retrieve the cream. The start was two waves, starting with Richard in with the red caps then followed by Mandy, Africa and Ashleigh who were all in the second wave with yellow caps. Nerves put to one side the race started and the two 750m loops commenced, one loop swim then out a run up the beach and back in for the second sea swim loop.
A hilly run up to T1 and the bikes were collected, all had good transitions, with no real problems and they were off on the 25 mile bike leg, the rain played a part during the day, but this did not dampen the team’s enthusiasm, not even the supporters were put of supporting in the rain (Robert, Vicky and Vicky’s partner Scott).
The run was hard but achievable, and all four completed the race in the GRC Tri style, with a big smile on their faces. Richard first home 2.41.57, Mandy who was 2nd Female veteran finished in 2.57.31 (a huge well done Mandy), then came Africa with a fantastic effort at 3.29.09 and the team were led home by Club President Ashleigh to a raptures applause in a time of 3.34.42.
A bottle of Broughton Ale was the prize for each athlete finished, well done all."
