Sunday, 1 July 2018
TRTC went to Haugesund for a stunning IRONMAN 70.3 race in the heart of Viking Norway. About an 8 hour drive southwest of Oslo and 4 hours south of Bergen, the venue features wild natural landscape, breathtaking fjords and beautiful mountains. Haugesund is also host to a full-distance Ironman on the same day, starting an hour before the 70.3.
Charles Evans represented TRTC in the 70.3 and the day was a scorcher; it was HOT and the transition areas were littered with sunscreen. The swim section was particularly interesting; a completely new system, designed to give a ‘fast’ swim, the one loop of 1900m taking place in lanes, with the lane dividers guiding competitors all the way.
Charles had a steady swim and exited the water in 32 minutes, right on target.
The bike was a 90 km one-loop course with 800 meters of climbing, a series of rolling hills and magnificent views along the fjords. Charles had a solid ride – loving every minute of it – and finished with a ride time of 2.53.
The run was a relatively flat 21.1 km in 2 loops through the heart of Haugesund, with an incredible crowd at the finish line. Coming off an injury and with little run training, Charles approached the run with caution. His first 10K was steady but the lack of running took its toll during the second loop. Even so, Charles reached the finish line for that well-deserved medal in a respectable run time of 2.15.
Best of all, even with the injury, Charles’ reached his goal of finishing in under 6 hours in a time of 5 hours 57 minutes.
Terrific job Charles! Next up is the Austrian 70.3 in Zell-am-See on 26th August!