Tri-ing Hard In The Triathlon

By Ivy Weatherston-Harvey

On Thursday the 15th of February I competed in the Challenge Wanaka Otago intermediate schools championships triathlon representing Tahuna in the individual race. This was made up of a 200m swim, 6 km bike, and 3 km run. I was also the only student representing Tahuna.

The Swim

We were put in waves according to the numbers we were given. When my wave were sent down to the lakeshore we were told to start when we heard the siren go off. Thirty seconds later the siren went off and everyone dived into the water. It was so cold and everyone was trying to get in the front. As we got closer to the halfway point the swimmers started to spread out. At this point I was in 4th place behind my friend from another school but I quickly passed her. I came out of the water in third place as I ran up to the transition on to the bike.

The Bike

After running up a bumpy road to the transition I quickly put my shorts, t-shirt and shoes on and ran to the bike start. The course was six laps and you got a tally mark written on your hand after every lap completed. There was a very steep hill at the end of each lap. To get up the hill you had to go down to a lower gear to get up it without stopping and back up to the higher gears once you were at the top. I was going up the hill when I got to the top when my pedals spun out of control and I had difficulty with my gears. I tried to get back on and spin the pedals but this didn't work so I ran up and around into a little part of the track so that I wasn’t in anyone's way. I quickly sorted it out and kept on riding. The same thing happened a couple more times so unfortunately a few people passed me. After I had finished all six laps I ran with my bike round to the next transition and on to the run.

The Run

The track was a hilly gravel road that was two 1.5 km laps. On the first lap I managed to pass a few people even though I was feeling out of breath from the bike and the swim. On the second lap I had more energy so I managed to pass my friend from the other school who I had passed on the swim but who had passed me on the bike. I passed her again on the run when we were going up the hill but she passed me again when we were going back down the hill but I wasn’t far behind. In the last ten meters I gave it my all and sprinted as fast as I could. In the end I came sixth out of twenty three in the year eight girls and fifteenth out of forty two in both year eight girls and boys. Although it was tough I really enjoyed my first experience of a triathlon and I would definitely do it again.