James gearing up for the swim (left) and James at the finish (right)
Congratulations to our plucky triathletes James McHugh and Rudi Keyser for successfully completing the AJ Bell London Triathlon and raising hundreds of pounds for hyh.
James overcame a couple of wayward fists during the swim section and a puncture to his bike on his way to the finish while, in contrast, Rudi sped over the line before his wife had got there to cheer him on!
Rudi, a former South Africa triathlete and now Director of Watling Street Beer, raced over the Olympic distance of 1,500m swim, 40km, bike ride and 10km run and finished in a time of 2:26.23
James, in his first triathlon, completed the Sprint distance of 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run in a time of 2:28.21 despite losing around 35 minutes while fixing his bike.
“I’m not the most mechanical minded and I don’t know how to fix a puncture,” James, a graduate trainee with Santander, told hyh.
“But I got one 500m into the cycle ride and after about two miles my front wheel was completely dead.
“The marshals aren’t supposed to help you so I carried on walking with my bike until I found one who would.
“In a way, the race was a shambles for me but I had the time of my life. I was extremely anxious about the swim and I was 595th out of nearly 2,000.
“I’d love to do another triathlon but perhaps as a relay so I’d do only one of the three legs. I would do the swim as I enjoyed it that much,” James added.
Rudi, who retired as a semi-professional triathlete 17 years ago, was expecting to be greeted by wife Kerry at the finish
“I finished before she even got there. I’d gone to get my bike [after the race] when I got a call from her saying she was at the station,” he said.
“I’m quite chuffed, I actually did better than I expected to.
“If I’d done some swimming training and got on the bike I could’ve done a better time – maybe next year…”