FROM IRONKID TO IRONMAN CHAMPION

Bolton Triathlon Club had a host of competitors at the Ironman UK, Night Run 5K & 10K, Ironkids and Ironman Frankfurt events on the first weekend in July

One of these competitors, Lauren Fry had only turned 18 two weeks before the Ironman UK event and was officially the youngest competitor. She was not only the youngest participant in the whole field, but also came first in her F18-24 category with a fantastic time of  14hrs 50mins 21 secs.

She is pictured above with her dad Peter who is a Bolton Tri Club coach Peter. When Peter was asked about why Lauren had entered the event, he said  ‘she had always wanted to do the event since taking part in her first Ironkids 11 years ago, and every year would count down to being one year closer to her dream’.

Bolton Tri Club Chairman Stuart Carter added ” This is the height of the triathlon season and there are events every weekend all over the country and abroad. It’s great to see members, who train with us regularly, going to do events for the first time whether that’s a junior triathlon, a sprint distance triathlon or a half or full Ironman. We are all really proud of Lauren Fry. She joined us as a junior 7 years ago and progressed through all the junior age groups and events from Tristar 2 upwards. For many years she has set her heart on doing Bolton Ironman but had to wait until she was 18 to take part. It takes at least a year of serious training to be able to complete an Ironman and a couple more years’ experience before that. Lauren put in the hours and kept to her training plan so that on the day she could enjoy the experience and come first in her age group! ”

As well as Peter completing the event for a third time on Sunday, finishing in an impressive 14:37:32, other Bolton Tri members: Stephen Lloyd (12:55;02), Andrew Patterson (13:02:44), Rob Doyle (13:16:12) , Karl Norman (14:42:56) and Tom Mitchell (16;13;28)  all finished well within the 17 hour time limit. They all had to battle the severe conditions.

Meanwhile at the same time, BTC club members Lee Gerrard and Peter McNulty competed in the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt Germany, finishing with fantastic times of 11:32;12 and 12;16;21 respectively.