Many of our members will be unaware that we have a new National champion in our ranks. Hugh Brashaw, who has been doing some of his training sessions with the club's Bristol Track Club group over the past year, has won the British Triathlon's Middle Distance championship.
Held at Aberfeldy in Scotland, Hugh covered the 1,900m swim, 90km bike and 21km run in just over 4 hours to beat a field of over 600 of the country's top amateur triathletes. His winning margin was almost exactly a minute and a half. After holding his own in the swim, he was third fastest overall on the bike and had the second fastest run time.
His victory earns him the right to compete with the country's top professional triathletes next season if he chooses to do so. Meanwhile, we are hoping he will be turning out for the club in the forthcoming autumn road relay championships.
Editors note: Our thoughts go out to Nathan Ford who was involved in a serious accident on the bike section, with potentially life threatening injuries. Our best wishes to Nathan and his family and we wish him a speedy and successful recovery. A rehabilitation fund has been setup on GoFundMe.
Mike Down