Cherry farmer Bob Sharp spent 5 days picking his fruit in the heat of last week before heading off to Canterbury on Sunday for a sprint distance race with, unusually, the starting swim element being in a pool. “Cherry picking in that heat was not exactly the best training for a triathlon”, says septuagenarian Sharp, “by the time Sunday came and with a 6am start from home, I was exhausted even before the event began.”
His fears were realised and although the swim distance was a comparatively short 300 metres his time of 6:51 minutes was, for him, disappointing. The run out to transition to start the bike leg was no more encouraging, for by now, the heavens had opened and the transition area was beginning to look like another swimming pool – it was going to be an uncomfortable ride. The bike route was a hilly one and not made any easier by the rain which continued heavily throughout, although this was marginally mitigated by the lovely and quiet country lanes. Sharp battled through and arrived back in transition in just over 47 minutes, a little slower than hoped, but given the conditions perhaps slower was not surprising.
Having dropped the bike and started the run leg, the rain at last eased and small amounts of blue sky began to appear. Largely cross-country, the run started downhill but then the old rule of running came in to play: what goes down is inevitably going to go up and usually lots of it. “By this time”, says Sharp, ”my energy levels were running dry and I was starting to plod. Finally the finish came in site and with one final effort and the usual applause from spectators I was over the line”. His final time was 1hr:29minutes. Not good, he felt, but also perhaps not too bad considering the conditions.
A sterner test lies ahead: on July 26 he is off to Liverpool to compete at the Olympic distance (more than double the distance of last Sunday’s event) in the British National Championships. He will need to be on good form – there will be plenty of serious competition in his age group.