Five New Forest-based athletes represented Great Britain at the World Triathlon Multisport Championships, which local clubs Hardley Runners, Lymington Triathlon Club and New Forest Cycling Club
Five New Forest-based athletes represented Great Britain in six of the seven championship events at the World Triathlon Multisport Championships in the medieval city of Pontevedra in Spain.
Hardley Runners’ M35 Phil Rudd and Lymington Triathlon Club’s W70 Glenda Monson made their international debuts, unlike Dibden Purlieu W45 Camille King, Lymington’s M60 Peter Younghusband and New Forest Cycling Club and Hardley Runners’ M75 Mick Anglim.
Over 3,000 competitors from 44 countries competed in sweltering conditions.
Monson participated in the aquathlon, which consisted of a 1km river swim followed by a two-lap 5km run across two river bridges, concluding on the athletic track. She came seventh in a time of 1:03:06 and was third in the GB W70 category.
Rudd took on the much more formidable challenge of the cross duathlon, held in the hills north of the city. The first 5.8km run started around a lake before climbing for 4km on stony forest tracks, then returning to the transition point at the lake. The 23.2km two-lap mountain bike course featured numerous brutal climbs on rocky and loose tracks, forcing many riders to walk. There were only two rock gardens, so the course was more of a physical challenge rather than a technical one, especially with unbroken sunshine and temperatures approaching 30°C. The final 3.2km run was flatter around the lake, and Rudd was happy with his 13th M35 and third GB position in 2:3:51.
King and Younghusband participated in the long-distance triathlon, which consisted of a 3km river swim followed by a hilly three-lap, 120km road bike leg and a four-lap, 30km run, including climbs through the narrow streets of the medieval city, in extremely hot conditions. King took W45 silver in 7:51:35 to add to her four other world medals.
Younghusband has been representing GB in triathlon since 1993, but despite a 14-year break, was in first M60 position until near the end of the run and cruelly missed out on a world title by just 21 seconds with a time of 7:13:55. That was Younghusband’s third world championship medal.
Anglim took on the Legend Challenge, which requires a minimum of five championship races. He wasn’t expecting podium places in his fourth year in M75 and was happy with fourth, by 37 seconds, in the road sprint duathlon and sixth in the standard distance duathlon. As he was the second British athlete in both races, he has qualified for the 2026 World Championships.
The cross triathlon began with a 1km lake swim, and with wetsuits banned, Anglim was eight minutes behind the first Spaniard at the start of the 28.7km bike leg, on which Anglim took the lead. Anglim was first into T2 and then ran the fastest time on the rough and hilly 7.6km course to win the M75 title in 4:15:56, which was 24:47 in front of the Spanish silver medallist.
There was over 4,500 feet of climb on the bike and run courses, which, coupled with the heat, meant that none of the other M75 finished within the cut-off times.
Two days later, Anglim took on the cross duathlon on the same terrain but with slightly shorter courses. With three races under his belt, he was nine minutes behind the leading Spaniard on the first 5.8km run, but he again took the lead on the two-lap 23.2km bike course and pulled out further time on the 3.2km second run to win by over seven minutes in 3:08:38.
Swimming is Anglim’s weakest discipline by far, and for his fifth race, the aquathlon on the following day, Anglim finished in 7th place in 68:28.
At the closing ceremony, the 20 participants in the Legends Challenge were presented with special trophies that combined all of the finishers’ medals from each of their races. Anglim was the oldest of the group by 12 years, and there was only one other GB triathlete in the group.
