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From keen amateur to world champion in less than a year ATHLETICS newcomers who are reading this magazine may be inspired by the story of Chrissie Wellington, who won the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Hawaii last weekend. This time last year she was an enthusiastic amateur, but the 30-year-old from Bury St Edmunds gave up her job and turned professional in February this year and in Hawaii won what is generally regarded as the toughest one-day endurance race in the world. Prior to last weekend, Wellington was not even well known in her own sport and had only completed one ironman triathlon before – a low-key event in Korea, which she won by 30 minutes. But in Hawaii she conquered a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile marathon run, high temperatures and humidity, plus a line-up that included a number of former world champions. She won by five minutes too – with a time of 9hr 8min 45sec – and her marathon split was a fraction inside three hours. It was an incredible run considering she had just cycled the equivalent of London to Birmingham – in temperatures of 90 degrees and in Hawaii’s famously windy conditions. She won around £54,000 for her feat too. Not bad for a novice who only started to take the sport seriously nine months ago. ► FOR more information see: www.milk.co.uk |
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