Matt Switzer, Jack Peasgood and James Sheairs made up Team Sheairs

WALDENTRI enjoyed some success in the annual Vitruvian triathlon, a half Ironman distance event at Rutland Water.

The club entered a team and individuals into the race, which involves a two- lap 1,900m swim, double lap bike course covering 85km, and a 21km run to finish off – the Vitruvian is a true test of endurance.

Jack Peasgood was the first to enter the water for WaldenTri, competing as part of a team of three. He had an excellent swim, exiting the water in second place, in 26mins 34secs, to sprint to transition and pass the timing chip onto James Sheairs, who headed off for the bike leg.

Meanwhile, Paul Desforges and David Peasgood started the swim, exiting the water in 30mins 10secs and 41mins 35secs respectively.

Sheairs returned from the two-lap challenging cycle route, after 2hrs 29mins 28secs, to pass the ‘baton’ onto Matt Switzer, who headed out on the half marathon two-lap course. He had an excellent run, chasing down the leading team, who were seven minutes ahead.

The exceptionally hot weather made the event even more of a challenge, but Switzer pulled out all the stops and completed the run in 1hr 26mins 18secs. Team Sheairs combined time was 4hrs 23mins 51secs – winning them the overall team prize, some 10 minutes ahead of the second placed team.

The remaining WaldenTri competitors were meanwhile battling it out with their fellow athletes. Peasgood had a very good bike leg, returning to transition in 2hrs 30mins 30secs. He crossed the finish line with a personal best time of 5hrs 5mins 55secs, stripping 10 minutes off of the time that he posted two years previously.

Desforges had a good bike leg, coming back to transition after 2hrs 44mins 57secs, ready to head straight off for the challenging run course. Having completed a number of half iron man distance triathlons this summer, Desforges crossed the finish line jubilantly, in 5hrs 20mins 30secs.