Gary Kurth.
TRIATHLON
GARY Kurth recovered well from a late start to come 17th at the Virgin Triathlon at the Excel Centre last weekend.
More than 3,000 competitors take part in this popular event, which has in the past attracted the likes of Richard Branson, Jenson Button and David Hasslehoff, with a strong team from TRIUK — a major sponsor of the event — also competing.
As a member of TRIUK, Gary, of East Cowes, decided to join in but he did not arrive until very late and he had to sprint straight to the swim start and leave the transition set-up to his wife.
Exiting the 1,500m swim in the front pack of four in 21 minutes, Gary struggled to locate his transition spot in the maze of 2,000 bikes but was still able to stick with the front pack.
A good bike leg of 1.01 for the 40km course set things up for a top 20 finish and he held his own in the run leg to come 17th out of 2,000 Olympic distance athletes, and second in the men’s 30 to 34 age group.
Gary will be travelling to France this weekend with fellow athlete Jack Grundy to race in the French Cup, a six-man team triathlon over sprint distances.