THREE members of Coventry Triathletes recently made their way over to Almere in Amsterdam to take part in Challenge Almere – an endurance distance triathlon for the brave hearted but one competitor came home a hero with the nickname ‘scooter man’.
The event took place on September 15 and comprised of a 2.2 mile swim, followed by an enormous 112 mile cycle ride and finished with a 26.2 mile marathon run.
The trio included accomplished athlete Steve Bottomley, but for Steve, who had been preparing for months and was hoping for a quick time, raceday proved a little problematic when his from chain ring broke with 30km still left on the cycle and a 26.2 mile marathon still to contend with.
Despite the setback and with quitting not an option, Steve somehow ‘scootered’ his way through the remainder of the cycle to the amazement of fellow competitors and spectators alike.
After an already impressive swim and a fast bike time until the point of his mechanical failure, the ‘scooting’ certainly took its toll on Steve’s legs but he battled on with running the marathon and still finished the race in a still very respectable time of 12 hours, 55 minutes and 27 seconds.
Steve was joined by Corinna O’Connor from Coventry Triathletes who also completed the long distance event in a time of 12:09:07, and Zelda Wilson took part in the ‘Half Distance’ event to complete in a time of 06:37:25.
