Wiltshire and Rand top dogs at The Outlaw

Shock win for OD athlete Wiltshire at Nottingham’s iron-distance race

Published: July 3, 2012 at 9:43 am

Harry Wiltshire won the Outlaw at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, in a time of 9:06:16 for the 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike ride and 26.2mile marathon run on Sunday. The British Olympic-distance elite, despite having never completed the iron-distance and only deciding to enter a few days before, led from start to finish.

Emma Rand from York won the women’s event after coming to the event for the last three years in a row, whilst Gi Tri Bridgetown won the relay for a second year in a row.

Wiltshire was pushed all the way by Chris Goodfellow from Oxfordshire but took the overall win in impressive fashion. Goodfellow was gaining on Wiltshire at the start of the run, but Wiltshire managed to consolidate his lead and maintained it to the finish.

Wiltshire set a course record on the swim and demonstrated his class on the bike. Wiltshire enquired just last Tuesday about whether any relay teams needed a swimmer, then ended up entering as an individual, completed the full distance and winning it – amazing story!

After the race he joked: “Why would you run a marathon after zero training?! It’s really important to respect the event, these people who compete in these events train for twelve months to prepare. It’s been a great race and a really fun day.”

Emma Rand, aged 41, from York was the first woman to finish. She was part of a large contingent of Pirate Ship of Fools club mates at the Outlaw.

She said: “The wind was really hard, but I just kept going and kept trying and just got on with doing a job really. I never ever expected to win, so I’m really chuffed.”

Gi Tri Bridgetown won the relay event. The winning team recorded a time of 8:50.15 with ‘The Sheriffs’ from Absolute Tri Club in Nottingham coming in close behind in a time of 8:52.52.

The all women’s Cancer Research UK relay team finished third in the relay event. Long distance professional triathlete, Lucy Gossage, passed her family home on her way to an unbelievable 5:04 bike split. The team also comprised swimmer Helen Gorman and Chrissie Howard, a police officer in Derbyshire who ran 3:14.

The date for next year’s Outlaw has been provisionally set as 7 July, with entries set to open in September.

Provisional results at www.racetimingsystems.com/public/results.aspx?raceid=2387

For more information visit www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/the-outlaw-triathlon.php.

Look out for a full race report from Matt Kurton in issue 277 of 220, out on 24 July.

Photos: Mark Pearce and Barry Coombs