On Sunday 12th June YJ brand ambassador Lucy Gossage successfully defended her Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire crown. What you may not have realised is she managed arguably an even bigger achievement by successfully guiding a group of triathlon novices to completing, not only their first 70.3 but their first ever triathlon! Find out more in Lucy’s latest blog for Yellow Jersey.
Being a pro-triathlete is somewhat of a selfish pursuit and for a while now I’ve been trying to think of ways in which I can do something a bit more useful with my time than just swim, bike and run. I’ve now got a little bit of a platform in the UK and I’m absolutely delighted to be able to use it to raise money for a charity which is very close to my heart, Teenage Cancer Trust.
Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to improving the quality of life and chances of survival for the seven young people aged 13 to 24 diagnosed with cancer every day. Have a read of this article. It kind of sums up why I support the Teenage Cancer Trust.
In November I was very honoured to be invited to give a speech at the Teenage Cancer Trust ‘Find Your Sense of Tumour’ conference and I came away very excited about being involved with a brilliant charity that I believe in 100%. It’s great to feel passionate about something other than triathlon. I think I’d almost forgotten how much I used to love being an oncologist.
Of the back of my speech the idea of guiding complete novices to finish Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire was proposed. Putting together #TeamLucy for the Teenage Cancer Trust has turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I’ve done as a professional athlete. I was lucky to have received great support from my sponsors and friends in putting together the Ironman 70.3 package for the team (see the package here).
Membership of the team cost £150 with a minimum fund-raising target of £2000 per participant and in return each person received a package for the Ironman 70.3 with a value in excess of £2000.
I’ve got to admit I was pretty nervous about initiating the team. Would anyone want to join? Would I be able to write an Ironman 70.3 training program that was achievable and successful for complete novices? Would the training days be a success? What if people didn’t finish? Or hated the whole experience?
“Would I be able to write an Ironman 70.3 training program that was achievable and successful for complete novices?”
The whole thing has been a huge learning experience but all in all I think it was a success. Certainly in terms of fundraising. And it’s helped me remember what it’s like to be entering your first Ironman 70.3. I’d almost forgotten what a massive achievement it is to finish. Emma, Giles, Theresa and Kevin have reminded me. Thank you! Theresa and Kevin – I know you’ve had setbacks but your day will come. #TeamLucy isn’t over until you’ve achieved your goals!
I have so many memories from Sunday and this is a race that will stay with me for a long time. From a personal point of view I’m proud that I dealt with some complications on the bike leg that previously might have stopped me fighting for the win. While at times it felt as though everything was conspiring against me I never stopped fighting and I didn’t settle for anything less than the win. I’m proud that mentally I raced the run rather than surviving it. I’m not run fit at the moment but while I was running slower than I have done previously that wasn’t for lack of trying. The only thing limiting me was run fitness. It wasn’t injuries and it wasn’t my head. And I’ve got Helen Davis (sports psychologist), who’s been helping me out with some sports psychology sessions, to thank for that. My run training may have been 5/10 but I gave 10/10 on the day. You can’t do more than that.
From the team point of view it was amazing to see the rest of the team out there racing hard. I’d told them it wouldn’t rain. It did. I’d told them to be careful on the corners. I was the only one who crashed. I’d told them to smile. They all did! Perhaps the highlight for me was seeing Emma nail her first ever triathlon, despite panicking in the swim and having to do the whole thing breaststroke.
Seeing Emma run down the finish chute smiling, jump in the air and then fall flat on her bum made me so proud, and just a little bit hysterical! I wanted finishing dances. I didn’t expect that!
Emma, Giles, Linzi, Kate, Ian, Andrew, Andrew, Kevin, Theresa – thank you for being part of #TeamLucy and raising so much money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. I’m sorry (not) if you now feel you have to do an Ironman! Who knows, maybe next year #TeamLucy will target a full distance Ironman rather than Ironman 70.3….
Lucy was Crowned Staffordshire Ironman 70.3 Champion again
| BIB | 1 |
| Division | PRO |
| Age | 36 |
| Race Summary | |
| Swim | 00:29:24 |
| Bike | 02:29:46 |
| Run | 01:29:56 |
| Overall | 04:33:21 |
SWIM DETAILS | Division Rank: 5
| SPLIT NAME | DISTANCE | SPLIT TIME | RACE TIME | PACE | DIVISION RANK | GENDER RANK | OVERALL RANK |
| Total | 1.9 km | 00:29:24 | 00:29:24 | 01:31/100m | 5 | 6 | 52 |
BIKE DETAILS | Division Rank: 2
| SPLIT NAME | DISTANCE | SPLIT TIME | RACE TIME | PACE | DIVISION RANK | GENDER RANK | OVERALL RANK |
| Total | 90.1 km | 02:29:46 | 03:01:57 | 36.11 kph | 2 | 2 | 25 |
RUN DETAILS | Division Rank: 1
| SPLIT NAME | DISTANCE | SPLIT TIME | RACE TIME | PACE | DIVISION RANK | GENDER RANK | OVERALL RANK |
| Total | 21.1 km | 01:29:56 | 04:33:21 | 04:15/km | 1 | 1 | 26 |
Results originally from Ironman Website found here
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