Thousands turn out for Staffordshire Ironman

The 8th annual Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire hailed a success.

Thousands turn out for Staffordshire Ironman.

The 8th annual Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire took place over the weekend as thousands lined the course around Stafford to watch the athletes tackle the gruelling heat on Sunday.

Spectators came out in force to cheer on the competitors with hundreds applauding them as the crossed the red carpet in South Walls.

Despite the searing 30 degree heat, the day saw PRO triathlete James Teagle (Great Britain) claim victory in a time of 3:53:54. The fastest age grouper male over the line was George Martindale in a time of 4:10:48 and the fastest age grouper female was Stephanie Clutterbuck in a time of 04:37:25. 

The UK IRONMAN season kicked off in Staffordshire, England with 1.2-mile swim course which took athletes around Chasewater with the morning water temperature reading 17.1 degrees Celsius. The one-loop 56-mile bike course meandered through the heart of the Staffordshire countryside and the Cannock Chase area. It then continued towards Stafford town centre through Great Haywood and Tixall.
Following the bike, the athletes took on a 13.1-mile run alongside the River Sow, into the Stafford town centre and towards Stafford Castle, before heading to the finish line.

The finish line was full of rows of spectators who turned out to enjoy the sunshine and create an amazing atmosphere. 

The event is a collaboration between Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire, Stafford Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council. 
Gillian Pardesi, Cabinet Member for Leisure at Stafford Borough Council, said:

“It was brilliant to see so many people from Staffordshire, as well as competitors from across the country and international athletes, taking part and I am in awe of them all."

She added:

“The huge crowds lining the streets to encourage them to complete this grueling competition was a tribute to how popular the event is. It has brought thousands of people - competitors, their friends, family, and spectators - to the heart of our town and it was great to hear from cafes, bars and other retail outlets about the boost the event brings to their trade.”

Finishing just behind Teagle was Joshua Lewis (Great Britain), who finished 02:36 behind. The third and last podium spot went to Benjamin Goodfellow (Great Britain) who commented:

“We all rode quite hard today. Me, George and Tom were looking at each other for the win, but in our minds, we knew that Josh was going away, so the bike was quite painful”

He continued:

“I attacked on Cannock Chase where Tom and George tried to hang on, but they were suffering as well. I just tried to close the gap to Josh, and I couldn’t believe it was still 2:30 when I got out of transition, so I thought I’ve just got to run for this. I ran hard, suffered a little bit at the end, but luckily, I managed to close him down. Great race and nice to come away with a win today. Hopefully I’ll come back next time.”

The challenge to take on Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire was also taken up by a number of avid triathletes from various local clubs, including Stafford Tri and New2Tri Club.

Whilst the race featured no PRO female athletes, amateur British Triathlete Stephanie Clutterbuck was the first female age-grouper over the line clocking an incredible time of 04:37:25. She left nothing out on the course in a challenging race.

The day also saw other notable athletes such as former Love Island star Adam Collard take on his first IRONMAN race as he aims to complete a trio of IRONMAN races all within 1 month. He will next take on IRONMAN UK on Sunday 2 July followed by IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea on Sunday 16 July.

Adam said:

“I honestly cannot put into words how good the energy is around that place. I’ve never done a sporting event where so many people are trying to cheer each other on.”

Epileptic athlete Annie Brooks also completed her IRONMAN 70.3 race whilst flying the flag high raising awareness for her kind of epilepsy, to ensure that other people don’t feel as isolated as she once did.

Photo Credit: Huw Fairclough for IRONMAN