Newcastle Emlyn multi sport athlete Sian Lewis captured a podium finish when she was third woman home in the 2016 Isoman Triathlon, one of the hardest multi sport events on the Triathlon calendar. Writes Anwen Francis
Huge crowds gathered to watch competitors at the Arrow Valley Park, Redditch for this gruelling Triathlon event which drew competitors from all over the World including four members of the Emlyn Flyers in Newcastle Emlyn. (see website for pics)
The Flyers team consisted of Sian Lewis, Louise Maguire, Barry Owen and Mark Baggot who flew the flag for Wales with Barry finishing the event in under 12 and a half hours whilst Baggot was not far behind with a time of 12.54.
Poland’s Michal Garbacki was the eventual winner and he completed the course in an impressive time of 10 hours and 12 minutes.
Sian was the highest female finisher from Wales and ended up in a third position in the women’s full distance Isoman with a time of 14.03 behind second placed Lucy Tomlinson from Kent and winner Natalie Jackson from the Bolton Triathlon Club who completed the course in a winning time of 11 hours and 24 minutes.
Louise finished in a very respectable time of 14.44
Also competing in the half Isoman distance was Emlyn flier Paul Williams, whilst Ian Davies completed the gruelling 7 mile swim. Both Allan Maguire and Garry Lewis also competed in the 61.3 mile bike sportive.
The event consisted of a tough seven mile swim in Arrow Valley Lake, followed by a 61.3 mile bike ride around the surrounding Worcestershire countryside and then a full marathon on the roads of Redditch which tested the athletes to the extreme.
So what is Isoman?
Race director, Gary Jarvis, explains : “Iso is the Greek word for equal and that is exactly what we have tried to do with this triathlon – equalize it. Most triathlon events are biased mainly towards the cycling and to a slightly lesser extent towards the running. Iron distance pros for example will spend only 10 per cent of the total time swimming, 54 per cent of the time cycling and 36 per cent of the time running.
“The aim of Isoman is to address this imbalance and create a triathlon for which all disciplines demand an equal level of excellence.”
He added: “By taking the world record times for the 10km swim, marathon and one hour cycling we have used a formula (that can estimate tiredness) to level the distances of the swim and cycle ride against the marathon to come up with a seven mile swim (eight laps of Arrow Valley Lake), a 61.3 mile cycle around the undulating Worcestershire countryside and a 26.2 mile run consisting of four laps around Arrow Valley Country Park.”
The Emlyn Flyers are now keen to further their field. Louise, and Sian accompanied by flyers member Sara Hull, will tackle a five and a half mile swim in the Coniston Lake in the Lake District whilst Ian Davies is aiming even higher with a 10 mile swim across the Windermere lake in the next few months.
Mark Baggott, Steven Hicks, Edward Evans, Iestyn Evans, Owen Jones, Paul Williams, Mark Davies, Mark Ludgate and Sion Mason Evans are also all taking part in the Ironman Cymru event at Tenby in September.
All the Club members wish to thank Hazel Davies, the club’s coach for all her support and dedication over the past 35 years to enable members to be supported in competing in these events.
Pictured from left to right are:Barry Owen,Sian Lewis,Louise Maguire and Mark Baggot.
