Members of Letchworth-based triathlon club Freedom Tri spread their wings far and wide over the last weekend in April to compete across four countries and two continents.

Stevenage duo Anne Tryssesoone and Simon Jackson travelled to Spain to race ‘IRONMAN 70.3 Marbella’, a middle distance triathlon which involves a 1.2 mile sea swim, 56 miles on the bike and a half marathon (13.1 miles) run. Ann enjoyed an outstanding race, finishing third in her age group (50-54 year olds) in a time of 5:57:22. Speaking from the bar afterwards, she said: “Absolutely delighted with my race. Survived the swim, smashed it on the bike, legs a little weary on the run but overall an incredible experience.” Simon finished in a credible 35th place in a highly competitive 40-44 year old age group, completing the three disciplines in a time of 4:54:40.

Rob Sedgwick took his family, friends and race gear across the pond to compete in the ‘IRONMAN North American Championships’ in Texas. Rob swam 2.4 miles, cycled 112 miles and ran a full marathon (26.2 miles) in 30 degrees Celsius to finish in a superb 12:39:07. Rob commented: “Well that was a tough one, unbearable heat on the run and up to 25 mph headwind on the bike, but got the job done.”

A bit closer to home but still a fair distance, six brave Freedomites took part in an epic trail run along the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. Facing down Storm Hannah and 35 mph headwinds, Sarah Taylor, Sarah O’Callaghan, Jackie Livings, Angela Phillips and husband John Phillips all finished within seven seconds of each other to complete the ‘half-marathon’ 15-mile race in approximately 3 hours 40 minutes. Liz Aitken competed in the ‘10k’ class, which was really 8 miles, finishing in 2:01:30.

Last but not least, Freedom was represented at the London Marathon, with Tracey Palmieri and James Parsons running 26.2 miles around our nation’s capital in great race conditions and through a wall of sound created by the millions of spectators. Tracey finished in 3:37:19, with James coming home in 2:58:34.

Three other Freedom Tri members competed in local running club colours and ran their best ever marathon times. Michelle Reeves (3:14:02), Jenny Cotter (3:37:20) and Matthew Sayers (2:41:18) all ran through London like they’d stolen Sir Mo Farah’s mobile phone, smashing their PBs – Michelle by a good 20 minutes.

All in all a cracking Spring weekend’s racing from Freedom Tri.