Bolton runners have taken on a full-length Ironman in Barcelona after the event was slashed in distance in the borough.
Chris Byrne completed his first Ironman in 2021 – just two years after doing his first "small" triathlon in 2019.
The 50-year-old said groups in Bolton had been looking for a new challenge after the full Ironman was withdrawn from the borough.
Chris said: “A couple of us did it last year, and then that lent a bit of momentum to this year – combined with the full Ironman being taken away from Bolton.
“A lot of people went looking for a full distance event elsewhere. In my group, North Bolton Tri, three of us went over. Then, the more we trained we picked up on the fact that other groups in Bolton – like Bolton Tri, Tri Rivington, NH Fitness, were all taking athletes over and competing.”
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Chris said the groups, which took part in the event on Sunday, October 6, have a "friendly rivalry with one another" – joining together for an "inter-club picture" after the event.
The Bromley Cross resident also said the course appealed in other ways.
He added: “It’s a flatter course, but also a more scenic course and generally the weather’s better, so it lends itself to a better event.
“A lot of people use Ironman or triathlon as a kind of tourism holiday with an event in it. A lot of people are still over there now having a holiday, but they’ve just done an Ironman in the middle of their holidays.
“There are various reasons why people went over there, but if you want a flatter, quicker course to try and get a personal best, and if you want to complete an Ironman, to make it as easy as possible, you’ve got to go as flat as possible, I guess.
“Bolton’s DNF (did not finish) rates are massive compared to a flatter course.”
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Chris said he was disappointed at the news that Leeds would now be hosting England’s only full-length Ironman-branded course.
He added: “More so than anywhere else in the country, because Bolton hosts Ironman in the UK, you start off doing triathlon – anywhere else in the country you can just be a triathlete and never even contemplate doing the Ironman.
“In Bolton, you start being a triathlete and then in a year or so they’re saying ‘right, you’re signing up for Ironman’.
“It’s always been good to have that on home soil, it’s even more disappointing now they’ve moved the full to Leeds – it’s virtually the same event, it’s roughly the same elevation, same weather conditions, it’s almost pointless moving from Bolton to Leeds.”
Chris added that he would encourage people to "get involved with a group" if they were thinking of giving triathlon a go, adding that training for an Ironman alone would be nearly impossible.
He added: “Training with other people that have got the same mindset – it just makes those long Sunday bike rides for five hours, which can be in the wet crappy weather, a bit more tolerable when you’re out there like a band of brothers, in a way.”
If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.
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