On Sunday 12th September 2021 the PSUK Middle Distance Championships were incorporated within the Bowood Outlaw triathlon held in Wiltshire. Athletes traveled from many forces across the UK including a strong well represented team from Police Scotland.
The event was delayed 30 minutes due to mist over the lake within the stunning venue of Bowood. Once this cleared the first athletes entered the water for the swim section with the temperature a comfortable 19 degrees, with little wind and warm air conditions. The swim start format was fastest seeded swimmers first with two starting at a time every 2 seconds until all the field was complete.
In the male race Andy Windett (Met) produced an exceptional swim to exit as the clear leader in the PSUK race. After a reasonable gap the next athletes out the swim were Tim Seaman (AVS), Derek Simpson (Police Scotland), Karl Free (Met), Ross Meldrum (Police Scotland), Jake Hayward (Met), Andy Moulden (Met), Simeon Bayliss (D & C), Craig Chapman (GMP),
In the female race Gabi Kennedy-Hill (Met), exited the swim in a good time followed by Libby Free (Met) and Beth Wilmot (Lincs) with Christine Howard (Derbyshire) next.
The bike route was fast in places but included some testing elevations to split the field apart as the race passed through picturesque Wiltshire countryside on well-maintained roads.
Andy was going strong at the front of the bike when disaster struck as his handlebars came loose and snapped causing him to disappointingly abandon, although safely and not injured. Derek Simpson took the lead followed closely by Karl Free with Craig Chapman now in third riding strong, then Andy Moulden, Simeon Bayliss, Ross Meldrum all close behind.
Beth Wilmot took the lead from Gabi Kennedy-Hill and Libby Free in the female race with a strong bike split. Libby moved into second as the first two created a large gap.
The run course was a tough undulating 3 lap route with a combination of off road and tarmac paths. This was a severe test over the distance as the temperature increased.
Starting the run Derek Simpson was in the lead but soon passed by Karl Free with Craig Chapman and Andy Moulden a few minutes back. Simeon Bayliss, Robert Wood, Neil Hunter, Tim Seaman, Ross Meldrum, Jake Hayward and Matt Higson all followed within range of each other. Karl soon suffered the effects of a pre-existing knee injury which caused him to slow down to a jog where Craig and Andy Moulden duelled for the lead, with Simeon running strong along with Matt Higson. By the end of the tough run Craig Chapman pulled away to win by roughly one minute from Andy Moulden who produced a fast run split. Simeon finished 3rd, Matt Higson 4th, Robert Wood 5th, Neil Hunter 6th.
Beth Wilmot started the run with an advantage over Libby Free and both ran almost identical strong run splits which also placed them impressively high in the overall female event. Beth took 1st place and Libby 2nd with Christine Howard later finishing in 3rd place.
We currently can’t confirm the prize winners for all catagories as we haven’t received a full set of results with all the athletes that weren’t in the previous post. Bear with us and we will let you know. We haven’t decided next years champs yet. When we know, you will know.
Written by Libby Free