Being a world champ event this was clearly the race that both Parys and Em wanted to be in peak racing form for. Both had taken slightly different paths through the season and racing, Em had always listed this as the main race and was keen after missing out on the European tri champs earlier in the year due to illness. Parys had initially set the year as a focus on standard distance (Olympic distance) and after being crowned the European age group champ earlier in the year thought it was a good year to also target the world champs for the same distance. Due to work commitments she would be unable to attend the race and hence altered the plan and set about qualifying for Vegas.
As a coach it can be hard knowing you have 2 athletes up against each other in the same age group, you can’t have a favourite, you want them both to do as well as they possibly can.
Here is an extract of the Ful-on tri report regarding the race.
The Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas is a truly brutal race, with a hilly bike course and over 9kms of climbing on the run. On a sizzling hot day which caused many of the worlds finest athletes to melt in the heat, Parys and Em braved the brutal conditions to deliver some inspirational performances. Congratulations to Em who mixed it with best with a 15th in age group.
However, there’s no doubt that the superstar of the day was Parys Edwards. She had a great swim, then absolutely nailed the tough hilly bike leg to lead her age group into T2. Once on the run course she just ran away from the competition to win her age group, whilst beating half of the world class Pro field, finishing 18th female overall and becoming the new age group World Champion!!!
Parys has said she’s utterly delighted with her result, “I had a firm race plan in mind and I stuck to it though at times I wondered if I was pushing it too hard and might not finish”, “I had no idea how I had done until I got to my phone and oh what a great moment that was! The support from home has been amazing and I thank God for giving me this ability and for placing me at such a great club (Ful-on Tri)!”
I think the results speak for themselves but great effort to qualify, well done on an impressive season of results for both Parys and Em and a superb race results to top it off.
Andrew Tong | Triathlon coaching 