Wow, the Superhero Series Triathlon… what an experience.
Fact. I’ve never had more fun completing a triathlon.
We had music blaring. Glitter flying. Neon paint glowing. And were making smiles around the whole course.
We, you ask? Ok, so I need to give a little background to this story.
The Superhero Series Triathlon was (I believe) one of the first all inclusive of any disability triathlon in the U.K. and it was awesome.
I was taking part as the sidekick to my superhero friend Pops who has Ehlors Danlos syndrome, in aid of our friends at the wonderful charity Action for Kids. She took great pleasure in me playing second fiddle to her, with my primary focus of not letting her drown on the swim. No seriously. But more on that in a minute.
The first thing I really noticed arriving at the event site was that it was me that felt like the imposter. There were all sorts of disabilities all around us and I felt as though I needed to make one up to blend in! I felt out of place being able bodied when everywhere you looked, you saw superheroes all getting ready to complete (in the majority of cases) their first triathlon.
I was humbled to see my boys looking at people with disabilities in admiration of this incredible feat they were about to achieve. Events like this are a fantastic way to show people how “normal” disabilities are.
The shoe was firmly on the other foot and I could tell my pal was in heaven (not literally – we hadn’t started swimming yet ;), checking out all the other chair porn around us. And she wasn’t wrong! Some of the other wheelchairs we saw looked like futuristic bat mobiles with sci-fi looking wheels or racing set ups. And some of the “boats” getting prepared for the swim looked insane! I wish I had my camera with me when getting ready.
Pops looked so happy being the one that felt inclusive here and not having to deal with glaring eyes wondering what was “wrong” with her. It must have felt quite different for everyone here, compared to their every day battles back at home. It was awe inspiring.
On to the race.
I say a race. It wasn’t a race in the traditional sense of the word as you weren’t eyeing those up in your starting wave that you might normally, to see who you could pip in the swim or get in front of in the bike. No, this was a more personal race, an event to challenge you and your superheroes self. And everyone was super excited to get started!
Pops only started to learn to swim a few months ago and she had never swum in open water before let alone completed a 750m swim event! My instructions were clear… I mustn’t let her drown 😀
We hadn’t been able to practice swimming together before, as work and family and a bit of distance didn’t make that easy, so I think it would be safe to say we both had a little bit of apprehension about how this would pan out, as we sat on the jetty about to dive in. My girlish scream of it being cold as I entered the water, didn’t really help, but I could tell my pal was getting a little bit nervous at this stage so I was trying to do what I could to help relax her. I’m not sure it was working. I even tried to push her in and unfortunately my wife caught that on camera 😀
In she went and climbed onto the mini surfboard I was to tow her on. We lined up. The starter horn went… we were off! This time though, it wasn’t just other people we had to watch out for en route to the first buoy. There were canoes, kayaks, batwings and inflatable Pegasus to watch out for as I learnt in the first couple of minutes smacking my hand on the bottom of a canoe zigzagging in front of us.
But, we were moving. I had practiced a lot of swimming without using my legs in the thought that they might get stuck under the board and I’m glad I did. Lesson learnt for next time, use a longer tow, as I could barely kick the entire course. Half way in my arms were feeling it and my lungs were pushing it! I couldn’t hear if Pops was screaming at me or not, but I kept checking under my arm and she appeared to be still on board, so we are good. We ploughed on and headed to the ramp. We were out! WOW, we survived and most importantly I didn’t drown her! Post race, looking at our times, I realised we were only about 7 minutes off my normal 750m swim time. Considering its the first one we’ve done that together, I was stoked!
The support crew in the water were fantastic. I could catch sight of them regularly paddling by people that needed support or helping guide us in the right direction as a sighting support. Big thanks to them and great to give people confidence and support that needed it.
Transition was crazy, there were people everywhere, but what was great is that Pops had her newly engaged fiancé there to help get her ready for the bike leg. We got changed. Neon paint applied, music attached and we were off.
I have to say a massive thank you to Quest88 here who donated an awesome bike completely free of charge for us to use in the race. Lisa, who we’d been dealing with pre race, was awesome in helping us get the right set up and the team that helped to fit us out on the day were great making us believe we wouldn’t crash (too hard), just the confidence we needed!
So having only done a small lap of the car park pre race… we were race ready….
On the bike course I was continually inspired by everyone we went past, or those that lapped us, by seeing the incredible feats they were achieving. The adversity they were overcoming. This was incredible
The bike was great though. The set up meant we could easily chit chat away, dance to some tunes and enjoy this leisurely ride in the countryside… although we were supposed to be racing! 😀
We only really figured out how to cycle the bike properly towards the end of the last lap, as we had realised that me cycling at my normal pace meant Pops couldn’t really do much, as our pedals were fixed gears to each other, so they were spinning a bit too quickly. It didn’t matter though as the 90’s rave continued as we were climbing the bridge for the last time and on our way to transition!
Transition was again a little chaotic, but Bertie was there ready with Pops’ chair ready for the wheely run. Bike racked, off we went.
We were in a stunning location and the run was an out and back 5km from end to end of the lake. Interestingly, this is the first time I actually noticed how hard this must be for people like Pops. To me, the run was “easy”. A beautifully flat course that you could easily set a PB in. For Pops however, the first part of the tarmac had ever such a slight camber that actually made it quite hard to push as she was having to push forward and at a slight angle to keep in a straight line. It’s these every day “simplicities” that can make being disabled a real pain in the arse for people.
Though, as I’m used to seeing with Pops, she dug down and got it done! She was incredible.
I only realised afterwards, that I might have been a bit annoying on some parts of the run as I kept asking if she needed a push. I know for myself it was because I wanted to help, but I realise for Pops this part was her challenge and she was smashing it. So I know for next time… she’s a big grown up woman and if she needed help, she’d ask me for it 😀
Everyone was waving on everyone and giving each other a cheer as they went past. I’ve always said the commeradery in Tri is great, but this was legendary. Everyone was so fricken awesome.
500 metres to the line we picked up the pace. And next thing you know, we crossed the line. We’d don’t it! To much cheering from friends, family and our dear pals at AFK.
I couldn’t be more proud of my friend Pops for completing her first triathlon and for achieving this incredible memory together.
The support of our friends and families was awesome as was the love from the charity Action For Kids. They turned up to shout and cheer and we couldn’t be more grateful!
My summary (after quite a long essay) of this incredible event? I couldn’t feel more humble in the presence of these amazing people. The battles they face everyday can seem like nothing to you and I, but to them it might feel like climbing Everest every, single, day.
The comeradery was best summarised by this awesome duo who were racking up next to us who we were chatting away with.
As I was leaving the event site with my family, we stopped to say congratulations to them. To much amazement of his able bodied friend, the man in his chair stood up to shake my hand. He did it by himself. It looked hard. I could see the awe in my boys eyes. I was holding back choking up. My wife was in stunned silence.
What an absolute legend. You sir, in your Flash t shirt, will continue to inspire us. Thank you.
I take my hat off to everyone that took part today. They are true superheroes!
