Newark triathlete Wendi Carrington sets new personal best to qualify for the World Ironman Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October
Triathlete Wendi Carrington has qualified for the World Ironman Championships after a brilliant performance in Germany.
Carrington, 60, defied appalling conditions to finish second in class at the Ironman Hamburg on Sunday last week.
The Newark woman shattered her personal best, set in Denmark last year, by almost 20 minutes.
She completed the 3.8k swim in 1hr23min53sec, recorded 5:51.27 in the 180k bike leg and finished the 42.2k run in 4:08.48 for an overall time of 11:41.34.
It was her first ironman since moving up to the 60-64 age group and her success means she is off to the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, in October - an extraordinary achievement.
“You can’t go any further than Kona so for me it’s a dream come true,” said Carrington.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would do it.
“I joked about it with all my friends and I actually did it.
“I feel proud that I’ve achieved something I never thought I could.
“It’s the hardest course in the world, apparently. I’ll give it my best shot.
“The only way you can get to Kona is to qualify, so I’m pretty chuffed with myself.
“Last year I did Copenhagen and came fifth in my age group and so I’ve been training really hard to try and better that time.
“I bettered it by about 20 minutes, so that’s not bad going.
“At my age I should get getting slower, not faster.”
With a forecast for thunder and lightning, the start of the race was delayed by an hour, adding to Carrington’s nerves.
She emerged fifth from a choppy swim, held in the wind and rain, before an eventful bike leg saw her hit with a three-minute time penalty after finding herself boxed in by bigger rivals.
She suffered a puncture in the final 60k but decided there would be enough pressure in the tyre if she sat on the nose of her saddle and was relieved to finish without having to stop.
There was a flash flood as Carrington went into the run transition, while the wind was so strong it blew the tents away.
Her feet were underwater as she laced up her trainers, with Carrington describing the conditions as horrendous.
But she still managed to produce her best-ever run and finish the ironman in style.
“It was my fifth ironman and probably one of the hardest due to the conditions, so I was very chuffed to find out I’d come second.
“My husband was trying to tell me I was second by holding up two fingers but I thought he meant I had two more laps!
“I’ve got lots of friends in Hamburg and they were all out supporting me at every corner. It was fantastic.
“The next day, I went to the awards and I was lucky enough to be sat next to the British champion, Kat Matthews, who was second overall, and I managed to exchange a few words with her. She’s one of my heroes.
“I received my award for coming second and had to wait for them to read out the Kona slots.
“I thought it would only be the first in each category but they got to the 60-64 and said ‘we have two slots’ and at that point I realised I would be going.”
Carrington would like to thank Paul Farquharson at Spectrum Wellness and Performance, Jack Levick at Newark Cycles, and Helen Roe at Pure Yoga for their support.
“They’re three local businesses who have been following my every move,” said Carrington.
“I couldn’t have achieved my goal without them.”
