Strong winds and heavy rain battered the Dorset shores on the day of the Weymouth 70.3 Ironman causing the organisers to cancel the swim in the interests of safety. That made it somewhat less of a 70.3 Ironman with only a 56 mile bike ride and a half marathon run on the agenda.

Bournemouth AC star Louisa Rowland was competing in the event and the news of the swim being cancelled was frustrating for her and many of the other competitors. They’d been training to do the swim as well as the cycle and the run so to have it struck off would have meant that all the swimming training she’d done would have gone to waste.

There was only one way to deal with a situation like that as far as Louisa and her group of friends who were competing and that was to go and do the swim anyway, so that’s what they did.

Covering 1,000 yards, Louisa swam for just over 19 minutes before heading over to the bike area to get the race officially started. The bike route was an anti-clockwise loop through the Dorset countryside in a northerly direction to King’s Stag and then back to Weymouth via Godmanstone and Dorchester.

The course incorporated 1,000m of elevation. Completing the bike section in 2 hours 55 minutes, Louise was 462nd overall and 42nd female and was in 8th position in her category.

It was then on to the 21km run for Louisa and that consisted of a two lap route round Lodmoor Country Park and then out to Overcombe roundabout before heading back toward the town via the RSPB Reserve. It was then up Greenhill Avenue and down to Custom House Quay before heading back along the Esplanade to Lodmoor. Then it was past the finish and start on the second lap.

Starting off at just over 7 minute mile pace, Louisa kept her speed pretty consistent for the first five miles before upping it slightly to a 6:53 and then a 6:57 for miles 6 and 7. There was a testing climb on the 9th mile but it didn’t seem to trouble Louisa much as she clocked a 7:08 for that one.

There was another climb on the 10th mile but Louisa got through that to set herself up with a nice fast finish. She managed to ramp up her pace near the end and was going at 6:54 pace for the last mile.

It was a strong effort from Louise despite the windy conditions and she’d managed a highly commendable time. Completing the run in 1 hour 32 minutes and 19 seconds, Louisa had moved up the rankings quite considerably, getting up to 244th place overall and 20th female.

Crucially, she’d also moved up to third in her age category which would put her in line for a prize. With a finishing time of 4 hours 31 minutes and 18 seconds, not including the unofficial swim, Louisa had performed admirably and had every reason to be proud of her efforts.

Completing the bike ride in 2:12:56 and the run in 1:20:30, Ted Ward secured the overall victory in 3 hours 35 minutes and 52 seconds. Daniel Hind was second in 3:36:17 and Charlie MacNeice took third in 3 hours 42 minutes exactly.

Jonathan Churchill finished 4th, completing he bike ride in 2:25:48 and the run in 1:16:34, putting his cumulative time at 3:44:49.

Kerri-Ann Upham was first female overall and 21st overall, getting the bike ride done in 2:28:46 and the run completed in 1:24:59. That put her cumulative time at 3:56:07. Mimi Carlton was second female and 34th overall in 3:59:27. She managed an even faster run, in 1:23:52.

It had been a good day for Louise and she received a trophy for finishing third in her age category and got to take her rightful place on the podium. The fact that she had the courage to do the swim first speaks volumes about her character and the fact she was willing to put in the extra exertion showed she had trust in her own ability.

Photo credits go to Huw Fairclough Photography and Graham Hunt Photography