Private School News

Ironman World Championship

Mrs Edwina Sutton, Director of Sport at The Cheltenham Ladies’ College successfully completed the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii on Saturday 10 October 2009. She finished in an incredible 10 hours 48 minutes and 15 seconds and came 15th in her division.

Edwina qualified for the championships when she was the second woman to finish in her age group at the Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt, Germany on 5th July 2009. 10,000 people try for a place at the ironman event in Hawaii and only 1,800 competitors are successful in winning a place either at qualifying events or through a lottery system. To qualify as an official finisher of the Triathlon in Hawaii, competitors must complete the four mile swim, the 112 mile bike ride and the 26.2 mile marathon through tough ocean waves and lava-covered terrain within 17 hours. Edwina had a relaxed swim and completed this segment in one hour and six minutes. With a transition time of three minutes and 28 seconds, she finished the bike segment in five hours and 29 minutes. The long run around transition from cycling to running, which took two minutes and 22 seconds, meant that Edwina found her running legs for the marathon and completed the first mile in six minutes 44 seconds. In temperatures of around 50 degrees, the final time for the run was four hours and 6 minutes.

Edwina said, ‘I am overjoyed with my swim and bike combination and the first 20 miles of the marathon, although they were brutal, when I was definitely in the mix with the top five girls in the world. I had trained harder than ever before and I was in incredible form, which I proved in the bike segment, but the heat was intense.

‘The theme of this year’s Ironman World Championships was “new beginnings” and I am leaving this beautiful island with the recognition that I am very much a changed person’.

Photo: Edwina Sutton, Director of Sport