Alp d’Huez Triathlon

Above: Helen with Great Britain Olympian and former World Triathlon Champion Tim Don who won the male race.

B&R member, Helen Russell has raised over £300 for the Primrose Hospice by completing the gruelling Alp d’Huez Triathlon in France.

The race consisted of a 1.2km swim in Lac du Verney, a 30km bike ride and a 7km run. Part of the bike route was up the 13.8 km long ascent of the Alp d’Huez mountain with gradients reaching 12%. The race took place just a few days after the pro-cyclists of the Tour de France had climbed the same mountain.

Above: Alpe d’Huez view

Helen was aiming to complete the race to raise money for the Primrose Hospice. As it was, not only did she complete the race and raise over £300, but she was the second British female finisher, 4th in her age category and 24 th woman overall, including the pros.

Above: Helen with the event banner

With 1,200 competitors all starting the swim at the same time, the main priority was to survive the combative start. Helen had a good swim and exited the water 1st in her age category. She eased into the bike leg on the flat section before climbing the 21 hairpin turns of the mountain and reached the top 4th in her age group. Helen found the 7km run at an altitude of 2000m extremely hard and although she managed to claw back 1min 22 secs on the 3rd placed woman in her race she was unable to find the extra speed needed to make up the extra place and so had to settle for 4th place in her age group.