Page 8 - police world Edition 1 2013
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Police World
Vol 58 No.1 2013
8
Article
The Triathlon Group, one of Section UK’s Special Interest
Groups (SIG), completed its first international adventure,
at the Stockholm open triathlon - August, 2012.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
F
our members of the Group raced in
this standard distance triathlon
(1500m swim / 40k bike / 10k run).
Having researched the location of IPA houses
in european cities which also host triathlons,
Ian Tyers, from Devon branch, made contact
with Swedish President May-Britt Rinaldo,
and quicker than he could change from a
wetsuit to a pair of cycling shorts, he had
booked the 14 bed IPA house in Rissne,
Stockholm for the group.
Such is the camaraderie in the Group that
they refer to each other with nicknames: -
Ian
‘Jellyman’ Tyers, Mike ‘The Spirit’ Griffin,
Graham ‘Fishman’ Kay and James
‘Gadgetman’ Johnson.”
The four were supported by their long
suffering partners (affectionately known as
the Tri-WAGS), William and Ollie - junior
members of the team plus the Group’s
cheerleader in chief, Cornwall branch Chair,
Tessa Adams.
On arrival the house manager, Britt-Inger,
welcomed and familiarised the Group with
the locality. The next day dawned and it
suddenly occurred to the Group that their
‘planning’ had meant that they had not
considered how they would get to the race
start line with their bikes by 7am - bikes
being banned on the tube train!
The thought of a 45 minute cycle at 6.15am
prior to a 2 ½ hr race was not attractive. A
SOS message was sent to Brit-Inger and
before long the Group’s bikes were delivered
to the office of an IPA member at the central
Stockholm police HQ - some three minutes
from the start line. Help from their new IPA
friends had averted a real problem.
The day before the open event, the world’s
best - fresh from the olympics - fought it out
in a ‘sprint’ distance world series event
around the city centre. The locals cheered
Swedish silver medallist, Lisa Norden, to
victory in the female event and the Brits
celebrated a fine victory for olympic bronze
medallist, Jonathan Brownlee – who moved
into lead position in the world series.
Race day for the Group arrived, as alarms
woke the athletes at 5.15am. The bikes were
collected from colleagues at Stockholm
police HQ and competitors prepared for the
race. The last minute instructions were
bellowed out in Swedish - the Group was
none the wiser but was confident as they had
read their English copy of the pre-race
instructions. ‘The Spirit’ then noticed that the
race numbers in their wave were a
different colour to everyone else
and they had their names on
them! The competition looked
lean - their wetsuits fitted like
gloves. Their bikes were quality
pieces of kit and they had those
‘go-faster’, pointy, super-
aerodynamic helmets... somehow
the Group were competing in the
Swedish National Championships!
One of the Tri-WAGS grabbed the
announcer’s microphone and bellowed
encouragement and good wishes to
the English racers from the IPA.
The race turned out to be a triumph.
Ian described what happened, “
I started
well and exited the swim ahead of the
others. The Spirit incurred a two minute
penalty on the bike for drafting (tucking in
behind the guy in front to shelter from the
wind). This meant he was just pipped at the
finish by Gadgetman who finished in 2hrs
15mins as top Brit. Fishman had a
mechanical problem with his bike and lost
ground. I eventually crossed the line in 2hrs
27mins. I had completed a wholly
unnecessary 4th lap of the Old Town, rather
than finish after 3 laps like everyone else.”
When Ian was asked how he had been so
stupid, in literally going an extra mile, he
declined official comment!
And so it was over – with each of the Group
finishing as top Brit in their age group (they
were the only Brits competing). Gadgetman
finished 32nd overall. The Spirit was 44th;
Jellyman 71st (would have been 40th) and
Fishman came in 86th. Personal bests were
set, much fun was had, and Tessa thoroughly
recommended it as a spectator friendly sport!
After recovering the Group donned their IPA
UK Section Triathlon Team polo shirts and
headed off to police HQ for a great time with
Stockholm members. The junior members of
the team were also treated to a tour of the
HQ building and given a ride in a mobile
police command centre vehicle.
Thanks are due to both Devon branch and 7
Region for their support of this trip in
providing funds which were used towards the
race entry fees and team polo shirts.
The Group has been set up with a vision to
compete with colleagues abroad at least
once a year and to host colleagues at an
annual event in the UK to create an
international community of triathlete cops.
Three members of the Triathlon Group,
along with four guests also took part in the
London triathlon on the weekend of 22 - 23
September, 2012.
Over two days some 13,000
competitors, including celebrities, took part in a
range of events all based at the Excel Centre in
Docklands.
Plymouth member, Shaun Keen, had opted for the
1.5k swim, 80k bike and 10k run. The worst
aspects of this choice meant that, firstly, he would
have to plunge into the coffee coloured, aviation-
diesel-tasting depths of the Royal Victoria Dock at
6.30 am. Secondly, he would not be able to join the
others for a pre-event meal the night before.
Fortunately for him this decision meant he had the
best of the weather for the race and was done and
dusted in 3hrs 35 mins. Shaun’s excellent
performance saw him finish 17th out of 132
competitors, and 3rd in his age group.
Devon member, Ian Tyers, beat his previous
personal best overall time of 2hrs 24 mins. He
ended the day 2nd in his age group.
Linda Dabbs, also from Devon branch, despite
facing the worst of the day’s weather, raced to a
time of 2hrs 40 mins and finished an impressive
9th in her age group.
Shaun Keen and Ian Tyers
Linda Dabbs
If you are interested in joining the
Triathlon Group please get in touch
with Ian Tyers at:
Ian Tyers, Mike Griffin, Graham Kay
and James Johnson
