Racing Rivals Meet After 10 Years
Ken Bowditch, from Manadon, has competed in many Triathlons over the years, but it was Penny Eyre, Marketing Manager at Plymouth law firm Foot Anstey, who inspired him 10 years ago to enter his first event.
Penny who has not seen Ken for many years explained “I first got involved with the sport when I was doing a leisure management degree at The College of St Mark & St John. As part of the course we had to organise an event and I chose a Triathlon which includes swimming, cycling and running.
“I put posters up everywhere, contacted local Triathlon clubs and even managed to coax Ken, who was one of my neighbours, into taking part! He was an enthusiastic cyclist and a very good swimmer but not so keen on running. Running was my strong sport at the time so it was easy to persuade him into doing a bit of training.
“I haven’t done a triathlon since then or seen Ken since we moved house, but as Foot Anstey is sponsoring the Taunton Deane Triathlon I thought I would enter with my husband Roger and eight others from Foot Anstey. We noticed Ken was competing and thought he could give us some tips on how to handle the transition between each discipline.”
For Ken the Triathlon 10 years ago was just the start of new hobby. He started with sprint Triathlons and then moved onto half and full Ironman events when he swims for 2.4 miles, bikes for 112 miles and runs for 26.2 miles. He represented the UK in his age group in the 70.3 World Half Ironman Championships in Florida last year and was the South West Champion in 2000. He is hoping to win the veteran category of the Taunton Deane Foot Anstey Triathlon on 20th May for the third time.
Ken said “My thanks go to Penny for giving me the chance to take part in my first Triathlon 10 years ago. It was great to see her again and good to hear she is competing in this year’s Taunton Triathlon.
“The sport of Triathlon has changed my life in many ways. It has enabled me to achieve a good level of fitness and the opportunity to compete in Triathlon at a high standard. To be competitive in Triathlon you need to excel in the three disciplines, if you have a weakness your competitors will find it, as I have found out many times with my running. I am looking forward to competing in Taunton this year and would like to achieve another good result.”
Penny Eyre added “This is such a great event for athletes and a real fun day out for the family with plenty of side attractions to keep the whole family busy.
“We want Foot Anstey to be involved in the local community and making a contribution to community events like the Triathlon.
“Our participation has two aspects. Our sponsorship helps improve facilities and our own staff are participating in the event. We want this anniversary event to be a bumper success and are looking forward to working closely with the event organisers.”
For further details on the Triathlon, please click here Taunton Deane Foot Anstey Triathlon
Published 14/05/2007
