Kona inspired viewing

On Saturday I spent a few hours glued to my TV watching the Ironman World Championships take place live in Kona, Hawaii.   This year, Bath was represented by Paul Ransome, Head Coach of Team Urban Endurance and former Olympian Heather Fell, who lives, works and trains in the City.  To get an entry to the race is beyond difficult.  To put this in perspective, during the last 12 months 85,000 people have raced Ironman events around the world with only the top age group winners from each race gaining one of 2,400 places at the World Championship. While just making the start line is hard enough, the race itself is brutal.  Conditions are extremely hot and the island is notoriously windy, unsurprisingly it is known to break even the pro athletes.    From my seat on the sofa however, the conditions looked beautiful, the sea blue and clear for the swim, long stretches of empty road for the bike and huge crowds cheering on the run route.  It was an inspiring event to watch, some incredibly fast performances from both Heather and Paul who finished strongly, not to mention GBR’s Lucy Charles and David McNamee being on the finishers podium.

Considering we are a small nation, sport in our country really punches above its weight.  We consistently produce World Champion and Olympian sports men and women, develop professional football, rugby, rowing and cycling teams, and boast some of the best racing car drivers, golfers, cricketers, jockeys and snooker players on the circuit and yet we are massively underinvested in funding athletes and facilities. 

Living in Bath you would not think this is the case, we are extraordinarily lucky to have access to world class facilities at the Uni, a new multi-sports facilities at Odd Down and a Sports centre that, once it’s refurbishment is complete, will give more people access to better facilities.  We also have numerous gyms, fitness classes and plenty free running groups and cycling clubs in the city to pick from.  With so much on the doorstep to take advantage of, it is important we keep on encouraging our young people into sport as well as finding more ways to support and fund our inspiring, professional athletes.

@lindatodd74