Punctures can't stop Chloe from finishing race

Sutton-in-Ashfield's Chloe Paylor showed her determined nature at the Tallington Lakes Triathlon by pushing her bike back the last two miles.

The Mansfield Triathlon Club member had already fixed one puncture earlier in her Olympic race before she suffered a second minutes from the stage completion.

She ran her bike back the last couple of miles, which added 20 minutes to her overall time, but finished to the applause and cheers of the onlooking crowd.

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She crossed the line in a time of 3:42:02. Her mum did a little better, finishing in 3:23:20 and her friend Laura Keeling completed the spreint race in 2:07:43.

A total of 119 athletes took part in the mult-distance races at Tallington Lakes Leisure Park. Competitors could attempt three distances (swim, bike, run): Super Sprint (400m, 9km, 2.5km), Sprint (750m, 24km, 5km) and Olympic (1500m, 44km, 10km).

Competitors included first timers, experienced Team GB age group athletes and four teams who swam the warm open water lakes, cycled around the beautiful Lincolnshire villages and ran around the park to earn their medals.

Three family members made up one team and two teams competed against each other as part of a hen party celebration.

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Some travelled from as far away as Belfast to attend but many were local club members from Stamford Tri Club, PACTRAC (Peterborough), Belvoir Tri Club (Grantham), Lincoln Tri Club & Eye Community Runners.

Matthew Edwards from Eye Community Runners was first through the finish line on the Super Sprint race in 42:32, beating fellow participant Gareth Taylor by one second in a fantastic sprint finish.

The conditions started with a torrential downpour just before the swim, which made the roads a little slippy on the bikes and a few more puddles to avoid.

But the sunshine came out to brings out the residents at the park to cheer everyone on the run. There was free post race food for the athletes and a massage available from local sports therapists.

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All finishers earned a medal, male and female winners were presented with trophies plus free pair of Alphwoolf or Icebug trainers from local man John Ovenden. Second and third place male and female were presented with a trophy as well as first veteran male and female on each race.