Rigor battles nerves and cramp in Takapuna Triathlon

Mark Richardson took to the beach and streets of Takapuna today in his first triathlon, with the multi-faceted broadcaster racing in the .kiwi Tri Series over a super-sprint distance in beautiful conditions.

The co-host on the Crowd Goes Wild (Prime TV and Radio Sport), presenter on The Block (TV3), cricket commentator (SKY TV) and former New Zealand cricketer has for some years involved himself in multi-sport events, in particular enjoying many running events or acting as a runner in a team. This though was the nervous foray into a triathlon with Richardson taking a full part without the aid of team mates.

Richardson or ‘Rigor’ as he is known is being coached by Rob Dallimore at Foot Traffic and overcame his usual bout of cramping to finish strongly after battling a few nerves in the swim leg.

“I was a bit nervous about the swim, which is a whole new thing for me having to learn how to be comfortable in the water. The conditions being nice and calm didn’t help, that was always just going to expose any flaws I might have!”

Richardson managed to fight through the nerves on a stunning Auckland day and came out of the 500m swim in a respectable 9:48 before embarking on the 16km multi-lap bike leg, made all the more testing given it was a draft legal race.

“I think it took me half the ride to realise I could get a breather by riding behind someone else! To make matters worse I then lost count of how many laps I had ridden so had to rely on the guys around me to know when to come into transition.

“Then on to the run I thought, here we go, this is what I like, I am going to fly now! Then I promptly cramped up as the body got used to running again after swimming and cycling. But I came right and managed to run pretty strongly to the finish!

“That was great though, good fun. A real learning curve but good fun.”

Richardson finished the 500m swim, 16km bike and 4.3km run in a total time of 1:00:53, coming home in 7th place in his 40-44 year age category and 51st male overall.

Full results from the .kiwi Tri Series in all age group races can be found at www.triseries.co.nz along with training updates and video blogs from Mark Richardson. The next round is at Kinloch on the shores of Lake Taupo next weekend.


2013/14 .kiwi Tri Series
Visit www.triseries.co.nz for all event information and online entries

Kinloch                      Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd Feb 2014
Christchurch             Sunday 9th February 2014
Wellington                 Saturday 8 March 2014

Please note: Standard distance national champs in Auckland as part of the ITU World Triathlon Series on April 5/6