THE teeming rain and high winds added to the frisson on Sunday when 1,500 people brought colour to the grey city centre by swimming, cycling and sprinting around it for this year’s Tri Liverpool triathlon event.
Elite races formed the second leg of the 2015 British Triathlon Super Series with plenty of famous faces and the Hollyoaks cast taking part.
Against the backdrop of the World Heritage waterfront, age-group competitors began the standard distance course at 7am by plunging into the chilly waters Wapping Dock for a bracing 1500m swim. They followed it with a 40km cycle loop of the city centre and 10km run to the finish.
Sprint distance competitors were not too far behind, with a 750m open water swim, 20km cycle and 5km run.
Well known faces: Karl Collins, Craig Phillips, Louise Minchin and Nicole Barber LaneIn the sprint category was BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin, who recently qualified for the Great Britain Age-Group Team and will compete at the ITU Triathlon World Championships in Chicago in September.
Completing the Tri Liverpool course for the first time, she described it as "an amazing course".
“I’ve never done a race in salty water and had completely forgotten about it here, so that was a shock. My Great Great Great Great Grandfather came from Liverpool and used to work in the docks here, so I was cycling past the Liver Building, thinking of that. It was a great atmosphere out there – really fantastic.”
Minchin was joined in the sprint distance by Hollyoaks actor Karl Collins, who plays Louis Loveday in the soap, and the first Big Brother winner, Craig Phillips.
Taking part in Tri Liverpool’s sprint distance, for the second year running, he said: “It was brilliant – very, very wet. It was the wind that I found the hardest today. When you go past the docks and the wind comes sailing through, I had to knock my bike down two gears just to carry on.
Second place in Tri Liverpool Brendan Sexton is closely followed on the last leg of the run by eventual winner of Tri Liverpool 2015 Morgan Davies“There was great support. Anything we do here in Liverpool, we always get the community behind us and it really helps. They were cheering everyone on and that gives you a great boost. Next year I’m going to do the full Olympic distance.”
Organisers say Tri Liverpool has experienced an upsurge in popularity in the city thanks to GO TRI triathlon training sessions for beginners at Lifestyles in Garston, Alsop, Ellergreen and Wavertree Aquatics Centre.
British Triathlon and Liverpool City Council have announced that Tri Liverpool 2016 will take place on Sunday August 14, 2016. Entry details will be announced shortly on www.triliverpool.com.
Tri Liverpool highlights will be broadcast on Channel 4 on August 8, 2015 at 7am.
Elite winners: 3rd place Jess Learmonth 1st place Sophie Coldwell and 2nd place Emma Pallant at Tri Liverpool 2015
Can-do attitude: 1,500 people took an early morning plunge into the bracing waters of Wapping Dock 
