It’s IRONMAN Leeds day! And what a day to behold. This was the second staging of the race since it moved over from Bolton in 2025. If you’re unfamiliar with IRONMAN, its a long-format triathlon race which means you swim 3.8km, cycle 180km, and then run a marathon. In under 17 hours or you’re out.
Except there was no swim this year. The levels of blue green algae in Waterloo Lake were significantly above threshold. There was a great deal of anger about this in the community, much of it directed at IRONMAN as an organisation. I like to bash IRONMAN as much as the next person, but this isn’t their fault. Water pollution is a massive problem in the UK and is compounded by climate breakdown. Until we, as a society, choose to tackle these issues, more swims will be cancelled.
Personally, it meant I could have a lie in as there as no swim to watch. I turned up just after lunch and had an explore of the event village with plenty of time to get comfortable before Adam Baker and Anna Lawson break the tape. Lawson ran a 2:59:22 marathon to take the win. Because it was a rolling TT start, it wasn’t clear for a long time who had actually won the race. In the end, Toby Nisbet pipped Baker by two minutes.
I took a short break for tea and then rejoined the event as it was getting dark to watch the final 50 or so athletes come in. David Neal (M70-74) was the last athlete across the line, but significantly quicker than some of the other athletes due to the TT start. It rained quite heavily for the last hour or so but it didn’t stop the party.
Don't have time to check my blog? Get a weekly email with all the new posts. This is my personal blog, so obviously it is 100% spam free.
This entry was posted on Saturday, August 22nd, 2026 at 11:00 am and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.