Following on from Lisa Hall’s post we now have the reaction of our other London Tri Competition winner, Carl Myhill. Apologies for this coming up slightly late but we enjoyed a few technical probs with email!

Saturday, August 09, 2008
London Sprint Triathlon (750m swim/20k bike/5k run) - 1:20:54 - 107th (of 1,405) - top 8%

The day of the London Sprint Tri dawned wet and stayed wet. I may have been slightly less enthusiastic to accept the Wiggle prize entry to the event had I known what the weather would be like!

(photos available from SportsCam)

After such a hectic time to getting to the race it was with considerable relief that I jumped into Victoria Docks. Visibility wasn’t terrible, you could see about a foot, - in fact I saw many feet during the swim! I gradually got used to the temperature and made my way to the deep water start over the other side of the dock. I hadn’t been there long when the race starter started shouting encouragement to the swimmers to quickly get to the start line. They weren’t all there when the horn sounded for the start and we were off.

At the club relays the week before I was uncomfortable in the swim, couldn’t settle and was borderline panicing. In this swim it was a mass start with 285 people and quite a narrow course. Oddly, although it was a bit of maul I managed to finally feel some benefit from swimming close to other swimmers - the swimmer version of drafting. I really noticed this for a while when I found some clear water and it felt like harder work. Unheard of for me, I headed back into the crush! My first race victory was my mental state during the swim. I had settled from the very start and despite the worst maul I’d been in. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration since I think the London Tri has a huge proportion of novices so they are perhaps kinder in the water than the more gnarly regular triathletes….

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I have just received the reaction from one of our London Triathlon Competition winners - Lisa Hall from Cambridge, who completed her first ever triathlon!

You’ve got to love the sign in the background…

I survived. In the 7 days leading up to the London Triathlon I managed to source all the necessary equipment and ingrain the rules and regulations of each event into my slightly panic stricken head. I managed to complete the sprint distance in 1 hour and 38 mins, coming in at position 219 out of the 715 women who took part. I really enjoyed the thrill of the event and the energy created by the crowds- particularly during the swim in the Thames which was literally ’sink or swim’. I have since managed to enthuse my friends to join me next year and who knows, with a bit of training perhaps I can make it into the top 200…

I just received an email from Lisa, our other competition winner who is participating in the London Tri next weekend. Here’s her thoughts on the race:

Some might say I am ill prepared… I have no goggles, wet suit, racing bike or trainers… However, I have enlisted a friend as a coach (’Coach Sweetman’) and am currently sourcing triathlon gear. I have completed my first round of training- couple of laps of Jesus Green and 10 lengths of the 91m outdoor pool and will complete the cycle this evening. I will then have completed each event individually leaving next week for some ‘high octane’ training to ensure I am primed and raring to go come race day. I am still to attempt to slither myself into a wet suit… I heard whispers that baby oil/ vaseline is the key? Jokes aside, my general fitness is good and I am happy to take on the challenge. Any tips welcome.

We ran a competition in July two give to lucky Wiggle customers the chance to compete in next weekend’s London Triathlon. All the entry places were filled months ago making the prize even more special than just saving the £75 entrance fee.

To enter the competition all you had to do was tell us why you thought you deserved to win. Lots did, and we picked our two favs and have given them a mere 10-days to get ready for the biggest triathlon in the world!

Our winners (coincidentally) were both from Cambridge and are Carl Myhill and Lisa Hall. I have spoke to them both and they are excited (and maybe a tad nervous) about the race but I wish them both the best of luck.

Carl’s posted his reaction on his blog:

Thrilled to win Wiggle Competition to Enter the London Triathlon

I’ve been doing quite a bit of triathlon training this year but have not entered any events yet.

I was buying some Aquasphere Seal goggles for open water swimming from Wiggle recently and noticed they had a competition with entry to the London Triathlon as a prize. All you had to do was tell them why they should give it to you.

Here’s what I wrote:

I think I should win the entry because the last event I did in London was the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR). Cycling down Oxford Street naked has left an indelible scar on my memory which I would like to erase by participating in a fully clothed event. I’m just kidding really though because the WNBR was a great fun bike event and protest against indecent exposure to CO2 and car culture. OK, naked cyclists don’t buy much from Wiggle but how about it?

I’m thrilled that the folks at Wiggle have a sense of humour and have given me a prize entry to the Sprint Tri on 9th August. Of course what I wrote is not true - I’m not scarred by the WNBR at all. I think it was an excellent event, well organised, well received by the public and well policed (the Police joined us on bikes). I’m not a naturist by any means but I am an environmentalist and strongly believe that bicycles provide part of a solution to the rising cost of Oil, the coming of Peak Oil and our need to get about. The government are even supporting this (albeit not cycling naked) with their excellent Bike to Work scheme, providing an excellent way to buy a top quality bike cheaply…..

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At the beginning of the month we ran a competition in collaboration with Garmin to send a lucky Wiggle customer to Paris to see the Tour finalé. Our lucky winner, Oli Horton from Bristol, was randomly selected and Saturday morning was in London to chunnel his way to Paris. He’s just sent me in his thoughts and photos of what sounded like an amazing weekend… I’m not jealous… honest….

Weekends in Paris don’t have to be romantic - at least not when 145 riders are heading there as the culmination of 21 days hard graft, ticking off the final 143 kilometres remaining from the 3500 they had in front of them 3 weeks ago. Le Tour was heading to Paris, and after a phone call from Steve at Wiggle on the Monday before, so was I - only mine was going to be a much more comfortable way to get there. It took less than 5 minutes for an old friend to excuse himself from his brother-in-law’s stag do for “business” so he too could enjoy the spectacle.

As promised, Pascal was waiting at Paris’ Gare du Nord to whisk us to our hotel where our contact at Garmin came down to check us into our rooms. Louise is the Logistics and Events Director at Garmin and this weekend was the culmination of her efforts. We went for a quick stroll before ending up in the Irish Pub opposite the hotel to watch the Time Trial. As a guest of Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H3O, it was good to see one of our boys Christian Vande Velde clawing back a place in the standings as well as a fine show from David Millar.

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Wiggle have teamed with Team Garmin to offer a lucky wiggle customer the chance to take themselves and a friend to Paris to see the final leg of the Tour de France! Your travel and accommodation will be included as well as 2 VIP passes enabling you get up right in the thick of the action while the 2008 Tour comes to a dramatic close.

The prizes

Two VIP passes for behind the scenes access at the Tour de France, Paris.
Eurostar travel from London to Paris on Saturday July 26th 2008
Over night accommodation in Paris
Return travel to London on Sunday evening July 27th 2008

How to enter
Buy any Garmin or Garmin Bike product from wiggle.co.uk to get entered into the draw for a chance to win these great prizes. Every product you buy will count for one competition entry each. Therefore, the more you buy, the greater your chance of winning!

Competition closes 17th July 2008. See our competition page for terms and conditions.

Introducing our first Golden Ticket Competition of 2008 - Win an all-expenses paid trip to run in the New York City Marathon, worth approximately £3,500, courtesy of ASICS and Wiggle!

We are delighted to announce another once-in-a-lifetime Golden Ticket opportunity. Previously we have sent our winners to Southern France mountain biking with Fabian Barrel, flown them over to Andrew Shandro’s Gravity Camp in Vancouver and last summer we had 2 winners sat in the Mavic and Time Pro Tour team cars following the Tour De France! Now we are giving you the chance to fly to the Big Apple and race in the World Famous New York City Marathon, this is a unique and exclusive prize available from wiggle.co.uk you cannot miss!

Entry to the marathon is normally via lottery only and is incredibly difficult to secure a spot - you can read more on the official website of the New York City Marathon.

The prizes

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To celebrate the launch of the amazing new range of 2008 Easton kit on wiggle we are giving away 3 fantastic prizes guaranteed to add that extra bit of class to your ride. The lucky winners can choose being top of the range road or MTB upgrades.

Simply buy any item from Easton on wiggle.co.uk before 30th June 2008 to be in with a chance of winning!

The prizes

How to enter

Buy any Easton product from wiggle.co.uk to get entered into the draw for a chance to win these great prizes. Every product you buy will count for one competition entry each. Therefore, the more you buy, the greater your chance of winning!

Competition specific terms and conditions

1. One entry to the draw per Easton product, per wiggle basket.
2. The prize is non-transferable and cannot be sold - giving away to direct relations is at the discretion of wiggle.
3. Competition closes 30th June 2008.
4. General Wiggle competition T&C’s apply. See here for details.

To celebrate the launch of Crank Brothers new and super-stylish 2008 range we are giving away real head-turning set of prizes worth almost £1000!

Simply buy any piece of Crank Brothers kit from wiggle.co.uk before 31st July 2008 to be in with a chance of winning!

CrankBrothers are one of the youngest and most innovative companies out. Since they started they created sleek looking tools, new ways to remove tyres and pump them back up again, and new ways to attach shoes to bikes. Their innovation is always backed up with sound engineering and loads of style.

The prizes

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A couple of weeks back we ran a competition to give away two entry tickets for the UKs only closed-road cycling event this year; the Etape Caledonia.

Our winner was Ewan McDougall and he sent us his thoughts of the weekend below:

“I was happy to win two tickets for etape caledonian, a 81 mile closed road cycle race in highland Perthshire, but also apprehensive. Having started cycling 9 months previously, with my partner Hilary, both of us were nervous entering a race with more than 2000 people. Hilary and I set off early on Saturday heading South from Elgin to Pitlochry.

My race day was almost scuppered after eating an ice cream, feeling very nauseous, then being violently ill, late on Saturday evening. Luckily I felt a lot better on the Sunday.

Race day morning was lovely, bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. We were in the last group to start, “the best of the best” the
starter told us. The route was spectacular though the road a little
more rolling than expected around Loch Tummel, Loch Rannoch brought
welcomed smooth and flatter surface.

As well as the many spectators clapping and cheering the cyclists around as small group of people were not so happy about etape being the only closed road event in Britain. The protest signs “Yes cyclist, No road closure” at a couple of locations around the route can’t have convinced many riders the race was a bad idea.

Hilary and I plan to do a bit more cycling around the area. Thanks for a great day out wiggle.”