Bassetlaw triathlete James Gregory has busy month in European competitions

Having been selected to represent GB in his age group at the European Middle-distance event in Bilbao he found it was within two weeks of him entering the Blacklake Xtreme triathlon event in Montenegro.

This event is not for the faint hearted. Starting in the dark at 4.30 in the morning it comprises of a 3.8km swim around two lakes separated by a thin land bridge and he finished in 15 hours and 42 minutes in overall sixth

With a mass start in the pouring rain as well as being pitch dark James said: “That was very disorientating with such limited visibility.

“But it was an amazing experience overall, a brutal race in a beautiful country.”

The bike ride that followed for 182 km started with a scenic and straightforward route with a few descents.

This meant that there was a huge amount of climbing as the route came out through the deepest canyon in Europe. Altogether there was 3,200m of climbing.

Off the bike the final leg entailed a 42km run across forest and mountain trails.

Two weeks later James was back in Europe at Bilbao to represent GB in the European Middle-distance championships.

Although being somewhat shorter than the Xtreme event it still included a 1.9km swim, 82 km bike route and finished with a 21km run.

James’s finishing time of 4 hours and 48 minutes placed him 24th in the world for his age category and said: “I was really proud to represent Bassetlaw Triathlon Club at the European Championships.”