BOURTON physio Lucy Walmesley won her age category in the English Triathlon Championships in Ripon, Yorkshire last weekend, despite suffering from a chesty cough.

Lucy made her way up the night before without knowing if she could compete.

“My son was going to come up, but he didn’t in the end because it is a long way to go just in case,” Lucy explained.

In a last-minute decision on the morning, Lucy decided that she was healthy enough to race.

“I was not completely well, so I probably didn’t push on as hard as I could have,” she said.

If this was the case, then Lucy is a talent to keep an eye on. Even not feeling her best, she was crowned the English female over-45 age group champion in a time of 2:20.47.

With running her own practice, the ‘Stow Physio at Bourton,’ and looking after her children, training has been quite a juggle for Lucy.

“I’ve been really fortunate to be able to have a day off during the week.

“But I haven’t had time to do much else but train, work and exist really,” Lucy laughed.

“I have very understanding friends, because I’ve just disappeared for a bit.”

Her win qualifies her for the World Triathlon Final in Rotterdam, but she doesn’t know yet whether she will be able to fit it in. 

Lucy was treating the 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run as a 'warm-up' for her first Ironman in Bolton next weekend. If she excels there, she could be heading off to the Ironman World Championship in Kona instead.

Her performance last weekend bodes well. Despite approaching the race unwell, the exertion didn’t keep her down long.

“I went mountain-biking the next day with the kids,” Lucy admitted.