Ironman Weymouth 70.3 race report
15 September 2025
Ironman Weymouth 70.3 race report by Mikey Pearce.
My progression to be an IM has begun.
Listening to how much other club members enjoyed IM Weymouth I eagerly signed up and joined the list of 1900 first time competitors, with three of us coming from Chi Tri.
I trained well over the summer and enjoyed the challenge of the longer distances.
The week before the nerves were building as the weather forecast predicted 40mph gusting winds 😵💫 and biblical storms! I was pleasantly surprised to arrive on Saturday to settled weather, even sunshine and a beautiful calm sea.
Having registered, I was sucked into the Merch tent and bought the customary IM merch!
It was great to see a familiar face in the form of Mr IM Tom Maynard who had travelled from London to support the event. I seized the opportunity to seek final inspiration and advice from Tom who said the main thing to do is keep eating, YES, that advice I will take!!
With bike racked, bags hung on the peg I made my way back along the beach past the calm sea to our caravan. We were all utterly confused on Saturday evening when we received the email saying Swim Cancelled 😠🫣.
Reason given was the swim safety team deemed it unsafe, later speculation thinks it was to do with a recent dump of💩 in the sea 🤢. We were told that the start will be a bike time trial start.
Race morning arrived bright and early and as a family we made our way along the beach, past the beautiful flat calm sea, to the start.
The mood was flat despite IM’s efforts to pump the music loud and get us motivated. There was a lot of waiting around but finally I was called to bike start.
I was really looking forward to the bike ride, i had recce’d it in the summer with IM legends Adam, Lin and others. So now to take to a closed rd route was awesome. The roads were smooth and scenery stunning.
I was really impressed with the Aid stations that were stocked with plenty of food and IM bottles!
I was comfortably averaging 30km, feeling good and waiting for the younger speedy CTC members to catch me up.
The main hill brought a challenge at 64kms but having trained over the Downs it came and went.
Returning into town I was grateful to see and hear my family cheering me on having had 3hrs with just my own company and thoughts 🙄!
Bike transition went well and I was off for the run. Great support all the way out and a flat course that helped to get the legs into running mode. The course allows spectators to stay in one place and see you about four times each lap. The first 10km went relatively quickly (well in my head at least) and then came the booming voice of Mr IM Tom Maynard who cheered and achieved me on.
Run Aid stations were really well spaced and stocked and I remembered the advice to keep eating and that I did!!
I had set myself 5:30km pace and was pleased as I glanced to see I was averaging under that. So onwards to the finish.
I lifted my head, zipped the top up and absorbed the atmosphere of running down the IM carpet to the finish with a time of 4hrs 52.
And then came the recovery tent…I was handed my medal (which is really cool) and then a 🍺! Yes this is my kinda recovery! More beer and fresh pizza digested, I decided to find the family and enjoy the cuddles and celebrations with them.
Q asked over dinner, would I do it again? My answer is yes if they could guarantee the swim, but as that is not guaranteed and I have the T-shirt and medal , probably not!
I really appreciated all the encouragement from club members on txt, it was great to read of other success this weekend from Will Grace finishing 3rd in Almere and Mr George surviving his own company as he stomped across the Highlands for 48hrs!!
I also want to mention the Chi Tri juniors and Youth that many of you have coached over the years who competed for the South East region at the national finals. Chi Tri junior and youth gave a strong performance across the Tristar and Youth races.
Credit to our club and the progression we create from junior to adult Triathletes.
Thanks for reading 👋
To find out more about joining Chi Tri click here!