Triathlon wrap-up: Bermudians shine abroad

Three Bermudians put in strong performances at the St. Croix 70.3 Ironman in US Virgin Islands on Sunday.

Heather Cooper, Jeff Conyers and Mark Robinson took on the Beast — the steep hill for which St.Croix is famous — and performed admirably.

Cooper was an excellent fourth in the Female 50-54 age group in five hours 55 minutes and 25 seconds, while Robinson was 11th in his age group and 73rd overall in 5:03:31.

Conyers’ time in the 60-64 age group of 7:04:07 equates to 11th in the 60-64 age group.

Meanwhile, junior Alex Pilgrim produced an excellent performance against a strong field in Richmond, Virginia, in the USA Triathlon 13-15 Youth Elite Series race.

Pilgrim placed 13th out of a field of over 80 starters in 32 minutes and 46 secs, producing the eighth-fastest run to move from around 25th after the bike.

He only turned 13 in March and therefore has two more years in this age group — so his performance against many of the USA’s best youth triathletes was even more impressive.

He was the second 13-year-old to finish and was just over two minutes behind 15-year-old winner Ricardo Reyes of the USA.

Also in action was Erica Hawley, who tackled a flat but very technical bike course in Monterrey in 30 degree heat where she finished 29th out of 45 starters in a fast time of 1:08:54.