Did you think they’d go quietly?
So the last race of the season looms large. And what a difference 5 months makes. It was barely a month after completing the Mallorca that Tony suffered searing pain in his hip and soon after that the news it was arthritis. Not good if you use your hips regularly under pressure! The hope for GB qualification at Liverpool followed a no show at London to help conserve limbs. But it was not going to happen so focus was on Bala in September. If the trip to North Wales wasn’t a challenge enough the event was an immense challenge but even loaded up with painkillers the run was particularly nasty. Either way an impressive finish time and a 8th place, tantalisingly close but not good enough for a GB bib.

A gel sort of thing injection later and training was resumed… but still the pain. So with Dan always threatening Asthma attacks and also nursing a dodgy knee…. The inaugural Dubai Triathlon takes place on the 7th November and the boys are tooling up, health wavering but determined to put in good times.. or at least complete it.

It’s been a year of great highs with the whole Team Russell finishing their half Iron Man in Mallorca with Peter and David crossing the line together and the lows of injury and what could have been’s. But what they all want is to reach the end of this year with the magic £50k for Headcase.

So many have done their bit, Andy and his row, Kirstin abseiling down the Lloyd’s building and the Russells have expended huge levels of resilience and energy.

So if you can just dig into the piggy banks, down the back of the Sofa’s, bottom of handbags and sports lockers – just please help the journey end on a high for all those involved and for the research into this killer disease.