Sam Baxter Ironman UK

Sam 5th overall at Ironman UK in Bolton

Photo : James Mitchell/Compressport

Ironman UK in Bolton saw a breakthrough performance from Sam Baxter, finishing as first amateur and in 5th place overall beating several pro athletes. In fact, Sam finished only 10 seconds behind third place athlete, Ironman legend Petr Vabrousek, who overtook Sam with a mile or so to go.

With an eye on Kona this race should give Sam a lot of confidence going forward – a fantastic and much improved swim of 54 mins, followed by a bike leg riding with the pros and finished off with a marathon of 3.04, are all testament to a huge amount of training and focus over the winter. The result also makes him amateur champion at both UK Ironman events this season.

Alison had also made Bolton her main goal for the season with the hope of qualifying for Kona. Unfortunately a recurring foot injury that surfaced at UK70.3 has meant that Kona is not an option for this season and so she decided to complete only the swim and bike here. Like Sam, Alison was riding with the pros and by the end of the bike leg had moved into third position overall. What a shame that we didn’t get to see her favourite discipline, the run. Heal well and come back stronger in a few months time.

Congratulations to both Sam and Ali on representing Team Freespeed so well in this flagship domestic race.

Full results are here.

Many thanks to James Mitchell/Compressport for the photographs from the race.

Sam Baxter Ironman UK

Sam Baxter Ironman UK

Sam Baxter Ironman UK

Sam Baxter Ironman UK

Sam Baxter Ironman UK

Sam Baxter Ironman UK

Sam Baxter Ironman UK

If you like this, please share it!

One Comment

  1. Congratulations Sam on a magnificent effort under tough conditions .. You’re truly an inspiration .. Hard work does get good results.

Reply to James Mitchell Cancel Reply