Great Britain’s Adam Bowden has rarely struggled with run speed during his triathlon career. It’s no wonder that his Twitter profile is @AdamSpeedyTri.
Having previously represented Great Britain in the 3000m Steeplechase at both the Commonwealth Games and European Championships, Bowden made the switch into triathlon as part of the Barry Wells funded TriGold scheme back in 2010.
As well as winning several Elite national championship titles in triathlon and duathlon, he was for many years a key part of the GB squad on the World Triathlon Series, where his best result was fourth on home soil in Leeds in 2017.
A move to the longer distances has since seen him win Challenge Roma and IRONMAN 70.3 Dubai, plus take second at the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship, Elsinore in 2018.
On the road again
Now living in Wales, Bowden was back to his roots this past weekend when he raced – and won – the ABP Newport Wales Marathon. One of the ‘UK’s flattest marathons’, it was also the biggest mass participation event in Wales to date following the global pandemic.
Not only did he win in what was his first ‘not-in-an-ironman’ 26.2 mile effort, but he smashed the previous course record with a swift 2:20:06. It was also a negative split – 1:10:22 for the first half, 1:09:44 for the second half, so his pacing was certainly working well.
The interesting side story is that Adam didn’t actually enter the race! It was his wife Rhian who did the entry on his behalf, and only let him know less than a week ago when he returned from IRONMAN Mallorca.
“Absolutely over the moon🥇. Debut Marathon 2:20:06 + course record. I want to share this message because this incredible lady my wife @121physio actually signed me up for this marathon. I was told when I landed 🛬 from Mallorca what did I think to running a marathon. You could imagine my reaction but truly grateful that it did happen.”
Another ‘unbeaten’ marathon running triathlete
The story has a familiar theme – Adam’s long-time friend and fellow TriGold athlete, Mark Buckingham entered his local Yorkshire Marathon at late notice in 2019, on the back of being one of Alistair Brownlee’s key training partners in his preparations for the IRONMAN World Championship that year. He also won in style, stopping the clock at 2:21:42 that day.
ABP Newport Wales Marathon Results 2021
MEN
- 1. Adam Bowden (Bridgend AC) – 2:20:06
- 2. Ollie Garrod (South London AC) – 2:25:58
- 3. Mark Worringham (Reading Roadrunners) – 2:33:36
WOMEN
- Rebecca Gallop (Newark AC) – 2:44:07
- Melissah Gibson (Ealing Eagles Running Club) – 2:51:25
- Jill Collett (Datchet) – 2:53:27
