Lunn lands a brilliant bronze in Hawaii

Lunn (45) had qualified to represent Great Britain in the gruelling event for the second year running and was determined to improve on his fifth placing from last year.

And he did just that, coming home in third place in the highly competitive 45-49 age group.

He completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run in searing heat in a time 9:08:27.

After a good swim, Lunn moved through the field with a super-fast bike split. He improved in all three disciplines on last year including 12 minutes on the bike and four on the run.

Lunn said: “That run was super tough. I’m pretty happy moving up the podium two places from last year. Now I need to start planning how to go two better next time.

“This was the result of endless 6am starts, training twice a day for months on end, and all alongside a full-time job.”

“A normal training week for me would be three swims, three bikes and three runs with a gym session thrown in the mix. I probably average 13-14 hours a week throughout the year.”

PACTRAC clubmate Roger Canham was competing in the event for the 10th year running after having qualified in a race in China in April.

Normally he makes the top 10 in his age group but this year he finished 70th in the 55-59 category after suffering a broken collar bone in training in the build-up to the race.

He said: “It was a hard day at the office. That’s the fastest I have ridden on the bike for 10 years in Hawaii but that’s the slowest marathon I have run for a long time.”

He finished in 10:36:30 after clocking 9:25:02 last year.

This weekend sees the European Duathlon Championships, European Mid-Distance Triathlon Championships and the European Aquathlon Championships take place in Ibiza, with PACTRACers Jim Fell, George Prodrick, Paul Jephcott and Nathan Tweedie representing GB.

Tweedie is representing GB in the Elite Under 23 Aquathlon Championships.