Jenson Button looses £500 bet but returns happily from the London triathlon
The Formula One caravan heads for a long summer break of three weeks. Drivers and the teams that worked round the clock all through the season are now ready to spend some time with their families and friends that have waited for so long. Out of the lot, one of the drivers has planned a little different for his vacations. Yes, we are talking about none other than the title defender, McLaren driver Jenson Button. He had spent his weekend in the exciting, thrilling and most celebrated triathlon of the globe that takes place in his home town in London.
The London Triathlon, which is the biggest event of its kind in the world unfolded on Sunday, which encompassed more than 13,000 enthusiastic souls who cherished the day in near perfect conditions for the event.
The event offers a wide variety of athletes in all shapes and sizes who are gathered at one place to enjoy the spectacle from a distance. There is always an amalgam of people from every walk of life to mark the event.
A triathlon is a sporting event that is basically targeted to check the endurance of the participants in three different kinds of races i.e. swimming, cycling and running all taking place one after the other in succession. The distances of all the races may vary in the triathlon. The winner of the event is the person who is able to finish in the fastest overall time, including time "transitions" between the swim, bike, and run components.
The event had been able to magnetise people of all types and fitness levels belonging to all walks of life. The event had always been a great success and above all what makes it more significant is the fact that it had been helpful in raising a lot of money for charity year after year. The event organisers, IMG has claimed that an estimated amount of £2 million was generated in 2010.
Every year the racing weekend is graced by a large number of celebrities. Jenson Button was one of the celebrities who made it to the event despite being ill on day. Though he lost seven minutes to last year’s finish when he ended at second place, he was still quick enough this year as well and was able to pull up to 2:14: 15 very respectfully.
One of the most exciting parts of this year’s race was the match winning bet of £500 between Jenson Button and Gordan Smart. The racing hero challenged Smart for the London Triathlon last week claiming that if Smart would finish the day within half an hour of him, Button would stump up the wedge for his charity and vice versa.
However, Button’s tonsillitis helped Smart immensely to win the bet easily.
The day’s victory was bagged by Aussie Courtney Atkinson in the men’s round in a total time of 1:49:03 while Tim Don, another Britain racer hit the podium only five seconds behind him to mark the second place of the race. The women's event was conquered by Helen Jenkins in 2:01:01.
The triathlon is globally recognised as a life changing event that is filled with a lot of thrill and excitement along with proving all round fitness of the three disciplines.
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