page revision date: 24th September 2008
Triathlon is really a true fitness test for Peter
Peter Munn first got into triathlon when he met his other half Karen, about six years ago and is now heavily involved after finishing playing rugby almost ten years ago and keeping busy in the meanwhile with jogging and five-a-side.He thought he was in reasonable shape, so he went along to a Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club session thinking there couldn’t be too much to this swimming, biking and running malarkey, but soon found out that there was far more to t than meets the eye.
First little test
As Peter told us, “My first little test was to see how many lengths I could swim without stopping and was aghast that after six lengths I was absolutely exhausted! I decided to give it a bash anyway and soon realised just how friendly and accommodating the club was, with other members giving good advice and encouragement. It wasn’t long before I was swimming 8, 10, and reasonably soon, 64 lengths in the hour long session.
“This is the real plus point with the tri club that there is a huge range of ages and abilities of the members, with it being a really friendly and social club with a great feeling of camaraderie. Although I consider myself Mr Average there were in fact a lot of Mr and Mrs Averages within the Club, all striving to get out of the “Average” category and move into the “Respectable” category.”
He first put his new-found skills of triathlon to the test by entering the Dyfi Dash Triathlon in 2004. This was held in Machynlleth and consisted of 400 metres swim, 20 kilometres bike ride and six kilometres run.
Bug well and truly caught
Peter admits, “I felt so exhilarated crossing the line, coming 104th out of 130 people, but the joy of completing the course was as good as scoring a try against old rugby foes Haverfordwest (not that it happened very often!)
“But I got the bug and began to put a bit more time into training and year by year continue to see improvements with my 800m swim time coming down from nearly 20 minutes to 15 minutes, my 20k bike time from 46 minutes to 38 minutes and 5k run times from 26 minutes to 22 minutes.
“Putting it all together was also getting faster with the Annual Club Triathlon at Haverfordwest seeing steady progress. For the 400m/16km/3.2km race times have improved with my initial 1hour 4minutes time improving to 55 minutes. Also at Llandovery this year I came 21st out of 90 people, coming 5th veteran male. I’m not fussed on the ‘veteran’ label but felt like I had won an Olympic medal!”
Other sports played
Prior to his involvement in triathlon, Peter was well known as a good rugby player with Milford Haven RFC for two decades, being able to slot in anywhere along the back line, except for scrum half. He enjoyed playing alongside a lot of talented players and he still enjoys watching the Mariners whenever he can.
After he had stepped down from rugby he also played football for a season at Herbrandston and was part of a team which won the second division cup final – and throughout his younger days he was a very accomplished table tennis player who had a superb defence and tactical awareness which usually tied people down. His way of playing was clearly effective since he won the county singles final on two occasions and won the doubles with James Dyson after being initiated in the game by the late Clifford Smith and later by Bev Palmer and Margaret Turvey.
Peter also took up golf after rugby and speedily reduced his handicap to seven at Milford Haven Golf Club, where he played for the Tigers on a regular basis and had a cracking partner in the late Brian Millward.
Club origins
Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club, originally named Haverfordwest Triathlon Club, was formed in September 1992 by a group of individuals keen to discover the relatively new sport of triathlon. The four or five founder members, under the inaugural Chairmanship of Daryl Sable and the drive and commitment of Charles Paffett, started the club, with the bulk of the training based around Tuesday nights 'forces –style’ hard circuit training followed by a swim session. There are a few members left who still have fond memories of those cold, dark winter nights of endless circuit training in Haverfordwest's multi-storey car park.
The club continues to flourish with organised sessions throughout the week with Tuesday run and swim sessions, Wednesday bike training, Thursday swimming and Friday run sessions up the track at Sir Thomas Picton School. There are also informal weekend run and bike sessions.
Secretarial stuff
Peter’s partner Karen and he hold the secretarial role within the club which entails membership and general secretarial duties throughout the year. He also organises a few social events throughout the year, the highlight being an annual trip to Waterford in Ireland to compete in their triathlon, which recently took place and can be read all about on their own web-site.
Junior joy
Peter was also delighted to tell us, “A few years ago, due to heavy demand, a junior section was formed, initiated by Steve Matchett. Youngsters can join from aged eight and upwards, and membership is high with all sessions being enthusiastically attended, with all ages and abilities catered for. Named the ‘Tristars’, they go from strength to strength, with a number of members representing their country. These are sure to be the backbone of the club for many years and we are eager for as many youngsters as possible to join us because as well as enjoying the sport it is a great way to get fit and keep I that way.”
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