Louth triathlete battles back from injury to win GB call-up

Building on last year’s success, Martin Ball will be heading out to Austria in September to represent Great Britain at the Middle Distance European Championships.

Martin, who competes for Louth Triathlon Club, took up the gruelling sport several years ago, starting out locally before progressing on to national competitions, and more recently international events.

He has made an amazing return to competition in 2016 after suffering a fractured pelvis last year.

The 38-year-old completed his recovery at the Scunthorpe Half-Marathon in May, and a week later headed to the Middle Distance National Championships, at Grafham Water.

This involved a 1.25-mile swim, and a 56-mile cycle ride before finishing off with a 13.1-mile run.

Martin finished 12th out of the 240 competitors for his age group.

“It feels great to be back competing and working towards the championships later this year,” he said.

“It has been a gruelling few months, but my hard work is paying off.”

The journey towards the European Championships has recently being made much easier thanks to Louth-based BG Solicitors who have agreed to sponsor Martin in this expensive sport for the 2016 season.

Ben Barber, from BG Solicitors, said: “We are thrilled to be able to support local sport, and what Martin has achieved is an amazing feat.”

Martin will now head into a series of national Olympic and half-Iron distance events, including an inaugural event at Holkham Hall, in Norfolk, next month.

He is confident of building on last week’s performance to make it into the top 10 before he heads to Austria.

Keep up to date with Martin’s progress by following his blog at http://workingclasstriathlete.blogspot.co.uk/

* For more information about joining Louth Triathlon Club, visit their website at www.louthtriclub.co.uk or find them on Facebook.

* Visit www.bgsolicitors.com for more information on their services.