It’s 10.58am on 2l June and 220 is expecting a very special visitor, just two weeks on from a remarkable performance at the Sub8 in Germany, British pro Kat Matthews is visiting us in Bristol for a chat and photoshoot.
Forgive the pun, but the cat is now well and truly out of the bag. Any reservations about Kat’s ability to compete at the very pinnacle of long-distance racing have long been erased thanks to her performances at both the Ironman Worlds in May and the Sub8 in June. In her first full-distance worlds, Matthews placed runner-up to five-time champion Daniela Ryf. Four weeks later she smashed the elusive 8hr women’s long-distance barrier in a time of 7:31:54 at the invite-only Sub8 project, having taken the place of an injured Lucy Charles-Barclay.
The phone rings. It’s Kat, letting us know she’s arrived. She’s right on time, but that’s not surprising given her background as a physiotherapist officer in the Army. We help bring in her kit, including a weighty Sub8 trophy.
