Race Reports

When I told some of you that I was returning to Essex to participate in a middle distance triathlon, I'm sure you were picturing me swimming amongst discarded shopping trollies , cycling around burnt out cars and running through a travellers site wearing my Burberry tri suit and then returning to transition to find my bike on bricks with my new carbon wheels missing ! 

Well I can assure you it was nothing like that ! Fambridge is a picturesque village beside the River Crouch . The swim was a two lap circuit around the moored yachts and old Thames barges , I thought I was doing well but did struggle when we turned into the tide ,I was just pleased that I wasn't the last out of the water this time . The cycle route was two laps of a completely flat course through more quaint villages . Again I felt reasonably comfortable on the ride. The run was a four lap mainly off road route which included a path along side the river . I finished  the run without having to walk any part which again was something I had done in past middle distance events . My split times were 1.9km swim 55 min , 90km bike 3.23 and 18km run 1:52 . My total time was 6 hours and 18 minutes! 

Whilst I am pleased with my time , I'm still worried that I have to double this distance in August ! 

After the race most of the competitors relaxed in the garden of the nearby Ferry Boat Inn , I even bumped into some old team mates from Billericay rugby club who like me turned to triathlon once their playing days were over . 

I proudly wore my mid Sussex outfit back in my old manor , as much as I love Sussex , I'm always defensive of Essex as it is a nice place which is much maligned due to a minority of people who live there. 

Dean 

An early start having racked the day before, at Fordingbridge, and overnighted at a friend's house. Alarm at 4.15am for breakfast and then a drive to the fabulously named "Sandy Balls Holiday Camp" to park up and take a bus transfer to T1 and the lake.

Standing by the lake at 6.30am, I was questioning my sanity but at 7.10 we (old farts) followed Wave 1 (Quick Men & Ladies) into the water which was surprisingly warm (unlike Hever last year which was surprisingly freezing!) and at 7.22am we were off for a 1.9k swim. It all went well and I enjoyed myself. I estimate that I was about 35/36 mins for the swim but T1 was a bit of a mare as I got caught up trying to put dry kit on a wet body but my splits show 42 mins for Swim + T1. There was a bit of a run out to the road which was partly on mats but then on mud/sand which was okay except my Shimano cycle cleats clogged up and wouldn't clip to my pedals. Off the bike, clean the cleats, back on the bike and not happy.

 

The bike was more hilly than I expected and why is it all the flat stretches appear to be into a head wind? Perhaps I was travelling very fast (!) (wise up Andy, the time says otherwise). Great scenery with plenty of wildlife - horses, ponies, donkeys, cattle - and a lovely moment when a bull wandered out in front of me causing a slalom avoidance manoeuvre that had fellow cyclists applauding my cycling agility - but that was about all there was to applaud.

 

On reflection I found the bike tough (very undulating with little remission from climbing) and despite covering more than this distance regularly in training with Jeff & Peter - at about mile 45 the quad cramps started and it was  almost the Sussex Sportive all over again! So I pulled back on the speed and nursed my legs to the finish and after 56 miles it was a relief to get off the bike and dump it in T2.

 

Into the tent, off with the cycle kit and deep joy to pull on the trainers for the run. My split shows 3.32 for Bike + T2.

 

And off I plodded. No whippet out of the blocks as per usual but more a cart horse with one goal - to finish what I'd started.

 

A cross country half marathon is very different to my usual road races and I found it tough, especially with my thighs in shreds. Fortunately, I teamed up - at about mile 7 - with 2 other runners having similar fun, to see each other to the end. The final hill nearly killed me and my quads were spasming (quite odd to watch) but after 2.40 (an hour longer than my average half marathon time) I crossed the line and never has a chair been so welcoming.

 

Final time 6.55.39. Was hoping for somewhere around 6 hrs but I have re-aligned my expectations, since!!

 

What have I learned? Not to over estimate my own abilities and not to under estimate the course.

 

But more importantly I found out that even during the most negative parts of the bike course - when I was unsure how much further there was to cycle, when my legs were killing me, when I started to think there was no way of running 13 miles and when I just wanted to give up - that there is a part of me that refuses to give in. I was not going to let all that training go to waste, I was not going to tell everyone I'd achieved a DNF and, more importantly, I was not going to let myself down.

 

I don't care about the time. I'm proud to have finished such a huge race. To expect your body to deliver for 7 hours is a massive ask. Ironmen? Hats off guys - I'm in awe.

 

Andy.

 

Ps Perhaps now, I can be upgraded on The Forum from "Sprint Distance" athlete, to "Middle Distance". I feel I have earned it!

 

pps My mum made me smile. "I'm so proud of you, Andrew. You have to remember though, you're 53 and not getting any younger". Ouch!!

 Author: Andy Miles

It was only a training event and I had been feeling a bit poorly for the last week so it took a bit of cajoling to make me put the bike and wetsuit into the car as we went to see my folks in London. An enjoyable and late evening did little to enhance my enthusiasm as the alarm went off at 4am. Knowing that this was probably my best chance to test my equipment and body before my "A" race (the European Long Distance Championships) I reluctantly ate some toast and marmalade as I made my way along the M25 and M1 to a gravel pit in Milton Keynes.

 

Arriving at the venue I sensed that this is one well organised event and at a venue more attractive than I had anticipated. There was plenty of parking and plenty of loos. Massage tents, sponsor signs and transition areas were well marked out. Best of all were the giant (at least 20 feet high!) inflatable runner and cyclist that signal the way out of transition.

 

As the sun started to warm the air the first wave of 350 were under way. Being either a lady or an old git meant I had an extra 30 mins to decide what excuses I had either not to start or pack early on. Failing to think of anything I joined the 350 other athletes in my wave to waddle through the goose poo to the start area. The starter waited until I was facing the wrong way clearing my goggles to sound the start hooter. The water was surprisingly warm and unsurprisingly busy. I do not enjoy mass starts and took my customary place near the back and way off course. This would not usually have been a problem but the dry weather meant that my belly grounded several times and I had a bit of a tussle with some reeds.

 

Transition was a lame affair and poor Steve would be turning in his grave were he not alive and kicking. The bike course was a mix of delightful single carriageway and slightly less pleasant (but quite quick) dual carriageway. There were 2 and a ½ undulating laps were I managed to overhaul most of the fast swimmers.

 

Making sure I took a handful of chocolate éclairs - my current favourite energy source - I exited transition in an equally poor fashion to be astounded by the fact I could run. I mean proper running and not the Ironman plod I had been expecting. The run course was 4 laps of a mostly off road circuit with a couple of hills. Had I known it I was in Gold medal position coming off the bike (for my age group) but I am not sure I could have matched the 1.25 the eventual winner managed. I am also not sure if the accidental filling extraction hindered or helped me but I have made a note to go for something less toffee based next time. Still I was delighted with the 1.30 I did.

 

Through the finish area I found plenty of fruit, energy gels and water. By now it had become quite hot so I joined an increasing number of overcooked competitors in the lake to reflect on a great morning out.

 

It is a pity the other 2 Mid-Sussex crew did not make it as this is a super half. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to do a well organised but not overly challenging event.

 

Final score:

British Championship Bronze medal in age group

44^th overall (out of 700ish)

4.35.07

Winner 4.04.57

 

 

A Finnish finish - proving I made it to the end in the European Long Course Championships in Finland and was 6^th in age group. I would have won gold with my time in several of the younger age groups and all of the older ones! A full report to follow.

 

?Author: Lawrence Wintergold

 

33 athletes took part in our second Middle Distance Race, which was 8 up on last year. Race conditions were almost perfect with the threatened early heavy rain not arriving. We had the usual melee of getting transition erected, preparing to race etc. in little more than an hour. But life is never straightforward and our specially prepared racking did not fit properly. Luckily Del came to the rescue, whipping out his tool in no time for a quick bodge!

The second problem was a distinct lack of timekeepers, after the 2 volunteers had to pull out. David Ricketts had put himself down to swim and do timing - all on Monday. Unfortunately the race was on Sunday! It was his son's special 18^th birthday lunch on the same day. Brad came and started the timing but had a late offer to go to Old Trafford for the football which I am sure made Rachel's husband Paul very jealous. At the last second Tim Cresswell stepped in and took it over, doing an excellent job in spite of being given a watch that could only time up to one hour!!

 

Eventually we had the race briefing. Pippa had to chuckle whenever she heard the word 'mount' so I am not sure what sort of race she had in mind, and Ant Grey was already prophetically planning an exit strategy! Then 25 athletes jumped into the lake. It was our first opportunity test out the new bouys. What a difference! Sighting was a doddle. That was money very well spent.

 

At Brad's signal the race started. Mat Record stormed off as expected. The swim course is probably longer than 1900m, the consensus was nearer 2100m in the end. Mat swam it in 34m15s, almost 4 minutes clear! He even had time to stop at the pontoon to ask 'Where is everybody?'

 

The chasing pack was led home by Mark Jordan and Dave Lashbrook, but also included Colin Chambers and Steve Alden, who were as surprised to be there as Mark and Dave were seeing them. Vaughan was not far behind. He was in the pack but went wide at the far end and the other four cut in with a better line and he then couldn't get back on their feet.

 

Pipaa was out first for the women in 40m49s with Hazel about 22 seconds down with Rachel only 22 seconds minutes behind her. Nikki was 2 minutes behind Rachel and guest Bethan 90 seconds further back.

 

Through T1 and out onto the bike. Dave Lashbrook has clearly been listening to Steve always talking about transition times as he blitzed through ahead of the others. As expected though, the fastest bike split went to James. His 2h22m04s (including transitions) was more than 14 minutes faster than anyone except for Rob Hoodless who was only doing the bike leg. It shows how tough this bike course is that only Rob and James broke 2h30m, and only 4 others even broke 2h40m.

 

There was plenty going on out on the course though. Vaughan didn't fancy the direction he was going so he turned round and was seen riding in the opposite direction.

Mark and Steve were having a good battle when Mark got stung by a wasp after Balcombe on the first lap. Knowing he has potential anaphylaxis problems he stopped to take some antihistamines, then quite rightly stayed with Steve for the remainder of the ride, before pulling out of the race in T2, when he didn't feel at all well. His actual ride time of about 2h36m was astonishing in the circumstances, and he was 24 minutes faster by T2 compared to last year.

 

Ant Grey was trying some new techniques on the bike circuit. As it was hilly he decided to shed some unnecessary components. He started by losing his saddle, then his front wheel, and finally one pedal. The weight saving strategy did not help, so he had to limp the bike home via a shortened route. Paul Wills was also struggling after coming out of the swim a bit disorientated. He gamely carried on although he did need some advice on what to wear on the bike. Like Ant and Mark though, he pulled out at T2.

 

The women were far more sensible. Rachel quickly overtook Hazel on her way to a bike split that was 20 minutes faster than any of the others. Bethan, Hazel and Nikki all completed the bike within seven minutes of each other and Hazel headed out on the run with a 10 minute advantage over Bethan and Nikki. Jade decided to do a single lap of both the bike and run, but it is only a few weeks since her very impressive Ironman performance.

 

Although it is essentially flat on the run, it is not an easy course. There are 5 dead turns, 14 gates to negotiate, a very uneven surface, some short but marked inclines and lots of walkers, dogs and mud.

 

James started the run with a 9 minute lead over Dave and 12 minutes over Steve, who managed to bring the deficit down to 5m39s by the end, and was delighted with a finish time under 5 hours, more than 13 minutes faster than last year. Dave eventually finished 4^th as his legs were in trouble, but only finished 2 minutes down on last year and he was overtaken by Vaughan who was running strongly. Pete tried to get a pace man to help him. His son did a fine job and will probably be a good runner like his dad in the future. Colin Chambers was clearly struggling on the run, with leg problems. Stoically he put on a brave face and pushed on, and gave everyone a good laugh at the finish when he stopped, laid down and rolled over the finish line.

 

Del Hastings put in another splendid performance to improve his last year's time by more than 15 minutes.

 

 

Rachel was able to cruise round the run with such a healthy lead, but it was Bethan who was making the effort, and managed to overturn the 10 minute deficit on Hazel into a 6 minute advantage, to finish just outside 6 hours. That was a great run. Fastest woman however was Fiona in the relay with a 1h43m04s time.

 

11 people took part in the relay, with David and Rob's team not having a runner, which was a shame as they were comfortably in the lead at that point. In the end the honours went to Mat, Phil and Richard with a time of 5h24m, with the all ladies team of Pippa, Sharon and Kay just 7 minutes behind. There were some superb individual performances in the relay with Mat being the fastest swimmer, Rob - second quickest cyclist and Fiona second quickest runner overall.

 

The performance of the day has to go to Trevor though. He was going nicely until mid way through the run when his knees started to give out. He could only walk and jog. He had the option to pull out after 2 laps of the run, but carried on in a lot of trouble. He easily got the biggest ovation of the day when he finished, and the emotion of it was clearly on his face. But it was an amazing effort.

 

And when everyone had finished there was the picnic going on. It was fabulous that people like Phil Couch and Rupert Robinson who were desperate to race themselves, but could not because of injury, still turned up to be there and cheer everyone on. Lots of people brought their families and there may well have been more than a hundred people present altogether.

 

It was nice to have some guests racing, who I am certain will be future members of the club. Good Luck to Charlie and Bethan in their big race - Ironman Wales in a fortnight.

 

In the end it was a great day for everyone! Well Done

Author: Steve Alden

No doubt you have heard of the film Nightmare On Elm Street, welcome to Nightmare at Wimbleball.

The day started at 06.00 with the putting on of the wet suit ready to be walked down to the lake at 06.30. It was overcast and windy but at least it wasn't raining, like Saturday!!! Eventually all 1600 competitors were in the very cold water having waded through the mud!! No "God Save The Queen" this year, not that "she" will be too worried! The gun goes off at 07.00 and we're off, not exactly at a gallop more like a massive washing machine on fast spin!! My swim was okay, got kicked a few times but isn't that what triathlon is all about!! 

I exited the water on 55 mins 17 sec , about 30 secs down on last year. T1 went okay at least i didn't get interviewed like last time! I was a bit unsure as what to wear for the bike as it was still a quite cool and very windy, anyway i opted to remain in my tri suit and put on arm warmers. The bike course is two laps and very hilly and although it remained cool, overcast and windy at least it didn't rain until about ten minutes before reaching T2 but luckily it was only a short shower. I had no problems on the bike, unlike a lot of others who suffered punctures and broken chains etc. and completed the ride in 4:03:51.  T2 passed without any hiccups and the sun had come out by then, it always shines on the righteous!.

Hope you are covering your eyes because this is where the nightmare begins, during the first lap i could feel the underside of my right foot starting to niggle where i had injured it at work a week ago! Even being passed and encouraged by John Webster [we met by chance at the race briefing the day before] couldn't help and by the end of the first lap i had been reduced to a hobble and for a split second i thought maybe i should call it a day!!! But it's an Ironman event, so there is NO GAIN without PAIN!!!! How i got to the finish i don't know,  but i dragged myself over the line after 2hrs 42 mins 4sec.

My overall time was 7hrs 53mins 15 secs, about 30 mins down on last years time. I was gutted at the time as i had wanted to try and finish first in my age group,

You're not going to believe this, i have just checked the results  and even with a shit performance i came FIRST in my age group!!!! Mind you i was the only ONE !!!! Obviously i shall be looking for the MSTC to sponsor my trip to Las Vegas later in the year for the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! Ha! Ha!

                 Cat Pos    Total        Swim      T1      Bike         T2    Run
Jon Webster    29    05:57:32   37:54  07:40 03:25:28 01:48 01:44:44
Derek Hastings 1     07:53:15   55:17  08:59 04:03:51 03:07 02:42:04