Race results w/e 13 May

Written by Heather Mayer

The season is now very much in full swing with a week full of training camps, the first English open water swims of the year, runs, bike races and triathlons last week. Hope everyone had a wonderful week away in sunny Mallorca, although I’m glad I can go back to scouring my Strava feed without turning green with envy.

First up this week were Will Manns and Enrique Pinel who raced Ironman 70.3 Mallorca on Saturday. For Will, this was to be redemption after attempting the race two years ago only to have the race scuppered with a tricky puncture situation on the bike. This time, Will had a smooth race from start to finish, coming in strong with a sub-5 hour time. For Enrique, this race could probably be done in his sleep, given this was his 8th consecutive Ironman 70.3 Mallorca! Congratulations on continuing your streak and achieving your course pb!

Enrique celebrating his new PB after his 8th IM 70.3 Mallorca

Also on Saturday, Natalie Creswick took on a new type of triathlon at Quest Wales. The race consisted of 24km of running on some hilly trails, 25km biking, and 1km kayaking (in run-bike-kayak-run-bike-run order, obviously). Well done Nat on 4th place overall in what looked like a really challenging race.

Nat on the final run on her way to 4th place

On Sunday, Ben Clothier, Jamie McCanny, Pierre Guilpain, and Rob Gray took on Ironman 70.3 Pays D’Aix. The weather took a turn for the worse, making it a challenging day for everyone. While Rob had a tough day out with a fall on the bike course forcing him to stop on the run, Ben, Jamie and Pierre all had good races, winning the Division III Tri-Club award for the club!

Our awesome tri club badge from Pays D’Aix

Back in London, there was some serious London League racing going on. Xavier Faux dusted off his bike to go and fly the Ful-on Tri flag at the Dragonslayer Duathlon. Xav managed not only to count correctly on his 15 laps of the velopark (a true challenge…seriously), but also to come in 4th in his age group and to score valuable London League mob match points – great job Xav!

Xav slaying some London League dragons

Meanwhile, we had a strong showing at the Crystal Palace Triathlon. Euan Lees, Rob Argles, Richard Harper, Herve Vignalou, Martin Bruwer, Anna Tyndall, Andrew Curry, Jonty Bloomfield, Angela Hughes, Amy Jordan, Harriet Broad and Josh Horton all raced, taking on the crazy pool swim and hectic bike course and producing some excellent results. Congratulations in particular to Anna, Andrew and Harriet on completing their first triathlon.

Team Ful-on Tri at Crystal Palace

As a quick aside, London League really is a great opportunity to test the waters (figuratively and literally), as races are local, relatively cheap, and very much inclusive. Anyone who shows up and finishes the race scores points for the club, so there’s no reason not to get involved! The next race is this weekend at Tooting Lido – and sign-ups on the day are available.

Our members were also very active in single sport events this weekend. On the running front, Michel Radermecker completed the Luxembourg Half Marathon. Tom Scott had a stormer at the Henley Trail Half marathon, coming in 3rd overall. Emma Guthrie topped off her week of training in Mallorca with around Richmond Park in the London 10 Mile. After being forced to stop before halfway at the London Marathon a few weeks ago due to illness, Ursula Hankinson more than redeemed her race, taking first place at the Hereford Marathon on Sunday. Geoff Maher completed the Oxford Town & Gown 10k.  And finally Oliver Blackwood ran the Bristol 10k.

On the cycling front, Sunday was the second 25-mile TT of the year. Nick DeBouillaine, Shaun Wood, Ryan Howes, Mark Sempers, Julian Beazley and Sybille Schorm all took on the 25 mile course at Great Missenden. Well done all!

This coming weekend is full of lots of excitement, including the marriage of swim, bike and run in addition to some other inconsequential wedding that is causing significant inconvenience for my Saturday ride plans. Saturday brings about the Tooting Lido Aquathlon, while the first club championship takes place on Sunday, with our members competing for the title of Sprint King and Queen at Eton Dorney, and there will be quite a bit of racing action further afield as well – good luck everyone!