Race Report w/e 22nd September
Good evening fellow tri peeps. The evenings may be getting darker early, and the season may be drawing to a close, but we still have a tonne of races to celebrate.
The main events (for the club) this weekend were the final race of the London League (very much deciding our Men’s, Women’s, Mixed and Mob standings) and the joy that is the Fix Relays. We also had a mass of individual performances. There were Middle distances, UCI races, and swimming.
London Fields Aquathlon – LONDON LEAGUE FINAL RACE
This was it – THE race that would decide our fate in the London League. To recap: going into this, the Men’s team position was languishing in 4th place, but with a shot at 3rd; the women were on a very, very precarious 3rd place; and our Mixed team position had sunk to 3rd. Clapham Chasers had already secured a top place across all three categories some races ago. However, this was our last chance to get back to our merited top 3 spot.
Rob always does a fantastic job at rallying the troops, but credit must be given to CJ for recruiting the biggest women’s turn-out for some time.
Racing early Sunday morning were: Euan Lees; Stephanie Langton; Milla Rogers; Rob Argles; Rhys Davies; Xavier Faux; Leanne Kelsall; Elisa de Pestel; Cheryl Bosh; and, Ursula Hankinson.
Finishing in 3rd place and first in for the club was Euan, in 25min. Rob and Xav followed hot on his heels, 3 to 4 min behind! Rhys completed the men’s turnout in 36min!
Ursula led the women in, coming across the line in 29min, followed by Leanne barely a minute behind! Cheryl, Camilla, Elisa and Stephanie came in soon after, to complete a strong women’s team finish! A sigh of relief for Cheryl perhaps as she started the day, I understand, with her tri-suit on the wrong way around (back to front, not upside down).
Now, where did all that leave us in the London League standings?
Well, unfortunately, London Fields did exactly what we were all expecting – put a strong team out on their own course. That meant they snatched maximum points for the men (points they didn’t need, but meant we were left fighting for the scraps). We needed a maximum score to rise from 4th place. Thankfully, no other club was in a position to challenge for 4th – so the men finished the season just shy of a top 3 – beaten to the punch by Crystal Palace, who secured their score by Windrush Aquathlon.
For the women, things were better. There was never any chance of finishing better than 3rd, but plenty of other clubs ready to snatch it from us. Thanks to CJ’s recruiting, we threw a strong field at the course and scored a maximum 100 points. With Clapham Chasers’s 2nd place (not needed as they were already secure in the top League spot), this safely put the challenges from London Fields and Serpies to bed. We finish the season in 3rd!
Similarly, a good turnout meant we could pick up from our descent to 3rd in the Mixed Team rankings. A maximum score and strong men’s and women’s squads saw off any challenge from Crystal Place, and meant we retook 2nd place for Mixed Teams!!
There will be loads of chat around what we can do next season to improve participation, but for now, I think we’ve salvaged a good finish to our London League Season. Well done to all who have raced!
Fix Relays – CLUB END OF SEASON CELEBRATION RACE
Before the End of Season party we had our own end of season sporting party – the Fix Relays.
If you’ve never taken part, this is probably the best event to pencil in for next season. The format is teams of 3, and, unlike other relays, each team member does each leg, waiting for the other 2 to finish before starting the next. Never done a triathlon – then this is a fantastic way to get into it!
Rob Argles worked his magic in picking randomised teams, with 27 club members racing the course: Dominic Masters; Krista Kojecky; Victoria Eden; Kirill Mikhaylov; Catherine Spurin; Will Averill; Milla Rogers; Daniel Venn; Elisa de Pestel; Mark Sempers; Sarah Watts; yours truly; Stephen Flexer; Merillee Brider; Richard Bridger; Helen Fagan; Steward Juroszek; Rob Argles; Martin Bruwer; Sarah La Hausse de la Louviere; Richard Harper; James Green; Celeste Gardner; Alex Richards; Phil Roker; Steph Wise; and, Sybille Schorm.
On the day, Team G (Martin, Sarah and Richard) took the Curly Wurly prize, with Richard putting in a blistering bike split! Kudos should really also go to James Green who was first out of the water (of everyone) and was leading the club in pretty much every leg!
Ironman 70.3 Emilia-Romagna
For a late season 70.3, we had 4 5 on the start list and 3 4 on the course – making this one of the most popular middle distances outside of the few facebook-frenzy events. The course is based around Cervia, Italy – not far from Ravenna – and features the site of flamingos on the bike leg!
Racing this weekend were: Lucy Orhnial; Mark Parrett; and, Giovanni Simoni.
As a point of interest, former club member Nicola Busca was also racing the course (still flying the flag for Ful-on Tri).
: Giovanni stormed in first, finishing in a fantastic 4hr 48min, placing in the top 6% of his age group and well within the top 10% of the entire race! Multo bene!!
: Actually, Sophie Kirk just pipped first club place in 4hr 46min – a fantastic race where she won her age group and came 4th woman overall!
Next up was Mark, in a swift time of 5hr 19min, followed by Lucy in 6hr 45min! Fantastic racing both!!
Swim Serpentine
The weekend also saw a mini festival of swimming in the always sweet-smelling Serpentine, centre of London’s Hyde Park.
Taking part in the 2 mile event was Lisa Bartley finishing well in 1hr 17min and completing the London Classics too!
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Ironman 70.3 Weymouth
With the weather set to turn after Saturday’s hint of summer, participants in this year’s 70.3 in Weymouth might have feared a repeat of the tempestuous conditions of the other year. Thankfully it wasn’t quite as bad – at least the risk of sodden hypothermia was banished.
Racing in this edition were: Andrew Jack; Julian Beazley; Freddie Skarbek; Kenneth Murray; and, Ruth Macdonald.
Freddie and Julian were in hot contention for club first, with Freddie just taking the spot by 3 minutes, finishing in just under 4hr 50min, followed by Julian 7min after, and both finishing around the 10% field mark!
Ken and Andrew (welcome to the club!) followed across the finish line less than 10min later, and within a minute of each other, with Ruth rounded things up in 6hr 43min!!
Great end of season racing all!
Outlaw X
Up at Nottinghamshire’s Thoresby Park, the Outlaw X was celebrating the 10th anniversary of Outlaw’s race series and completing their season of mainly Middle distance triathlons.
3 of the club were out racing: Gina Siebler; Sapna Sekhri; and, Katherine Montserrat.
Katherine finished first in a time of 5hr 43min, just outside a top 10 age group position! Gina was next in just under 6hr 31min, with Sapna completing the set 21min later! Brilliant stuff!
Conquer the Chilterns Triathlon
Our final triathlon was a Standard distance race in the leafy setting of Henley. A river swim is followed by deceptively hilly bike and run legs.
Alex Courage was out racing with some success, as she finished 1st female in a time of 3hr 16min and 4th overall!
UCI World Championships Sportive – Yorkshire
Famous for Betty’s Tea Rooms and Menwith Hill “Golf Balls”, Harrogate was hosting the UCI World Champs this weekend. According to sources the weather was “biblical” – TV footage suggested this was probably true.
Richard Huntrods and Charlie Muir-Sands were both out racing, with both completing the 150km course in 5hr 2min and 5hr 43min respectively!
And that’s your lot. We still have some of the season left – including Kona – so please keep letting me know your upcoming races. Remember, the end of season awards rely on a complete and accurate record of your triathlon performances over the season. If you haven’t appeared in a Race Report yet you are not in the running. You can rectify this, but you need to take action soon (via email please).
As usual, comms on omissions, the future and any personal racing blogs should all go to fixtures@fulontri.com