Race Results w/e 24 June

For starters, like many of you (I hope!), I spent all day Friday glued to my phone, refreshing my instagram for Walt’s updates on how Euan Lees, Nick Berry and Shane McCauley were doing in their Channel Swim Relay. The guys did a truly incredible job, crossing the channel in 10 hours and 30 minutes (and speeding past all the other relay teams that day!). But more importantly than the speed, it’s a pretty incredible feat to swim for hours on end without a wetsuit in cold and choppy water. Well done guys, and also well done to the support team of Walt Rothon, Karen McCauley, Hannah Graff, and John Wackrow. For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, this was all done in aid of the Brompton Fountain, and you can donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fot-englishchannelrelay

Also last week, Katie Marsh and Lea Burek were over in Boston racing for the J.P. Morgan Team in the J.P. Morgan Challenge World Championships. Well done ladies!

The weekend was pretty exciting too. Ironman Nice took place on Sunday, and Ful-on Tri had a large contingent racing there: Caroline Buckland, Eimear Toomey, Guido Hakkenberg, Max Beddal, Nick van Praag and Ruth Purbrook all took on the fairly mountainous course. It was a tough day all around, but everyone showed some impressive tenacity. Max completed the bike but unfortunately did not run, while everyone else pulled through to the end. Well done in particular to Ruth for winning the age group race, coming in over 11 minutes ahead of the next age grouper, breaking the 10 hour barrier, pulling off a marathon PB, and qualifying for Kona, all on a really tough course! Well done also to Caroline, Eimear, Guido and Nick for completing their first Ironman and giving the rest of us some much needed inspiration. Also, well done for securing yet another TriClub win for Ful-on Tri!

Closer to home, Olivia Ross-Hurst, Alexie Calvert-Ansarie and Mike Winstanley were all out racing at Leeds Castle. Olivia and Alexie raced the Olympic distance, with Olivia taking first in her age group, while Alexie came third in his age group, and both qualified for the 2019 ITU Champs in Lausanne (although Alexie had already qualified at Grafham, so presumably he was just scoping out the competition…). Mike raced the sprint distance.

Liv won her age group and qualified for the 2019 ITU champs in Lausanne

Up north, well done to Naomi Murdoch who raced at the Cholmondeley Castle Olympic Distance triathlon and to Bastiaan Trommel, Karl Boehm and Katie Marsh who raced the Olympic Distance in Marlow. Karl came in second overall!

London League racing was also on this weekend, with Rob Argles and Amy Jordan racing the Windrush Aquathlon. Well done to Rob for coming 3rd in his AG and Amy for coming 4th! Next London League event is also the club olympic champs – get your entries in to compete for your club and for the chance to become the Olympic Queen or King! Entry details are on the Facebook page.

Rob and Amy at Windrush Triathlon

On the single sport front, well done to Katie Holmes for taking 2nd place at the Regent’s Park 10k on Sunday, and to James Ellis for taking 1st place at the Southern Athletics League 5000m on Saturday. Sunday morning also saw Jon Green, Mark Sempers, Sarah La Hausse, Will Manns and me racing the second Richmond Park 10 mile TT, trying to show the cyclists how it’s done.

On the more adventurous side, Xavier Faux, Ursula Hankinson and Beatrice Faux took a long ride to Amsterdam this weekend, Lorraine Kelsey ran the North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail Run in Cortina, and Lisa Bartley has been off climbing the Gran Paradiso in Italy.

This weekend is another big one for racing, with Ironman Austria and Norway, Maratona, and the Mont Blanc Marathon all taking place. Good luck to everyone!