Race Results w/e 29 July and 5th August
Due to my delinquency and last minuteness (note to self, packing a bike and clothes for a week and a half at 10pm when you have a 9 am flight is not necessarily the way forward, but as one friend says, if you pack early, you pack twice. Also, the pedals came off easily – bike grease for the win), I failed to publish last week’s report. On the plus side, that means you get twice the fun this week! What better way to kick off August.
First up last weekend was Sophie Kirk at Challenge Prague on Saturday. The race unfortunately didn’t go to plan for due to some stomach issues, but nevertheless Sophie managed a strong swim and bike before stopping on the run, and is now raring to go for the 70.3 champs in September.
On Sunday, as the skies opened up for the first time in about a month, Stephanie Wise toed the line at the Outlaw Triathlon for her first iron distance race. Steph had a fantastic race, finishing under 12 hours and taking 3rd in her age group. Congratulations Steph!
Steph on the podium at Outlaw
Meawhile in Marlow, Pim Kalisvaart raced the Fugitive Half (seriously guys, Outlaws and Fugitives?!), learning some valuable lessons about wet weather racing, for example, spare socks in a plastic bag are a good thing (if you wear socks on the run, that is…), and glasses should be clear in the rain. Despite some teething issues, Pim had a fantastic first attempt at the middle distance and came away with 3rd overall. Well done Pim!
Also on Sunday, we had a large Ful-on contingent taking part in a very wet Ride London, both as participants and as safety marshalls. Well done to Rob Churcher, Vanessa Gershanov, Rob Gray, Lorraine Kelsey, Gareth Kervin, Victoria Pitcher, Eimear Toomey, Guido Hakkenburg, Brannigan Barrett, Angela Hughes, Jenny Kirkwood, Walt Rothon, Cerri Ruzzi, Jamie Woodland, Lisa Bartley, RIch Bridger, and Merilee Bridger.
Ful-on Tri Ride Safety Captains at Ride London
Then, this week, on Thursday Ruth Purbrook raced the Alpe D’Huez Long Course triathlon. For those who don’t know, the course starts in a beautiful reservoir, then sends you up three cols in the alps, culminating in the 21 bends of the Alpe D’Huez, followed by a casual half marathon at the top of the mountain. Anyway, although it was a tough day out for Ruth, nevertheless she put in a solid performance and took 3rd in her category on an incredibly challenging course. Well done Ruth.
Moving into the weekend, on Saturday Pim Kalisvaart raced again at the Salty Sea Dog Triathlon. After oversleeping by nearly an hour, Pim had what seems like a manic race, starting with a mass start swim with an interesting timing method (something about tokens and slots – sounds to me more like gambling), into a hilly bike course, and finally a pacy run. Nevertheless, Pim pulled off a good racing, taking 4th overall.
Sunday was a busy one for the club. First up, Rob Argles, Alistair Chappelle, Katie Marsh and Naomi Murdoch all raced at Arundel Standard Distance. Congrats to Rob for taking 2nd in his age group (and qualifying for the ETUs…although he already had that from his race two weeks ago!), and well done all for solid performances.
Well done also to Iain Macleod and Chris Brown who raced the Cotswold Classic 113 on Sunday.
Over the Ironman distance, congrats to Haukur Heimisson, Michel Radermecker, Mateus Pimenta and Ben Te Beek for finishing Ironman Maastricht-Limberg. The boys won the tri-club award for the club as a group, while Haukur had a particularly strong performance, finishing 9th overall and 5th in his age group.
On the single sport front, well done to Katie Ferraby on her 3.8km open water swim at the Salty Sea Dog swim. Congrats to everyone who participated in the Thames Marathon swim from Henley to Marlow. I can’t imagine swimming 14km, what a feat! Well done to Walt Rothon, Cerri Ruzzi, Olivia Ross-Hurst, Phil Roker, Luke Hardman, Martin Bruwer, Nell Kenny and Suzie Rylatt.
Ful-on Tri at the Thames Marathon
Finally, having clearly determined that open water swimming is actually his thing and wetsuits are unnecessary warmth, Shane McCauley raced in the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association National Championship and took 3rd in the 5km race. Congrats!