This is a long established event and one that I had always wanted to have a go at, so when Alex posted on the ATC forum looking for an mtb rider I quickly volunteered, unaware that my team mate was the yet to be crowned running champ for ATC.

On the cold and snowy north Kent coast we arrived in good time and after meeting fellow club teams and attending the brief briefing we were glad to get he race started. I reckoned on a 15-20 minute wait after the run started and was soon being 'encouraged' by Paul to get ready as he had spotted the lead runners coming toward transition. They were being lead by Alex! A quick handover and he had put me in the unfamiliar position of leading a race. Our speed seemed to catch the marshalls and a few dog-walkers on the start of the mtb ride a little unawares as I tried to make the most of what was inevitably going to be a short-lived stay in the yellow jersey.

I managed to hammer along the path part of the ride and got about a mile into the mud before losing the lead. The mtb course was a tough but uninspiring mudfest with no more than 10 metres total climb / descent, essentially a flat slippery circuit, very testing conditions requiring a delicate balance of keeping traction on the rearwheel and pressure on the front wheel to prevent it slipping out. The mud was almost relentless so it was difficult to build any sort of momentum, just spin and slip and try to pick the best route through. Whilst doing this on the first lap one competitor decided the best route through was to squeeze Paul into one of the many flooded dykes, Paul has now put a suggestion to the organisers that riders wear their numbers on their backs for easier revenge ( - sorry recognition!).

The 2 circuits finished with a ¼ mile sea front ride on tarmac and then a run with the bike into transition, training paid off here as I overtook another rider on foot!! I then ditched the bike to run faster and hand back to Alex only to be 'advised' that I needed to take my bike into the hand-over box losing another ½ minute in doing so, this proved very costly as despite Alex's fantastic XC run time (see below for details) we were beaten by ½ minute by a couple of FARTS!

For the record and it really has to be applauded is that not only did Alex achieve P1 in the road race but he also came P2 in the XC, recording the fastest combined run time for the day despite waiting over an hour between the 2 runs in near-freezing conditions (sorry mate!)

This is a well organised race, I think it probably belongs in the 'challenge' category and I would do it again, although I expect it may be solo as I think Alex may be looking for a different team mate or indeed going solo himself - I've witnessed his 'enthusiastic' mountain biking and reckon he's got a good chance... watch this space.

See you all at the A&D 10k 7th Feb...

Phil Booth

It dawned bright but chilly for the last event of the year. The ice had thawed from the pavements and the rain kept away. The race had good entries and there was a good crowd of supporters, including Paul's wife Lesley, cheering everyone on. I breakfasted extra early for this race and the strategy paid off - no stitch or feeling sick - long may it last! We raced down beside the A20 for 4 kms, the path was very narrow but the bunching wasn't too bad, well not at the back anyway. The route then went out onto some country lanes and then back along the A20, with the pull up the hill into Harrietsham on the way home not feeling as bad as I thought it would on the way out.

Paul 47.16
Simon 53.30
Sally 57.54

As I look forward to 2010 I would like to take this opportunity to say 'Thank You' to all in the club for the support I have received since I joined in April. To those who have inspired me, Ade especially and Jim who mentioned in passing that he is doing a Tri at Ben Nevis this year. Wow! Those of you who have really helped point me in the right direction, notably Paul with speed training, Simon leading the group cycle on a Sunday. I didn't know I was even capable of cycling 40miles. To Terry who managed to miss me when I fell off my bike right in front of him the other week. To Katy, Becca and Amanda who prove that just being there is what is important. Christine for all her advice and encouragement and a big 'Thank You' to all the friends I have met and had a laugh with on the way. Finally a big 'Thank You' to my husband Jeremy who has supported me even though he thinks I am mad, cleans and maintains my bike for me and hasn't even stifled a yawn when I go on about splits, tempo runs, clipless pedals, my first Oly distance tri in 2010 (hopefully)etc.etc. Best wishes for 2010 to everyone.

I came in 50 mins 30 secs so a PB for me, but!!! could have done better i felt i had more in my legs but my stomach and Heart rate said NO!!!!

The race was very well organised as usual and bottles of water half way round instead of cups was a welcome change.
Next 10k will be A&D in february, so plent of time to work on the speed.

Well done all who ran, all of us had realy good times :-)

ATC times:
Sally Aspital 57:36
Paul Barron 45:45
Phil Booth 46:51
Phillipe Durand 41:11
Will Farrell 42:08
Terry Foreman 43:36
Simon Fox 50:18
Dave Griffin 43:29
Brian Holdstock 50:30
Rohan Kumar 41:54
Alex Milne 40:01

So congratulations to Sally & Alex who are now our ATC Running Champions for 2009 - well done to everyone!

Also running from the club (but unfortunately not running for us!!!) was Phil Heathfield 39:10 & Kate Austen 41:12 - both Ashford AC.

The sky in Eynsford looked ominous as the throng gathered for the October “Fast & Furious” Duathlon organised by White Oak Tri. They do two of these a year, the other in April.

The distance 5k run/ 23k bike/ 5k run, was my first foray into the mythical world of Duathlon! An event to designed to keep you on your toes throughout the winter months ‘till the Tri season starts again.

Observation No1 = You don't need as much carp in transition as a Tri. Just me bike kit and a pair of trainers. Simples!

Right off to the start. I was in Wave 3 of 4. The waves were approx 15 mins apart. We huddled under a Chestnut tree as the skys delivered, waiting for the off.

At Approx 09:00 we were away! The rain stopped. My plan was to take it steady and post a 1:45 finish. As my wave shot off I was blowing hard just to keep up with the tailenders. Into Farningham and the only real climb (I Don't Do Flat, OK) and some sort of rhythm entered my legs. Breathing settled. I was feeling good. This couldn't be right.

T1 - a quick shoe change and hat on, I was off. The route was out of Eynsford over to Sevenoaks outskirts and back. Very up and downy (Love It) I started to reel in some of the wave who had outpaced me on the first run. A nice and unfortunately rare feeling for me!

At the turnaround point overconfident I nearly took a marshall out and overshot the roundabout. So that's what those big flourescant arrows are for!

B@gger! Turning around and starting off in the wrong gear I dropped a place in my wave. The route back was punctuated by being left for dead by the carbon rockets of the 4 th wave flashing past!

T2 - different shoes and out on to the run course again. Target = Don't get overtaken. Result = Got overtaken.

Lungs and ticker going into overdrive I ground my way up the hill and dug in to complete the run. I got to the finish line in 1h 30m 15s. My watch must have stopped! But no it was showing the right distance. Chuffed or what!!

This event does exactly what it says on the tin ”Fast & Furious”

Observation No 2 =  Don't expect your heart rate to be anything less than “Full Tilt”!

Well done to the ATCers who took part into our first club TT on Saturday morning. The weather was fine & the wind calm, but overnight rain left the road surface a little on the wet side and called for a bit of caution on the junctions & bends.
Results below:

Barry Martyn 32.19
Sally Aspitall 33.42
Simon Fox 30.18
Will Farrell 32.34
Terry Crittenden 29.27
Patrice Bertrand28.17
Paul Simmons 26.39
Keith Lyon 25.35

Navin Nauth-Misir's report from the New Forest ...

The weather's been so good recently I decided to extend the season and entered ‘One Last Tri' in the New Forest ,

The organiser's original plan had been to stage a middle distance triathlon with a river swim and a 1Km ‘Alcatraz-style' run from the swim exit to T1, unfortunately there was too much weed in the river Avon so the swim reverted to the water ski lake at Ellingham Lake . This meant a split transition with swim and T1 at Ellingham and T2 and run at Sandy Balls Park and an extra early start so that we could all be bussed down to the lake. As soon as the sun was up, the race got underway with two swim waves and a slightly shortened swim due to the cold. I was in the second wave and got tangled in a big clump of weed with another swimmer after about 200m. Having extracted myself the rest of the swim was uneventful. I had only packed a tri suit so the first few miles on the bike was pretty cold but the skies cleared and the sun came out making the bike quite pleasant. The bike route was undulating, nowhere near as hilly as the ForestMan route, but it had the usual natural hazards, Deer, Ponies, Cows and Pigs, we had been warned, at the last race just 3 weeks ago a competitor hit a cow at 30mph plus, the cow was uninjured but the competitor suffered some injuries including broken ribs. I managed to avoid all the wildlife and made it safely back to T2 for the run. The bike route had taken us through some fords so my feet were wet and I lost some time in T2 trying to get my socks on. The run had been described as ‘cheeky' by the race organiser, in reality this meant really hilly. It was a struggle but I managed to get back to the finish to be greeted by “finishing now is Navin from Ashford Tri Club – and it's still light!”

Swim 25.48 T1 3.23 Bike 3:28.28 T2 4.18 Run 2:23.26 Total 6:23.56

Whilst the club target race was going on in Lydd, Sally Aspital, Gavin Davis & Darren Schlosser were racing at Hever Castle - here is Sally's report ...

I entered the sprint distance for my second tri, very much hoping to improve my time from the first one some three months earlier. I felt raring to go and looked forward to it. My swimming has improved with the coaching from Nicki and Christine – thanks guys. My running times have been getting quicker with the Wye hill runs and speed sessions on a Thursday night – thanks to Paul; and my bike now almost fits me – thanks to the Bike Fit session organised by the club. However it didn't quite work out as I had hoped. Firstly apparently, according to Paul, lots of chocolate cake in the build up to the race is not a good way to carb-load. Secondly it was absolutely freezing, what a wimp. The lake was 16ºC but it felt like I should have been breaking ice. It was also very shallow, very sludgy and very very smelly. My feet were still numb from the swim after I finished the run. I did find my tri club vest in my bag in transition which I put on over my tri suit, although I am not sure how much warmth it gave me.

The bike course was very hilly and very well marshalled. My chain came off a couple of times, which was a minor inconvenience compared to the four different competitors I passed that had punctures. The run was really picturesque on a trail around the grounds of Hever. I was disappointed with my time overall although there were no transition times given, so my swim time and T1 was combined which included me emptying out the contents of my bag in transition trying to find a pair of socks to no avail. The tri however was really well organised and I did enjoy the ride and run round the country. Not sure about the lake though…..

Time
400m swim and T1 14:15.45
20km bike and T2 56:05.95
4.5km run 26:24.15
Overall time 1:36:45.55

Gavin & Darren's time for the Henry VIII course were:
Gavin - 2:27:39
Darren - 2:38:29

Action Watersports standard distance triathlon - aka Ashford Tri Club standard distance club championship race

Triathlon returned to Lydd on Sunday with the Action Watersports' standard distance triathlon, which we had chosen to be the Ashford Tri Club standard distance club championship race.

Eleven ATC members competed; Rohan Kumar, Terry Foreman, Stewart Catt, Matt Cross, Stuart Busby, Brian Holdstock, Paul Barron, Kate Austen, Rob Goodwin, Peter Cook and Barbara Gambrill

The venue at the water-ski lake was the same that hosted the Marshman middle distance race back in May. Unlike May however the conditions were perfect, the sky was cloudless and there was very little wind. At 7am transition was already busy with athletes racking their bikes, but there was a fair bit of mist hanging over the lake. The swim was to be once round the lake clockwise and it seemed that the organiser had taken notice of the feed back from the Marshman, providing very large and very bright turn buoys for the swimmers to sight on. By the time the first wave was due to start the mist had lifted and you could see all the way to the end of the lake.

Rohan and Terry were off in the first wave and Rohan put in an excellent time of 20.14 exiting the water some 3 minutes ahead of Terry.

The second wave included Stewart (Catty) and Stuart, Matt and Brian. Catty put in a strong swim and was second in the group all the way up to the first turn buoy where I lost sight of him, he was out of the water in 22.10 and soon had his pointy helmet on to set off on the bike.

The third wave included Paul, Rob, Kate, Barbara and Peter who came out of the water in that order.

The bike course was fast and flat, although the gale force conditions of May were not in evidence riders report that there was some wind out on the course (probably why they built the wind farm there)

Our riders all had uneventful bike legs, Stuart Busby putting in the fastest ATC split of 1:09.07, Rohan did feel that he had overdone it on the bike and looked a bit pained as he set out on the run. Brian had clearly had enough and decided to have a sit down at the bike dismount.

By this time the sun was out and runners were getting pretty hot, the race winner, Ben Ward (the Tri Life) finished in 1:57.11

A small but vocal crowd of ATC supporters had gathered in the finish area to see our guys back in Rohan was first back finishing in a really great 2:20.08, followed some five minutes later by Terry (2:25.15) and then Stuart third home for ATC although his finishing time of 2:22.43 puts him second in the ATC results (he started in the second wave).

All our starters made it to the end and looked suitably tired, Catty hobbled over the line having cramped towards then end of the run but still put in a pretty good 1:02 for the 10k.

Kate Austen Ladies Olympic Club Champ	Rohan Kumar Mens Olympic Club Champ

Results are up on the Stuweb site but here is an ATC summary

Swim bike run total

Rohan 20.14 1:09.47 45.51 2:20.08

Stuart 24.10 1:09.07 47.22 2:22.43

Terry 23.13 1:09.51 49.18 2:25.15

Paul 24:54 1:12.20 50.27 2:30.45

Rob 25.49 1:14.54 47.56 2:33.22

Kate 26.04 1:21.13 43.24 2:34.33

Brian 23.25 1:13.10 56.44 2:35.53

Matt 28.38 1:14.19 57.07 2:42.17

Stewart 22.20 1:15.30 62.07 2:42.23

Peter 27.51 1:27.06 51.22 2:50.24

Barbara 27.46 1:30.23 52.15 2:55.40

Fastest ATC Swim Rohan Kumar

Fastest ATC bike Stuart Busby

Fastest ATC run Kate Austen

Brian Holdstock has written a great report on his views of the race ...

What agreat race, I loved every minute of it (even when i fell off me bike) The Swim I was in the second wave of the swim, the water was lovely, the swimming was a bit slow to start with, i didn;t get my pace sorted until about half way round.
23mins 25sec "WOW" very happy with that considering i was expecting 30 mins :-)

T1, was 1 min 39 seconds very happy with that (i even put socks on wet feet in that time)

Bike; Prety uneventfull, over taken by the flying Busby within the first mile (i knew that would happen) then caught up with Catty, had a battle with him for a while, i over took him then him me then i found some energy from somewhere and overtook again, Battle done :-) the concrete road was a bit nasty round the back of the lake, then on to dismounting the bike "IN STYLE" in front of everyone i dismounted OK then started to run and ran strainght over my bike !!!! WHAT A PLONKER!!!!! There i lay on the floor with Navin taken the opertunity to take a few pictures.
Bike time 1hr 13mins

T2, 53 seconds "WOW" very happy with that :-)

Run; Not my best part of the trialthlon, feet still numb from the bike right up to 6km then they came to and i found a better pace.
About 1km to go and i could hear "BRIAN" "BRIAN" from about 300 yards behind me, it was Mr Barron catching me up,,,, ohh no, i tried to speed up but nothing left in the tanks, so as he is club captain an you have to respect your elders i let him pass me !!!!!
56mins 44secs for the run.

It was great to see so many of us racing, it created a realy good competative atmosphere and we had a laugh along the way.

A perfect day to be racing.

Report from Navin Nauth-Misir - Referee's thoughts ...

I refereed the Sevenoaks autumn triathlon last week and as usual it was a rather well-organised event. In the weeks leading up to the race I like to check out the bike and run courses. The bike route of 25Km is quite challenging with a very fast descent early on and a couple of climbs. The run course at 8km is long by sprint standards and takes you into the very scenic Knole park where you run amongst the resident deer population. This too is quite hilly with a killer last 100metres or so back up to the finish.

Driving up the M20 at 5am, it was pretty dark and by Junction 6 it had started raining, I started to think about all the usual problems of a wet race, not least of which would be the fact that I would get soaked standing around transition for several hours.

Luckily, by the time I arrived at the leisure centre, the rain had stopped, and in fact it didn't look like it had rained there at all. Preparations were already well underway, a small army of volunteers had set out transition and all the racking, the finish line inflatable was up, registration was ready and the pool was a hive of activity. I made contact with the race organiser and checked registration, transition and swim safety and prepared for the day. As the start time of 6:30 approached the sky was still pretty dark, the rain clouds were quite heavy and the street lighting was still on. I had to have the start delayed until the light improved as it wouldn't be safe to set people off on the roads without lights. About 15 minutes later the street lights went off and the sky had lightened up so the race was on.

This race has a great mixture of first-timers and seasoned triathletes and occasional celebrities (Jenson Button raced here last year) so my day was pretty busy checking that the fast guys were following the rules, and that the newcomers were having a safe race. One particular group of ladies managed 10 minute transitions from swim to bike and bike to run, got completely changed in transition, rode as a group, and stopped at the pub halfway round. However they got round safely, didn't get in the way of anyone else's race and will most likely be back next time when I'm sure they will be able to halve those transition times.

Amongst the 300 or so competitors were four of our clubmates;

Our treasurer Terry Foreman is now a seasoned vet at this race and continued his prolific season (he did Helvellyn only a couple of weeks before) finishing 53 rd in 1:38.37

Brian Holdstock returned to the site of his first ever tri in April of this year to see if he could improve and he got round in 1:53.13 taking about a minute off his previous result.

Hayley Empett managed to compete in spite of locking her keys and all her gear in her van. After an improvised entry via the window, her bike was disassembled and reassembled in time for the start. Haley completed in 1:52.20

Star of the day was Rebecca Parr completing her first triathlon in 2:35.03, in spite of feeling quite sick at the end of the swim Rebecca went on to post a 1:15 bike split and a 1:04 run in the hilly but scenic Knole Park.

Full results
Terry Foreman             swim 00:08:13   T1 00:01:23       bike 00:48:46     T2 00:01:02       run 00:39:10      total 01:38:37     53rd

Hayley Empett             swim 00:08:52   T1 00:01:43       bike 00:52:30     T2 00:01:13       run 00:47:59      total 01:52:20             164th

Brian Holdstock           swim 00:08:17   T1 00:01:30       bike 00:53:49     T2 00:00:53       run 00:48:42      total 01:53:13             173rd

Rebecca Parr                swim 00:10:32   T1 00:02:44       bike 01:15:59     T2 00:01:03       run 01:04:42      total 02:35:03             291st

Brian Holdstock put pen to paper with his report ...

Well done 7Oaks tri, another brilliantly organised sprint triathlon. Wouldn't it be good if all the tri's we do where as well organized, marshaled and refferee'd as this one (got you in there as well Navin, well done good to see you).
400 meter swim went well 8mins 17sec, although i had trouble with bumbing into another swimmer in the same lane, i tried to overtake him 3 times, twice he didn't have any choice but the third time he just blocked me (getting fed up with being lapped by a man in a pink swim hat, ohhh)nearly climbed up his back at one point. Note to self "GO FASTER NEXT TIME"

1 min 30 sec T1, well done me :-)

20K Bike, hilly (well for me it was) 53min 49sec, not bad, could have pushed harder, pretty uneventfull ride, just the way i like it. Note to self "RIDE FASTER NEXT TIME"

53 sec T2, Go on big boy, very happy with that :-)

Now the run !!!! 48min 42sec, not good considering all the hill training ive been doing :-( Very hilly, the first 3 miles up hill (well most of it) then 2 miles down, but by then your legs are to FFF tired to run any faster, although you feel like your sprinting down hill, stop kidding yourself YOUR ONLY JOGGING!!!
Note to self "RUN FASTER NEXT TIME"
The finnish,, WOW what a fantastic feeling, its all over, now all you want to know is how fast was i ??
OH that fast !!!
Never mind, i got an on the spot prize of a pair of Blue Seventy wet suit socks (i think they are anyway)

A Great day, Thanks to My Wife, Adrian Heathfield and Stewart Catt for there support.

A big well done to Becky on her first tri :-) Well done to Hayleigh and Terry (This must be Terry's 500th tri this year!!!what doe's he do when the season is over, i think he knitts)

WELL DONE VERYONE :-)

To Hell and Back - Hellvelyn Tri - 1k Swim, 38miles Bike, 9miles ish Run. 

Paul and myself made the long journey up to Cumbria for the delights of 12 o C, low cloud and rain, whilst the rest of you were basking in 23 o c back home. Having got up there on the Saturday and registered we thought it would be a good idea to go for a drive round and recce the bike course, particularly the notorious Kirkstone pass.

A fine view from the top of Helvellyn - 'A very tough race!'

The first part of the course looked ok, with one major climb over Matterdale pass, around 700 feet so not that different to White Hill. The next 20 mile was fairly good riding, mainly alongside Thirlmere as you head south to Ambleside. As we came into the town there was a mini roundabout with what appeared to be the side of a house with road markings on it – deep gulp, this was the start of the dreaded Kirkstone pass. Well we headed up for 3 miles of alternating steep climbs and cliff faces, in total 1300 feet of climbing– lots of those funny little black arrows on the map. The sting is in the tail, as you near the top you can see the junction with the A road ahead, when suddenly the road drops down before a final 100 foot climb – 1 in 4 – aahh – not having a triple on the front was looking to be a bit of a handicap. The route then hairpins down with lots of friendly stone walls before a final flat stretch back to Ullswater.
Race day dawned and although the wind was picking up the rain had held off. Water temperatures of 11 o C meant that the swim was shortened from 1500m to around 1000m. I was off in the first wave and boy was that water cold. After about 5 minutes you'd adjusted to it and the swim wasn't too bad. Transition was a bit of a nightmare – felt really dizzy and kept falling over – still managed to get out on the bike somehow.
I'd decided to take it steady on the first part of the bike and save my quads for the pass, but seemed to be keeping up reasonably well and temperatures in the valleys had picked up slightly (still only 14-15 o C). We finally rolled into Ambleside and the moment of truth. Well the initial climb from the mini roundabout went well and I was even passing people. I could see a guy in a Thames turbo top who'd passed me about 20 miles ago just ahead and concentrated on not letting the gap build. One last 1 in 5 part at the end of the main climb was tough but now a brief ½ mile respite before the final bit. Into bottom gear and concentrate on keeping the pedals turning over, cadence ridiculously low, zig zagging across the road, the crowds cheering you on, nearly stalled at one point, but keep going, finally you're there, the roads levelled out and you've beaten Kirkstone.

Now for the descent and you get some payback for all that climbing. A steep descent (plenty of double and single arrows) as the road winds down between stone walls, even in the dry takes some nerve. The braver/foolhardy are keeping off the brakes, cutting the corners and hoping there nothing coming the other way. I'm hard on the front brake trying to hold it at 30 when Kirkstone gets its revenge – pssshhhh – front flat – oh f*** - off the front brake try and scrub some speed off with the back brake, looking desperately for a patch of green where I can bail out before the tyre unhooks itself from the rim and spits me off. Finally the back brake start to bite and I manage to stop. Quick check of the tyre – nothing obvious wrong so on with the spare inner, trying to concentrate with half the field whizzing past me. Manage to get about 40psi in with the pump and decide that'll have to do, take off the pump and half the valve comes with it – oh shhhhh. Seems to be holding air so on with a dust cap, wheel back on and a cautious descent and return to transition.

Now for the easy bit. The clouds are rolling in on a stiff westerly but the hill tops seem clear and no rain yet. First a moderately uphill run from the lake side to the start of the climb. With one or two exceptions we're all walking this bit as you climb via a serious of giant steps up the trail (no doubt the fell runners at the front of the pack leapt gazelle like up this part), 1500 feet pretty much 1 in 1.

Terry Foreman heading up Helvellyn

You reach a plateau where you can start to run again as you head into the westerlies and the foot of Swirral Edge. Another stiff climb as the track gradually narrows with a near vertical drop on your left. The path finally gives up and your climbing up the rock face a 200m drop looming behind you – god help anyone who's had to do this in the rain. Finally you come out on to the top at 3000 odd feet and a wind screaming over the ridge trying to push you back into the valley – buts its broad and flat enough to start running again as you traverse the ridge to the North, round the head of Keppel cove and know its all downhill to the finish. A steep descent down into the head of the valley – most are running but eventually I have to slow to a walk, it's too steep for me. Finally the track flattens out enough and I can run again, retaking a few positions before a final flourish for the finish line. Just in time to grab the camera and see Paul finish with a top result  

Paul Barron heading to the finish at Helvellyn Tri

Nicki Barron, Christine Johnson & Matt Cross had entered the "Gruelling Pilgrims Way Trail Run, but come race day Matt had to pull out with injury, leaving the girls to go it alone!

It was billed as a 'seven and a bit mile - leave your stopwatch at home' type race. All those who had GPS measured it as 8.5miles and boy did it feel it!!

Great race put on by Vigo Rugby Club, which led runners down steep steps & flinty paths to the bottom of the Downs, back up to the top, down again, back up the long way - which broke even the fittest of runners, and to cap it all another down & a steady climb back to the finish.

The heat was definately on that day, the bottle of water at halfway was a welcome relief to both cool down & rehydrate.

After a brief spell as 1st lady, Nicki suffered a bit with lack of speed (too busy looking at the beautiful scenery!) to get overtaken by two whippersnappers and ending up as 3rd lady home and 23/183 starters. Christine was a short way behind but not bad for her first running race of the year!

This is a great race - a real tough trail run - great training race for anyone doing the tougher off road triathlons, duathlons or adventure races. Full details on the Vigo Rugby Club website.

Paul Barron's report from the Mid-Week Tri:

Only 10 minutes from my office in Maidstone so why not?

I arrived in good time. The sun was still warm, occasionally obscured by a few clouds.

The lake is in a great setting, surrounded by trees giving a Kentish, rural feeling... and so close to the motorway.

People began to arrive, mostly looking relaxed, perhaps some were regulars... it appeared that way.

There were a few spots of rain as we limbered up for the start and donned our wet suits.

We had a briefing, stepped into the water, then the heavens opened!

Swimming in the rain is fun, sighting was difficult ½ way around the 550m circuit as the rain bounced about 300mm high (that's a foot for the nostalgic readers).

We were assisted out of the lake by very helpful and wet marshals (big thanks).

I surprised myself how quickly I removed the wet suit... then shocked myself how slowly I put on my shoes!

Cycling in the rain made me a bit apprehensive however the traffic was keeping wide and going slowly around the roundabouts... so no problems. I used the tri bars I borrowed from Simon (thanks mate, I'm definitely putting some on my birthday list) and I raced a couple of other riders, this gave me a bit of a kick as we constantly exchanged places.

Transition two was slow! Wet shoes!

The run around the lake (twice) was flat and quick. I only managed to overtake one runner but extended my lead over the few behind me. A pleasant run around the lake; dog walkers, SCUBA divers, cyclists and joggers but all allowing us through (maybe the vast amount of runners in front had cleared the way?).

Paul Barron

LONDON TRIATHLON - BIGGEST TRI IN THE WORLD! Several of our club members were competing - new member Ian McNair was competing in his first race - read on to see how he did ...

1353rd place in my first London Triathlon out of 1513 competitors in the Sprint distance.  Am I disappointed?  No, not at all; my objectives were very specific and modest: 1) Just mange the swim. Rewind to November last year and I couldn't swim more than 50 metres non stop. 2) If I was alive after objective (1) then I wanted to finish in between 1h 45 mins and 2hrs. 3) No stopping (changing stroke or walking during the run) Fortunately, all objectives were completed and I'm very happy to have my first Triathlon under my belt now.   Swim 00:24:52
T1 00:07:00 (I have no idea what I was doing !)
Bike 00:50:12
T2. 00:04:25
Run. 00:24:57 (Amazingly I set a new PB, but that is probably because I wasn't trying hard enough on the swim and bike legs)

Total 01:51:24
The exact distances were:
Swim 750m
Bike 21km
Run 5.2km
The build up: I'm not sure exactly why or when I decided I wanted to try a Triathlon, but it has been something that has been eating away at me for a number of years.  In the end I was getting fed up of telling people I wanted to do one and then never actually delivering on the promise.  So, on 30th January this year, one day before the deadline, I signed up for the London Triathlon Sprint distance. There was one small issue to deal with from the start and that was the fact that I was not a strong swimmer and could not swim more than 50 metres non stop.  I had never been able to swim well and I had no idea what my technique should be or what was wrong with it at the time.  My Wife Sally and I had not yet moved to Kent full time, so I used a swim Coach at the gym near work.  I have to say that if it wasn't for the Coaching I wouldn't have been able to complete the swim and  I'm looking forward to attending the club swim sessions to see if I can 'shave' 10 mins off my 750m time. Although I was completely aware of it at the time, I had 'double booked' another challenge for May (The Welsh 3000's or the 15 Peaks as it is sometimes called) which messed around with my training schedule.  I injured my knee in April which didn't help with my training either.  Serious swim training started in April with bike and running training starting in late May. The Race: Given the build up I felt very calm waiting around even though I couldn't see any of my family that had made the trip up.  With two minutes before we went down to the water, while I was in the swim waiting area listening to the final briefing and pep talk, I saw my family which gave me an excellent boost. My tactics for the swim were to stay right at the back and wide to avoid the mayhem and to just plod along.  This worked a treat, but because all but six of the other swimmers were quicker than me I was on my own and had to rely on my sighting, which I had only practised once before.  I just tried to switch off and not panic about the fact I was in very deep water and a long way from dry land.  When I reached the turning point I just felt that I still had lots to do, but just kept going.  When I could see the ramp out off the water I knew I was going to make the swim without stopping, but there was no jubilation, just relief that I had made it. I made no attempt to make a quick transition, but just tried to get my head together as I was a little dizzy.  You have to get out of your wetsuit and put in in a bag before you re-enter the ExCel and climb a set of stairs.  I did all this at walking pace, and then jogged to the bike once inside.  I then put on my cycling/running gear (with some difficulty because I was wet) and made my way out to the cycle. I was quite surprised, but the cycle straight after the swim felt quite good.  The first lap passed without incident and I even managed to overtake a couple of people (one of them was cycling with a flat tire, but it still counts!).  During the second lap the heavens opens and it absolutely chucked it down with rain.  I was on my mountain bike, so I wasn't too worried, but I didn't want it to slow me down too much.  The main memory of the cycle is the gradual sensation of my cycling shoes filling with water. T2 was uneventful, just a quick change of shoes and I was off again.  I had a pedometer on my shoe, so I knew the pace I had to keep to achieve my goal of a sub 30 min run.  I had done all of my running traing on a treadmill, so when I was on the road I actually felt like I was running quite slowly even though my reported pace seemed faster.  I didn't trust the pace reading, so I sped up a bit which is why I think I achieved a personal best for a 5 km run. The feeling of running round the last corner to the finishing line and catching a glimse of my family just before I crossed the line was great.  I was just pleased and relieved I had made it. The London Triathlon: Being my first Triathlon I don't really have anything to make comparisons against, but all I can say is that for me the organisation was absolutely fantastic for what is marketed as the largest Triathlon in the world.  The transition area is vast, but the signage is just excellent.  I missed the race briefing, but after a quick chat with one of the marshalls I knew where I needed to be in terms of transition in's and out's. For those that don't know the London Triathlon is based around the ExCel centre in London's docklands.  Both transitions are inside the ExCel itself with the swim taking place in the Royal Victoria dock immediately outside, the cycle on the nearby roads and the run skirting the edge of the dock side. One aspect I didn't really cotton on to until the race map came through was that with anything less than Olympic distance, the sights are pretty dull on the cycle ride.  I just about saw Canary Wharf before turning round to complete the lap.  The Olympic distance offers many more of London's landmarks, St Pauls and the Houses of Parliament etc. Some of the other excellent side benefits of the London Triathlon are all the optional extra training days that you can sign up for.  Given I was doing this on my own I signed up for the first timer training day held at Dulwich College and the Open Water swim session.  Both were invaluable to me given I was not attached to the club at that point.  The Dulwich College event was great because I had Dan Salcedo coach my swim session (As many of you may know Dan was Team GB's Head Triathlon Coach at the Beijing Olympics)..  The Open Water session was great because it taught me three very important lessons: 1) put on your wetsuit properly, I wasn't leaving enough room around my shoulders and was getting very tired very quickly.  2) flush your wetsuit, as I was carrying round lots of water in my suit.  3) I was actually quite intimidated by open water swimming, so I had to stay calm and take my time. If I hadn't made the promise to Sally that I wouldn't spend any money on this event I would have spent far more time in the Triathlon Expo, also in the ExCel centre.  You could spend an absolute fortune on anything related to Triathlons, as well as all sorts of very technical analysis of your running style. All in all I'm really pleased I picked London as my first Triathlon and will definitely return next year to try the Olympic distance and take in some of the sights on the way.

Bohdan's report on the Olympic Distance Race:

This year I was just pleased to make the starting line as a number of injuries had disrupted training this year. I was not going to set a PB but as long as I got round without aggravating any injuries then that would be cause to celebrate.

On Sunday the weather was dry, cloudy and not too windy with a start time of 2.40pm I had some time to kill. While in transition setting up, watched the male elites come through transition. This year the transition layout had changed due to building work and would involve a very long run with the bike.

The swim went well and I was able to take advantage of the chap in front, though I suspect he was annoyed with me as every so often I would tickle his toes as visibility in the docks is never good. The crowds cheering through transition is always a good buzz and so onto the bike. The best bit of the Tower Bridge bike route is the section through the Limehouse tunnel as fast speeds can be achieved. This year only clocked 32mph, 5 slower than last year. Finally the run and my lack of fitness began to show, it was more of a mental battle to keep shuffling forward. The urge to stop and walk was great but eventually I was back into the Excel building for a second time. With the finish in sight a final muster of energy and a sprint for the line. Time 2:51:27 not bad, only 12 minutes slower than my time last year.

Will I do the event again next year? Yes, it may not be the most scenic course but the friendliness of fellow competitors, spectators, marshals, cheerleaders on the finish line and general buzz around the event, make for a great race.

A Challenge with a Difference - Christine's experience of a "Quadrathlon" ...  

Ok the challenge was set – my friend Geoff had challenged me to a quadrathon in the painteresque town of Bedford . The race was to be held at Box End water ski park and the distances were 750 swim, 4.4km Kayak, 16km Mountain bike & a 5km x country run. So how hard could it be??? We arrived on Saturday and set up camp with 5 doggies just to add to the fun – although the dogs camped in the car! Geoff had already hired the two kayaks – just hoped he hadn't picked one with a hole in for me!! They weren't exactly the sleekest kayaks I had seen, but at least they were stable.

Ok, so on with the race – we all set off at 9am on the Sunday morning and with the sun shining – the scene was set for a morning of racing. The 750 swim went well and I managed to exit the water 1st. Although my lead only lasted until I reached the water to launch my kayak, as putting my boat booties on & life jacket had eaten up valuable time (the pro's didn't wear life jackets or need booties!!!) Ok on with the kayak – managed to slide myself in without capsizing so that was positive – wow it looked along way down the lake & back twice & we had a portage to negotiate, which involved getting yourself & the kayak out of the water – dragging the boat across the land & back in – this time I managed to capsize!! Anyway I managed to lose quite a few places with the racing kayaks screaming past me!! And unfortunately lost 5 places to girls – so I know I had some work to do on the mountain bike. 37 mins later I exited the Kayak – now I was pumped up to gain some places back – 3 laps of a slog over rough grass & a steep slopes to negotiate suited me down to the ground – after 2 laps I had managed to claw back 4 girls & was 2 nd – the last lap I really pushed the limit and managed to pass the last girl (who later learned was Helen Parkinson 7 time Ballbuster winner) – unfortunately my lead was short lived as although I had a good 100m going into transition – the two shoe changes loss me time compared to Helen who had rode the bike in trainers – by the time I exited she had a 100m on me & with her running prowress – she would be very difficult to catch. Tracing the exact lap of the bike route – the run was tough and was very happy to see the finish 2hr & 3 mins later & took 2 nd place in the British Quadrathlon Sprint Championships. I had also beaten Geoff so had won our little challenge!!
All in all a great day and yes I will definitely be signing up for another quadrathlon – just got to get some practice in & sort the balance out so I can try out a super sleek kayak – they have got to be faster!!! Oh no another expensive purchase!!

Gavin Davis crowned Ironman at Ironman Switzerland ...

Well what happened to the last year then? 6 Months of base training followed by 6 months of careful build up – avoiding injury and trying not to burn out proved to be the perfect schedule for a “just get you round” your first Ironman race.  My target 14 hours.  Key objectives  - stay calm in the water and not blow up on the bike.

The start was a bit of a slow burn - I had been staying out of the crowds trying to relax and pretty much missed the start hooter. Notwithstanding the big punch up under the bridge at the half way point and the general confusion at each of the bouys my swim was fairly uneventful. Well as uneventful as a kick in the face can be as you try to navigate your way around a tight course with 2000+ other fairly competitive people!  Swim time 1:20:41 - T1 was slow (11:47) due to a flat tyre and a queue for the portaloos, heyho,  then onto the bike course to huge shouts from everywhere. Jumping onto my Kinetic One was a joy. It was comfy from the start and with my final tweak to the height of the arm rests (who said you shouldn't adjust your position the day before an Ironman) I knew that I was going to have a good ride. The route out was flat for the first hour or so and I had to really hold myself back as faster people were streaming past me. It would have been easy to try to keep up and then blow up on the second lap but many people had warned me of the fast first section so I just concentrated on eating and drinking and keeping up a reasonable training pace for the first bit. Off the flat and into the hills and it wasn't as bad as I had feared. Either the training helped or someone (Andy B perhaps) had been winding me up – I however that the training helped! Seeing my family out on the course was just magic – they had raced me out to Kushnac on the tram and were at one of the quieter points of the course. The grin factor intensified the more the day wore on.

Heartbreak Hill... Wow, Heartbreak Hill - I just laughed all the way up it both times. What an experience. That little climb will be a treasured memory. My own Tour de France moment – the crowd up close and personal and the noise of bells, whistles, shouts etc just awesome. I was chuffed with my bike performance (6:38:24) and ready for the run...

The plan had always been to run/yomp the marathon and it worked.  A relaxed T2 (6:51) and then out on the run.  As planned I ran/yomped my way round (starting at 8:2 ending at 2:1) the mara course eating and drinking anything I could reach on route! I noted afterwards that fatigue clearly has some wonderful drug-like delusionary qualities as I had been so chuffed that everyone seemed to know me – I had completely forgotten that my name was printed on my race number!

And, suddenly, it was over. Running down the finish shoot shaking hands and shouting. I had done it and felt on top of the world.

My immediate reflections were that I wanted more . Yes I could have gone harder and faster but I would not have enjoyed it. Keeping things in perspective, this was my first stab at the distance and I grinned and laughed my round the course. 24 hours earlier, as I lay wide awake in my sleeping bag, I wasn't entirely sure if I could actually pull this off - well I did  - I am an Ironman

Navin's report from the Forestman ...

Terry Foreman and I ventured down to the New Forest to compete in the Forestman Triathlon. This is a full distance tri advertised as 4k swim, 180k bike and 42.2k Terry had done it before and knew what to expect but this was to be my first experience of a ‘Race New Forest' event. The weather leading up to the day itself was becoming more unsettled and from about 4pm non Saturday it started to rain heavily. This continued all night and by 3am on Sunday when we had to get up for the race it was still going –  I was tempted to stay in bed.

This race has a split transition; swim and T1 about 5 miles from T2 and race HQ. This is always a challenge at any event, but more so for a full distance race, bikes had to be racked by the lake on Saturday afternoon with bike kit either left overnight or taken on Sunday morning, run kit had to be left at T1/race HQ and a bag for ‘street wear' was required to get any warm clothes that you wear before the swim back to race HQ for after the race. Plenty of opportunity to forget something or leave it in the wrong place.

At 4am Terry and I were on the bus down to the lake, after a few final checks the race was started at 5.30. The rain had gone, the sky was blue and the sun was out!

There was a single wave mass start but as the field was only 120 or so it was not the kind of chaos seen at the official Ironman events. I got an elbow in the eye early on but found clear water and managed a steady swim for the three laps of the lake. Terry was out in 1:16.45 and I followed in 1:28.45.

The bike course was three 60 k laps in the New Forest, the roads were still very wet from the overnight rain and there was plenty of fresh flint and gravel with a high probability of punctures, I saw a few, but thankfully had none myself. Other hazards to be encountered were numerous cattle grids, which are ok in the dry, but pretty scary in the wet and even more hazardous if you don't approach them straight, and the local resident wildlife. I had been warned, by Terry and at the race briefing, but I still wasn't fully prepared for the horses and cows nonchalantly looking at you then stepping out onto the road and stopping. Your big decision is to pass in front or behind; in front you risk them carrying on to unseat you, behind you risk a swift kick. The bike course itself had been presented as challenging but having not ridden it before I hadn't made up my mind. First lap don't know what the fuss is about, second lap ok giving it some respect, third lap these hills are hard and when will it be over? It had also got windy by the time I was heading back to T2 so my verdict definitely challenging and a worthy IM bike course. Terry got round in 6:38.52 compared with my 7:49.48.

T2 was uneventful and a quick change of socks and shoes saw me out onto the run. Terry was an hour ahead of me but as it was a lapped run I knew I'd be seeing him somewhere on the course. The sun was out good and proper by now and I could already feel the back of my neck burning so I used the extremely handy Sevenoaks Tri Buff Legionnaire style to try to avoid the worst effects of the sun.

The run course is brutal, I knew it was lumpy but it was positively hilly, after about 3 miles from T2 you join a lap of about 6.6 miles in the middle, there are aid stations at each end either at the bottom of or on the top of a hill. The loop is done three times, picking up a coloured wrist band at the far end, once you had a red, white and blue band (issued in that order) you could leave the loop and head back to the finish.

As I set off on the first loop I met Terry coming the other way and he already had a red band, this meant he was already a lap and half ahead of me, no wonder he looked so pleased with himself. We exchanged pleasantries a couple more times on subsequent laps until he was gone and off to the finish, run time 5:14.26 for an overall time of 13:15.17

I noticed that there were fewer and fewer people on the run by now and as I set off on my final loop it occurred to me that I could well be last. This was confirmed at the aid station but they did mention that the guy ahead wasn't running and didn't look too good. I picked up the pace and ran the next couple of miles and caught him with 7 miles to go. He suggested we jog together for the rest of the race so we did, the organisers kept the aid stations open until we passed by and were expecting us both at the finish. At 500m to go he suddenly found some pace and was gone, I was the last finisher in 15:56.33. But to put it in perspective I was 96 th finisher. I wasn't a DNS or a DNF and there were quite a few of those.

So I've got sore legs, burnt neck, comedy tri-suit tan lines ready for my holiday, T-shirt, mug, Medal, lanterne-rouge status, was it worth it? Of course it was, when's the next one?

Christine's report from Endurancelife Adventure Race ...

When I signed up for this back in April – it was with slight apprehension to say the least. Knowing I would be racing in a pair with Nicki & with the chance of up to 5 hrs racing with 2hrs running – seemed a bit scary with no more than 30 running mins in my legs. Ok so what is an adventure race – well this race was supposed to be Sea Kayaking, Coasteering, Trail running and Mountain biking in any particular order in fact you don't actually find out until the day so certainly an element of surprise!! We signed up the Raid 5, which means you have 5 hrs to collect as many check points as possible with a maximum of 24 available. With these being over quite a large area you need to decide on your race format is as there are points on offer on the Bike and Kayak & obviously depending on your ability in each discipline ones needs to decide which discipline to concentrate on first. You have 5 minutes to check your map before you set off on your quest. Due to being a windy day the Kayaking was unfortunately cancelled which was a real shame & the coasteering was not within the format for this race so just left us mountain biking & running. On checking the route it looked like quite a lot of road travel & hills so being that my running was going to be weak & my bike hill climbing strong – we opted for the Mountain biking first to gain as many points as possible.

Nicki was spot on with her map reading – I must admit I just followed although I did spot a few check points. J 3hrs 30 minutes later and a little sun burnt for our efforts we made it back to transition with 9 of the 12 available check points – which we are happy with. That just left slightly less than 90 mins for the run section – after collecting the first check point quite quickly, we couldn't find the next one for life or money without scaling down a 100 ft cliff so strangely decided against.!! We ran a little further up and down the hills – clicked another check point with the help of a couple of 8 hour competitors & then decided we better head for home & not risk the chance of being being penalised points.

We reached the finish line with time to spare & collected 290 points in the process & took 1 st Female prize in the process which was a bonus (nice gold medal each!!), more importantly 4 th overall in the 5hr event.

So next one 13 th September – this time the 8hrs event so will definitely need to get a few 2 hr runs in for preparation to keep up with Nicki!!

All in all a great day out! If you fancy giving it a try – details of the next event are on http://www.endurancelife.com Enter as an individual, team of 2 or team of 3 – it would be great to see some other ATCers there!

Three ATCers raced at the White Oak Triathlon on Sunday 12 July - Rob Goodwin, Adrian Heathfield & Brian Holdstock. Here is Adrian's report:

The day started with Brian picking me up at 06:15 outside my house on yet another very rainy Sunday morning, it just doesn't sound right 06:15 on a Sunday morning but at least the roads were clear and we was both looking forward to the event. We arrived at about 07:00, plenty of time to sign in this time after the events of my last tri I was a little relieved, Brian was starting at 08:05 and I was not till 08:45. We spotted Rob outside the pool and was all chatting about the strange length of the pool as it was a 30 Metre pool, I think the longer the pool the better as you seem to get a better rhythm going.It made a change as well to be able to warm up in the water as you could use the diving area, it was only 15 metres or so across but we all made the most of it and I spent a good 20 minutes warming up. Rob was first to go, then Brian and then finally me, I felt Strong on the swim and was very relaxed, I got out of the pool feeling like the lungs were still in my chest rather than at the bottom of the pool for a change.

T1 went well with just the one number to put on this time, I was more organised with the number already on my belt and everything layed out ready. The Marshaling or maybe the signs on the bike course left a little bit of improvement as straight away I went past the first turn off and it was only a man doing his garden about 200metres past the turning that shouted "the bikes are turning off back that way mate" thanks to that man! I also did a couple of laps of a roundabout as the Marshall shouted some directions for the next turning which I didn't get first time. The course had long hills but wouldn't say they where steep, I think the Ashford Tri Sunday morning sessions around the downs put most of us in good stead for any hill work though. There was allot of riding on dual carriage ways that had some long gradual assents but also some long descents which meant allot of speed which is always good and allot of fun!

T2 also went well and I was off on the run, the run was around a park with a boat lake and although it was off road it was still quit smooth, you had to go up and down some very sharp but short hills which was a real shock on the first lap and didn't feel great! The 2nd lap was brilliant though, I was feeling Strong and on the 3rd and final lap I was feeling stronger with every stride.

The swim in the 30 metre pool was brilliant and with an area to warm up gets the thumbs up! Bike was a bit of a slog with very long open roads. The run I've got to say was fun around the park and very scenic through little woodland areas then back onto the grass. We all had a good morning with me doing my first sprint event, Rob putting in a very impressive time and Brian knocking 11 minutes of his last sprint tri time.

                       swim         bike            run             Total
Rob                09:11         49:25         34:21         1:35:42
Adrian           08:11         49:15         39:26         1:40:23
Brian             08:22         51:19         40:25         1:43:34

Nicki Barron was competing in the 2nd in the series of Ace AdventureRaces at Swinley Forest, Nr Bracknell on Saturday - here is her report:

Having signed up for the series of 3 races in the Ace Race Series, this was the 2nd race and I was really not looking forward to it for two reasons - No 1 my training has not been going to plan - too many rest & recovery days! and No 2, I always get very lost in forests! As this is basically a navigation event - things did not look good from the start!

The race is a 5 hour format - and within that time you have to visit designated checkpoints, firstly on the run, then mountain bike, then run, then mountain bike! Oh and at some stage visit 5 other checkpoints to partake in a variety of mystery challenges, which included a blindfolded ropes course, and a mental challenge which involved slaloming your mountain bike without actually touching the bike (had me foxed for a few minutes)!!

The first run and bike went ok, but lack of brick sessions, meant I really suffered on the second run especially on the rather steep hills - just plain cruel! Back on the bike for the second time, I felt strong again, but not fast enough to take 1st female place - just pipped by another girl into 2nd place - but there is always next time - Hampshire for the last race in the series next month - Nicki.

Katy Styles was competing in her first ever triathlon at Dorney Lakes - here is her report:

Two days before the race I was emailed to say that wetsuits were banned for the weekends races. This was the first time in 18 years wetsuits had been banned. Great I thought, my transition time for T1 would be a breeze. But then like all girls, I started to panic about what I should wear. Luckily several emails later I had some top tips.

I was entered into the novice distance race – 200m swim, 5 km cycle and 2.5 km run. There was a great atmosphere as we arrived at Dorney. It may have been a Womens Triathlon but there were a lot of blokes pushing their partner's bikes to registration. I felt like a real athlete when I had my race number and especially as I received my timing chip!

Thanks to the practice swim sessions with Nicki and Christine I was prepared for the ruck at the start and started at the back. I wasn't prepared for the big bits of weed I kept snagging. I swam in 0.05.00 which was better than my swim time in the pool. T1 was quick because of the wetsuit ban. The cycling was fun and I started to enjoy myself half way round, the sun was beating down and I was getting to see some great bikes as they sped past me. We cycled one circuit of the Olympic rowing course then only T2 and the run to go.

I remembered not to take my helmet off until after I had racked my bike (thanks Navin) and ran out of T2, knowing I only had 2.5 kms to run. We had to run up one side of the rowing lake and back. It wasn't quick, it wasn't pretty but I did it and didn't stop.

Going through the finish line was better than I could ever have imagined. I finished in 0.40.05. I can finally call myself a triathlete; one that paddles, pushes and plods rather than one that swims, cycles and runs!

Once I had finished my event there was time to see another Ashford tri girl, Sally Aspital in her first sprint triathlon. She did a great time of 1:25:34.

Darren Schlosser's report from Steelman Olympic Distance Tri ...

Distance:
1500m Open water swim
40.8 Km Bike
10.2 Km Run

After the previous weeks extremely hot weather it was nice to arrive at Dorney Lakes with the temperature more normal to the time of year !
Arrived at registration to find that wetsuits had been banned due to the water being a barmy 23.3 0c - lovely, but an open water swim without a wetsuit - you could tell there was an air of concern in the transition.
So I was in the first wave (35 - 39 age group) at 10am. Into the water we went and after the initial shock of being in there it was very warm and we all commented on how hot it would have been in a wetsuit !
The swim was a 2 lap affair which was pleasantly nice in warm water and completed it in 38 mins 41 secs.

A fast transition as no wetsuit to take off and onto the bike which was 8 laps round the lake - there was a little wind but other than that the conditions were perfect - them main point was concentrating on how many laps I'd done.
The crowds were fantastic and the atmosphere was getting better with each lap I completed and the weather was getting warmer - it was now touching 26 0c.
Finished the bike section in 1hour 19 mins 45 secs.

Off the bike and to the run which was a 4 lap out and back route along the lakeside. The temperature had definalety risen by now but the atmosphere was just great with huge crowds along with a great feeling among the competitors as we passed each other on the route.

Not quiet a sprint finish but i managed 49 mins 18 secs on the run to finish with a time of 2 hours 50 mins 48 secs.

I was very happy to see my family at the end - nearly as much as I enjoyed seeing the Marshall who was spraying us all down with a hose !!

Andy Barwise's report from Austria Ironman ...

Well I was hoping that 4 th time round I would have learnt all I needed to know. A quick summary on a tough day in Austria . As always the location is absolutely fantastic a great lake and breathtaking mountains, in the days before I had plenty of time to swim and cycle the course to remember what the hills are like.

7:00 on the day of the race. Having worked hard at all the swim sessions decided this was the year to go in with the big boys and girls in the sub 1:10 swim group.- first big mistake, it was more like a rugby match for the start, bruised battered, choking and minus my timing chip that was pulled off my leg by some not so kind competitor (I met someone else who had the same thing happen which is really not part of the sport)

Once recovered worked hard and put in a respectable 1:07 swim (by my- watch as no chip) had a good transition and was out on the bike in a now very warm morning with temperatures getting upto 33 degrees. On the first lap I had all my nutrition on my bike and took on all the fluids I could at the aid stations. Finished the first lap with average speed of 33.8km per hour all bang on schedule. At the start of the 2 nd lap that's where you pick up your special needs bag, where I had put all my nutrition for the 2 nd lap at this point I realised that with no timing chip they don't know you are round the turn around and no one is there waiting bag in hand. I stopped and yelled my number at a poor harassed volunteer (sorry) and after a few minutes of searching could not find it immediately, panicking on time I mistakenly set off thinking I would manage. With hindsight I should have stayed and found it even if it had taken 10 mins, but was too transfixed on my average speed decreasing and had in my mind this could not go below 33. On the big hills on the 2 nd lap (those who have done it know what I mean) I was starting to struggle with little left in the tank. Coming into T2 after a 5hrs 46 for the bike, (again from my computer not chip) I was 25mins down on what I expected.

Now just a marathon left. The heat continued to climb and the first 10k is in direct sun by the lake with little shade. I was suffering now from lack of nutrition and heat. I tried to eat the energy bars and drinks at aid stations but they did not stay down for long. After about 19k, I confess I at on a bench and felt about as low as I have in a race and accepted that was it, this was going to be my first DNF. I walked the next kilometre back to the turn around for the 2 nd lap and was met by my wife, kids and father and somehow knew that after all the months of training I could not let them down. I am not sure where I found the energy as I had been convinced the race was finished for me and had been sick at least eight times and I was walking back to the start. However, I somehow in a Forest Gump style managed to start running and did not stop, putting in a quicker 2 nd half than the first. I finally finished in 11:57 (in hindsight not a bad time). I think the photo says it all, could not raise my arms and was on the deck about 2 seconds after this picture and carried off. The health crew and assistance did a sterling job and in the heat, there was no end of helicopters, ambulances and a full first aid tent. In fact I felt positively good after seeing many others in a much worse state than me. The heat had really taken its toll.

Well will I do it again, a hydrated and rested Ironman I was back in the queue at 9:00 the following morning and got next years place and also reserved one for Navin. So lessons learnt, really don't rely on anyone else, next year I wont worry about the weight of a 180k's worth of food on the bike and try and stash half with special needs, it will all be on my bike. – and I will make sure I am in the gentle half of the swim!!

Jim Hawkin's experience of a Tough Day in the Lakes ...

They say that Football is a game of two halves well Triathlon is a game of three halves!!!

“A day in the lakes” is a middle distance tri held in and around Ullswater in the Lake district .  It is surrounded by Fells and Mountains. Beautiful setting, Brutal course.

Unusually in the Lake District the day dawned clear with the promise of warm weather.

08:10 race briefing – on a “normal” course a 5 minute affair. In the Mountains 25 mins.

Swim – At 08:40 it started. I was in the third wave of three. It was the usual maul all the way to the first bouy. After that clearish water. My goal was to catch the back markers on the second wave. Mission accomplished halfway round. Things were looking good. In fact I was 5th out of the lake in my wave with a time of 38 mins.

A longish jog into T1 was marred by me dropping me goggles early. Then only realising at the edge of Transition, so I had to jog back to pick them up!

T1 was my usual tea and cakes affair far too nice a day to rush.

Bike – Head was right, lungs felt good and legs felt good. My plan here was a steady 56 miles. After a flatish 14 miles we came to Base camp Kirkstone. Then a steep ascent to the top of the Kirkstone pass. At which point someone turned the temperature up. Once crested it was a fast long descent into Troutbeck/Windermere. Huge grin factor. Until you realise you're in the wrong gear and at the base of the next climb your bike deploys an invisible drag shute!

The base of the next climb being the long uninspiring drag up Shap Fell. This is the climb Nicki warned me about. For Nicki to warn you it must have bad. However top crested it was the long and picturesque drop back to Ullswater once off the A6. Coasted into T2 with a bike time of 3h 52m. Overall for me a pleasing bike leg with some good humoured camaraderie and banter a plenty.

T2 this one was relatively quick, in and out in under 2 mins. Motoring!

Run – This is where it went pear shaped! Not a good day at the office. My strategy was to average a 10 min mile slog through the hills. However this was a warts n all full bore 13 mile Fell run. First mile was good. Feeling strong. First hill bad. Legs gave up. The rest was a mixture of struggle up and waddle down to get me round. With a memorable moment of falling off a Fell!!

Run time 3h 32m. Oh and the air temp was 26 deg at this stage in the proceedings.

Overall 8h 6m and some seconds.  

In short –  Swim = Ecstatic

                Bike = Pleased

                Run = Bugged

See it's a game of 3 halves . . . . . . . .

Adrian Heathfield's race report on his first ever triathlon:

I had asked my brother to drive me up which it turned out was a blessing, for me anyway as the M26, part of the M25 was closed due to an accident and it took us 4 hours to get to Reading. We got to the triathlon car park with just 20 minutes until my allotted race start so we got the bike off and I ran as fast as I could with my bag and bike across fields and through hedges. I arrived at sign in with just 5 minutes to spare, dumped my bike in T1, my trainers in T2 which happened to be on the other side of the building, with in a minute of running through the doors into the swimming pool I had started the swim section! Considering the frantic start I felt Strong on the swim, the Tuesday swim sessions with Christine and Nickey paying off. Knowing it was only 200m I really pushed the pace on the last 4 laps, it was 2 lengths in each lane so even I couldn't loose count. T1 was probably amusing for anyone watching me as I spent more time there than I did in the pool as I took 3 attempts at putting my numbers on and nearly took my bike before putting on my helmet. I made up time once on the bike though, the bike course was loads of fun, there wasn't really any flat parts you was either pumping the legs going up winding hills or going like a rocket down them and all through the country. I arrived at T2 after a long steep climb with my thighs burning to finish the cycle section and without the number issue to worry about put my bike in the rack, took my helmet off, put my trainers on and started on the run. The run was two laps around a big school field and was okay but think would be a bit boring to do another 2 laps if you was doing the sprint event. I was really pleased to finish in 7Th place especially after spending so long in T1, most importantly my leg held up to another lot of abuse, poor leg, I keep forgetting the frame only came off 4 months ago after being on for 3 1/2 years. The event was well organised and there where lots of marshells to direct you on the very scenic bike rout and would recommend it to anyone.

Sunday 14th saw  three  ATC'ers  up bright and early for the swim in the Thames for the Windsor Olympic distance Tri,  Andy Barwise, Terry Crittenden  and Graham  Samuals  put in a good showing for the veterans of the  club -  come on you youngsters.  The race started  with many waves  at 6:00  in the morning with a  swim upstream in a very murky Thames ,   it really  was  a case of  not seeing your hands in the water.  Christine's  mass swims  starts  and the roughness  of these rand  true with Graham who exited  the swim with a very swollen lip having been kicked in the face  at the start .  This was followed  by a long run into transition and a  40km  ride  through a  predominantly flat  but undulating countryside around Windsor .  Its a great fast cycle route and a chance to put on a good  turn of speed on some of the long straight sections. The run is a three lap  affair  with a  steep uphill  section  up to the castle on each lap  that certainly gets the  legs pumping.  The crowds  are amazing on such a large event  with both sides of  the final 100m of the run are lined  with people cheering and I would certainly recommend  this race to anyone who fancies  entering one of the big  races  next year.

As always with this race, the organisation for the 2000  entrants is  amazing and the race runs like clockwork,  with an opportunity to mix  with  the sports  elites  who all do the same course, if  just a little quicker.   Photo of the Ashford  Tri crew finishing, I just wish I had  borrowed  Sarcosi's box  to stand on  for the photo!!

Andy  2:34:44

Terry  2:42:10

Graham  2:52:59

Andy

Terry Foreman's report:

Whilst most of the club were supporting the 3 lakes 5k run, I decided that the competition looked too strong and so headed off to the depths of East Anglia to fly the club colours.

A chill but dry Saturday afternoon saw around 150 line up for the super sprint race (400m open water, 20k bike, 3k run). Transition was an eclectic collection of 2 wheeled weaponry, everything from mountain bikes and vintage Rayleigh road bikes to carbon fibre monocoque exotica that would have looked more at home in the velodrome. I was in the second wave in the reasonably warm waters of the lake and all those Tuesday night swim sessions must be paying off (cheers Chris) as I dragged myself out of the water in 7:01 (7:17 by the time I crossed the mat into transition).

The usual struggle with the wetsuit meant a lengthy T1 followed by a longish run to the mount line. A strong gusty wind was hard work on a bike course that was as flat as you could wish for and a real joy to ride (not a pot hole in sight). Back to transition and a quicker change into run shoes for a pleasant 3k round the country park (just pipped at the end by a guy with a better sprint finish – aaahhh) to end in 59:04 and 20 th overall which I was well chuffed with.

Fritton Lake – part 2!

After a reasonable night's camping it was up at first light to get ready for the Olympic distance race – 1.5k, 40k, 10k XC (well having come all this way it seemed a shame not to!), but would the legs last out. The forecast heavy rain held off and conditions were similar to Saturday. A slightly smaller field of 130 split into 3 waves again saw me in the second wave and again a good swim split exiting the water in just over 27min. An even more protracted wrestling match with the black octopus aka wetsuit at least saw me fired up for the bike. I'd met one of Ian Port 's old sparring partners the previous evening and he overtook me in transition. As he'd told me he used to catch Porty on the run I knew I had my work cut out and it was time to put the hammer down (club honour and all that). Having nipped back past him at the start of the bike I had 2 laps to try a build a lead. I was fairly pleased with the bike leg, averaging about 20mph and still on target for a good finish. The run was a combination of fields, forest paths and tracks as you circuit the lake. A drier winter meant this wasn't the muddy quagmire I had last year (and no lost shoe in the swamp of despair), just heavily rutted tracks and knee high marsh grass. A reasonably solid run saw me finish further down the field in 49 th with a 2:27 – still a minute better than last year so I was very happy.

The event was really well organised with great routes whether you're dipping your toe in the water with a super sprint or going longer with the Olympic. For those that worry about such things – goody bag includes a t shirt and the usual odd collection of giveaways (i pod carry case and tanning cream – I think Andy B must have had a word!).

Paul Barron's report from the race:

Six of us met early so we could use the Event as a Brick Session (a seventh member was late for the brick session subsequently arriving late for the run… but that's another story!) and so the day began.

The planned route was north but adverse weather directed us south to avoid heavy rain before mid-day. We all had outer clothing on, wind and rain jackets etc, but these were soon discarded as the morning warmed up. The route took us along the bottom of the North Downs and we soon encountered puncture no.1.

As we went coast-bound, just beyond J11 of the M20 we came across puncture no.2 in the shape of a tiny piece of flint, and rolled down hill into Saltwood. With these delays we decided to return to Ashford via the most direct way, the picturesque, scenic and rolling hills of the A20!!!!!

We arrived back at base, JRS, and teamed up with another seven team members for a, now routine, team photo. However the seventh rider had not yet appeared so will be conspicuous by absence on the aforementioned team photo!

We were all buzzing when Kate started the race (of course the seventh cyclist didn't hear it from about 2 mile away). A bright and breezy day soon turned warm as we ran behind a screen of trees that sheltered us from the light wind. The route was around the track and through the quarry but bumpy between 1k-2k. Mid-way through we leapt the stile with style… ran by a few anglers (mostly dressed in camouflage gear so we couldn't really tell how many they numbered) finishing hot and dehydrated, to a very welcome drink, water melon and commemorative fairy cakes (is there a hidden message there). The seventh cyclist finishing with focus on the tape and to the applause of team members… who'd mostly finished some time before!

Well done all runners, and a big ‘thank you' to Kate and the organisers, including Damien as ‘lead cyclist' on the race.

ATC Results:
5         0:18:19 HEATHFIELD, Philip
10       0:19:59 STUBBS, Adam
15      0:20:24 BERTRAND, Patrice
25       0:21:03 BARWISE, Andy
33      0:21:42 BUSBY, Stuart
35      0:22:00 BARRON, Paul
39      0:22:47 CRITTENDEN, Terry
48      0:23:25 BOOTH, Phillip
56      0:24:22 RAINCZUK, Bohdan
68      0:26:35 HEATHFIELD, Adrian
86      0:29:09 NAUTH-MISIR, Navin
96      0:30:14 MARTYN, Barry
97      0:30:14 MARTYN, Clare
140    0:35:20 CROSS, Matthew
141    0:36:07 STYLES, Katie

This year Ashford Tri Club chose the East Grinstead Triathlon to host their club ‘sprint' Championships.

Fifteen individual athletes and a team of three in the relay event competed in an undulating course, on a windswept and rainy day in East Grinstead .

Following a 500m indoor swim, the competitors took to their bikes racing 26 kilometres around the roads of East Sussex before running a 5 kilometre distance in the final leg of the race.

The club entered some experienced and some novice athletes, all competed at the same level. Starting in three separate waves the Ashford competitors were never far from other team mates, spurring each other on and applauding at the finish line.

The Team Relay event was won by Ashford Tri Club Team:


Left to Right - Patrice, The Mayor, Phil, Adrian

Adrian Heathfield (swim)

Phil Heathfield (cycle)

Patrice Bertrand (run)

Men's captain, Paul Barron said:

“The hills were challenging, especially as the elements were against us. The weather forecast had been promising but the severe cross winds and heavy showers made for a tougher than expected race. It was a proud day for Ashford Tri Club, having so many people in one event… for some it was the first ever triathlon. We were particularly delighted as our novice team, Adrian, Phil and Patrice won the overall team relay".

FULL RESULTS ON EG WEBSITE

Jim, Terry, Navin	Brian, Jim, Jo

Brian's report on the MarshMan:
The swim;
I was in the third wave of the swim going off at 07.35, had great
swim (after bumping into Jim Hawkins) sorry jim, 36 mins 02 seconds
well please with that. Great to see my wife and mum when i got out
of the water, although a bit wobbly, oh and nice to see Damian and
Stuart cheering us on and taking pic's (i was not looking my best
coming out of the water,, very wobbly legs.

The bike; 3hrs 10 mins 14 sec
(time to hunt down Terry and Navin) Navin went off on the first
swim wave and Terry on the second.
Had a fantastic first 21 miles in one hour, Thanks to Damian and
Stuart again for driving next to me and giving loads of support
(could not hear everything they where saying, still had water in my
ears from the swim)great to see them both.
The hills were not to bad, the wind was horrible, at one point i
was down to 14 mph and really struggling, then the rain, it nearly
cut you in two, that hurt, if it was going to get any worse i was
going to hide in a bus shelter somewhere, but the sun came out
agian, yipppeeee, oh how we sang when the sun came back out !!!!!
Oh by the way i caught Navin at 34 miles on the down hills after he
stopped for a personal break!!!!
Now where's Terry (as if i stood a chance catching him) every blue
suit was a target and there were to many of them.

The run; 2hrs 14 mins
Well i had blocks of ice on the end of my legs for 6 miles, would
they come to, ohh no, when they did i had a mad rush and thought
ohhhh lets sprint (like i do in circuits!!) that lasted for about 2
miles then leg cramps, lack of water (every water station i was
having 3 or 4 cups, how gready was that!!) plus a good excuse to
rest!! what about the 4 styles we had to go over, my legs had
enough trouble running (if you can call it that) now ive got to
lift them up !! over 4 stiles, (saw the horse in the last field and
thought, there is another way to finish in style, bare back) will
have to look at the rules on that one.
The last 5 miles nearly killed me, but like all men i was the hero
and on i went, in pain, smiling and singing to myself (X Factor
here i come) i was so glad to see the finish line, then it was all
over.
NEVER AGAIN, sprints and oli's only from now on.
The whole experiece with Velocity events;
I was not very impressed.After 7oaks sprint tri in april i thought
they all run the same races, sadly not.
Not enough room in transition (my end) #1 to 16 was pretty cramped.
Not enough signs around transition, did not know where to go when
running back in, or bike in.
The finish line was just a timing mat, no big inflatable arch or
anything like that, oh there was a finish sign, about 20 yards
behind the line!!
The Marshals out on the course where as ever very good, encouraging
and had some banter.
The marshals on the bikes gave me a really smug look as i was biking
up the steepist hill as if to say look at me its easy,,, NO it
wasn't, i haven't got an engine.

Brian Holdstock

Ive had 3 glasses of red wine while writing this!!!
FULL RESULTS ON STU WEBS RESULT WEB SITE

With some trepidation I walked to Ashford Int'l train Station to get the 07:23 train. After arriving at London Bridge at 09:07 to a sea of people all with the same worried expression as myself. Thankfully, Southeastern trains put on extra to cope with the amount of passengers? I arrived at Maze Hill Station to the masses of fellow competitors. Walking from the station to the start was unfortunately ¾ mile up-hill? Good warm-up on a beautiful sunny morning.

Found the Runners World 9min mile pacer luckily he was in my starting pen 5. The banter was light and jovial but with the under lying fear of what lay ahead of us. The gun was fired for the start at 09:45 but being in Red start, pen 5 I crossed the start at 09:51. It is really deceptive as the first 4miles are down-hill. Think that's were a lots of runners go off to fast as it seems so easy? I kept to my race plan by starting with a comfortable 09:25 mile followed by subsequent 08:04, 08:05, 07:48. By mile 5 it was back to 08:13 min miles. I lost the RW pacer as had to use a bush on the heath?! So, I was playing what I thought was catch-up.

The crowds all the way along the course are absolutely fabulous. Received an excellent tip from the RW magazine which was to keep hydrated. Also to put your name on the top you are wearing. The encouragement got me around the 26.2mile course. Could've also been the training I did around Wye with ATC Club members. The weather was very warm so took on Water and sports drinks at every water station for the first half of the race. Passed over Tower Bridge 13.1miles, half way in 1:51. Not a Half-marathon pb. But had the same to go again?

It was lovely running around the Isle of Dogs/ Canary Wharf as it afforded for some much needed shade.

Jim Hawkins offered me some invaluable advice when I had some doubts before the event. He informed me that the crowds would get me around the course. Which was very true?! Think with all the training that you put in does make a difference. Wasn't until after the 16th mile that the heat finally took it's toll? When I started to register +9min miles. Once, you are over half way there isn't much you can do apart from dig deep and hold form to not use excessive energy?

After turning the corner with Big Ben in front of me, it was through Parliament Square and on-wards. There was a notice board with the countdown to the finish. Wasn't until I saw and ran under the 385yard to finish that it finally clicked that I had completed the last Flora London Marathon?

Have a Marathon personal best of 4:11:47 William Whittington

Well done to the 5 ATCers who raced at Sevenoakes Spring Sprint Tri - race report from Paul:


“Weather is forecast to be sunny and Knole Park is looking stunning” (7Oaks Tri Club site: day of the race). Well Knole Park was quite nice and the weather was stunningly cold; so, partially correct then! For Ashford Tri Club it was another day to be proud of:

• Navin was present in his official role of Race Marshal. He offered us a few words of advice, from the wealth of experience he has gathered as a tri-athlete and race official… wishing us all well and making us all feel pretty good about ourselves, “Thanks Navin”.
• Then, just before the race start, along came Graham to support us… throughout… he was there at the pool-side and at the finishing line, “Thanks Graham”.

It is so important to participants to see the familiar faces of friends, family and club mates, helping to remove any pre-race anxiety/uncertainty and cheer us on along the way.

Congratulations to Terry Foreman, leading the team home, finishing with a very comfortable run and (as usual) a smile and some cheerful/encouraging words.

Bohdan, Brian, Jim and Paul all completing the race and successfully representing Ashford Tri on this cold day in April.

-Most of us didn't see each other after lining up pool-side, although Brian and Jim cycled and ran side by side discussing their tactics along the way!

-The cycle was undulating, and a bit bumpy in places, nevertheless an interesting, and taxing rural route.

-The run enabled us all to pass each other (as the route doubled back on itself), allowing us to cheer-on each other, and help motivate each other to ‘dig deep' and push on to the end.

Particularly “well done” to Brian who completed his first triathlon.

Terry Foreman 1:44.20
Paul Barron 1:49.39
Jim Hawkins 1:53.22
Brian Holdstock 1:54.20
Bohdan Rainczuk 1:54.39

Report from Catty:
Catty and Hayeligh did their first race of the season at the Thames Turbo Race 1 in Hampton.  We both went up on the Sunday evening for a bit of pasta loading and re-familiarisation with the bike course.  Easter Monday we were up at 0500hrs, the adrenalin was pumping.  The weather was perfect - warm, dry and no wind. 497 other entrants were also up for what would turn out to be a seriously quick race. The distances for this race being: Swim 425m in an outdoor Lido, 20km on the flattest bike course possible and 5km around a flat Bushey Park.  The perfect season opener. Catty went off at No 37, Hayeligh was 112 - so I knew she would be chasing me down hard!  That makes a change!! The results: Catty:      Swim(incl T1): 9:46  Bike(incl T2): 41:33 Run: 28:31    Total: 1:19:50 Hayleigh:  Swim(incl T1): 12:40  Bike(incl T2): 39:45 Run: 28:12   Total: 1:20:37 Yes that is the right way round!!!  Eat my lycra H!!! This was a new PB for me for this race and I was ecstatic.  Hayleigh beat her time of last year too - she should be pleased too. This is a great Race series and I would seriously recommend it to everyone - well organised, competitive race and flat - which means fast!  We got a copy of 220 Tri mag and a gym towel as mementos. We are both looking forward to EG - bring it on!!! Thanks Nav - hope your training is going well - I should bump into you at Banantyes as I am back their again!!

08.15 got my bike out he garage and off i cycled to Paddock Wood, 30 miles, great ride though the Kent country side via Leeds village and through Yalding on to Paddock Wood, arrived at 09.45 to register.
Yep that ment a 1hr 15 minute transition, so a jog around the industrial estate a few times to keep my legs working.
11am and off we go, a great run, great senery and great company all the way round, i suprised myself with the pace i started with and had to slow it down about 5 miles in as i started to get left foot pain!! at 7 miles had to stop and look at my left foot, OH MY GOD a blister the size of a fifty pence piece, here we go, every mile and a half had to adjust my trainer and sock.
Still i was made up with my time 1hr 50 mins 57 secs, with me sore foot and after a 30 mile bike ride,, WELL PLEASED.
Anyway, so much for nice comfy and colourfull new trainers!!!!
I ended up with a blister about 3 inches round, 2 swollon toe's and a cut under my little toe's.

So rest for a few days now.

sympathy please :-)

A20 Footpath Race- 17.4 miles - 22 March 2009 (Yes, Mother's Day)

I last completed a ½ Marathon about 7 years ago so this was a great challange for me.
The A20 is undulating, the hiils in the first half of the race were relentless!
After about 6 miles we ran up Hubbard's Hill which is a mile long, then 2 miles on top of the North Downs dropping down Hart Hill (again about a mile) then the long run home along the A20.
It was great to be supported by my wife, Lesley, and my mother-in-law at the half way point and numerous spots on the return leg (especially as it was Mother's Day).
I had anticipated the route to be boring but instead of being a long drag it was really interesting and some fantastic views all the way... it's amazing what you miss when you're driving.
Still awaiting the official time but I clocked it at around 2 hours 25 minutes.

Paul Barron Men's Captain
P.S. I'm pleased Brian loaned me his lucky hairband

Terry Foreman's report:

Not quite in the same league as Gavin's brick session (25m ride, Thanet 20 then bike home) - see report below!

Summer is here! It's official as that fair weather cyclist El Tel has finally dusted the cobwebs off the tri bike for a gentle saunter round the Fowlmead circuit.  Sunday 1 st March saw 21 line up for a rain and wind free race (for once). Mr Holmes cruelly set us off in the opposite direction to normal so the run started with a 400m uphill slog that quickly split the pack into 2 groups with myself in no man's land in the middle. At the end of the run I was in 11 th a minute behind the guys in front. Out onto the bike and all those Barron beastings paid off and I didn't lose any ground to the guys behind, but couldn't catch the guys ahead. Second run was fairly lonely with a minute gap ahead of me and a big gap behind. Finished 10 th (1 dnf) in 56:39, winning time was 48:25

Terry

Got to the venue and promptly horrified the Raynet ladies by stripping down to the buff to put running clothes on.  Ho ho!

It was a fabulously organised and marshalled event - albeit over a pretty rubbish course (they have changed it from previous years).  I did a fast first half (knocking out around 8 min miles and then started to slow as I could feel the bike miles in my legs.  It did also occur to me that I had done no specific training for a 20 mile event!  But, despite that, Garmin time was 3:00:59 (3:01:09 was the clock time) so I am really really happy with that. 

All in all, a fab day.  I feel a little tired but very very happy with my little long-brick experience.  A couple of niggles to watch out for (left calf and right ITB) but nothing that stopped me running and didn't feel either when I got back on the bike."

Well that's pretty impressive early season training and should pay dividends for Gavin later in the year.

Results

David Griffin was first ATCer home in 2:38.45

Gavin Davis 3:01.07

Navin

Report by Navin:
Sunday saw the second running of this five mile race at the Foulmead country park. Many of us know the venue for its dedicated cycle racing circuit but Tim has put on a race that utilises the tracks and paths around the track. It is very scenic with a couple of interesting lumps but makes a very pleasant venue.

Only one ATCer is listed as finishing this one, Barry Martyn finished in 45.49

Race Report from Graham Samuels:

500m pool swim -5k road run

Nicki mentioned this event at circuit training last week and I thought- ‘why not?' So it was with some trepidation I pitched up at Larkfield on Saturday morning for my first multi sport event ever!
Entering on the day gave me the opportunity to meet the organisers and leave some Kingswood duathlon entry forms on the registration desk. -I did see a few people pick them up, Nicki!
The format for the race was time trial with competitors setting off in the pool one by one according to their predicted swim time and then a fairly leisurely transition (untimed but within 10 minutes) before heading out for the run.
Before I knew it I was off in the pool for a solid if not spectacular swim. Ducking under the lane ropes every two lengths to work my way from one side of the pool to the other was a new experience. 500metres completed in 8:28-(prediction 8:30). Even after the lengthy transition my legs felt a bit wobbly at the start of the run. Definitely going to have to put in some brick sessions before my first tri! Luckily the start of the run was downhill which allowed me to find my rhythm. I've never raced a 5k before but I now know that they hurt.....particularly on the uphill stretch at the end! I did overtake a couple of people and wasn't overtaken so that felt positive.
I was delighted with my run time of 22:52 and my final position was 20 th out of 45.
I would recommend this friendly, low key event particularly for anyone, like myself, just starting out on the triathlon journey. I was the only one flying the ATC flag –it would be great to have a few of us next time! Graham

Keith Lyon reports;

"The new 2009 road duathlon season kicked off in the South  at Dorney Lakes, Eton, home of the 2012 Olympic Rowing Regatta. Conditions were good,  with a slightly slower bike course than previous years with the inclusion of a couple of tight corners and 'S' bends per lap. You Tri guys would not have appreciated the ice on the lake Dorney is a good venue for sprint races and it's good to get the first one under the belt."

The organisers describe the venue as  the perfect for a Duathlon Event. 100% Accurate course, flat, fast, smooth tarmac roads and paths 100% traffic free. The distances were 5k run, 20k bike, 5k run - Two laps of out and back run course and 5 laps of out and back bike course. The beauty of this course is you can see exactly who is behind you and who is in front. Keith finished in 42nd place in an overall time of 1:26.16

This event, staged by Deal Tri, takes in the lanes around Dover, Guston, Ripple, Eastry etc back to the Duke of York's Royal Military School Dover. The course is undulating, particularly the last half and is always challenging because of the February weather.
516 entered with 424 finishing, including ATC's  Kate Austen finishing in 1:33.17 (3rd Lady) and Gavin Davis finishing in 1:41.44 (Report by Navin)

Gavin's race report- Dover Half Marathon - A Test of Training

Highlight of the Week 6 Ironman Training - Dover Half Marathon. I have dropped some running races into the programme to keep my running sharp and help me toughen up mentally. With the clear intent to back off if anything started hurting I was determined to see how close I could get to the McMillan prediction from a 5k track time trial done only a week earlier (done in 21:55). No specific half mara training has been done apart from a quick 8 miler whacked in on the Monday and 3 miles on the Thursday before the Half Mara - although weekly running mileages are consistently at about 20-25 per week.

So the race.... Dover is a weird race as it starts on the top of a hill (Duke of York's school) the first half is therefore flat/downhill and then, turning for home, the route gets a bit lumpy with quite a few harsh upulations. My target was to beat my 1:52 PB from Hastings nearly a year ago and I was using this as a good test of current fitness levels; I also knew a big PB was in the offing. On the day it was d**n cold, with a keen piercing wind blowing, but dry. Clothes choice was tricky, but we all have that dilemma every run we do so I won't waffle on about that suffice to say I wore a windproof gillet which was brilliant. 

The first 7 miles of the run were fabulous with miles splits +/- 10 seconds of 7 min miling - including a 6:50 mile when I was chasing down a lady who I thought was Nicki... turned out to be a rather pretty Canterbury Harrier!! LOL. Turning towards the finish at the 8 mile point turned us all into a horrific head wind and the pace naturally dropped. But hanging on in there mentally i felt very strong, if a little on the ragged edge physically, and so finished having set an average pace of 7:46 min/mile over the 13.1 mile course so only 6 seconds above McMillan's prediction, total time 1:41:50 - a fairly significant PB. I wonder what would have happened with a little more race prep and taper? I will ponder that thought as I move through the next phase of training.

I would thoroughly recommend Dover Half. It is brilliantly organised by Deal Tri, well marshalled and a very pretty route. No T Shirt/medal, but a nice mug as a momento. And to top it all, the results were up on the website before I even got home!! Well done to Deal Tri. Thanet 20 next!!

Report by Nicki Barron:
The tough Monsterman Series of Duathlons reached the third in the series of four at the weekend and needing some serious run bike run brick training, myself, Christine Johnson & Jan Pospisil headed off to Hampshire to stretch our legs & lungs on the Multi-Lap-Mayhem Course (4 miles XC running, 12 miles Mountain Biking, 4 miles XC running).
As per usual the run mass start set off at a blistering pace along with Jan heading off at his usual greyhound pace. I settled for the more steady start, which payed dividents as I reeled Jan in on the approach to T1. Conditions were very muddy underfoot and it was a challenge to just remain upright - core stability really came into play with all the twisting, turning and sliding around!
Onto the bike in around 10th position overall, but I was soon overtaken by some of the mountain bike specialists, who seemed to have zero fear and a lot more fitness than me. I plugged on regardless, slowly counting down the six laps - what a relief to get back to T2 - Knackered is the polite way to describe how I felt!
Onto the run, I seemed to find a reserve of energy, gradually catching up a few of the speedy bikers. By the time I had finished my 8th mile of running I was seriously drooping, but so relieved to be crossing the finish line in 14th place overall & 3rd female - my overall time being 2hr 23mins - Phew!
Jan on the other hand, has not been doing his usual training in Brighton that he was used to in Ashford - after his blistering start, his endurance let him down, coming home in 27th place in 2hr 41mins (think we may have talked him into re-joining ATC!!!).
Christine was deliberating whether to start the race as has been suffering with injuries recently. Although completing the 1st run & all the bike section, she had to pull out of the 2nd run unfortunately.
There is one more race in the series - March 14th - Hard & Hilly! If you like a challenge and a serious bit of racing/training - this is the race for you - quoting the race website though - it's not for the faint hearted!!! (I would agree) - see http://gearsandtears.com/races/mm4.htm for more details.

6 members of ATC were racing at the Ashford & District 10k - Dave Griffin, Mark Gabriel, Will Whittington, Graham Samuels, Brian Holdstock & Barry Martyn.

Race report from Will - Arriving at SandyAcres the A & D Roadrunning HQ on Sunday morning I was surprised to see Kate Austen walking into the event. The God's were certainly with us with regard to the weather as it was a lovely sunny day. Although it was very cold.

As the time marched on towards the 11 o'clock start. How decent? We all made our way up Sandyhurst lane to the start line. There was a great sense of excitement as we waited for 'zero hour' and off?! I was shoulder to shoulder with fellow ATCer Graham Samuels and 500+ other runners.
The start was very close and in your face as we started on a very narrow lane. Luckily though, this was down hill? There was plenty of jostling as we all tried to gain a free run. After the second corner we all had the panoramic views of Tenterden and Westwell. So onto business? With the assistance of gravity the speed increased.  It was brilliant of the residents to come out and show there support for us nutters?
Received a much appreciated cheer from the ATC Sunday morning cyclists who must have taken a detour to support us. Thank you all. At half way we arrived at water station. Think I snatched the drink off ATCer Damo on his bike? Apologises mate. I knew what was coming was the hill? Many competitors just stopped in front of me as I ran past them? When you think the hill is over you turn the corner and continue on upward?! The hill training I did with ATCer, Jim Hawkins around Wye must have made a significant improvement? As didn't find it to be a problem? More ATC spectators on the course cheering us on adding comments like there's only 2k to go? Thank you guys. Finally over the start line again and down Sandyhurst Lane to the finish line. We all had to watch I step up-to the finish line as it was very slippery under-foot. So no sprint finish in the last 50m? Wasn't a terrific time 48:31 position 202. Out of 532 Bring it on for Hastings Half next then the FLM.....
Will Whittington

Well done to the 3 ATC members who took part in the Canterbury 10miler. Race results were - Kate Austen 1:09:04, Jayne Puckeridge 1:13:00 & Simon Fox 1:31:50.

Kate Austens report:

As I awoke in the dark to the battering rain, I was a little apprehensive as I set off to Canterbury to run in my first ever ten mile race.

Despite the weather just under 800 people showed up, and we all squeezed into a big indoor hall to keep warm and dry. There was a great atmosphere as we awaited the start, a few trade stands added to the excitement and gave a little distraction. A quick massage pre race with Tim and I was on the start line ready to go. It was nice to be in reach of fellow runners throughout the race, will yelps of support for each other as we went up and down through the country lanes. When I got the chance to tuck in behind someone I really felt the benefit of being slightly sheltered from the wind. It was only after about 7.5 miles did the undulating hills seem to level out a bit, and allowed for a strong finish. I really pushed on in the last mile and a half and put nearly 30 seconds between myself and the couple of ladies that had been in front of me since mile 7. I was checking my watch on the clearly displayed mile markers and worked hard throughout to finish in 69.07 - 12 th Lady. Very well organized race, lots of marshals and water stations (if the rain wasn't enough!), well worth a try. See you all in Dover for the half! Kate

Always one to blow the cobwebs away at the start of the New Year - the Thanet Duathlon at Minnis Bay is a great race. Just five of us from ATC were brave enough to endure the "Bumps at Birchington" (you have to see them!!) - Rob Goodwin, Andy Barwise, Ric Greenwood, Christine Johnson & Nicki Barron were all sporting the ATC tri kit at the start of the first run - 2.4 miles along the prom (the easy bit). On to the mountain bikes for 2 laps - 9 miles - of not so boggy, but hard n crusty ice covered marshes, which made me wish I had had a full suspension bike - bit of a 'pain in the but' afterwards. The last run is always the hardest - 4.5 miles of cross country with some very chilly waist deep watery dykes to dip into - boy did they smell. Just when your legs are dropping off, come the infamous "bumps" - around 6 huge mounds of earth to run up & down - after which the finish line is a very welcome sight. Results are not yet available, but Nicki led home the ladies race in a time of 1:26:40, with Christine in 3rd place with 1:32:09. Andy came home in 36th place with 1:36:34, while Rob Goodwin was close by in 39th place with 1:38:08 & Ric Greenwood with 1:51:18.
Full Results
Nicki

In spite of a very late night and no sleep Navin made his way to Deal seafront for the fifth running of the Deal Tri Bra run which raises money for breast cancer care. 200 others variously attired in fancy dress or bras worn on the outside braved the cold for this flat, out and back 5k run. Unfortunately the excesses of the holiday period and some serious shin pain saw Navin limp home in 33 minutes, beaten by several small children and dogs! - must try harder.
Navin