New Forest Olympic

This race should be on everybody’s calendar.

After rumors of the swim being shortened due to the cold water I was happy to find out that because the water was 14 degrees (yea course it was) they left it at 1100m, got in and tried to acclimatize but just didn’t have enough time only managed to make it to my favored position in the centre of the second line otherwise known as the washing machine.. Off we go a mass start of 350 competitor’s legs and arms flailing everywhere what a buzz took me about 200mts to get into the swing of it so the leaders had escaped me at this time, never mind, out of the water in 18:30 and no dizzy head there’s a first. A 200mtr run to T1 and over the timing mat in 19:15 leaving me in 47th position.

Off with the wet suit then bang I overbalanced and nearly fell on the floor, the dizziness kicked in, strange it took its time, anyway out on the bike in 3:25 long T1 but I’ve been taking tips of James Dear and must have been brushing my long locks.

Out of T1 with a 300mtr run to the mount line, the bike was great, out through the forest and over exposed heath land, the wind was almost non existent, I kept having to refocus though as I took in the scenery from my tuck position. Also having to dodge the odd cow or horse that decided to wander into the road, saw highland cattle with the biggest horns I’ve ever seen so sped past that as quick as possible. Off the bike and a 300mtr run to T3 67 mins dropped to 150th must improve my bike or wear blinkers and stop being a tourist.

Out of T2 in 2:06 not so much hair to brush this time.

The run starts off with a gentle 1-2k then you hit a long hill, I got to the top and the run moved to off road on gravel/mud tracks, I turned the corner, only to see another hill... anyway my run was finished after the first km as I picked up a ankle injury, bit typical for me, but decided I was not going to dnf even if I had to hop, so a stuttering 10k for me at 62 mins.

All in all it was a good race that I would strongly recommend, I was aiming at a sub 2:15 and came in at 2:28:20 and in 203rd so as my old school teacher used to say ‘could do better’, anyway I am off to ride the south downs way this weekend and racing another Olympic distance at Dorney lake on the 25th May and hope to do a sub 2:20 this time.

Don’t know if I’ve done the right thing but in my post race excitement I have now signed up for the middle distance version of this race...gulp.

Best All Rounder Race 2

Second race in the series was the 25 mile In Gear Quick Vit Time Trial.

James Dear won comfortably as expected but did have trouble when one of the tri bar extensions 'came away in his hands' !! Special mentions go to Lucy and Rachel both completing their first 25 mile TT, doing extremely well.

Winner Michael Hutchinson 50m 40s !!

10 points James Dear 57m23s 13.26%
9 points Loz Wintergold 59m23s 17.2%
8 points Stuart Nisbett 59m54s 18.22%
7 points Dave Jones 62m38s 23.62%
6 points Rob Hoodless 65m47s 29.84%
5 points Steve Alden 69m37s 37.4%

LADIES
10 points Rachel Baker 76m45s
9 points Lucy Williams 81m39s

G25/93 Time Trial Route

This is the route for the time trial on 4th May - G25/93

London Marathon - Another PB for JW

Jon Webster gave us a masterclass in marathon pacing with another impressive performance at this year's London Marathon.

He bettered his Rome time by about a minute to bag another pb with a time of 3:23:16
The stats show that he maintained a steady pace throughout the race going through the halfway point in 1:41:56.



Jon is also helping to raise money for the Parkinson's Disease Society, so if you haven't sponsored him yet and would like to then visit his fund raising page and give him some cash.

Fabulous One Two at Steyning!!

An excellent 1st and 2nd for James and Mike at this year's Steyning Tri in atrocious conditions.

Report by Mike McLoughlin

"Well what a day at the races, day started well enough, patchy clouds with minimal winds, a few hours later and competitors found themselves in a full on snow storm! 5 members of Mid Sussex Tri Club entered all eager to get their first tri of the year in under there belt, especially James Dear for which this was his first ever tri.

James was off first due to his brick like swimming credentials, James put in a good solid swim and was happy with his pool performance and he even found time to do his hair spending nearly 3 minutes in transition! venturing out onto the snow free bike course it was now time for him to do "proper sport" and promptly tore up the bike course recording the best bike split of the day by over 5 mins! obviously his bike hadn't tired him out and he went on to put in a top 5 time on the run course, great work, first tri and first win, will be great to see how good James will get once he grows gills!

Next off was Tamsin with a slightly later swim start time, she put in a good swim and went out on the bike course and battled against the elements to put in a very respectable time, Tamsin was last seen on the run sporting a rather lovely snow hat and looked strong running with no issue with her recent serious knee injury. She was generally just happy to have completed such a tough race!

Steve Mac put in a good performance in the pool and was out like a shot trying to maximise the gap between him and mike, Steve put in a strong bike and was able to hold off the advances of Mike for some time (not a usual feat) and battle with the white out conditions as the blizzard intensified, however the weather and his knee problems were causing too many issues and unfortunately Steve DNF'ed, hopefully this will be the one and only time this year.

Last off for the club in the long course was Mike, due to starting off last he had the joy of trying to chase down Steve, this must have spurred him on to a better than usual race swim performance, out onto the bike his chosen wardrobe for the bike course was a little questionable to say the least, opting for just a tri suit and optional arm warmers, to his cost half way round the bike course the blizzard hit and the effect was like a ice cube being rammed up his back side. Getting into T2 it took ages to get into shoes and once on the run it was like running with ice blocks, however he was able to finish the race in a very surprising second place! Mike was last seen mumbling like Wallace and Grommit accent in the shallow end of the pool!

Due to the weather getting so bad the organisers cancelled the bike for the sprint tri event and was turned into a 400m/5km aquathlon. Claire Cresswell's time is unknown at the current time of writing as the organisers are still trying to sort out all the times. Claire was disappointed that the cycle was dropped from the event such was her attitude to want to get out there and compete, however she was very happy with her result.



Newbie Chris Durrant also put in a good performance in his first ever triathlon finishing in a perfectly respectable 02:20:21. Not sure if he wore his cage fighting gloves throughout the race, but they will have certainly come in handy during the chilly bike leg?





Results



Long

James Dear 01:47:07 (1st)


Mike McLoughlin 01:51:11 (2nd)


Chris Durrant 02:20:21 (51st)


Tamsin Douglas-smith 02:23:08 (53rd)


Steve Mcmenamin DNF

Sprint

Claire Cresswell (tbc)

Well done to all for competing in such challenging conditions and at least you know that this is the hardest tri that you will have to do this year! Full tri247 race report is here and full results are here."

New Kit Coming Soon...

Click image to view larger version.
The new kit design has been finalized and the order is about to be placed. If you haven't ordered anything yet then get in touch with James Duddy real quick or you will be doing events in vest and pants!!

Approx prices are:
tri suit £55.00
tri vest £30.00
tri shorts £29.00
cycle shirt SS £35.00
cycle shirt LS £39.00
Cycle Bib-Shorts £30.00
Kit Bag £25.00

ROME MARATHON

Many PBs were posted in Rome. This is an awesome marathon, with perfect weather conditions, stunning scenery and history all around.

Approximate times for MSTC members were;

Jon Webster 3h 24m PB
Margaret Hollamby 3h 35m PB
Steve Alden 3h 38m
David Ricketts 3h 45m
Rachel Baker 4h 08m PB
Julie Williams 4h 34m PB
Barbara Ratcliff 4h 34m PB
John Tighe 4h 37m
Emma Alden 4h 50m
Fiona Ricketts 5h 50m PB

I don't have the exact times available but there were some superb efforts on the day.