Mid Sussex Tri Club

Mid Sussex Triathlon Club - Team

2009-11-13T10:05:00.001Z

Mid Sussex Triathlon Club - Team
Originally uploaded by Stuey Tiswas

Mid Sussex Tri Club team photo taken at the 2009 AGM.

16 STORM BARNS GREEN

2009-11-05T16:24:00.002Z

BAR Race 10 1st November 2009

With the rain lashing down, and a driving wind, 16 intrepid athletes lined up at the start of the Barns Green ½ Marathon. Apparently it was started by Dame Vera Lynn but I hope she was well wrapped up!

It was not possible to stand outside without getting soaked through so hundreds of runners crammed into any protected area they could. By the time the race started no-one was dry. Mind you, this was one of those races where running was much better than watching.

It was so wet that Emma and Julie developed one of the slickest pre-race toilet strategies ever seen. They waited in the steamed up comfort of the Landrover until the race was about to start. Then they sprinted across to the portaloos where there was now no queue. By the time they had done what was needed and got to the start, the last starters had not yet crossed the line! No time wasted standing in pouring rain.

The run itself was just a blur of torrential rain and pain for little gain! I am not sure how many PBs there were, but I believe that Stu, Kay and Lynn did achieve this. For most it was not a day for very fast times but nevertheless, WELL DONE to all those who turned out on such a day and completed it.

Congratulations to Jon Webster getting his first 10 point haul. BAR points are awarded on time over the finishing line (gun time) but I have calculated percentages on chip time. Andy Heath managed to gain 2 BAR points by default! Margaret won the ladies race comfortably but I believe it was hard work. Special mentions go to Alice and Kay who ran very well to get 2nd and 3rd respectively.

MEN Winner 1.10.01
Jon Webster 1st 1.33.30 10pts 33.57% age percentage 16.39%

Steve Alden 2nd 1.34.31 9 35.01 22.34

Dave Lashbrook 3rd 1.38.24 8 40.57

Callum Murray 4th 1.39.53 7 42.7 21.17

Andy Heath 5th 1.42.24 6 46.29

Richard Bool 6th 1.41.36 5 45.14 26.48

Stuart Nisbett 7th 1.41.03 4 44.36

Mat Record 8th 1.46.01 3 51.44 31.97

Steve Mac 9th 2.04.14 2 77.47 54.65

Loz Wintergold 10th 2.10.49 1 86.87 69.33

WOMEN Winner 1.24.32
Margaret Hollamby 1st 1.56.16 10pts 37.54% 24.00%

Alice Wintergold 2nd 2.10.50 9 54.77

Kay MacMenamin 3rd 2.11.34 8 55.63

Julie Williams 4th 2.15.57 7 60.83 43.97

Claire Cresswell 5th 2.18.59 6 64.43

Emma Alden 6th 2.19.23 5 64.9 47.60

Lynn Lashbrook 7th 2.30.30 78.04 (not a member -yet!)

Age related percentages are for over 40'
Results

Horsted Keynes Triathlon Results

2009-10-06T15:32:00.005+01:00

Results for the Horsted Keynes Tri are now up on the hedgehog tri website.

Thanks to Paul Hedger for organising the event and well done to all those who took part. Congrats to Tamsin, Andy and Martin who were the fastest team from the club.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Race report to follow...

Hever Castle Triathlon

2009-10-06T11:37:00.001+01:00

3 Mid Sussex Tri Club members competed in Hever Castle’s Triathlon on Sunday, 27th September, which was the first time they have held such an event. Competitors were Rupert Robinson, Trevor Moore and I, Samantha Anderson who all opted for the Henry VIII distance, which consisted of an 800m open water swim, 40km undulating cycle and 8km run.

The swim took place in the lake which was cold enough to warrant a wet suit, but more to the point was exceptionally shallow in places, only 3 foot deep. This made the last 50 metres or so interesting, as you were not only trying to pulling through the water but the bottom of the lake too. But complaints aside, due to there only being 33 people in each wave there was plenty of space to avoid being kicked, pulled and nearly drowned.

You then exited the water up a small grassy hill into the transition area which was engulfed in small pebbles, which made getting to your bike with any sort of speed quite difficult.

The cycle route was a 2 lap circuit through the High Weald of Kent which made for a scenic race around this area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The only slight snag with the route being in and around these shaded country lanes was that it did make for some bumpy cycling as well as interesting traffic dodging. Other than that with the sun shining, spectators and supporters yelling words of encouragement as you sped by, it was extremely pleasant.
The run route was a 2 lap circuit which circumnavigated the castle’s estate and led you pass their lakes, through their woodland and beautiful gardens. Although the scenery was great you had to keep your wits about you, as you had to dodge those visiting the castle for the day and avoid misplacing you foot on the sometimes uneven ground.

The star of the day was Rupert whose results were as follows:
Swim: 16:28 Cycle: 1:15:25 Run: 47:53
Placed: 91 out of 414.

My results were as follows:
Swim: 14:42 Cycle: 1:28:09 Run: 44:39
Placed: 171 out of 414.

Trevor’s results were as follows:
Swim: 18:08 Cycle: 1:33:45 Run: 48:25
Placed 292 out of 414.

Congratulations to all.
By Samantha Anderson

Martin christened and a club one-two at Crawley

2009-09-29T09:31:00.001+01:00

Four Mid Sussex Tri Club members competed in the Crawley Late Summer Triathlon on Sunday 27 September, including Martin Back, taking part in his very first triathlon.

The distances were 600m swim, 25k (I think) bike and 6k run, with swim times including a fairly lengthy jog from the 50m pool at K2 sports centre down a footpath past school sports buildings to the transition area by the A23 roundabout.

The cycle route involved dodging around Sunday footballers making their way to nearby pitches in two underpasses beneath the roundabout before emerging on a residential road that joins the dual carriageway from Crawley to Horsham, familiar territory to anyone used to Crawley Wheelers evening ‘10s’ in the summer.

Martin was 73rd out of 106 in a highly respectable time of 1:31:42, after getting the swim out of the way through a combination of front crawl and breast stroke, before a strong 42:57 cycle and an excellent 27:03-minute run, the fastest of the four on the day.

Martin was 35th out of 49 in the highly competitive Vets 1&2 category (the first three places in the race overall were taken by competitors in this category).

Not far behind Martin in 86th place, with a time of 1:35:27, was Hazel Tuppen, showing huge improvements in her cycle (47:07) and run (32:38) times, to complement her expected fast swim time of 15:42.

But the star of the MSTC show on the day was, without question, newly-appointed club president Mark Jordan who was 29th in an overall 1:21:53, after setting a blistering time of 14:28 in the pool, despite still struggling with a broken wrist.

Mark then put in a 39:27 cycle (“without once coming close to falling off”) and a 27:58 run on the tough, out-and-back, cross-country route through Tilgate Forest, culminating in a vicious hill that reduced some competitors (but not ours) to walking, just before the turn.

Callum Murray, the only Mid Sussex athlete with ‘previous’ in this race, was 44th, with a time of 1:24:59, an improvement on last year’s 1:27:11. Most of his improvement came on the bike, enabling him to pip Mark to the title of ‘fastest MSTC cyclist on the day’ – by four seconds – in 39:23.

He also improved his run time slightly with a 27:21, but must return to the ‘special needs’ section in swim training sessions, after a disappointing 18:15 swim – just two seconds quicker than last year’s time. So, just to be absolutely clear, that’s a whole year of battling up and down the pool, cajoled and encouraged by David, Rose and Mark, for just two seconds improvement. Dear oh dear.

With just eight competitors in the Vets 3&4 category, the good news was a club one-two for Mark and Callum in this category.

By Callum Murray

English Channel

2009-08-12T12:55:00.003+01:00

Hi all
Just a quick note to say a big thank you to all who sponsored me, to those who have not... http://www.justgiving.com/stevemcmenamin or http://www.justgiving.com/stevemcmenamin

All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dream with open eyes to make it possible. T.E. Lawrence

It is early Friday morning, on a blowy but clear August 7th. Whilst many are fast asleep, we nervously make our way to Samphire Hoe, a beach near Dover.

At 00:45 wearing just a regular swim costume, a latex cap, and a pair of swim goggles our first swimmer, Karen, leaves the comforts of the shore and slips into the icy cool dark waters. And so begins our journey to France.

The night swim is the roughest part with gale force winds reaching 5-6 making the already cold and very choppy seas even more foreboding. What else will the channel hold for us?

It's 01:45 and now it's my turn. The first thing I notice is the complete isolation and sensory deprivation. However I am totally enthralled by the plankton as its phosphorescence glows as your hand passes through it. This is probably why I set off in the wrong direction. It takes some time for me to hear the team shouting at me, I look up and wonder what on earth the boat is doing all the way over there?

With the second hour complete, thankfully Jamie takes over, as I now have a full body shiver going on. I think that Jamie had the worst start, waiting for 2 hours, dealing with the motion of the boat and contemplating what is about to happen.

On your day, in the dark, in the middle of the ocean, you can find out what kind of man you are - the one who quits or the one who swims. It would be so easy to quit. All I need to do is reach out and touch the boat, then it will all be over. I could climb aboard, put on some warm clothes and have a hot drink. But to swim on in the dark with my imagination going wild, motion sickness taking its toll, shivering uncontrollably with the cold, and depleted energy stores making my body desperately scavenge for more, what reason is there to continue? Then I remember the cause; the money we are raising for brainstrust and I notice that the sun is rising, the ocean is calming. That’s it, I'm a swimmer. Life is good.

We are feeling confident as we pass the midpoint of the swim. During this part of the journey, we make it look easy and carefree, well as carefree as you can be when traversing the ice cold waters of the English Channel.

By 11 hours we are less than a mile from shore but the tide has turned and is pulling us up the coast towards Calais. Each time we look up we are reminded how close to shore we are but the strength of the currents makes it so hard to swim forward to land. We know that our job is simply to swim hard now and think later. My throat is raw, reminding me that I am swallowing so much salt water. I feel like I'm slowly drowning.

Karen is swimming the 12th hour. She is nearly there but unfortunately for her hour is up. The final sprint to shore is mine. What a feeling. Standing up with out being rocked as a crowd of holiday makers make their way over to me. I quickly clear the water line because if one of them touches me before I clear the water line the swim will be classed as a fail. Karen and Jamie jump from the boat too and are close behind me making that final swim to shore. Now we are all on the beach smiling, happy and posing for a few pictures. We collect a couple of pebbles to keep as mementoes and swim back to the boat and back to Dear Old Blighty.

Steve McMenamin channel swimmer 13hrs 18mins

I have learned to set goals with "failure potential." Do not be afraid to fail. In fact, risk failing. If you have never failed, you are not trying hard enough. Mark Twain said, "twenty years from now, we will be more disappointed by the things we didn't do than by the things we did." It feels so much better when you achieve something that once seemed so difficult. The Channel seemed pretty impossible to me once, and I have had plenty of failures, losses, and bad races along the way. That's what makes the finish line so rewarding.

You may ask why do such things. I have a lot of varied answers to this question but basically sometimes you have to explore if you have what it takes. Will I reach out and touch that boat or will I swim on?

Many thanks to the dozens of people who took the time to respond and email/text me, you've been an inspiration. The amount raised is amazing and we are truly grateful to you. So far your donations (£2200 and still growing daily) would buy 36 brainboxes or pay for two MRI scans or pay for 7 private consultations, which could save 7 lives. Brilliant!

Until next time, au revoir
H2O: two parts Heart and one part Obsession

PS
One of my team mates has also written a good review at http://www.thelongswim.blogspot.com/
If you can get access http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJBNExMwU0

Karten Ironman Austria

2009-07-09T17:01:00.002+01:00

As you know I've just come back from Austria after competing in the

Ironman at Klagenfurt, so as a reply to all those who wished me luck,

or have emailed me about the result, I thought I'd write a quick

report. I know some of our ladies were thinking about a girl's trip

to Klagenfurt next year and I really can't recommend this event

enough, whether its the organization, the support or the fantastic

scenery that you see as you speed through the Austrian Alps, its a

fantastic race.

For me it started with a 2 day car journey, shared with my friend and

fellow competitor, Mark, arriving at our camp site at 1700 on the

Friday. The campsite was practically in the Ironman Expo, about 50m

from transition, and our tent was, more importantly, only 25m from

the toilets! after setting up camp we wandered around the expo and

set up our bikes. A free pasta party followed, with a fantastic

display of gymnastics by a danish group of kids, doing back flips etc

through the main marquee. As the sun was setting we rode one lap of

the run course, quite easily followed by the messages of support

sprayed onto the pavement.

Saturday started with registration and racking, interrupted by one of

the frequent thunderstorms and showers that were forecast every day

of the event. That afternoon we drove one lap of the bike course and

were introduced to the infamous (for us anyway) Ruppittenberg, or as

the English named it, Rupert the Bear. This it a sharp hill at 60km

and 150km on the bike course which gives the height required for the

long downhill sections of the course that make Austria one of the

fastest Ironman. That evening, a relaxing meal in the centre of

Klagenfurt was followed by a surprisingly good nights sleep.

Race Day

We got up at 0500, time for a bowl of Ready Brek and a cup of tea,

then it was time to go to the transition and load the bike. I'd been

training with High 5 gels and have never got on with Powerbar stuff

supplied on the course, so I would have to carry all my provisions

with me. I wanted to get my brakes sorted out as they were pulling,

so I joined the queue of racers with punctures and flats at the bike

repair tent. They couldn't help me, so I'd have to risk it. I donned

the wet suit and downed a Red Bull and joined the throngs making

their way to the beach. There was a bit of a bottleneck over the mats

that all had to pass over, so we weren't even in the water when the

gun was fired and the race had started.

The lake (The Wodersee) was, we had noted, a funny colour and I

wasn't looking forward to the swim, but as I entered the water I

realized why it looked wrong. It was so clean, not the usual green or

brown slime that you get at Southwater. The swim was a 1400m out,

following 3 buoys, then a left turn around a forth buoy another 100m

on, then back to the shore. to finish the swim you travel 900m down a

canal to the exit. The lake was fantastic with very little pushing

even though there were 3000 people in the water with you. Sighting

was fairly easy with large mountains on all sides and beautiful

castles allowing you to keep the swim distance to a minimum. The

canal was very crowded with lots of pushing and all you could do was

concentrate on a long stroke and accept that you weren't going to

improve your position.

T1 was pretty quick, aided by the fact that I had forgotten to pack

my sun cream, and then it was out on the bike. I settled down and

concentrated on keeping a low level of perceived effort for the first

lap. The course is closed road and the road surface is mostly smooth

and allowed for a fast first part along the lake shore. Mark ,

although having a slightly faster swim, was behind me, but caught up

around 10k. we cycled together for a couple of k, but were very wary

of the marshalers who, with typical Austrian efficiency, were

enforcing the no draughting rule very tightly. Mark dropped back and

I put my head down and set out to face the hills. The first hill you

reach is the Egg, a steep, short gradient that got you out of your

saddle and dropped your cadence down to 50ish in your granny cog. The

support though was brilliant with people all around the course. The

downhills were long and very fast, leaving me slightly worried about

my still squeaky wheel and my catching brakes. At you get to the 60k

mark you meet the Ruppittenberg for the first time. The crowds push

in and only leave you the space for your bike, all the time ringing

their cow bells and shouting "hop, hop, hop". It was fantastic and

you couldn't stop, even if you wanted to. A bloke had the PA going

and was shouting out encouragement (imagine Austrian accent), "I-ron

mans, I-ron womans, willkomen zue Ruppittenberg....etc". Over the

summit and I really let the planet X of its lease, making a top speed

of 69kph through the twists and turns of the Austrian Alps,

fantastic. The last 15 k was along the dual carriage way back to

Klagenfurt and lap 2. The second lap was a hard slog, with the

temperature rising to 29/30 degrees, but all you could do is

concentrate on your cadence and keeping hydrated and refueled. 180k

and it was back into transition and luckily (for me not her) a young

frauline willing to smear suncream on my shoulders. I threw on my

trainers and set of for the run.

The heat now was the biggest problem, with half the run unshaded and

the temperature still in the low 30s. My stomach was also giving me

concern with cramps, so I settled down to my target pace and tried to

re-hydrate when I could. I realized that if I wanted to get through

this that I would have to change my plans. I decided I had to walk

through the water stops so I could fully drink the water. I kept on

taking my high 5 gels and kept my required pace between the water

stops. The run initially goes along the northern shore of the

Wodersee then returns to the start before going into the centre of

Klagenfurt and around the Lingwurm ( a statue of a dragon in the main

square), past all the cafes and restaurants, before returning to the

start. You do this twice, before finally turning into the finishers

tunnel and the end. About half way round the clouds started to build

and the rain dragged the temperature to a more reasonable 26ish. This

gave me a new lease of life and even though the shower was short

lived I realized I was going to make it. Turning the last corner and

hearing the crowds at the finish was one of the best experiences of

my life. I took my time enjoying the crowds as I finished, which

unfortunately meant I missed out on a below 4 hour marathon.

Mark finished some time latter after being around 10k behind me on

the run, but shortly after 25k he started throwing up and was unable

to re-hydrate or take on any carbs, but finish he did, before being

placed on a drip by the medics. A real Ironman.

The results

3.8k / 2.4 mile swim 1:14:28

180k / 112 mile bike 5:49:20

42.2k / 26.1 mile run 4:00;04

T1 06:34

T2 06:27

TOTAL TIME 11:16:56

Thanks to all at MSTC who have helped me over the last 6 months

achieve my ambition of becoming an Ironman. To any body, who is as

fortunate as I am to have the time to train and a very understanding

family, I would thoroughly recommend this experience. I would jump at

the chance to do another, although I fear I will not be allowed to.

It is, I think, a once in a life time experience, but it is

definitely one that will rank up there with (in chronological order):

my first solo flight, my marriage and the birth of my children.

Now, bring on the Vitruvian!

See you all back training when the legs are working.

Jon

May the tide be with you

2009-06-11T16:09:00.002+01:00

The inaugural 3.8km swim in the River Arun

I was very lucky to get a spot as it was limited to 100 places only, unfortunately this also meant it would be a very strong field.

As this is a tidal river we were due to set off at midday, slack water time, but no one told the river that we were delayed, not to much of a problem as if we started too early the going would be tough with the speed of the current against us, anyway we had a promise of the currents changing and washing us along in the second half of the race.... so need to swim that part I could float down.

As Rupert stretches his swim cap to breaking point trying to get it over his waist long dreadlocks we all took a step back, if that cap pings off it could be very dangerous, and he is looking more like the Predator than anyone should.

Its 12.30 and off we go, stay close to the bank as possible we were told as the current was still against us but only slightly, unfortunately I could not get that close to the bank as everyone had the same agenda, so I was set to swim a quarter of the way out and then force my way across closer to the bank a bit further down, the going was indeed tough out there and i was getting passed by a few people so time to make my move, the difference was massive as I passed swimmer after swimmer the down side was it was quite congested and i kept getting blocked by other groups, I forced my way through one group of three people and received a few body blows for my efforts but that just gets the adrenaline flowing even more.

The river has quite a few turns in it so you had to picking your line was quite important this was working well and then I saw the finish line... well what I thought was the finish line so with loads of energy left thinking "wow that was easy" i started my sprint from about 700m out but as i got closer I spotted the Brighton Corporate games banners not the REP ones. It then dawned it was the Dragon boat racing start line that was also going on that day... Right slow the pace and deep breaths and get on the feet of someone for a little drafting, this alternative plan worked well until another swimmer wanted to get onto the same feet and bumped me off, this is the bit i really quite enjoy so i bumped them back and retook my spot unfortunately this came at a price, in the collision my goggles were hit and moved so the left one was in my eye socket. Its not leaking yet so as long as i didn't move my eyebrow all would be well, at least that what i told myself, I never realised how hard it was not to move your eyebrows.

As we passed under a bridge I was still waiting for the currents to come along and push us down, I was told later that we mainly swam in the slack water so no currents, I could see another finish line and hoped this time that it was ours.

I started to pick up speed again at this point it started getting quite choppy and the inevitable happened, I gave into temptation and did the Simon Templer movement and raised my eyebrow, I only needed one eye anyway.

I came of the feet I was following and came along the side and checked the finish line out of the one eye i could use and confirmed it was indeed ours. There were 4 other swimmers who each had the same idea as the pace suddenly picked up, 3 dropped back a bit which left me and one other shoulder to shoulder 200 meters out and now in an all out sprint. Side by side we came out of the water but he beat me to the timing judge and so was 1 second quicker....
Great performance by all and a thoroughly enjoyable race.

15th Steve McMenamin 52:19
31st Phil Couch 56:03
77th Rupert Robinson 63:02
92rd Kevin James 65:59
99th Andy Taylor 68:45

official report and results
http://www.tri247.com/article_5326_River+Arun+Ironman+Swim+report.html?region_id=&category

If you like the idea of a longer swim race

http://www.f3events.co.uk/race_view.php?i=47

http://www.votwo.co.uk/votwo2007/events-and-adventure/race_view.php?v=2&c=1&i=76

http://www.eastbourneswimmingclub.org.uk/Events%20Calendar/2009Q3%20Attachments/26%20Jul%2009%20-%20EB%20Sea%20Swim%20-%20ENTRY%20FORM.pdf

http://www.bldsa.org.uk/

Ten Try 25 TT

2009-05-16T18:15:00.003+01:00

BAR Race 3

25m TT Norwood Paragon 10th May 2009
Broadbridge Heath – Quite good conditions if a little cold and a bit windy.

10 athletes from MSTC took part in the 25m TT. It could have been 13, but Callum and Jon could not get in in spite of entering early and Loz could not make it. This was a race dominated by excuses. James Dear ( I'm feeling below par) won comfortably in 56.43. Graham Bond (it's my first TT in several years) finished 3rd in 61.51 behind Stu who stormed to a 58.11(no excuses – just a good ride!) Rob Hoodless was 4th (I struggled riding with triple or was that quadruple pneumonia) in 64.20. Kevin James was 5th in 64.53, narrowly edging out Dave Lashbrook 64.55 (PB in spite of having an extended break in South Africa and missing out on a lot of training). Last home was Steve Alden in 67.20 (The bike felt a bit heavy going uphill towards Pease Pottage so I jettisoned one of my tri-bar arm rests to save weight! Unfortunately that seriously hampered the bike's aerodynamics and balance and made for a very difficult last 15 miles – probably would have been much quicker on a complete bike!)

The girls were again dominated by Rachel Baker who is getting quicker all the time. This time she did 72.02 (PB) nearly 5 minutes faster than last year, Lucy Williams improved her PB by about 4 minutes to finish 2nd in 77.55. Claire was doing her first 25, so also had a PB in 81.08

MEN - Winner 52m45s Veteran winner 52m45s!

1st James DEAR 56m43s (7.53%) 10pts
2nd Stu NISBETT 58m11s (10.29%) 9pts
3rd Graham BOND 1h1m51s (17.25%) 8pts
4th Rob HOODLESS 1h4m20s (21.95%) 7pts
5th Kevin JAMES 1h4m53s (23.00%) 6pts
6th Dave LASHBROOK 1h4m55s (23.07%) 5pts PB
7th Steve ALDEN 1h7m20s (27.14%) 4pts
Callum Murray and Jon Webster and Andy Heath 1 pt as unable to get in due to rules of time trialling

WOMEN - Winner1h04m26s

1st Rachel BAKER 1h12m02s (11.8)% 10pts PB
2nd Lucy WILLIAMS 1h17m55s (20.94%) 9pts PB
3rd Claire CRESSWELL 1h21m08s (25.92%) 8pts PB

BAR overall standings after 3 races
Rob Hoodless 26pts - 1st
Steve Alden 21pts - 2nd
James Dear 20pts - 3rd
Stu Nisbett 9 pts - 4th
Matt Record 8 - 5th
Graham Bond 8 - 5=
Callum Murray 8 - 5=
Andy heath 7 - 8th
Kevin James 6 - 9th
Dave Lashbrook 5 - 10th
Jon Webster 1 - 11th

Rachel Baker 30pts - 1st
Lucy Williams 18 - 2nd
Claire Cresswell 17 - 3rd

Sussex Seven See Sun Shine

2009-04-08T19:13:00.003+01:00

REPORT ON THE NATIONAL DUATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS

RACE 2 National Duathlon Championships

MILTON KEYNES 5th April 2009

This was a seriously good event. Thoroughly enjoyed by all 7 MSTC members. It looked dodgy at the start however, with temperatures virtually at freezing point, after most of us had got up at 4am. Credit to Andy Heath who only got home from work after midnight but still made it!
Racing against the very best in the country makes you realize just how good they are. Because the first 10K was a staggered start with 4 laps, most of us experienced the leading men and women overtaking us at a frightening pace. By the time we were on the bike the sun had come out and from then on it was near perfect race conditions.
The fact that James Dear had the second fastest bike split in the whole race underlines what a quality cyclist he is, especially after running the first 10K in 37minutes just a shade outside his PB. The run was completely flat but unlike the Brighton 10K was quite scenic, running round the lake.
The undisputed king of the transition was Steve Alden, with T1 being 16s faster than anyone else, although James matched his T2 time of 42s.
Rob Hoodless put in his usual consistent performance, and finished with the fastest 5K out of all of us by a clear half minute.
Rachel Baker was only a few seconds outside her Brighton time for 10K and put in a blistering bike leg on her super-bling bike and finished 9th in her age group, which was the best age group position. Lucy Williams was just aiming not to finish last, but did rather better than that, and was 10th in her age group.
Callum Murray pushed very hard – especially on the first 10K, and found the undulating bike course tough, but still finished 20th in his age group.
Andy Heath realized his rear tub was a bit worn before the start, so was not entirely surprised to puncture on the second lap as it was a very poor road surface for about half of each lap. Nevertheless he worked very hard and we all welcome his progressive return to fitness.

RESULTS
Men Overall winner 1h51m12s
1st James DEAR 2h1m22s 9.15% (8.22%) 10pts
2nd Robert HOODLESS 2h13m44s 20.26%(13.49%) 9pts
3rd Steve ALDEN 2h18m33s 24.60%(17.58%) 8pts
4th Callum MURRAY 2h40m06s 43.97%(33.00%) 7pts
5th Andy HEATH DNF puncture 6pts

Figures in brackets are the more realistic age group percentages

Women Overall winner 2h05m10s
1st Rachel BAKER 2h31m30s 21.05%(10.92%) 10pts
2nd Lucy WILLIAMS 2h42m14s 29.62%(29.62%) 9pts

Standings after 2 events

Men
1st Rob Hoodless 19pts
2nd Steve Alden 17pts
3rd James Dear 10pts
4th Matt Record 8pts
5th Callum Murray 7pts
6th Andy Heath 6pts

Women
1st Rachel Baker 20pts
2nd Clare Cresswell 9pts
= Lucy Williams 9pts

Windy Winter Watford Winners

2009-02-03T21:16:00.002Z

Only 5 athletes braved the freezing temperatures to compete at Watford. Not only was it cold, but a freezing wind made it a lot worse. Numbers were depleted due to several injuries. Rob Hoodless and Rachel Baker took the honours virtually unchallenged. Rob was a clear 6 minutes ahead in the mens race and Rachel was well ahead of Claire. Steve Alden took second but was below par with a probable virus, and Matt Record was less than a minute behind him, probably not realising just how close he was! Claire Cresswell took second place in the girls race, with another gritty performance in demanding conditions.

Men (Overall winner 68.18, V40 70.48)
Robert Hoodless 1h30m26s – 32.40%(V27.73%) 10pts
Steve Alden 1h36m39s – 41.51%(V36.51%) 9pts
Matt Record 1h37m27s – 42.68% 8pts

Women (Overall winner 77.09)
1.Rachel Baker 1h45m35s – 36.85% 10pts
2.Claire Cresswell 2h26m15s – 89.57% 9pts

8 PBs at Battle of Hastings

2008-12-16T08:13:00.003Z

9 hardy athletes braved the cold morning start at the Hastings Centenary Marathon. James and Loz flew off at the start with 'push it till I die' race strategies. Judging by their inability to walk afterwards they squeezed every ounce of performance out of tired muscles to finish in 3h10m and 3h13m respectively - both PBs.
There were 2 other mini-races going on. Jon, Rob and Steve have always been quite evenly matched. Steve is well known for his late pace in marathons so the race strategy for Jon was to break him if he could, while Rob held on for as long as possible. I can vouch for the fact that Jon gave it everything, pulling away at 17miles, being caught and passed by 20miles, but popping up again on Steve's shoulder at 22miles, before Steve's marginally less tired legs gave him a 40 second edge by the finish. Steve finished in 3h19m, Jon 3h20m (PB) and Rob 3h26m (PB).
The other mini-race was Rachel and Tamsin, who finished 2 minutes apart without realising how close the other was. Final times were Tamsin 3h49m (PB) and Rachel 3h51m (PB), both real quality times, only just outside the automatic qualifying times for London but on a significantly hilly course. Lucy also gained a PB with a time just outside 4hrs, and then tried to convince us all that she hadn't really trained for the race. What could she do if she did train ??
The special mention of the day has to go to Dave Lashbrook. After giving exclusive TV interviews - bigging up the club! - he started the race with a dodgy knee, which gave up on him at about 15miles. This left just a modest 11 mile stroll back to the finish, after his support team provided a change of clothes. He still finished comfortably under 5 hours, without any fuss. And a PB. What a legend!!!

And finally - the mens team (First 4 scoring) came 5th out of 57 teams - a remarkable achievement.

BAR scores after 11 events

2008-11-19T22:32:00.003Z

MEN

1st James DEAR 97pts
2nd Rob HOODLESS 78
Dave JONES 78
4th Steve ALDEN 58
5th Dave LASHBROOK 53
6th Stu NISBETT 51
Jon WEBSTER 51
8th Lawrence WINTERGOLD 37
9th Callum MURRAY 12
10th Andy HEATH 10
11th Mike McLoughlin 9
Steve McMenamin 9
13th Howard PICKETT 8
14th Phil COUCH 6
15th David RICKETTS 4
16th Matt RECORD 3
17th Chris DURRANT 1
John LARDNER 1

WOMEN

1st Rachel BAKER 85pts
2nd Claire CRESSWELL 57
3rd Lucy WILLIAMS 36
4th Margaret HOLLAMBY 30
5th Tamsin DOUGLAS-SMITH 29
6th Debbie NISBETT 16
7th Katherine PREEDY 8
8th Emma ALDEN 7
Kay McMENAMIN 7
10th Julie WILLIAMS 6
Alice WINTERGOLD 6

Dave Jones makes it two in a row at Brighton

2008-11-19T22:10:00.002Z

16 MSTC athletes completed the Brooks Brighton 10K last Sunday. First 4 home were in the same order as at Barns Green, with Phil Couch getting 5th spot ahead of Steve Alden. Phil is getting back into it after the twins so probably has a lot more to come next year. Callum was next home again showing how well he is running and cruising away from Dave Lashbrook in the closing stages. Our first 8 athletes were all inside 42m03s, which shows how good our thursday night running sessions really are as so many have improved. Steve Mac coped will with his leg problems to stay inside 50 minutes.

Rachel led the girls home, overhauling Lucy late on. It was good to see Debbie Nisbett out running again, and not far of her PB and under 50 minutes. Alice was also out running again, clocking 56.55, but well beaten by a competitive first run by Kay McMenamin. Claire kept under 61mins for a creditable performance again.

It was nice to see some old friends in the field with Jamie Goodhead and Paul Hedger both spotted.

MEN

Dave Jones 54th 35.47 10pts
James Dear 82nd 36.53 9
Rob Hoodless 182nd 39.28 8
Jon Webster 234th 40.21 7
Phil Couch 257th 40.26 6
Steve Alden 275th 41.17 5
Callum Murray 303rd 41.31 4
Dave Lashbrook 338th 42.03 3
Steve McMenamin 1121st 49.43 2
Lawrence Wintergold Time not available 1

WOMEN

Rachel Baker 592nd 45.28 10pts
Lucy Williams 601st 45.39 9
Debbie Nisbett 1136th 49.51 8
Kay McMenamin 1528th 54.48 7
Alice Wintergold 1678th 56.55 6
Claire Cresswell 1971st 60.59 5

Dave Jones gets top 20 at Barns Green

2008-11-05T18:57:00.003Z

13 athletes took part in the Barns Green Half Marathon. Dreadful weather the day before put some people off, but those who raced had virtually perfect conditions - except for the unexpected cross country section at 5 miles!!

Dave Jones blitzed the field finishing in 17th out of 1283 finishers. The top 3 men finished as 8th team (of 41) with strong back up performances from James Dear and Rob Hoodless. The girls came 18th team of 23.

Dave Lashbrook and Callum Murray can now be considered as 'out of the closet' as far as running goes, with PBs both well under 1h40m.

One or two runners were overheard suggesting they could have run faster if they hadn't run a 20 mile road run the previous weekend, and others were bemoaning poor choice of 'gel strategy' - clearly the excuses were coming thick and fast from some quarters.

No excuses from the girls. PB for Rachel - again, as the girls were headed home by Margaret in an impressive 1h41m53s

RESULTS

MEN
Dave Jones 17th 1h20m56s 10pts
James Dear 39th 1h23m48s 9
Rob Hoodless 115th 1h31m13s 8
Jon Webster 125th 1h31m30s 7
Steve Alden 147th 1h33m18s 6
Dave Lashbrook 243rd 1h37m50s 5
Callum Murray 283rd 1h39m14s 4
Lawrence Wintergold 1h45m33s 3
Howard Pickett 2h00m21s 2

WOMEN
Margaret Hollamby 347th 1h41m53s 10pts
Rachel Baker 451st 1h46m04s 9
Katherine Preedy 970th 2h03m59s 8
Claire Cresswell 1186th 2h21m27s 7

BAR POSITIONS AFTER 10 RACES

2008-11-05T18:47:00.002Z

MEN

1st James DEAR 88pts
2nd Rob HOODLESS 70
3rd Dave JONES 68
4th Steve ALDEN 53
5th Stuart NISBETT 51
6th Dave LASHBROOK 50
7th Jon WEBSTER 44
8th Loz WINTERGOLD 36
9th Andy HEATH 10
10th Mike McLOUGHLIN 9
11th Howard Pickett 8
Callum MURRAY 8
13th Steve MacMENEMIN 7
David RICKETTS 4
15th Mat RECORD 3
16th Chris DURRANT 1
John LARDNER 1

WOMEN

1st Rachel BAKER 75pts
2nd Claire CRESSWELL 52
3rd Margaret HOLLAMBY 30
4th Tamsin DOUGLAS-SMITH 29
5th Lucy WILLIAMS 27
6th Debbie NISBETT 8
7th Katherine PREEDY 8
8th Emma ALDEN 7
9th Julie WILLIAMS 6

Maltese Triathlon

2008-10-10T14:47:00.000+01:00

Defiantly one I would recommend for next year, just as its getting freezing here pop over there to the perfect conditions with the temp at about 20c. The local triathletes and sports club could not do enough for us, ferrying us all over the place, meals and barby’s around their houses and generally making sure we were well looked after, they also got us massively reduced rates in the hotel, £35 a night per room.

Unfortunately I was unable to race in my planed Olympic distance, the dreaded man flu had knocked me about a bit, so as it was paid for we would still go and I would get a few beers in and show my support….

Anyway I got roped into doing the swim section of a sprint relay and Kay did the run section, the swim was great although my time of 15.20 was not so great. I would love to blame the conditions but it was like swimming in your bath, that is if you had a 750 meter salt water bath. Kay came in rather hot with a 29 min 5 km a few litres of water later and she stopped steaming.

The BTA were there and did a better reporting job than me http://www.tri247.com/article_4144_ChooseMalta.com+Triathlon+Championships+report.html?region_id=&category=

Results at
http://www.maltatriathlon.org/

Six Wusses in Search of an Easy Life

2008-09-24T15:01:00.002+01:00

While the Half Ironman nutters were enduring a world of self-inflicted pain in the New Forest, six MSTC wusses (and extras) found an easier way to spend a glorious Sunday morning at the Crawley Tri Club’s Late Summer Tri at K2.

After a delayed start – organisation not quite up to the high standard established by the Mid Sussex Triathlon – Lawrence Wintergold gave his usual strong performances on the bike and run to finish first of the six, with a time of 01:11.40, coming second in the Veterans 1/2 category out of 42 contestants.

But one triathlon wasn’t enough for Lawrence and he was last seen on a ‘warm-down’ that seemed set to cover the entire run course – a picturesque but hilly route through Tilgate Forest – for a second time. ‘This’ll confuse the marshals,’ were his parting words.

Next was Martin Hollamby, Margaret’s son, a ringer drafted in from BAD Tri in Bath.

Last seen in these parts falling off his mum’s bike on a muddy lane near Plumpton, Martin set the record straight with an impressive time of 01:15:23 and a seventh-place finish in the Senior category (60 contestants).

Mat Record and John Liebers finished together in a touching display of club esprit de corps, with Mat’s strong swim in the 50-metre pool propelling him to a time of 01:18:59 and a 12th-place finish in the Senior category. John also performed well to clock 01:23:13 and 12th place in the Veterans 1/2 race

Margaret, as is customary, was first woman home in the Veterans 3/4 category, in second place out of 13 contestants overall, with a time of 01:24:35 and an all-round strong performance across the three disciplines.

Callum Murray was fifth in the same category with a time of 01:27:11, after bike and run legs with which he/I was happy. His/my swimming could do with some work, though. He/I was still being overtaken by breast-strokers!

BAR update after 9 events

2008-09-23T22:13:00.002+01:00

MEN

1st James DEAR 79pts
2nd Rob HOODLESS 62
3rd Dave JONES 58
4th Stu NISBETT 51
5th Steve ALDEN 47
6th Dave LASHBROOK 45
7th Jon WEBSTER 37
8th Loz WINTERGOLD 33
9th Andy HEATH 10
10th Mike McLOUGHLIN 9
11th Steve MacMENEMIN 7
12th Howard PICKETT 6
13th Callum MURRAY 4
David RICKETTS 4
15th Mat RECORD 3
16th Chris DURRANT 1
John LARDNER 1

WOMEN

1st Rachel BAKER 66pts
2nd Claire CRESSWELL 45
3rd Tamsin DOUGLAS-SMITH 29
4th Lucy WILLIAMS 27
5th Margaret HOLLAMBY 20
6th Debbie NISBETT 8
7th Emma ALDEN 7
8th Julie WILLIAMS 6

Super Hilly New Forest Race Tamed

2008-09-23T21:51:00.002+01:00

A remarkable turnout of 10 athletetes at The New Forest Middle Distance Triathlon, made Mid Sussex Tri Club the most represented club in the race. With two 3rd places and one 4th place in the age groups and good performances across the board this was a race that will not be forgotten.
I can confidently say that no-one will forget that run route. Whether we were mountain climbing up the slopes, or abseiling down again, I doubt if there is a tougher half marathon leg in a middle distanc race in the country.
The honours went to James Dear and Tamsin, but there was alot of close racing. And surely the performance of the day went to Clare, who may not have been the quickest, but was rightly so pleased with her performance that she was buzzing for the rest of the day.
A huge well done to all 10 athletes, because that was one tough race.

Men

1st James Dear 5h16m15s (20th) 10pts
2nd Jon Webster 5h32m07s (55th) 9
3rd Dave Lashbrook 5h34m41s (62nd) 8
4th Rob Hoodless 5h35m39s (66th) 7
5th Steve Alden 5h38m37s (69th) 6
6th Steve Mac 6h24m46s (204th) 5
7th Howard Pickett 7h2m36s (279th) 4

Women

1st Tamsin D-Smith 6h31m26s (221st) 10pts
2nd Rachel Baker 6h33m49s (233rd) 9
3rd Claire Cresswell 7h24m59s (310th) 8

Southwater relays

2008-09-08T21:39:00.002+01:00

Yet another lovely weekend in England for racing! Yet this did not put off the 137 teams rocking up early Sunday to race. Although three teams in the results seem to be missing some members. Maybe they got lost under the bed covers. I know that i was tempted!

Never the less Mid Sussex had two teams entered. Tamsin lead off the Barbie girls and David Jones went first for D,K,N,Y,2,TRI. Both managed to put in faster times than last year in slower conditions. Tamsin improved by an impressive 2mins and 34secs!

Katherine was a little shocked when she had the lead going into the swim! However, despite the pressure, managed a good performance in only her 3rd Tri. Lucy looked like she had a slick transition and held good run form to complete her leg in good style.

It was also Nikki's 3rd Tri, in which she put a good race together. After a strong swim Nikki was clearly in a state of flow as she flew into T1. Managing to maintain the flow Nikki brought the team home in 74th. Rachel was also clearly focused on the job at hand as she waited in the change over box. Her time brought The Barbie girls home in 85th and 5th in all female catagorie.

Congratulations to all that took part and lets hope we have more teams next year!?!

The long and the short of it.

2008-09-04T23:12:00.002+01:00

If you don't want to read the very long post!

I raced Bedford Olympic and had a bad race.

I raced the world long course and was happy with my performance and had a lot of fun.

Thanks,

David

The long and the short of it!

2008-09-03T14:50:00.006+01:00

The past two weekends could not have been any more different. Once again I turned up to race the Jordans Bedford Olympic on the bank holiday weekend. This was followed by the ITU World 03 championships.

Early on Sunday the 24th August I drove up to Bedford hoping the weather would start to improve, and that after the first taper week of the year, a fast time would be on. After queuing for registration under an umbrella the rain finally stopped for the start of a race. Florian Leder set the early pace for the swim with a 20mins 47secs while I was a little too relaxed with a 26min swim, never finding a good rhythm. The wind had not dropped on the bike and with the roads still wet I rode some interesting lines round the course. I held back on the bike as I was looking to have a solid run. Although comfortable with the effort my intestines had other ideas! I set the 3rd fastest bike split of the day just 25sec behind Mark Livesey and his 1hr 02mins 20secs. I had good pace for the first lap of the three lap run course. Unfortunately I had to take a diversion to the loos. I managed to recover a little for the second lap but had another pit stop and just jogged the last lap. Steve Harrison eventual winner in 2hrs 26secs, had the fastest run split of the day with 35mins 23secs.

This year’s worlds were held in sunny Almere, Holland. Yet another early start, I begrudgingly set my alarm for 04:00 on Friday 29th to catch my 06:15 flight to Amsterdam. The journey was running smoothly until the 45min coach transfer took 90min. The team became a little concerned when the driver started to back track. He eventually drove to the nearest town, and pulled over to ask the direction to Centre parcs, which was the base for the weekend. Once we found the cottages we had to leave again for Almere, some 15k away, as registration closed mid afternoon.

Saturday morning I rode to Almere for the bike racking and to have a second breakfast, I recommend a Turkish No 1 if anyone races next year!

Race day came round all too quickly. The forecast was for a scorcher of a day and the weather did not disappoint. Blue sky and a strong breeze the race started at 08:55 with 1000 other men taking the plunge for a 4k swim that turn out to be closer to 4.5k. The start was busy and after 700m the first turn buoy appeared. Turning greater than 100 degrees the sun presented a sighting issue which made the next 400m more like 500m as the pack zigged and zagged to the next turn buoy where we headed back to the swim start. The second lap missed the second turn buoy and headed into the current and the sun for 2.5k. The wind had whipped up some waves and made the same a real challenge. Once, after what felt like an age, it was time to climb out of the harbour onto some steps and off to T1. Looking at my watch expecting to see 65min I was a little taken back to see 86min had passed by.

I had a smooth and easy transition and felt good on the bike for the first 500m and then turned in to a strong head wind. At this point I was not sure my plan of catching up the lost swim time was going to work so I backed off and stuck with my original pacing plan. The first lap was busy on the bike with lots of people pick off. Unfortunately some seem to think that 10m is the same as 10cm and groups had formed on the bike. The wind increased in strength as the temperature started to ramp up. I spent the first half of the second lap 60k lap trying to catch a group 400m up the road. It really shows how much of a difference drafting makes as the group pulled away from me in a head or side wind and came back with a tail wind. On a long section of side wind I gradually caught the pack and with one of the many 90 degree turns had a tail wind and blew past the pack.

A super slick T2 saw me settle into a strong early pace. I had a little cramp at 7.5k after think that I maybe on for a sub 2hour run. So ran nice and steady after stretching my left hamie a couple of times. Then I got to the 17k mark and the wheels start to fall off! I ran / shuffled to the next aid station and stopped to have a gel. The only reason I started to run again is because on the USA coaches told me to start running again. Thank you! I ran the 500m to the next aid and had some hot cross buns and a wee. I then just worked on running to the next aid 3.5k away. After this I settled into a good rhythm and just walked the aid stations eating hot cross buns as I went. Brilliant!

I managed 8th in my age group and feel relatively happy with my performance.

Thank you to all the support people in the club have given me over the past year. Bring on Ironman Austria and a sub 09:45!

David

Brighton Sea Swim

2008-09-01T10:04:00.002+01:00

The event is a 1 mile challenging sea swim between Hove Lawn (next to the King Alfred leisure Centre) & Brunswick Lawn (the Peace Statue).

Just a quick one on this, very good swim nice and friendly as i discovered on the start line, i took the washing machine position in the centre front row, off we go ... no flailing arms or kicks to the face... i mean really how are you supposed to get worked up if everyone in the position is so considerate.

Swim out and then a turn to the left, just then i realised that it was against the current which i was not expecting, so I had to setle in for a long hard slog, I was in the leading group for most of the way but fell off the pace in the last third of the race and came in at 47:04 two minutes behind the winner this put me in 20th position.

Its a nice race and i think we should have it as a club swim next year the only negative is that you have no idea where the finish line is I only spotted it because there was an unusually large number of people gathered on the beach.. barbeque party of finish line? fortunately it was the finish.

Thanks to James Dear who turned up in support and the Saturday Cycling lads who were also there posing in there Lycra on the prom.

Club Competitions

2008-08-13T14:15:00.001+01:00

All Members Competition (BAR)

After 8 Events

MENS

Pos Name (No. of events) Points Ave. POWT
1 James Dear (7) 69 7.83
2 Dave Jones (7) 58 12.98
3 Rob Hoodless (8) 55 19.92
4 Stu Nisbett (7) 51 17.93
5 Steve Alden (8) 41 24.85
6 David Lashbrook (7) 37 22.34
7 Lawrence Wintergold (4) 33 12.54
8 Jon Webster (6) 28 23.10
9 Andy Heath (3) 10 28.14
10 Mike McLoughlin (1) 9 16.20
11= Callum Murray (2) 4 37.19
11= David Ricketts (1) 4 39.17
13 Mat Record (1) 3 25.74
14= Steve McMenamin (1) 2 36.67
14= Howard Pickett (2) 2 56.48
16= Chris Durrant (1) 1 44.60
16= John Lardner (1) 1 45.91
16= Simon King (1) 1 49.10

WOMENS

Pos Name (No. of events) Points Ave. POWT
1 Rachel Baker (6) 57 27.67
2 Claire Cresswell (5) 37 51.00
3 Lucy Williams (3) 27 48.59
4 Margaret Hollamby (2) 20 18.64
5 Tamsin Douglas-Smith (2) 19 33.27
6 Debbie Nisbett (1) 8 24.84
7 Emma Alden (1) 7 54.81
8 Julie Williams (1) 6 73.30

Club Championships

Sprint Distance - Sussex Triathlon

MENS

1st Dave Jones
2nd James Dear
3rd Stu Nisbett

WOMENS

1st Margaret Hollamby
2nd Rachel Baker
3rd Debbie Nisbett

Olympic Distance - Worthing

MENS

1st James Dear
2nd Rob Hoodless
3rd Stu Nisbett

WOMENS

1st Rachel Baker
2nd Tamsin Douglas-Smith
3rd Claire Cresswell

Best Athlete

MENS

The following have completed the required number and type of events:
Name POWT
Dave Jones 10.47
Stuart Nisbett 12.58
Rob Hoodless 16.27
Dave Lashbrook 18.48
Steve Alden 21.35

The rest of the men and women need to complete more events, in particular a long distance event, e.g. the middle distance tri or marathon to qualify.