National Club Relay Championships                       21-08-2010

Its called the triathlon equivalent of Glastonbury, a ledgendary weekend of racing, camping and partying-complete with mud, rain and wellies!  It was a big weekend for the Tritons who 'rocked' the race starting with the ladies coming 3rd female team overall!  Here comes the girls creamed the competition in 3:35:31, but following close behind was Team 185, leading all the Tritons mixed teams in a total time of 3:36:16, placing 31st overall! 

The nature of the relays is a chaotic mix of athletes and spectators creating an atmosphere that is contagious!  This year was not without its small moments of chaos but the Tritons came through with some great results.  Some fantastic splits highlight a cumulative split of 31:24 in the swim for Team 115, a 1:36:13 bike split for Team 114 and a 1:21:42 for Team 185!  Many of the teams put more in than they thought and therefore this makes the result all that much sweeter. 

This year, was the year of the double double, which saw Steve Wood cream the Nottingham Sprint the next day off the back of a bbq dinner fit for champions!  A top ten age group finish and 35th place overall set the bar for all those challengers for next year!  Chapeau!

A fantastic weekend of laughs and definitley not one to miss next year.  Well done to everyone who raced!

Team Lifestyle Bexhill Sprint Triathlon

The International Man of Mystery was spotted again at the 2nd annual Bexhill Sprint Tri.  It was a testing morning for Will Smart as the sky opened and the rain thundered down for the duration of the race making a choppy swim in a churing sea.  Despite the strong current and the horrendous weather Will posted a 13:32!

A minor mishap in T1 didn't slow Will down and he was off onto the 25km bike, head down to the lashing rain and charging up the hills speeding over the terrain over 3 minutes faster than last year.  After the initial uphill to get out of Bexhill, the ride was fairly flat and it was a case of hanging on and just keeping it steady.

23 second PB on the run this year for an overall finish of 1:27:11, in 11th place in M 20-24.

Well done to you on your result!

Hackney Marsh Half Marathon

Cedric Lassonde has done it again, adding another first place finish overall in the half marathon to his list of extreme accomplishments!  Cedric posted a 1:12:21 showing he is well on the road to preparation for the XTerra in Switzerland!  Congratulations on your result.

Bedford Olympic Triathlon                                    15-08-2010

Another Tritontastic weekend for our 5 strong troupe at the British Triathlon Championship!

Rob Baker led the way this weekend in Bedford with a 2:09:18 for an 8th place AG finish, and 45th overall!  Vern Thomas, Rob and Coralie Glaunes all posted top ten AG finishes, placing 4th, 8th and 9th respectively. 

Steve Woods was on form and posted a 2:20:37 while Will Smart smashed a 2:48:54 finishing in the top 25 in his age group. 

Congratulations on a great race.

Roll on the Ironman tally!   3 more Tritons claimed by the new sensation that is sweeping the nation....

Outlaw!                                                        08-08-2010

So good it 'oughta' be outlawed?  If the comments from the athletes are anything to go by then the inaugural Outlaw Ironman 'oughta' be experienced!  Jumping right from sprint to Ironman and missing everything inbetween, Kelly Jorgensen matched the gruelling pace that the Tritons have been keeping this season and made our Ironman total now 14!

After an easy stretch out over the 3.8km swim posting 1:02:12, Kelly entered T2 and with his trusted steed began the epic journey out over the realm of Notting'hood.'  The scenic journey takes you through over an undulating course past lakes, through forests and villages finally landing you back to Holme Pierrepoint for the beginning of the most arduous section of the race, the marathon.  

Despite an imperfect build up of running leading up to the Outlaw, Kelly managed a sub 4:30:00 run split- a solid and steady run that brought him through the finish line to thunderous applause in a time of 11:46:29!   A fantastic result, congratulations.

DIUK 

Glenn pulled another Hat-rick this weekend when he not only smashed an Ironman, but just for good measure, made it a double!  Glenn has finally found his distance-double Ironman, because, not only did he do both legs of the double marathon faster than when he did them in a single Ironman, but he also claimed 4th spot overall, after only 28 hours and 20 minutes of racing.

The swim is a 7.6km maze of lines in a pool.  Not quite sure how one does not go mad or dazed and confused after trying to keep track of how many laps or how far you've gone, but Glenn mastered the swim and made it look easy in a time of 2:39:20.  

Into T2 where Team Hatrick was under strict instructions to supply food, food, and more food. Thanks to the supplies of the Belfast clan, Glenn was carbed up and ready to go well into the night, and thus he went off on the bike.  One rescue, endless laps through the cover of darkness and 360km later, the long bike was over and what remained was 84km of running.  Easy peasy.

Glenn wrapped up this crazy race with the 3rd fastest run split of the day and still he looked at the ambulance with defiance. 

Congratulations on an amazing race.  One more to add to the list of Ironmen for 2010.  Well done!

The Norseman

More news in the world of extreme triathlon where Simon Neville decided to up the ante and race across the pond in Eidfjord, Norway at the Ironman called the Norseman.

What do we know about the Norseman?
1.  Its bloomin hard and 226km of mixed terrain road/off road and x country
2.  You must have your own car support crew-there is only one aid station on the run
3.  Weather on the mountain is extreme and can and will affect race day accordingly

After a likely sleepless night and a 3am registration, Simon and his fellow athletes were escorted via boat to the start of the race in the middle of the Hardangerfjord.  5 am kickoff to the sound of the ship's horn and they were off.  Simon posted a 1:27:03 swim in cool water between 15-17C-pretty good going!!  

Support crew in tow, Simon headed off round the 180km bike leg over 3 serious climbs with a few others inbetween and over the treacherous and hilly mountain roads-the first climb taking him from 0-1250m above sea level.  On a varying course with many steep inclines and resulting fast descents, a support car with a multitude of wardrobe changes is imperative!  The final  climb of the day up Imingfjell took Simon through T2 in 8:41:50.  A very respectible time on such a difficult course.

The first 20km of the marathon are a fairly steady and flat route, but the next 17km are where it gets interesting with a wide variety of terrain including sharp hills, and jagged rocks that required althetes to walk not run.  Simon posted a 4:46:12-an absolutely amazing split considering the amount of climbin and mult terrain experienced over this entire race.  The finish of the run is a rocky path that takes the average competitor 1hour and 20min to walk up!!  

Hands down to you Simon on your 15:10:32, another extremist in our midst!  Well done!

London Triathlon  

6 Tritons a PB and two medals make for a happy team.  Jane Hinne and Gavin Rand raked in the goods on home turf posting 2nd and 3rd positions in age groups!  

On a windy and challenging course Gavin managed to defy the aggressions of the Batman and PB over 3min faster than last year. Jane was on fire and posted a 1:08:58 bike split-clearly all the Bexley TT's are working their magic!  Diccon Driver was second Triton home, posting a 1:04:33 bike split for a sub 2:30 finish in 2:28:36.  Off the back of a successful Dextro Energy London where he posted a 2:24:37, Arvid Tage came through the finish 3rd Triton home in a time of 2:34:40. 

Hot on Arvids heels, finishing only 27s. apart on the bike was Andrew Smith in a time of 2:37:31.  In his debut triathlon of the season, Ian Trim posted a 2:39:17, a fantastic time for the first race of the season. 

Congratulations to all that raced this iconic race!

Some absolutely stunning Ironman proformances this past weekend bringing our Tritons Ironman total to 11! Whether its home or away, our clan sweeps the field and brings back the goods.  Read on... 

Champions @ IMUK                                       01-08-2010

Dann, Claro, Harris and Elvidge.   4 men with performances that led to an impressive day 'oop' North in Bolton.  Each one with their own demons to battle, they headed to the mass start for 6am.

Veterans of the sport of Ironman, Mitch and Carlos, exited the water under the hour, within 5 seconds of eachother, cruising through T1 with lightning speed and onto the bike.  Ironman virgins, Johnny and Jason followed with a promising start in 1:14:41 and 1:23:47.

A challenging and undulating ride, with 2183m of climbing is no easy task, and with a marathon to look forward to keeping your mind focused in the moment is a challenge upon itself.  Mitch and Carlos performed admirably, cruising through right around the 6:30 mark.  Eye on the prize, with the 6 Bells ringing in their ears, Johnny and Jason powered through to a 7:11:37 and 7:41:26 bike respectively. 

Onto the marathon where survival is the name of the beast, Mitch and Johnny knocked themselves out both posting sub 4 hour marathon splits!  Considering that the first 3 miles of the run are x country, raced on jelly legs from the 180km bike, the boys rose to the top.  Carlos and Jason perservered and pushed themselves to their limits and amid the wall of noise in the finishing chute heard the words so desperate after a long day-You are an Ironman!

Congratulations on your race!

Ironman Regensberg

Another Ironman medal for Sue and Jon Godsell this weekend in Southern Germany, at the inaugural Ironman Regensberg.  A beautiful course set throughout the picturesque countryside of lakes and rivers and cobblestone streets of the old, historic town.

The swim started with a charge from the beach into the water.  Predictably, with elbows out, swimmers kicked and punched their way through the narrow starting gap to try and get into a decent rhythm.  The swim turned out to be quite challenging, with high congestion making it difficult to site the buoys and navigate around the swim.  Despite this Sue and Jon both posted fast swims, Jon going under the hour and Sue prizing a 1:04:33!

The scenic bike route provided some challenging hill climbs in a 20km section just south of the River Danube through the Nature Reserve, broken up by some lovely long flat sections to get down and get aero!  Two loops of the course brought Jon in just over 5 and half hours, and Sue in 5:51:18.  A fantastic split for both, looking strong and ready to cream the marathon and go under the 4 hour mark.

The spectator lined run course was a welcome encouragement with a 42km run ahead.  The 4 loop course took the athletes through scenic areas of Danube Island and past world heritage sites through the city center.   Jon had a steady run throughout, struggling a bit to hold onto the pace from the punishing effort he put in on the bike leg. Sue had a fantastic run, staying fairly consistent each loop, chasing down the competition and taking places as she ran.  Both Mr and Mrs ran sub 4 hour marathons, finishing within 1 min of one another, Sue PB'ing and breaking the 11 hour barrier in 10:55:51, and Jon in 10:32:11!  Sue placed extremely well within the field of ladies coming 40th overall female and posting a top ten finish-7th in her age group!

A great race, congrats to you both!