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!    

Cruising                                                25-07-2010

Malc Davies breezed through a sea of althetes to a top ten age group finish in a time of 4:20:07 at Ironman 70.3 Antwerp.  Malc showed his pedegree by finishing amoungst many of the best age groupers, and only just over half an hour behind the overall winner!  

Despite a minor mishap with a timing chip, Malc was the man with the plan and cruised through a two lap bike in a time of 2:15:59 and smacked the run with a 1:28:25 over 21 km!  The picturesque scenery on the run would have gone past in a flash, with Malc having jets on his heels, he swifly covered the run, and ran down the finishing chute on the promenade. 

Congratulations on your race Malc.  Now.  Where are those speculoos????

Ironman Switzerland

Matt Winn-Smith, Keith Sanders, Steve Walker and Bruno Mahsoudi-You Are Ironmen!! Zurich is not a course for the faint hearted and our 4 Tritons drew a line in the sand and went for it, bringing home 4 PB's!

The swim was a case of survival of the fittest, with punching fists, goggle hogs and human buoys just a few of the things that an Ironman must endure, at the START of the race.  Though this prooved to be a bit of an energy drainer, the boys rallied and sailed through T1 and onto the bike.

Early on, it was clear that these four were on form to do great times, despite the scorching heat burning their backs and a two lap bike course that took them up the infamous 'beast.'  Our quartet finished in 5:07:21 (MWS), 5:13:42 (KS), 5:29:05 (SW) and 5:47:22 (BM) to the shouts of a well rounded support crew of Walkers, Sanders and Winn-Smiths.  Shoes off and through T2 to the searing heat of the run and our 4 were off.

Yet again, pedal to the metal and making tracks Matt set the pace for the run with a fantastic 3:09:15, Keith and Bruno following suit by finishing well under the 4 hour mark and Steve in 4:00:06!  Hot temperatures and an unforgiving run course over 4 loops  didn't make an easy day for the Tritons, but they perservered, with Matt, Keith, Steve and Bruno charging home to the screams of supporters and a varitable wall of colour and noise in 9:25:32, 10:00:53, 10:49:06 and 11:11:19 respectively.

An incredible day for the boys, and a well earned glass or two of vino!  Congratulations.  

Two for Two!!                                                           18-07-2010

Rob Baker is on a roll!!!  Two straight second place finishes:  One at Leybourne Lakes and the other this weekend at the 3rd race in the National Rankings Series, Worthing Triathlon!  Joining him in a dual 2nd place age group win was Vernon Thomas, with our International Man of Mystery, Will Smart placing 9th in his AG!

A rough sea swim with shipwrecked swimmers right and left was no hindrance for Rob.  Hands like paddles and outboard motor kicking, the choppy swells calmed and the sea parted with Rob finishing in 21:39.  Always unpredictable, the sea swims make a testing challenge for the start of a tri, and certainly 'Team 229' were the taskmasters with Will finishing in 29:41 and Vern in 35:43.

A 43 km undulating bike was assisted by a nice tail wind on the way out, and some wicked downhills on the way back.  Rob led our crew with a time of 1:05:00, with Vern screaming through on a 1:14:11 and Will in 1:28:35.

Along the promanade obstacle course of dogs, pedestrians and early morning joggers, Team 229 finished in a flourish with a seasons best time for Rob in 2:05:48, 2:42:20 for Vernon and a dramatic 6 and half minute improvement on last year for Will in 2:47:18.

Congrats!

White Oak Washout!                                        11-07-2010

The strength of Tritons force was felt 'en mass' at The 21st Annual White Oak Triathlon this weekend.  6 Tritons took part, with three top 5 finshes in age group, and Louise Johnson's first tri of the season! 

A local race, run in Kent, entry fees aren't too dear and the race is good value with lots of marshals and a nice off road run in the park.  The pool swim can get a bit conjested but that certainly didn't stop Matt Winn-Smith and Steve Wand from smashing out a 6:50 and 6:41 swim! 

Finishing just behind Matt in 9th position overall, Ed Simpson was on form also claiming the 6th fastest bike split of the day in 42:09!  Steve claimed a bronze medal in MV50 finishing in fine form.

Onto the run where Simon Sayer and Gary Shaw cruised through the 8km park run to 1:36:34 and 1:40:29 fininshes. Congratulations to Louise Johnson on completing your first tri of the year! 

Just a little Refresher...

A great race discovery at Black Sheep Ripon Olympic Tri this weekend- fantastic organization, great goody bags, post race food, a very family friendly race where it seems that its all in the small details!

Peppi-Marie Holder was our Tritoness with the mostest this weekend, fighting her way through the jam packed swim, led our Pep to a 29 min swim-her fastest split so far this season over 1500m! 

A searing hot day meant extra attention to fluids, and alot of extra effort.  Peppi emptied the tank on the undulating and rolling course, finishing in the top quarter of her age group.

With visions of ice lollies and £2 pints dancing in her head, our Peppi screamed along the country lanes, down the canal, running to the home straight. 

A very tough day but a good value race to put on your calendar for next year.  'Ba ba black ....'

Gatorade Big Half

Coralie Glaunes was a whirling dervish with her sights on a high finish.  This weekend at Trentham Gardens Coz bagged a hard earned 2nd place overall finish in the ladies category prooving that yes, she is on form for Budapest!  Not too far behind in my first race in too many moons was yours truely, Lorie Penner, sporting a suprising 9th place overall finish in the ladies category. 

After a smash up in the punch bowl swim that lasted an arduous 1900m over 4 laps, Coz and Loz came out of the swim neck and neck. Through the shoe transition and onto the neverending run to T2 made for a grand opportunity to shake out the cobwebs from the swim.

The bike course was a undulating mixture of long drags and climbs to fast descents.  On an extremely hot weekend we were fortunate to get a fairly good temperature to race in, but this still meant battling humidity and cycling directly into a headwind!  After one last tip of her Aero helmet, Coralie put her head down and was off and I was not to see her again until the run.  Fortunately, with three different races going on there were lots of shouts of encouragement from fellow racers: 'Do you come here often?', enthusiastic marshalls:  'Yarrrrrrrrrr!!' and excited spectators:  'Well done!'  The cycle was a great experience of tarmac and athlete with the hum of rolling wheels and the beautiful countryside in the background.  

After nearly 92 km of racing and a 5 lap bike, the idea of a 21 km run was enough to make your head spin.  However, with the 4 lap run taking place alongside the lake inside Trentham Gardens, there was plenty to distract your mind from the task at hand.  Coralie had a stunning run bringing her home to the finish in 5:37:54 over the 'flat' course, and Lorie in 6:13:34.  Though visions of Wendy Ingram's 'Ironman crawl' were floating through my mind, I managed to finish strongly with some left in the tank.

A great opportunity to get back in the saddle, great weather and great company.  A race you might like to put in your calendar for next season.  Congratulations to Coralie on her 2nd place addition to her silverware collection!!