Paul Lunn took part in Ironman Cairns in Queensland, Australia, and qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October. The event was over the full Ironman distance of:swim 2.4 miles.
bike 112 miles.
run 26.2 miles.
It was a long day and Paul had to use all of his mental strength and dedication to "tough it out" and finish. He put himself under pressure to do well again, and the pressure to perform this time was immense; but he earned his trip to Kona.
Paul said: "It was not the race I wanted but I got the job done. My day didn’t quiet go to plan to say the least. I survived the swim which was pretty choppy but luckily not as bad as it had been over the previous days (and I didn’t get eaten by a crocodile, which is always a bonus). As I exited the water, I hit the lap button on my watch and it just froze, oh dear, well I have 5 hours to get it fixed, I guess.
Got on the bike and was making good progress, the riding was very honest, no groups and everyone respecting the 12-meter rule. The ride was tougher that I was expecting due to the poor road surfaces, lots of chip seal which just saps your power. Got to the final turn at the north end of the course and then it was a 40mile slog back to T2 into a block headwind. All was going well until I hit 100 miles when I felt ill and had to nurse the bike home, and very nearly called it a day, you can’t run a marathon on empty!
I had no idea where I was in the race but thought I must be about 3rd or 4th in my Age Group and knowing there could be around 10 Kona slots, I decided to just try and run. I started running super easy knowing I wouldn’t be able to take any nutrition on, still feeling ill, but I wasn’t being passed by many, so I just had to keep moving. My watch was still not working which was probably a good thing.
Anyway, after a lot of soul searching I managed some how to cross the finish line in 9:40 and 6th place in my Age Group, job done, Kona slot secured and my sub 10 Ironman record stays intact, just. Now for some down time before rebuilding for the big dance in October."
Over 1,000 athletes lined up for the Ironman Triathlon in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Paul Lunn was 113th after the swim and then had the 17th fastest bike split, before dropping back a bit with the 100th fastest run split. Although he was overtaken on the run by athletes in his Age Group, he held on for 6th place in his 45-49 year Age Group, and managed to qualify for the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, in October, for the 3rd consecutive time.
42. Paul Lunn 1:03:06 5:01:05 3:36:13 = 9:40:24 AG 6th.
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The 3rd PACTRAC Mini-Series Triathlon of the summer took place from Oundle pool last Wednesday. We had our third different winner, with Scott Lloyd winning his first Mini-Series event.
Susie Freeman and Dan Bassett led the swim, over a minute ahead of Dan Whiter in third. Susie led the cyclists home ahead of Scott Lloyd and David Talbot, with Dan now in 4th.
Scott soon took the lead, early on the run, and inspite of still recovering from a cold, he had the fastest run of the night to secure victory by 3 1/2 minutes from David Edis who moved up to 2nd, just pipping David on the run-in, with Susie holding onto 4th place.
Results are on https://pactrac.co.uk/events/4220/
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PACTRAC had 3 competitor's in the British Championships at Leeds, plus another, Jonathan Oakey in the Junior Super-Series race.
Jonathan had another good day out at Leeds, coming 2nd in the Elite Junior race. This follows on from his 2nd place last week in the Junior Elite Triathlon at Blenheim. Another week, another Podium. This represents yet further improvement for Jonathan.
Aaron Godden said "Previous races have not gone to plan so I wanted to ensure this was a clean race with no blunders, ensuring I had left nothing out on the course which really took priority. To come away with my fastest swim, a strong bike on a lumpy course and a 40 minute run was my best performance yet this season."
71. Dan Wilson 24:39 1:10:01 40.35 = 2:15:15 AG 11.
140. Aaron Godden 27:10 1:13:24 40.39 = 2.21.13 AG 22.
192. Simon Guerin 23:38 1:15:38 47:09 = 2:26:25 AG 25.
In the Elite Junior Super-Sprint Triathlon, Jonathan Oakey recorded his second 2nd place in two weeks, amongst top opposition.
The distances were very short and sharp making for some close competition, with Jonathan coming in off of the bike in a group of 2, just taking 5 seconds longer in transition, and having to chase hard on the run, finishing just 8-seconds down in 2nd place.
The distances were:
swim 400 metres in the lake.
bike 6.25 miles
run 1.5 miles.
2. Jonathan Oakey 5:08 19:57 8:23 = 33:28
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Susie Freeman, Carol Smallman and the team of Sarah Haslam and Willow Worthington, all won their various categories in the AsKeenAsMustard swim run events at Ferry Meadows on Sunday.
The format was either a 10km race involving 6 runs and 5 swims or a 21km race with 13 runs and 12 swims. Competitor's were constantly changing discipline from run to swim and back, and had to run in their wetsuits and swim in their training shoes. Hand paddles and pull buoys are allowed in this format of racing, but everything that you start with, you have to finish with. The swims were all around Ferry Meadows using both the river and lakes in one big loop.
Willow said "The As Keen As Mustard swimruns are very well organised and marshaled. The course was great fun and challenging, with tricky water entries (easy when you slip in!), scrambling down muddy banks, clambering out of water under bridges, sunshine and a great team event."
10km event:
4. Susie Freeman 1:19:08 First female.
8. Andrea Robinett 1:24:36 Third female.
16. Heather Watts 1:34:32
18. Carol Smallman 1:36:17
19. Pedro Polson 1:37:17
39. Georgina Jennings 2:12:24
21km Team event:
5. Sarah Haslam & Willow Worthington - 1st Female Team. 3:47:39
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Dick Rollings competed in his first triathlon for a fair few years, in the Dartmouth Triathlon.
Distances were:
swim 750 meters in the sea.
bike 12.5 miles on wet roads.
run 3 miles
112. Dick Rollings 15:28 59:01 33:54 = 1:48:23 AG 4th
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The British Sprint Triathlon Championships took place at Nottingham on Saturday, with the best talent from around the country battling it out on the draft-legal course for Age Group medals. Unfortunately, due to the persistent rainfall during the week prior to the event, the Trent suffered with strong flows and poor water quality. The swim was, therefore, replaced with a 1-mile run to start the event, which became a Duathlon.
Distances were:
run: 1-mile. 1 lap around the River Trent.
bike 11.5 miles on closed roads. 5 laps.
run 3-miles. 3-laps.
126. Steve Hope 5:54 32:45 20:08 = 58:47 AG 10th.
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The 4th PACTRAC Mini-Series Triathlon of this "summer" was cancelled last Wednesday, due to heavy rain, causing too many puddles on the bike course. We will add a 9th event on, at the end, on Wednesday 17th July. The next Mini-Series race is tonight from Oundle at 7:30pm.
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The PACTRAC Peterborough Schools Triathlon takes place on Saturday 29th June from Stanground Academy for children aged 7-16. Entries are still open with competitors already representing many of the local schools. This is the first time that a Schools Triathlon has taken place, and it is hoped that it will become an annual event. The distances vary according to age. More details are here https://pactrac.co.uk/media/files/peterborough-schools-triathlon.pdf Entries close at 6pm on Friday 21st June with a medal and goodie bag for all competitors.
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9 PACTRACers took part in the Dambuster Triathlon from Whitwell, on the shores of Rutland Water, at the weekend.
Distances were:
swim 1500m - 2 laps of 750m with swimmers exiting after 1-lap and re-entering the water 5-yards later for the second lap. Rutland Water is very stony at the edges, so swimmers had to contend with this at both the start (beach start) and also half-way through the swim. The water was a comfortable 16 degrees and clear.
bike 26 miles. 1-lap around Oakham, Uppingham, Morcott, Ketton and Empingham. Their were 4 big hills including the triple hills of the "Rutland Ripple" between Oakham and Uppingham, as well as the Rookeries hill by Ketton Cement. At least it was dry and warm.
run 6.25 miles across the Dam to Normanton Church and back.
This is a good local event that has previously been the National Championships. The RAF were using it as their National Championships again this year, and Jonny Hines won the RAF Championships, was first PACTRACer home and 1st in his Age Group. Jonny put in a good all round performance, and averaged nearly 25mph on the bike section.
PACTRAC had 4 members finishing 1st in their respective Age Groups: Jonny Hines, Giles Cooper, Bill Haslam and Terry Murphy. Jon Crowley missed out on a podium spot with mechanical trouble, but finished strongly.
Jonny Hynes won the RAF Championships, with a great swim where he was 19th overall, and moving up to 6th on the bike.
7. Jonny Hynes 24:09 65:34 38:51 = 2:08:34 AG 1st and RAF Champion.
34. Giles Cooper 28:48 71:38 40:55 = 2:21:21 AG 1st.
50. Wayne Stainsby 27:48 74:49 42:46 = 2:25:23 AG 10.
62. Jon Crowley 27:04 74:46 44:50 = 2:26:40 AG 5.
95. Bill Haslam 27:57 79:26 47:40 = 2:35:03 AG 1st
96. Tom Moorhouse 29:23 77:18 48:34 = 2:35:15 AG 18
103. Steve Hope 29:30 80:04 46:16 = 2:35:50 AG 4
277. Willow Worthington 37:34 98:22 53:06 = 3:09:02 AG 12
282. Terry Murphy 39:12 89:23 61:27 = 3:10:02 AG 1st
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Carol Smallman competed in the swim,run event at Box End, organised by AsKeenAsMustard. Competitor's constantly changed from swimming to running, with 6 runs and 5 swim stages, over a total distance of 10km. This followed on from the opening event of the series in Ferry Meadows 2-weeks earlier, where Carol won her Age Group. At Box End she was pipped by just 82 seconds into second place. This was the 2nd in a series of 5 swim,run events taking place at various venues throughout the summer, the next one being at Grafham Water on 14th July.
24. Carol Smallman 1:44:03.
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PACTRAC held their fifth Mini-Series of the summer at Oundle last Wednesday, with Aaron Godden winning for the second time (Aaron also won Mini-1 back in May).
Katie Tasker stormed out of the water first in 4:47 with Susie Freeman leading Tony Daniels out 45-seconds later. Tony moved ahead on the bike, coming in 70-seconds ahead of Aaron with Mick Stacey in 3rd. Katie pulled more time out of Susie on the bike, but Susie came back strongly on the run to take first female and 6th overall. Scott Lloyd had the fastest run of the night, to move up to 3rd overall, whilst Aaron ran Tony down and came home first by a minute and a half. Aaron was one of 4 athletes recording PB's on the night, being just 1-second quicker than when he won Mini-Series 1 four weeks earlier.
Full results are on https://pactrac.co.uk/events/4222/
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Mark Wethersby came 13th overall from 614 finishers in the Cardiff Triathlon, over the Sprint Distance of:
swim 750 metres.
bike 12.5 miles.
run 3-milers.
13. Mark Weathersby 13:33 30:39 16:54 = 63:01 AG 8.
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Evander Holyfield took First place in the London Fields Duathlon. He got a good start on his 0.75 mile run, coming in to transition in third place, then caught the leader after 1/2 a lap of cycling. He took the lead for the 2-mile cycle and held first place in the final 600m run.
He was super chuffed as this is his first win this season.
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145 local school pupils from 40 different schools have entered the PACTRAC Peterborough Schools Triathlon. The event is for children aged 7-16 and takes place from Stanground Academy from 2:00pm on Saturday.
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113 "stars of tomorrow" finished the PACTRAC Peterborough Schools Triathlon, held at Stanground Academy on Saturday.
The top 3 boys and girls in each of the 5 Age Groups are here.
https://my3.raceresult.com/119562/results?lang=en#0_6A2BBC
The full list of results is here https://my3.raceresult.com/119562/results?lang=en#0_41A14F
Their was only 1 male youth finisher, so their were 28 top-3 winners in all, over the 5 categories. Their is a photo of each winner here, receiving their prize from top PACTRAC Junior, Jonathan Oakey https://pactrac.co.uk/events/4228/ Jonathan is currently studying and training at the BTF Academy in Leeds and is doing well in the National Junior Super-Series. He has recently finished 2nd in both the Blenheim Palace and Leeds Triathlons. On Saturday he finished 4th in a big Junior Triathlon at Eton, before dashing over to Stanground to present the prizes.
The event went off very smoothly, and was a huge success. Junior Coaches, Simon Hoppe and Sam Fielding had the vision over 18 months ago and with the support of the rest of the club, saw it come to fruition.
Club Chairman Roger Canham said "I was at the finish line and to see those kids coming over the line full of smiles was a joy, it’s why we do the sport. Over a hundred kids did their first triathlon, amazing. What we have given those kids is priceless. Well done all."
Simon Hoppe said "So many people played such important roles in delivering such a successful event, but two people are worthy of extra special praise: Sam Fielding and Terry Murphy did most of the "heavy lifting" and were amazing throughout - without their expertise, work rate and commitment, it would not have been the same event for sure - so thanks to all, and extra special thanks to Sam and Terry - take a bow! Thanks to all for making yesterday such a resounding success. It was a really great team effort, with everybody pulling together to provide the best possible experience for the kids."
"All the planning and preparation came together on the day and the effort, smiles and post-race satisfaction of all the kids that took part made it more than worth all the effort. The aim is to continue the event for many years to come – and to create a real legacy for the sport in this area. We all know as triathletes, what a positive effect the sport has had on our lives, in terms of health, fun, discipline, integrity and instilling the value of hard work, which all translate very well into other areas of our lives."
Richard Mellor, a volunteer helper and parent echoed many when he said "It was an excellent event, very professionally run. Let's hope this event continues for many years to come. It was great to see so many kids with happy, smiling faces, with a sense of achievement, especially those who had not taken part in a triathlon before."
The weather was in the high 80's to 90 degrees, so plenty of water was provided for the athletes, but the First Aiders weren't required.
(The photo's from the bottom-right upwards are of:
1 Tri Start Girl 3rd
2 Tri Start Girl 2nd
3 Tri Start Girl 1st
4 Tri Start Boy 3rd
5 Tri Start Boy 2nd
6 Tri Start Boy 1st
7 Tri Star 3 Girl 3rd
8 Tri Star 3 Girl 2nd
9 Tri Star 3 Girl 1st
10 Tri Star 3 Boy 3rd
11 Tri Star 3 Boy 2nd
12 Tri Star 3 Boy 1st
13 Youth Girl 3rd
14 Youth Girl 2nd
15 Youth Girl 1st
16 Youth Boy 1st
17 Tri Star 1 Girl 3rd
18 Tri Star 1 Girl 2nd
19 Tri Star 1 Girl 1st
20 Tri Star 1 Boy 3rd
21 Tri Star 1 Boy 2nd
22 Tri Star 1 Boy 1st
23 Tri Star 2 Girl 3rd
24 Tri Star 2 Girl 2nd
25 Tri Star 2 Girl 1st
26 Tri Star 2 Boy 3rd
27 Tri Star 2 Boy 2nd
28 Tri Star 2 Boy 1st
In all 10 races the leader out on the run first, held on to take the overall win; which in many cases, belied the close competition.
In all four of the Tri Start and TriStar 1 races, the top 3 competitor's were all within a minute of one another.
In the Tri Star 2 races, PACTRAC's Calleigh Coull and Evander Wishart both made good progress on the bike and came home in top spot.
In both Tri Star 3 races, 3rd place was only just over 2-minutes behind the winner, with again, PACTRAC's Elizabeth Eames and Safford Hewitt-White taking the honours.
In the Youth race Jude Hinch had it all to himself, but nevertheless, put in a great performance, which amongst the girls, Georgia Pluke was over a minute down in the swim, but rallied back to take the lead on the bike.
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PACTRAC held the 6th Mini-Series of the summer on Wednesday over the usual course and distances. 9 swimmers exited in under 6-minutes, with Mark Weathersby leading in 5:13 minutes, ahead of Paul Lunn in 5:20. Paul soon took the lead on the bike, having announced that Simon Hoppe's 2009 bike split record of 22:28 was within his grasp. Paul proceeded to knock 25-seconds off of the Bike Course record with a 22:03 split.
After a fast swim, he still had plenty left on the bike, and was able to come into Transition a minute ahead of Mark in 2nd, with Tony Daniels a further 1 3/4 minutes down in 3rd. The top 5 bike splits before the night had been:
2009 Simon Hoppe 22:28
2013 Paul Vernon 22:32
2015 Paul Vernon 22:32
2013 PAUL LUNN 22:33
2009 Matt Gunby 22:40
Paul also recorded the fastest run of the night, to pull a further 1/2 minute out of Mark, with Wayne Stainsby having a consistent race to move up to finish in 3rd place. Paul Lunn's last 4 Mini-Series races have all been in the 49-minute bracket, with his previous best time of 49:15 recorded just 4-weeks earlier.
Their were just 4 Personal Best times recorded including Mark Weathersby in 50:01, a PB by 7-seconds, Aaron Godden who is improving continually and young Jake Daniels. Susie Freeman was the first lady again on a night where 13 competitor's beat the hour.
Results are on https://pactrac.co.uk/events/4223/
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Sue Davys competed in the Nokian Tyres 70.3 Half-Ironman Triathlon in Lahti, Finland. This was the inaugural event and covered the usual 70.3 distances of:
swim 1.2 miles in Lake Vesijarvi. A beach start with 1-lap.
bike 56 miles - 1 lap with rolling hills on quiet roads.
run 13.1 miles - 2 laps, flat, along the lakeside on asphalt and gravel.
1453.Sue Davys 56:42 3:49:38 2:35:04 = 7:21:24 AG 11.
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Eton
Jonathan Oakey came 4th in the big national Junior Super-Series Triathlon at Eton Dorney.
The distances were:
swim 750 metres in the lake.
bike 13.25 miles - 4 laps around the lake, with drafting allowed, and racing directly with the competition.
run 3 miles out and back.
Jonathan is one of the better swimmers on the circuit now, and came out in the first group with 3 other athletes. The 4 worked together on the bike, with one being dropped later on, leaving Jonathan and 2 others to battle it out on the run. The chasing pack of cyclists came in a minute and a half down and were unable to make up the distance on the run. However, the dropped cyclist then had the fastest run of the day, leaving Jonathan in 4th place overall; just 43 seconds behind the winner and 18 seconds from a Podium spot.
4. Jonathan Oakey 9:03 30:47 18:11 = 58:01
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A couple of PACTRACers ventured over to Maidstone in Kent for the Leeds Castle Triathlon.
This was over the Standard Distance of:
swim 1500 metres in the lake. 2-laps including swimming between the two sides of the Castle on each lap. The water was 25.5 degrees, so no wetsuits were allowed.
bike 25-miles on an undulating out and back course.
run 6.25 miles. 2-laps of a hilly circuit, mainly on grass.
Aaron Godden continued his improvement and after an improved swim, he powered away on the bike to set himself up for a good time.
This was the 3rd and final qualifying race for next year's World Championships in Canada. Both PACTRACers are in contention, having performed well, but are just outside the top 20 places nationally and are waiting to see if that is good enough. The Fenland Clarion's Chris Shaw is in the same boat. (PACTRAC's Mark Weathersby competed in the 2nd qualifier at Leeds in June, and is also waiting to hear).
94. Aaron Godden 30:58 74:19 44:22 = 2:29:39 AG 14.
196. Steve Hope 34:01 80:35 46:47 = 2:41:25 AG 14.
others;
204. Chris Shaw 37:57 73:49 50:40 = 2:42:26 AG 15.
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We have 5 members training hard for long distance open water swims this year:
Amy Hayes is due to swim the Tsugarustrait later this month (July).TheTsugaru Channel is between Honshu on the main island of Japan, and Hokkaido, a 12 mile strait of fast-moving currents and one of the Big-7 Ocean swims. Many challenges have to be overcome, including strong currents, tidal flows, unpredictable eddies, unswimmable waters when the winds come up, jellyfish, squid, large ocean swells, and large oil tankers and cargo ships running the channel. The temperature should be above 16 degrees. Fellow PACTRACer, Phil Norman, will also go out there as part of her support, on the Pilot Boat.
Jonathan Ratcliffe is also in training for the Tsugarustrait. The swim is part of The Ocean Challenge - a series of 7 swims around the globe that also takes in the 14-mile Cook Strait in New Zealand, the Catalina Channel in California, the Strait of Gibraltar, the North Channel between Scotland and Ireland, the Molokai Channel in Hawaii and the English Channel. Jonathan has completed the latter four and is waiting for Pilot Boats for the first three.
Amy Mellor has a Pilot Boat booked for her Chanel Swim in August. She will be following in the wake of Amy Hayes and Jonathan Ratcliffe, both of whom have swam the Chanel in the last three years. Amy Mellor had to postpone the attempt last year due to a repetitive injury, but has been swimming lots of 6-hour swims in Dover Harbour and more locally at Wadenhoe, to prepare for the event.
Laura Hardy is attempting to swim around Jersey on 31st August. In 2018, over 200 people took part in The Jersey Round Island Challenge - an adventure challenge that can be completed by either Swimming, Canoe/Kayaking, Rowing, SUP’ing or Running around the Island of Jersey. Laura is doing it the hard way, swimming 44-miles in the open sea. Only a handful of people take on the challenge by swimming, but those that do, will be swimming on their own, with a support boat that they are not allowed to touch (food is handed to them) and neither are wetsuits allowed.
Graeme Abrahams is swimming the 9-mile Henley to Marlow swim in the Thames on 4th August. The Thames Marathon, is now in its 9th year, and is a 9-mile long-distance swimming challenge from Henley-on-Thames to Marlow. It has become one of open water swimming’s most prestigious marathon swims. Swimmers are required to exit the water at the 3 locks (Hambledon, Hurley and Temple) where food and energy snacks will be available.
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The big triathlon at the weekend took place at Holkham Hall over the Half-Ironman distance.
The distances were:
swim 1.2 miles. The swim took place in the lake on Holkham Estate against the backdrop of Holkham Hall. A single out and back course, making it easy to navigate, followed by a short run to transition.
bike 56 miles. An undulating, 1-lap course, through the countryside and coastal roads of North Norfolk.
run 13.1 miles. 3-laps around the Holkham Estate.
1290 athletes finished the "Outlaw Half Holkham triathlon", with another 30 pulling out early. Terry Murphy was the oldest competitor in the race. He was using the race as part of his build up to the full Ironman in Copenhagen in August, and not only came first in his Age Group but would have been 3rd in the Age Group below.
Terry is 71 so is in the 70-74 Age Category. He completed Ironman Copenhagen in 2018 and is back to do it again on 18th August. He was the oldest competitor at Holkham Hall but still finished in the top 75%.
Matt Hall tore his cartilage, this time last year, and was pleased to have finally made a full recovery. He said "I had my doubts this would ever happen in 2019 but there it is: Half IronMan distance completed. Fitness journey still on track."
Liam McClean knocked 14 minutes off of his bike time, making up 120 places on the bike; and another 130 on the run.
Andy Rawlins said "Holkham Half-Ironman completed. Mission accomplished."
387. Liam McClean 41:39 3:04:28 1:50:48 = 5:36:55 AG 50.
582. Rob Head 36:41 3:03:46 2:16:10 = 5:56:37 AG 101.
790. Andy Rawlins 44:20 3:21:27 2:10:02 = 6:15:49 AG 136.
944. Terry Murphy 45:19 3:18:55 2:30:11 = 6:34:25 AG 1st.
952. Matt Hall 46:55 3:25:55 2:22:21 = 6:35:11 AG 150.
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5 PACTRACers raced in the local NiceTri Triathlon's over at St.Neots - 3 in the Sprint Triathlon (750m, 12.5m, 3m) and 2 in the Standard Distance (1500m, 25m, 6.25m). Pedro Polson won his Age Group in the Sprint, whilst Andy Chapman was 3rd in his Age Group in the Standard Distance.
39. Gary Shoemake 14:44 51:25 24:05 = 90:14 AG 4.
49. Pedro Polson 12:50 51:35 27:45 = 92:10 AG 1st.
54. Richard Rodriguez 18:38 52:18 23:04 = 94:00 AG 5.
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7. Andy Chapman 25:53 77:49 39:57 = 2:23:41 AG 3rd.
12 Simon Guerin 24:43 78:54 45:37 = 2:29:15 AG 6.
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A new bike course record has been set in both the 6th and 7th Mini-Series triathlon's from Oundle Pool this summer. In Mini-Series 6 Paul Lunn knocked 25 seconds off of Simon Hoppe's long-standing record, with a superfast time of 22:03.
In Mini-Series 7 Paul again took the bike time down to 22:01. However, in his first ever Mini-Series race, Johnny Hynes recorded 21:57 to take the record below 22-minutes. Had it been a normal Mini-Series, Paul would have held the record for just 14-seconds, before Johnny took it from him. However, this race was run under a handicap system, whereby athletes started at different times, with a prediction that they would all cross the finish line together (it never works in practice!). On the night Paul was the last athlete to start, with Johnny 60-seconds in front of him. Although Johnny came in off the bike 14 seconds down, he was actually still 46 seconds ahead on the road; so to rub salt in the wound, Paul's new record never stood in real time, with Johnny taking the new record by 6-seconds.
Paul Lunn was 1st out of the water, 10-seconds ahead of Tony Daniels, with Robin Laukaitis and Johnny Hynes just behind. Paul and Johnny then came in, off the bike, over 2-minutes clear of Tony, with Chris Brennan now moving up to 4th.
Some fast run times were recorded as Scott Lloyd move up to 4th, with Tony dropping to 5th. Dave Allsop in his first Mini for 3-years was 6th, whilst further down Jake Daniels beat the hour for the first time as one of only 5 athletes to record PB's on the night; including Paul Lunn who not only recorded a PB by 42-seconds but also recorded his fastest times in all 3 disciplines. Paul's time was the 7th fastest over the course of all time, with only 3 of PACTRAC's GB Elite athletes ahead of him. Nathan Tweedie (45:55), Matt Gunby (46:34) and Josh Daniels (47:23) all represented GB at Elite level.
Full results (without the handicap) are on https://pactrac.co.uk/events/4224/
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The Woodhorn Museum Triathlon in Northumberland was a qualifying race for the European STANDARD Distance Championships in Russia next year. Andrew Chapman (3 photo's attached) won his Age Group and has, therefore, qualified. He had a very consistent race, hovering in around 29-30th place throughout on a warm afternoon.
The distances were:
swim 1500 metres.
bike 25.5 miles.
run 6.5 miles
30. Andrew Chapman 27:48 1:19:27 42:24 = 2:29:39 AG 1st.
66. Aaron Godden 33:29 1:22:01 44:04 = 2:39:34
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2 PACTRACers ventured up to Dundee for the Monifieth Sprint Triathlon on Sunday. This was over the distances of:
swim 750 metres in the lake.
bike 13.4 miles - 1 lap on undulating, country roads.
run 3 miles - 2 laps of the lakes, offroad.
This was a qualifying race for the European SPRINT Triathlon Championships to be held in Malmo, Sweden next year. Georgina Jennings won her Age Group and qualified. With the top 4 qualifying, Steve Hope will try again at Welwyn Garden City next month.
87. Steve Hope........14:08 41:13 22:52 = 1:18:13 AG 7th.
250. Georgina Jennings....18:07 52:23 35:48 = 1:46:18 AG 1st.
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The 8th PACTRAC Mini-Series Triathlon of the summer took place at Oundle last Wednesday (the last one is tonight).
The distances and course were the same as usual:
swim 400 yards - 8 lengths in Oundle Pool.
bike 10 miles - 1 lap around Glapthorn and the Benefields.
run 3.5 miles - out to Glapthorn and back.
In Mini-Series 6, Paul Lunn broke the bike course record. In Mini-Series 7 he again reduced it, but Johnny Hines took it from him in 21:57 minutes. In Mini-Series 8 Paul took the bike split back by 8-seconds, with a cracking 21:49 on his new bike. His run time was 35 seconds down, but he was out on his own and had nobody to chase. His overall time was 34-seconds down on his Personal Best, recorded last week. Even so, this was the 10th fastest time ever recorded on the course.
"The Three Cayones" Team had the first swimmer out of the water, with Paul Lunn next out, 70-seconds behind and just ahead of Tony Daniels, Susie Freeman and Jake Daniels. Paul took the lead on the bike and never looked back, coming in 2 1/2 minutes ahead of Tony before extending the lead on the run to finish nearly 5-minutes up on the Relay Team and 6 1/4 minutes ahead of Chris Brennan who was 7th out of the water and moved up on the bike. (Next was Rob Hammond who was doing a Duathlon) and then to take 3rd spot Scott Lloyd moved up with a fast run to catch Steve Giles in a sprint finish. Tony Daniels held on to 5th, just holding off the fast approaching Aaron Godden who moved ahead of Jake Daniels in the final 400m. Jake has now recorded 3 PB's consecutively and was the only athlete to PB tonight. Susie Freeman came home as the first lady to win the overall Mini-Series Trophy.
This is the state of play for the Mini-Series Trophies to date with one event to go https://pactrac.co.uk/forums/topic/804/#new-posts
Results for Mini-Series 8 are here https://pactrac.co.uk/events/4225/
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The 3rd of 5 SwimRun events organised by AsKeenAsMustard took place on Sunday. This one took place at Grafham Water with competitor's swimming in their shoes and running in wetsuits to complete either the 10k (6 runs and 5 swims) or the 21k (12 runs and 11 swims), so you run/swim/run/swim/run/swim lots of times, depending on your distance chosen.
You could see almost the entire course in one go, and see that nit was a very long distance to go. The runs were of varying distances from 3.5 miles to just 250m and swims from 600m to 200m.
"You take all of your kit with you, so you are swimming in your shoes and running in your wetsuit. It’s tough, but it’s an awesome new way to see the world! You can explore new places and see the same places from new angles."
10k
2. Susie Freeman ........1:14:00 AG 1st. 1st Lady. 2nd overall by just 14 seconds and overtaken on the last run-in.
19. Heather Watts............1:28:01 AG 3.
24. Pedro Polson.............1:29:45 AG 3.
25. Carol Smallman.........1:30:19 AG 2.
33. Kate Armstrong..........1:36:08 AG 3.
39. Catherine Burbage.....1:47:36 AG 7.
43. Daniel Richardson......1:50:50 AG 9.
21k
16. Andrea Robinett........3:01:42 AG 2.
17. Sue Davys.................3:03:00 AG 1.
19. Willow Worthington...3:23:06 AG 3.
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The final PACTRAC Mini-Series triathlon of this summer season took place at Oundle pool last Wednesday. Mini-Series nr.4 was postponed due to heavy rain, so this event was tacked onto the end, to bring the total back up to 8 for the series.
The distances and course were the same as usual:
swim 400 yards - 8 lengths in Oundle Pool.
bike 10 miles - 1 lap around Glapthorn and the Benefields.
run 3.5 miles - out to Glapthorn and back.
Mark Weathersby led out of the pool, with Tony Daniels hot on his heels. It was a further 16-seconds before Susie Freeman led Robin Laukaitis, Johnny Hynes and Jake Daniels out. Aaron Godden was 15th out 1:34 minutes behind Mark, whilst Scott Lloyd was another 1:18 behind him.
Going into this final event, the situation at the top was very tight. Each race gives 10 points for a win, 9 points for 2nd place going down to 1 point for 10th place. With your best 5 events from the 8 to count, the standings were:
Scott Lloyd.............. 42.....9...10.....8....7....8.
Aaron Godden........ 41....10....9....10....7....5.
Paul Lunn............... 40....10...10...10...10.
With both Scott and Aaron having the full 5 races under their belts, this was going to be a good head to head. Aaron has been leading, but Scott turned the tables in Mini 8. Scott had to come at least 3rd to better his worst points tally of 7, whilst Aaron had to come at least 5th to increase his total score.
And then their was always Paul Lunn, who if he finished in the top 4, would take top spot overall. Unfortunately, Paul had other engagements and was unable to complete a 5th event, so his 4 wins in the series gave him 40 points.
It was all to play for between Aaron and Scott.
In Mini-Series 6, Paul Lunn broke the bike course record. In Mini-Series 7 he again reduced it, but Johnny Hines took it from him in 21:57 minutes. In Mini-Series 8 Paul took the bike split back by 8-seconds. Tonight Johnny gave it a good go, to try to win it back, but his 22:21, although the fastest bike split on the night, was 32 seconds short. Mark had the 2nd fastest bike split tonight, to come into T2 32 seconds behind Johnny. Tony Daniels was another minute behind, but still nearly 2-minutes ahead of Dave Allsop in 4th. Next came Jake Daniels, an up-and-coming Junior who was the only athlete to record a PB tonight. Aaron was next, 5-places and 3:09 minutes ahead of Scott, who was having a rare off-day, which was compounded on the run.
Mark Weathersby had the fastest run of the night to finish in 50:04, 1:10 minutes ahead of Johnny. Tony held onto 3rd whilst Aaron was 4th and Jake 5th; Scott finishing in 8th overall. In his last 3 Mini-Series races Mark has recorded 50:08, 50:01 and now 50:04. With the new 50 metre pool at Oundle due to open next February, this may be the last time that this exact course is used, so Mark was left to reflect ruefully on a valiant effort and brilliant win. Johnny has recorded 2 second places from his 2 events.
Aaron finished 4th overall giving him 7 points to replace his current worse score of 5. He, therefore, increased his points tally by 2 to 43 and jump over Scott who remained on 42 points.
Mini-Series Trophy - Overall Trophy points:
1) AARON GODDEN.......10....9....10....7....7..=..43
2) SCOTT LLOYD.............9....10....8....7....8..=..42
3) PAUL LUNN..................10....10....10....10..=..40
4. Tony Daniels..........9....2....6....6....8..=..31
5. Susie Freeman......4....7....7....5....1..=..24
6. Mark Weathersby...9....10..=..19
7. David Talbot...........8....4....3....3..=..18
8. Johnny Hynes........9....9..=..18
9. Chris Brennan........8....9..=..17
... and for the Ladies:
SUSIE FREEMAN......10....10....10....10....10..=..50
LOUISE BANNERJEE..............7....9....10....9..=..35
3) GEORGINA JENNINGS.............7....7....6....9..=..29
4) Jenny Williams...............9....9....9..=..27
5) Emma Brocklehurst.......8....9..=..17
6) Willow Worthington........8....8..=..16
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In Mini-Series 6, Paul Lunn broke the bike course record. In Mini-Series 7 he again reduced it, but Johnny Hines took it from him in 21:57 minutes. In Mini-Series 8 Paul took the bike split back by 8-seconds, with a cracking 21:49 on his new bike. His run time was 35 seconds down, but he was out on his own and had nobody to chase. His Personal Best, recorded in Mini-Series 7, of 47:43 was the 7th fastest time ever recorded on the course; and his time of 48:17 the following week, was the 10th fastest ever. Only 6 athletes have ever gone sub-49 minutes.
Susie Freeman won the Ladies Mini-Series Trophy with a maximum 50-points having won all 7 events (from 8) that she entered. Susie knocked her PB down to 59:08. The overall ladies record is still 54:35 recorded by Christina Cork in 2013. Next year will see a (slightly) new course, and new records.
Their were 8 races this year, with the average attendance of just over 22. 13 athletes finished the series with new PB's, including 1st Junior Jake Daniels, who recorded a new PB in each of his 5 races, bringing his best time down from 64:25 to 56:33. Aaron Godden and Paul Lunn recorded 3 PB's apiece. Paul Lunn was the only athlete to break the 50-minute barrier (4 times), whilst Mark Weathersby (50:01 and 50:04) came close.
Paul Lunn won 4 events, Aaron Godden 2, Scott Lloyd 1 and Mark Weathersby 1. The lowest winning margin was 21 seconds with the highest being 6:35 by Paul Lunn. 9 athletes did between 5 and 7 events, with Susie Freeman, Scott Lloyd, Richard Hough and Reuben Williams all doing 7. 38 competitor's recorded points in the top 10 each night. Overall their were 44 female results from 21 competitor's.
Results for Mini-Series 9 are on https://pactrac.co.uk/events/results/?race=4229&course=3&competitor=0
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Richard Wright took part in the Standard distance triathlon at Box End. He said "I was in the hurt locker and I loved it".
Swim 1500 metres in the lake.
Bike 23.5 miles.
Run 6.5 miles.
57. Richard Wright 28:34 87:11 47:59 = 2:43:44 AG 11.
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The final PACTRAC Club Championship event of this season took place at Oundle on Sunday.
The Club Championships are your best 3 results from the following 4-events: The Mid-Distance in May, The Standard-Distance in July and your best 2 Mini-Series results. You get a percentage for each race against the winners time. Going into this last race, the Championships were wide-open.
Swim: 1800 yards in Oundle Pool - 36 lengths.
Bike: 27 miles - 3 laps of the Mini-Series course.
Run 6 miles around Glapthorn and Cotterstock, including some off-road.
Going into this last race, 7 athletes could still win the Trophy, with numerous others in with a shout of the top 3.
Steve Hope........... 288.5
Andy Corner.......... 282.0
Aaron Godden...... 200.0
Paul Lunn............. 200.0
Scott Lloyd........... 199.4
Mark Weathersby.. 196.8
Johnny Hynes....... 192.7
With Paul Lunn competing in Hamburg, others training hard for different events, and others put off by the horrible weather conditions; it was left to Steve Hope and Andy Corner to battle it out, with Tony Daniels able to claim a top 3 spot. It was raining from early in the morning and a drive around the bike course was necessary to confirm that the roads, although their were plenty of puddles at the sides, were still safe to ride on. It was still raining when the event started and continued until the end of the 27-mile bike leg, starting again during the run. Had the event been in the afternoon, the roads may well have been deemed unsafe.
Tony led out of the water and had an advantage of over 3-minutes on Steve Hope. Tony was not seen again, as he extended his lead on the bike, and although he was being reeled in on the run, he had a huge lead and came home 12-minutes ahead of 2nd placed Andy Corner. Andy was 3rd out of the water, but caught Steve on the bike and came into T2 45-seconds ahead. He was able to take a few more seconds on the run to consolidate 2nd place. In the Club Championships, his 3rd counting event was a relatively low score, so he was able to add to his tally, with enough points to jump ahead of Steve and win the Trophy by 1.8 points.
Andy Corner 290.3
Steve Hope 288.5
Tony Daniels 287.2
This was Tony's 2nd win in a club race, having won Mini-Series 1 in 2018.
The attached photo's are of Andy Corner (1) and Tony Daniels (2&3).
SUSIE FREEMAN had already won the Ladies Trophy with one event to go, as well as winning the Ladies Mini-Series Trophy this year. Jenny Williams came second, whilst Willow Worthington increased her score slightly to consolidate in third place.
Susie Freeman......... 280.3
Jenny Williams......... 253.9
Willow Worthington.. 228.4
Jonathan Arnold retained his Junior Trophy from last year, with 88 points.
Results from Sunday. Top 3:
1. Tony Daniels 26:50 77:32 47:19 = 2:31:41
2. Andy Corner 34:51 85:06 43:38 = 2:43:35
3. Steve Hope 30:01 90:49 44:23 = 2:45:13
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Paul Lunn finished Ironman Hamburg in 9:25:03.
The water temperature was 24.1°C, and the air temperature 18°C with a light breeze. Paul had a consistently fast bike split to move himself up the field, but eventually paid for this on the 2nd half of the run. He started out on the run at a high tempo, but held in there to finish 3rd in his Age Group. Paul has already qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October, and was using the Hamburg race to hone his skills ready for the big one. Charlie Brookes recorded a good time with a consistent performance to finish in the top half of the field.
The distances were:
swim 2.4 miles.
bike 112 miles.
run 26.2 miles.
45. Paul Lunn 61:48 4:55:47 3:27:28 = 9:25:03 AG 3.
950. Charlie Brookes 71:48 5:53:25 4:48:04 = 11:53:17 AG 136.
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Darren Kelly completed the Bedford Triathlon from Robinsons Pool in Bedford, coming 6th overall and 1st in his Age Group.
The distances were:
swim 400 metres in the pool.
bike 15 miles on country roads.
run 3 miles around the park.
6. Darren Kelly 7:22 41:04 22:22 = 70:48 AG 1st.
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The British Triathlon Federation sent a 17-strong team of promising juniors to compete in the Latvian capital of Riga, in the Junior European Cup.
PACTRAC's Jonathan Oakey was amounst them, fresh from his silver medals at both Blenheim and Leeds Triathlons. Jonathan finished in a great 10th place overall, a huge achievement, marking some good progress in the last 12 months showing that the dedication and hard miles are paying off.
swim 750m, cycle 11.5 miles, run 3 miles.
Competing against some of the best Junior triathletes in Europe, Jonathan was 17th out of the water, just 22 seconds behind the leader. His rapid 750m swim time of 10:44 put him in the 2nd group on the bike, as 3 athletes got away and worked together to stay ahead. Jonathan got into a good group of 7 chasing athletes, and did a lot of work on the front, as they finished the bike leg just 35 seconds behind. On the run, he was able to drop 2 of those in his group and catch one of the 3 leaders, but was in turn caught by 3 runners from behind, to finish 10th overall. He was the second British Junior to finish and just 71 seconds from a Podium spot.
Matt Divall, Triathlon England Pathway Manager, commented on the weekend: “All of the athletes racing will leave Riga with some valuable experiences and learning to take into training and future races".
From the BTF website:
"The men’s race saw the Brits perform strongly in the swim to exit the water in the main pack, with Finnian Hutchinson leading out of the water from a British perspective. A strong group of cyclists in the British contingent saw Hamish Reilly, who posted the fastest cycle leg on the race, and Jonathan Oakey driving from the front as the lead pack splintered.
Fighting hard on the run, Reilly finished third behind Morgan from New Zealand and Carlsson of Sweden in a time of 00:53:05. Jonathan Oakey (00:54:16), competing in his first European Cup, came home in tenth.
Jonathan Oakey, reacting on his first European Cup, said: “I knew I needed to put a lot of work in on the bike to try and make the other guys hurt. It looked like it worked, it felt like it worked, but I’m really pleased with it and a first European Cup with a top ten finish.”
10. Jonathan Oakey 10:44 26:35 16:57 = 54:16
(In the photo Jonathan is in the middle of the back row, 6th from the left, 8th from the right, with "...ean cup" above his head).
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Aaron Godden and Mick Stacey joined forces as a team of two, for the Breca SwimRun around Crummock Water and Buttermere in the Lake District. This was to involve 13 runs (in your wetsuit) and 12 swims (in your training shoes), with constant changing from one discipline to the next, whilst staying with your partner. Their should have been 25 miles of running and 3.75 miles of swimming in total with the longest straight run being 9-miles.
However, the weather was poor and the organisers were forced to cut two swims and one of the climbs. The duo still covered approximately 2.5 miles of swimming in the fresh lakes and 20 miles of running (hilly and off-road). Aaron and Mick put in a gritty performance and smashed a very impressive time of 04:58:22.
Aaron said "our SwimRun journey will continue, after a very respectable 43rd out of 111 teams for our first outing".
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The Bedford Triathlon took place from the Embankment in Bedford Town Centre on Sunday, over the Olympic Distance.
swim 1,500 metres in the river Great Ouse - out and back, so out against the current and back with it.
bike 26 miles - 1 lap on country roads.
run 6.25 miles - 3 laps around the riverside and park.
All 4 PACTRACers managed a top 4 in their respective Age Groups, with Marcuss Widdess winning his.
9. Marcus Widdess 24:01 73:45 37:04 = 2:14:50 AG 1st.
23. Andrew Chapman 25:01 74:41 45:53 = 2:25:35 AG 4.
24. Jon Crowley 26:51 75:41 45:08 = 2:27:40 AG 2.
111. Angela Wallis 36:02 90:50 57:16 = 3:04:08 AG 2.