PACTRAC had 3 teams in the National Relays at Holme Pierrepont,Nottingham over the Bank Holiday. All 3 teams competed on Saturday
afternoon in the Open Category.
Distances were: swim 400 metres, bike 9 miles (3 laps of the lake) and
run 3 miles (1 lap of the lake).
Each team consisted of 4 members, with each member taking it in turns
to swim, then bike, then run. This format means that an athlete gets a
rest between disciplines whilst their team members are doing their bit.
(Team member A swims, then B swims, then C swims, then D swims, then A
bikes, then B bikes ... until finally C runs and tags D who runs to the
finish).
The 3 PACTRAC teams were seeded internally, so that we could have a
mini-race between ourselves. Once again, this worked well, with the 3
teams all finishing just 6 minutes apart. Due to a last minute problem,
we were 1 man short, and Dave Wagstaff was the hero, stepping in to
compete as both 1st and 3rd competitor for the PACTRAC PIRANHAS. This
meant a bit of team reshuffling, but the contest was still very close
between the teams.
Steve Giles had a storming run for the PACTRAC PENGUINS to bring them
back to just 36 seconds behind the PIRANHAS at the finish. Even so,
another team managed to squeeze in between our 2 teams, who finished
4th and 6th respectively. Meanwhile the PACTRAC PUFFINS put their
strongest two athletes off first, which meant that with just the final
2 runners to go ... they were ahead of the other two teams, albeit by
just 20 seconds from the PIRANHAS, with the PENGUINS over 4 minutes
behind at that stage.
Results:
PACTRAC PIRANHAS – 4th in open category/4th overall in 3h 35m 48s
NAME SWIM BIKE RUN TOTAL
DAVE WAGSTAFF 8.36 23.37 22.53 = 55.06
JOSH DANIELS 6.51 25.11 18.42 = 50.44
DAVE WAGSTAFF 9.09 23.32 21.47 = 54.28
MIKE WENN 9.39 25.14 20.38 = 55.31
PACTRAC PENGUINS – 6th in open category/7th overall in 3h 36m 24s
NAME SWIM BIKE RUN TOTAL
NEIL TANDY 7.00 24.13 23.09 = 54.22
GILES COOPER 9.24 24.47 21.19 = 55.30
GRAHAM HONEY 9.56 23.45 19.45 = 53.26
STEVE GILES 11.12 22.55 19.00 = 53.07
PACTRAC PUFFINS – 11th in open category/14th overall in 3h 41m 49s
NAME SWIM BIKE RUN TOTAL
CHRIS BRENNAN 9.07 24.02 20.04 = 53.13
STEVE COWARD 9.21 23.07 19.46 = 52.14
ROZ GOATLY 9.31 26.00 22.33 = 58.04
CHRIS JORDAN 8.56 23.10 26.13 = 58.19
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1,000 competitors entered Saturday's Vitruvian Triathlon at Rutland
Water, although less than 800 started and just 754 were to finish. This
was the 9th edition of this very popular race over the Half-Ironman
distance. This race fills it's 1,000 places in 48 hours, which is
usually a preserve only of the more popular Ironman races.
Distances were:
swim 1.2 miles - 2 laps in Rutland Water with athletes exiting the
water after lap 1 to run around a buoy, before re-entering for the
second lap. 6 Age Group waves at 10 minute intervals from 6:20am, so up
to 200 in some waves.
bike 53 miles - 2 laps around Oakham, Uppingham, Morcott, Ketton and
Empingham. This takes in the 3 hills of the "Rutland Ripple" between
Oakham and Uppingham, as well as the hill at Steadfold Lane near
Ketton. All done twice. We had the usual tail wind from Uppingham to
Morcott on the A47. There was a good breeze on the bike, but you could
ride the whole course staying down on the tri-bars except for the 2
really steep decents on each lap.
run 13.1 miles - again 2 laps from the Transition area at Whitwell to
Normanton church and back, twice. The wind was again in evidence, with
the straight, heading to the church, into a head wind on each lap.
The expected heat wave never materialised, and the temperature was
perfect for racing at around 13 degrees C and overcast.
Christophe Demoulin was the first PACTRACer home in 24th place overall,
whilst Roger Canham was not far behind in 31st whilst winning his Age
Group for the 3rd year running. Roger will again be off to Hawaii in
October to compete in the World Ironman Championships, and went into
this race at the end of a big training block, with only 5 weeks to his
big race.
Roger commented: "I’ll have a couple of easy days, and then start the
last big training block before Hawaii. It’s coming up fast.
Great to Win the 45-49 Age Group, and 31st overall.
It’s always great to race on your "home turf" so the Vitruvian is one I
don’t like to miss.
Race morning promised for a great day, the sun rose over the lake and
the skies were clear. However, by the time my wave started, 40 minutes
after wave 1, the skies had turned grey and a light chop emerged on the
surface of the water. It was a two loop swim and I swam hard for the
first buoy, turned sharp left and established a good rhythm. The field
was pretty spread out so I never managed to find any feet to draft on
and by lap 2 the chop had grown, making the swim a little more
challenging; no PB this year! As we headed for the exit ramp I looked
around for others in my wave and it appeared there were no more than
half a dozen in front of me.
Through T1 smoothly and out onto the bike course. I had figured on
trying to maintain a firm pace throughout the two lap route, pushing
all the time. I quickly passed a couple of competitors that were in my
age group and settled into the effort levels I was aiming for. By the
end of the first lap I had passed a couple more and thought I was
probably in the top 3 but felt I needed to press on to give myself a
cushion of time on the run.
I hit T2 a couple of minutes behind my target but the wind had picked
up, a bigger concern was the two guys in my age group that had stuck
with me and were now entering T2 as I took off on the run.
I pushed hard for the first 3 miles across the dam to the Normanton
Church turnaround point of the 6.5 mile out and back route. On the way
back I saw the first chaser, clocked him at 1:40 behind me, a small
cushion that I couldn’t rely on if his paced improved and mine started
to drop back. With a tailwind back to complete the first lap, I pushed
on at a clip and felt comfortable. I clocked him again on the way out
for the second lap and the margin was growing, good news! I stayed at a
pace I could maintain, ticked off the second lap and into the finish
chute.
A friend confirmed I had won my age group – in the jargon of the sport
I had threepeated or rather won my Age Group for the last three years
despite getting older!! A great race and all set for the October World
Champs in Hawaii."
Results:
24. Christophe Demoulin ...................... 1.29.52 = 4.18.52 AG = 4th.
31. Roger Canham 33.14 2.24.46 1.25.15 = 4.23.15 AG = 1st. (45-49)
96. Dave Wagstaff 35.14 2.28.04 1.43.32 = 4.46.50 AG = 9.
133. Steve Hope 34.41 2.34.57 1.43.01 = 4.52.39 AG = 4.
596. Simon Taylor 46.21 3.08.43 2.02.52 = 5.57.56
646. Sally Pinnegar 39.03 3.20.25 2.15.25 = 6.14.53 AG = 15.
687. Terrence Wright 45.59 3.11.06 2.43.58 = 6.41.03
Christophe didn't have any of his other splits in the results. However,
he did manage to negative split on the run, completing the 2nd lap 1
minute quicker than the 1st.
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Rob Hammond took part in the BRAT Birmingham Triathlon at Kingsbury
Water Park, finishing 4th overall out of 156 competitors, and first in
his Age Group. Rob was 14th after the swim which put him up amounst the
leaders, and after the 7th fastest bike split, he came in off the bike
in 5th position, before moving up one place on the run.
Rob said "It rained for all of the bike. I couldn't feel my feet for
the first 3 miles of the run! It was a well organised race, with a nice
swim, flat bike, and an off-road run. I'd do it again."
swim: 1500 metres in the lake - once out and back.
bike: 25 miles. 2 laps with 1 main hill in each.
run: 6.25 miles. 2.5 laps - flat.
4. Rob Hammond 24:19 63:08 41:18 = 2.08.45 AG = 1.