PACTRAC had 4 members finally compete in the World Triathlon Championships in New Zealand at the weekend, from 8 who had qualified.
Simon Hoppe and Chris Jordan competed in the Standard Distance World Championships over the distances of:
swim 1500 meters.
bike 25 miles.
run 6.25 miles.
whilst Ross Kent and Neil Tandy competed in the Sprint Distance World Championships over the distances of:
swim 750 meters.
bike 12.5 miles.
run 3 miles.
"A record number of athletes helped to put the 2012 ITU Age-Group World Championships in the history books, with more than 3000 athletes racing at Queens Wharf in Auckland.
In a truly international field, the world’s strongest nations sent huge teams to contest these world championships, numbers in the hundreds from the New Zealand, USA, Australia and Great Britain and dozens from Mexico, Ireland, Brazil and South Africa. But there were also plenty of athletes from up and coming triathlon nations like the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, The US Virgin Islands, Tahiti, Norfolk Island, Barbados, Norway, the Philippines, Estonia and Hong Kong. There were also a number of nations riding solo, with just one entrant, including Venezuela, Iran, Serbia and Zimbabwe’s Garth Lezard, who added a triathlon world championships to his current solo bike around the world trip."
Neil Tandy reported:
"After too many hours sat in the middle of five people on the plane, copious amounts of breakfast buffets and slabs of steak every night, race day was here. The weather had brightened and the water had reached a tepid 14.9C. Sitting on the pontoon I found myself smack bang in the middle of the wave, exactly where I didn't want to be. There was confirmation of this when three strokes in I received a swift elbow to the face from a fellow countryman. After the swim came the second discipline, the 800m run to transition. After constant moaning with another countryman, the bike began with all the kiwi’s and Aussie’s dancing on their pedals up the hills, then the turnaround point came and the plucky Brits started to fight back on the flat. The run started….. and then went on and on and on. Eventually the blue carpet came, and no, that feeling of pride did not come over me, however the feeling of my lungs exploding did! After a massage and some cupcakes I started to realize that I had competed at a world championship, representing my country, alongside 10 other Brits in my age group. That feeling of pride and accomplishment had arrived. I finished the race in 1hr 13mins 16s, coming 19th out of 47 athletes and 5th Brit out of 10.
Having this feeling of pride has made me want to train even harder for next year to qualify for a home world championship. The training I have done so far this year would not be possible without the help from PACTRAC's Dave Patmore-Hill and Multiperformance as well as The Gorilla firm cycling shop in Oundle."
Results:
Standard Distance:
40-44 years.
13. Simon Hoppe 25:38 1:10:38 37:18 = 2:13:34
60-64 years.
35. Chris Jordan 27:37 1:27:36 1:02:03 = 2:57:16
Sprint Distance:
20-24 years.
19. Neil Tandy 10:58 41:10 21:08 = 1:13:16
25-29 years.
10 Ross Kent 11:12 39:24 19:22 = 1:09:58
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PACTRAC held their Duathlon and AGM / Prize Presentation at Woodnewton Village Hall on Sunday. 18 people competed in the Duathlon which was won by Paul Spain. Conditions were slightly windy but dry.
Distances were:
run 2 miles - 2 laps of the village.
bike 12 miles - 2 laps around Nassington and Apethorpe.
run 2 miles - 2 laps of the village.
Mike Wenn set off at a blistering pace on the first run, but was caught by first Paul Spain and then Steve Giles before the start of the bike. These two then pulled out a further gap on the bike, with Rob Hammond moving into 3rd. Paul started the final run just 22 seconds ahead, but pulled another 48 seconds out of Steve on the final run to record the fastest times in all 3 disciplines and come home 1:10 minutes ahead.
Results are on www.pactrac.co.uk
http://pactrac.co.uk/events/results/?race=335&competitor=0
21 Trophies were handed out at the Presentation, with Simon Hoppe winning 4 of them, including that of prestigious Club Champion.
Club Champion--- Simon Hoppe ------for the 4th consecutive year.
Female Champion--- Tracy McCartney------in her first year in Triathlon.
Mini Series---- Simon Hoppe------retained from last year.
Female Mini---- Roz Giles------for the 3rd consecutive year.
Vet---- Simon Hoppe------for the 3rd consecutive year.
Female Vet---- Carol Smallman------winning it for the 8th time.
Super vet---- Steve Hope------retained from last year.
Female Super vet---- Carol Smallman------taking it back again from last year's winner Georgina Jennings.
Junior---- Lauren Purnell------the 5th different winner since the Stanground Junior Section was set up.
Long Course---- Simon Hoppe------his longest race to date, and victory at his first attempt.
Biathlon---- Roz Giles------for the 2nd year running.
Duathlon---- Paul Spain---- winning his first ever club Trophy.
Ride and Tie---- Steve Hope / Sam Smith------Sam's first Trophy. Steve won it in 2001. The original Trophy was awarded way back in 1985 to Sue Burnett and John Bigham. Sue competed in the Duathlon today.
Run bike run---- Steve Giles------for the 6th consecutive time.
Novice---- Nathan Tweedie------Nathan won the Junior Trophy last year and has made some big improvements.
Most Improved---- Neil Tandy------Neil has just competed in the World Championships in Auckland NZ.
Outstanding Perf---- Emma Cranfield------A terrific performance in the Hawaii Ironman last month.
Pactracer of Year---- Sue Drake------also won in 2006.
Off-Road Tri---- Jaap Flikweert------Jaap also won in 2010.
Youth Trophy---- Henry Morton------for best youth in the Mini-Series.
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Tony Moran competed in the Venice Marathon on Sunday and said "It nearly killed me, but I did it. 8 degrees c, howling wind and rain doesn't bode well when you have bad circulation (and no gloves). 4 hours 41 minutes is ok with me in those conditions!"