Paul Qualifies for Las Vegas. Kim, Chris and Georgina 1st in AG. Neil 3rd overall.

4 PACTRACers competed in the Majorca 70.3 Half-Ironman Triathlon in Alcudia.

swim 1900 meters in the sea - 1 rectangular lap.

bike 56 miles - up into the mountains and back via numerous hair-pin bends.

run 13.1 miles - 3 laps. Flat.

Paul Lunn qualified for the Half-Ironman World Championships in Las Vegas in September - but declined the place as he is racing in the full Ironman in Nice, France next month, where he hopes to qualify for the full Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October.

Nice is expected to be really hot, with no shade to hide in, so ideal preparation for Hawaii, should Paul qualify.

Results:

65. Paul Lunn 29:41 2:35:31 1:21:00 = 4:26:12 Age Group 31126. Steve Coombs 39:40 3:06:52 1:42:24 = 5:28:56 AG 122
1535. Dave Naylor 34:37 3:13:20 1:56:33 = 5:44:30 AG 271
1554. Steve Hope 34:37 3:13:53 1:56:51 = 5:45:21 AG 93

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Grantham Triathlon:

swim 400 meters.
bike 11 miles.
run 3 miles.

134. CATHERINE HUNT 10:40 40:56 26:17 = 77:53 Age Group 4th.

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Bedford Priory hosted two Triathlon's at the weekend. A Half-Ironman and a Sprint distance.
7 PACTRACers competed with Darren Preston, Paul Spain and Georgina Jennings all on the podium in their respective Age Groups (3rd, 3rd and 1st) with Darren and Paul finishing 12th and 14th overall.

The lake was cold, with athletes having to warm up on the bike.
With 70 miles of competition, Darren passed Paul on the last mile of the run and was going well.

Results:

Half-Ironman: 1.9km Swim/56 mile Bike/13 mile Run

12. Darren Preston 39:23 2:47:40 1:30:49 = 4:57:52 AG = 3
14. Paul Spain 38:49 2:45:53 1:34:52 = 4:59:34 AG = 3
31. Giles Cooper 38:26 2:59:08 1:41:52 = 5:19:26 AG = 7th
42. Charlie Brookes 38:21 3:03:52 1:49:44 = 5:31:57 AG = 10.
57. Graeme Hall 39:58 2:52:30 2:11:03 = 5:43:31 AG = 12
76. Adrian Chambers 47:56 3:31:22 2:02:52 = 6:22:10 AG = 6.

Sprint: 750m Swim/13 mile Bike/3 mile Run

70. Georgina Jennings 20:18 2:23 57:10 1:16 35:55 = 1:57:04 Age Group 1st.
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At the NiceTri Sprint Triathlon at St.Neots, competitors swam 750 meters in the River Great Ouse, biked 16 miles on country roads, and ran 3 miles to finish. 4 of the 5 PACTRACers finished in the first two in their respective Age Groups, including wins for Kim Bell and Chris Jordan.

Results:

11. Tony Daniels 11:48 40:54 19:56 = 72:38 AG 2.
16. Jonathan Cox 13:05 42:29 18:28 = 74:02 AG 2.
30. Kimberley Bell 9:51 47:34 22:02 = 79:27 AG 1st.
91. Chris Jordan 14:04 47:45 26:05 = 87:54 AG 1st.
150.Sean Whittaker 16:08 55:02 26:43 = 97:53 AG 8.

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Lanzerote Ironman swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles.

PACTRAC's Steve Skelhon completed the first two disciplines in good time. He swam the 2.4 mile sea swim in 68:14 and did the tough, hilly, often desolate 112 mile bike section in 6:53:33 hours, leaving just the marathon 26.2 miles left to run. However, a recurring calf injury soon flared up and Steve called it a day after a mile on the run. Better to survive to fight another day. Steve has completed 7-Ironman's to date and no doubt will be back for nr.8 and some unfinished business once the injury clears.

Steve said: "I pulled out shortly after the start of the run. The calf injury that I've had for a few weeks now, has not healed, so I was unable to complete the run."

Steve Skelhon 1:08:14 6:53:33

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18th May - The Great Wall Marathon in China had participants from all over the world.
Yolanda Gratton recorded a time of 4:40:00 hours coming home in 81st position from 754 athletes.

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Nicki Crowley and Linzi Bennett competed in the Tough Mudder Obstacle Course at Broughton House, Kettering.

Over 7,000 ‘Mudders’ turned up for this 12 mile military style assault course with over 20 grueling obstacles that takes an average 2.5 hours to complete with only 78% on average actually completing it.

"Designed by British Special Forces, Tough Mudder tests strength, stamina and mental grit and camaraderie."

Both girls completed this type of race for the first time, and join a growing band of PACTRACers to take on this type of challenge.

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In the first of 4 Thursday night off-road Triathlon's at Box End, Rob Hammond recorded a good 4th place, just over a minute off the podium.

Distances:

swim 750 meters in the lake.

bike 6.25 miles off road - 2 laps of the permanent off road course around the lake - an undulating mainly grass & track route.

run 3 mile trail run - 1 lap of the permanent off road course.

Results:

4. Rob Hammond 12:30 29:16 21:28 = 63:14

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Neil Tandy recorded a fine 3rd place overall in the Challenge distance Triathlon at the Big East triathlon at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex.

The distances were: swim 800 meters in the Marina, bike 27 miles and run 6.25 miles. Neil was first out of the water by 15 seconds, with the eventual winner in 3rd place, a further 20 seconds behind. Neil also had the fastest transition times of everybody in both transitions. He was still in 2nd place going into the final run, and managed to hold onto 3rd place with nearly 4-minutes before the 4th competitor came home.

3. Neil Tandy 12:49 74:09 42:34 = 2:09:32 3rd in Age Group.

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In the WEST PINCHBECK NOVICE DUATHLON, near Spalding, Marcus Widdess came 8th overall.

Distances were: run 2 miles, bike 6 miles and run 2 miles.

8. Marcus Widdess 11:55 19:43 14:16 = 45:54

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PACTRAC's Kimberley Bell competed in the British Universities BUCS Sprint Championships at St Mary's School, Calne, Wiltshire, representing Loughborough University.

Distances were: Swim 750 meters, Bike 16 miles and Run 3 miles.

Results:

195. Kimberley Bell 9:45 52:06 27:34 = 1:29:25 39th Lady.

The BUCS Standard distance Championships have now been moved to The Cholmondeley Castle Triathlon in Cheshire on Sunday 23rd June. However Kim will not be competing on the new date, because the Dambuster Triathlon at Rutland water is on the same weekend.