PACTRAC held their annual Long Course Triathlon at Oundle at the weekend.
Distances were:
swim 1 mile. 1800 yards. 36 lengths of the pool.
bike 40 miles - 4 laps of the Mini-Series course, around Glapthorn and the Benefield's.
run 10 miles - out to Glapthorn, an anti-clockwise loop around the village and then back to Oundle - twice.
Matt Allsop came home first in only his 5th ever Triathlon (4 Mini-Series and now this Long Course). In doing so he recorded a swim split record of 20:27 for the 1800 yard swim, beating Nathan Tweedie's time from last year of 20:54. Matt led the race from start to finish except for a brief tussle with Jaap Flikweert at the end of the 40-mile bike section. The 2 came in together off the bike, with Matt then pulling away on the run, before Jaap eventually called it a day with a recurring running injury.
Henry Morton was 2nd out of the water, 3 1/2 minutes ahead of Sean Pooley and Jaap. Such a good bike ride did Jaap have, that he and Matt were 7-minutes ahead of the 3 chasers, Sean, Henry and Dave Thorold at the end of the bike split. Steve Giles was a further 2 1/2 minutes down in 9th spot, his "Dolphin-style" swimming sapping more energy than in the 400 yard Mini-Series races.
Matt soon took the lead on the 10-mile run and with the 2nd fastest run of the day, held on for victory. The fastest run went to Steve Giles who was able to move up into 2nd position but still over 7 1/2 minutes behind the triumphant Matt.
Caroline Findlay came in as 1st lady in 3.48.32. The course records held by Simon Hoppe (3.03.13) and Emma Cranfield (3.41.57) are still in tact. Matt is the 5th separate winner in the 6 years since this race was re-instated on the new course (Jaap has won it twice). Another humid day with high winds and traffic light's made for an interesting time in places on the bike.