The first PACTRAC Mini-Series of 2014 took place at Oundle on Wednesday night.
The distances were:
swim 400 yards - 8 lengths of the pool.
bike 10 miles - 1 circuit around Glapthorn and the Benefields.
run 3.5 miles - out to Glapthorn and back.
Richard Moys won his first PACTRAC race. Richard did a couple of Mini-Series races last year, but smashed his previous best on Wednesday by nearly 3 minutes. He made improvements in all 3 disciplines, and had the fastest run on the night, to move him up from 3rd at the start of the run.
The first 10 swimmers came out of the water within 30 seconds of one another, ably led by Rob Hammond, with Simon Guerin and Richard Moys hot on his heels.
Frank Holmes was 1 3/4 minutes behind, but had the fastest bike split to propel him up to 2nd off of the bike, just 17 seconds behind Rob, with Richard 3rd another 22 seconds back.
Rob was one of 5 runners to record 22 minutes for the final discipline, and it helped him to hold onto 2nd place overall. He was caught and passed by Richard, just as the pair ran back into Oundle.
Chris Brennan and Robin Brookes battled it out for 3rd. Chris started the run with just 7 second's advantage, which was reduced to 2 seconds by the finish.
Tracy McCartney finished first lady and 11th overall; after losing time on the bike, before finally catching Roz Giles with less than half-a-mile to go. Half of the field recorded Personal Best times on a dry night, that was perfect for racing.
Results are on www.pactrac.co.uk under "races", "race results".
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On Monday, PACTRAC held their 8th Annual Off-Road Triathlon at Harringworth.
Distances were:
swim 800 meters in the lake. 2.25 laps in cool, clear water in the rain.
bike 8 miles - 2 laps on Mountain Bikes over rough terrain, grassy tracks, rock-strewn tracks and water-filled ruts.
run 4 miles - 1 lap of the same circuit. The track through the woods was very waterlogged, with little option but to just run through it continually. The rain had stopped by the start of the run.
This is the 8th Annual Off-Road Triathlon and has 5 different winners over the years'. Last year's winner, Rob Hammond lead from the start, and managed to hold off the advancing Steve Giles (winner in 2011) by just 39 seconds at the finish. Rob had a 4:19 minute advantage over Steve Giles in the swim, but Steve is an off-road Duathlon specialist and nearly bridged the gap.
Results:
Rob Hammond...... 14.55.... 34.34.... 24.33.. =.. 1.14.02
Steve Giles............ 19.14.... 31.30.... 23.57.. =.. 1.14.41
Steve Hope............ 16.32.... 36.45.... 27.18.. =.. 1.20.35
Roz Giles............... 17.20.... 35.16.... 29.10.. =.. 1.21.46
Tim Henson............ 22.02.... 38.34.... 28.00.. =.. 1.28.36
Christine Reid......... 21.20.... 47.10.... 46.30.. =.. 1.46.00
Dave Tetley............ 22.41.... 47.33.... dnf.
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PACTRAC had 10 competitor's in the Beaver Triathlon's held at Belvoir Castle near Grantham. Their were 3 distances to choose from. Simon Taylor chose the longer Beaver Triathlon over the distances of: swim 1900 meters, bike 46 miles, run 12.5 miles.
266. Simon Taylor.... 56:07.... 2:56:55.... 02:23:16.. =.. 6:16:18.... AG 15.
The distances for the Little Beaver were: swim 1500 meters, bike 27 miles, run 12.5 miles.
29. Richard Nixon........ 27:21.... 1:27:43.... 51:18.. =.. 2:46:22.... AG 5.
39. Andy Gregg........... 34:27.... 1:27:40.... 46:03.. =.. 2:48:10.... AG 7.
61. Charlie Brookes..... 29:19.... 1:30:56.... 51:31.. =.. 2:51:46.... AG 10.
96. Pedro Polson......... 27:25.... 1:34:58.... 61:29.. =.. 3:03:52.... AG 4.
Giles Cooper................ 28:08.... dnf.
The Speedy Beaver was over the distances of; swim 750 meters, bike 13 miles, run 3 miles.
Marcus Widdess showed great improvement to finish 10th overall - and 4th in the under 20 category, whilst Ros Goatly and Jon Crowley finished 1st and 3rd in their respective Age Groups.
10. Marcus Widdess.... 13:39.... 42:26.... 20:45.. =.. 1:16:50.... AG 4th.
19. Jon Crowley........... 15:00.... 42:52.... 22:54.. =.. 1:20:46.... AG 3.
46. Rosalind Goatly...... 16:15.... 48:32.... 26:38.. =.. 1:31:25.... AG 1.
In the Junior Beaver TS2 Category, Katie Tasker was PACTRAC's sole representative finishing 14th girl in this open water lake swim.
29. Katie Tasker.... 3:41.... 13:50.... 8:53.. =.. 26:24
John Crowley commented:
"Today the mud was knee deep. Yet again it was chucking it down. I looked like a 1970's Rugby player at the end. Everyone was covered. Utter mud bath - a really boggy day at Belvoir Castle."
Giles Cooper commented: "A bit of cleaning to do post Little Beaver triathlon. The muddiest transition ever! Not a great day out - DNF after double puncture on lap 2. Less than ideal conditions!"
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May 25th 2014 Edinburgh Marathon 26.2 miles. 60 degrees. Wet and windy.
PACTRAC's Roger Canham came 3rd in his over 50 Age Group in a new Personal Best time of 2:50:34.
Roger hit the half-way point in 1:22:57 and finished 55th Overall from 8620 finishers.
"By mile 22 both calves were starting to lock out. Mile 23 and I was propped up against the wall stretching my calves."