Ex-PACTRACER and founding member from back in 1985, Steve
Cox took part in a Charity Cross-Chanel Swimming Relay at
the weekend.
The team of four were originally due to set off from Dover
last Sunday. This was postponed until Monday, and then again
to last Saturday.
Steve said "We're swimming in aid of the mobility charity,
Motivation who do great work all over the world, giving people
with mobility problems independence and a more certain future
through the provision of wheelchairs, training and other
assistance. The team traveled down to Dover on Saturday and
were hopeful of starting the swim in the cold, dark hours of
Sunday morning.
"This was postponed twice, before we finally got to go.
Despite all the best wishes, the weather gods have not been kind.
Our slot early on Sunday was taken by a team ahead of us in the
pilot boat queue that hadn't got away on Saturday - they had good
conditions and got across.
Late on Sunday night, our Monday slot was pulled too as the
weather conditions in the Channel had deteriorated enough to
rule out attempts for the rest of the week. We finally got to
go on Saturday, which was our last chance before losing
the pilot boat."
After the bad weather delays, the team ended up with
a really good day to complete the event, with each
swimmer swimming for 1 hour in rotation.
Steve said "After an awesome night's swim, with Bridget,
Zoe and Kay, I had the honour of swimming the last leg
and landing us in France, and what an honour"
--------------
On Saturday, Olympic and Commonwealth Champion brothers, Alistair and
Jonny Brownlee brought their Brownlee Triathlon back to Harewood House,
in Leeds. This is part of their drive to encourage people of all ages
and abilities to take part in triathlon.
Jonathan Oakey came 12th in the Youth Super-Sprint over the distances of
swim 400 metres in the lake.
bike 8 miles on traffic-free roads, as used by the Tour de France.
run 2 miles.
12. Jonathan Oakey ....6.18....29.32....12.40..=..48.30
-----------
Paul Vernon won the BRJ Duathlon outright. The event, held
at Abbotts Ripton was over the distances of:
run 3 miles
bike 12.5 miles
run 1.5 miles - out and back on a flat course.
This was another great win for Paul, who came home to win by 3:09
and in doing so, he set a new Course Record.
Paul had the fastest first run and set off on the bike 52 seconds ahead
of the chasing pack. He then had the 2nd fastest bike to come into T2
2:17 ahead of a quartet of chasers. Paul then had the fastest final
discipline by 26 seconds and came home 3:09 ahead for a clear victory
and a new Course Record.
1. Paul Vernon 15.32....31.13.....9.44..=..56.29
21 Andrew Chapman 20.33....35.39....13.01..=..69.13
35 Simon Guerin 21.28....37.41....13.37..=..72.46
----------
Paul Lunn meanwhile warmed up for his Half-
Ironman in Turkey next month, by finishing a
>great 2nd place overall in the Half-Ironman
distance New Forest Middle Distance Triathlon.
Distances were
swim 1900 metres - 2 laps in Ellingham Lake.
bike 56 miles - 3 laps in the New Forest National Park.
run 13.1 miles - out and back. Off-road on gravel tracks.
Paul had the second fastest bike and second fastest run
of the day. He was 3rd away on the run, and gained 1 place
to finish in 2nd place overall.
2. Paul Lunn........34.24....2.27.02....1.27.55....=..4.29.21 AG 2nd.
----------
At the Pinewood Triathlon, at Sheringham, Steve Hope won
his Age Group over the distances of:
Swim 300 meters in the pool.
Bike 11 miles - 1 loop.
run 2 miles-out and back.
11. Steve Hope....5.30....32.33....12.40..=..50.43 ....AG 1st.
Less than 3 minutes separated 2nd and 11th places.
-------------
Neil Tandy competed in the half-Ironman distance
triathlon at Hever Castle. This is the 4th
event in this year's Castle Series and Neil
has targetted the half-Ironman at each. However,
his season has been blighted by injury and
once again he found that he was unable to run,
to anywhere near his potential.
The distances were:
swim 1900 metres in the lake.
bike 56 miles.
run 13.1 miles.
Neil was 6th out of the water, and maintained a
top ten position on the bike, but a calf injury
is currently holding him back on the run. Even so,
he was able to hold on to finish 28th overall.
28. Neil Tandy........27.11....3.04.00....2.18.17....=..5.49.28.
------------
Sean Beard competed in the Berlin Marathon (first claim club NVHs, 2nd
claim PACTRAC). This was only his second ever Marathon and he
finished with a PB in a time of 2.52.28. This beat his previous best,
recorded in London by over 4 minutes. He said that he was "very
happy" with his well paced effort and was now "looking forward to
the Virgin London Marathon next year".
-------------
Andy Gregg came 13th in the Spalding 10k run in a new PB of 39.48, the
first time that he has ducked under the 40-minute barrier.