Roger Canham competed in the 70.3 Half-Ironman triathlon at Liuzhou in China and qualified for the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii in October. Only 3 British athletes won their Age Groups - Roger in the 50-54, Mike Hooper in the 55-59 and ALISTAIR BROWNLEE in the Elites. The attached photo is of Roger and Alistair with their Trophies. This is Roger's tenth consecutive year of qualifying for the World Championships in Hawaii. Roger went into the run in 3rd place and overtook 2 athletes including his British rival to take first spot.
Roger said "Pretty lucky really. I'm training for RAAM this year so this was my only shot!"
Pro Men.
1st – Alistair Brownlee (GBR) – 3:45:28
Age-Group 50-54.
1st – Roger Canham (GBR) – 4:41:58
2nd – Matthew Ryley (GBR) – 4:43:31
Roger's Report:
"April 14th 2018. Ironman 70.3 Liuzhou China.
Swim 1.2 miles. Bike 56 miles. Run 13.1 miles - Temperature 18oF
Swim 33:00 - T1 05:01 - Bike 02:30:14 - T2 05:10 – Run 01:28:33 Total Time 4:41:58.
50-54 Age Group Champion, 53rd overall.
The first part of the year was always going to be dominated with getting into shape for the 3,100mile Race Across America bike adventure I am undertaking in a team of four riders in June. For my second adventure of the year, I was lucky enough to win a start for the legendary Norseman iron distance extreme triathlon taking place in early August. RAAM training meant that I would only be able to squeeze in a minimal amount of swimming and running but I still wanted a shot at qualifying for the 2018 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. When I scoured the events list for 2018 the only event I would be able to shoe horn into my training plans was the Ironman 70.3 Liuzhou in China and I would have to win the age group to secure my slot for the Big Island. It’s was a far from perfect plan, but it was that or nothing.
After 36 hours of travelling we landed in Liuzhou on Thursday, in time to register and attend the English briefing. At the briefing it quickly became clear that any non-nationals competing were there for one thing and one thing only, a coveted Kona slot. There would be only ten guys truly competing for the win, but they were experienced and high-quality athletes. Friday was spent kit racking and wrestling with jet lag.
Storms had been forecast for race day but as we made our way to the swim start all looked calm. It was a rolling swim start and I now have established a tactic of starting further back so that when I see people on the run, the chances are they started before me and I am genuinely racing them. The swim was billed as a fast, current assisted downstream swim. It was indeed fast initially, but as we rounded the 1000m buoy the promised storm was starting to show its hand with the waves coming crashing in. The pace plummeted as it became a fight to battle one stroke at a time through the waves with the packs of swimmers being widely scattered. Somewhat battered, we exited the swim, ran to T2, changed into bike gear and set off on the bike leg.
No sooner had I put the hammer down than I hit a bump and my nutrition bottle popped out. I had no option but to jam on the anchors, jump off the bike and run back up the road to retrieve my precious calories. Reset and go again but very quickly the rain started to come down and the roads became greasy; they would bring down a number of riders before the day was out. The race was split, the seasoned Ironman athletes gunning for slots and the nationals getting their first taste of racing a triathlon. The consequence was that the front end of the race was an eye balls out time trail at world class pace and then a big gap to the main field. I locked into the zone and just cranked out the planned power numbers, mostly riding alone. The flat, pristine roads had promised record breaking times, but the weather had undone any chance of bagging a PB, I was just pleased to put in a solid effort and get off unscathed.
I glanced across at the bikes already home as I racked my bike in T2, not many but there were clearly a handful of athletes already out on the run course. The chaotic numbering system made it nigh impossible to know how many were racing for the age group win and The Slot. Head down and see what my legs had for the first few miles. Woefully short of run training volume, never mind running at pace, meant it really was an unknown. I figured that I would need to go faster than seven-minute miles to be in with a chance of a podium and as the first few miles unfolded, I started to build a small buffer of seconds against my target pace. As athletes came back from the turnaround I couldn’t spot any of my competition who were undoubtedly ahead of me, I just didn’t know how many and how far ahead they were. I just kept pushing to maintain the pace and as I reached the half way mark I passed a UK athlete in my age group. He spotted me and latched onto my heels so I upped the tempo and eventually the elastic snapped. I discovered later that he didn’t fold but kept chasing and ended up with second spot and only just over a minute behind me. At 9-miles I passed an Italian in my age group and I felt I must be near the front now but couldn’t ease up. I held my pace right to the line but crossed really not sure what position I was in.
It took nearly an hour for my result to be confirmed, age group champion and my ticket stamped for Hawaii – BOOM! The first Ironman was held in 1978 in Hawaii and this will be the fortieth anniversary and my tenth competing there. Racing in Liuzhou and talking to other athletes gunning for that slot makes me appreciate how lucky I am to be going back to the Big island. Now back to the bike and the small matter of a 3100 mile ride across America."
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Super-Series Assessment - Jonathan Oakey and Katie Tasker.
It was a big weekend for two of Pactrac's aspiring young athletes in Loughborough at the national performance assessment weekend.
The event is split over 2 days with a series of lectures on the Saturday during the day, then the swim in Loughborough University pool on Saturday Evening.
It is significant to get in the top 40 as this enables the athlete to complete in the Super Series (National league). If you fall outside of this you are on the waiting list.
The swim was in the pool with 16 lanes in use and 32 swimmers going off in waves every 10 minutes. In Jonathan's Junior Age Group, there were 85 attemptiong to secure a top 40 slot.
Jonathan Oakey – Junior Men : Distances – Swim 800m Bike 12.5m Run 3m
Jonathan swam a new PB in 9:51 which despite this it left him in 63rd position. With it all to do on the bike Jonathan made quick work in moving up the field. He was able to ‘jump’ a number of groups and entered T2 in 22nd position with a blistering ride averaging nearly 26mph on the 12.5m course.
Jonathan then ran a solid 3-mile run on the back of this, but despite his best efforts, he did lose some ground on the field. He was still able to come home in 38th place and was releived to have made the cut.
Katie Tasker – Youth Girls: Distances – Swim 400m Bike 10K Run 2.5K
Katie entered the race boosted from her recent result at Bedford. She too swam a PB in the pool 5:05 for 400m which left her in 25th place entering the bike. She made an electrifying T1 and was the fastest of all exiting transition. On the bike she was able to work with a small group which manouvered its way through the riders. This was a strong ride and she moved up to 7th. Katie struggled on the final run and lost some places but was still able to come home in 17th. This is the 1st time that Katie has raced at this event and a number of valuable lessons were learnt which will help with the oncoming season.
These results secure both Katie & Jonathan a berth in the National Super Series - with the first triathlon in Llanelli in May.
Super Series :-
https://www.britishtriathlon.org/events/performance-events/youth-and-junior-super-series
The results are :-
https://www.resultsbase.net/event/4379/results
Splits
Jonathan Oakey 9:54 0:28 29:11 0:21 18:42 = 58:36 38th / 85
Katie Tasker 5:05 0:22 16:47 0:23 10:26 = 33:03 17th / 65
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574 competitor's finished in one of the first triathlons of the season, the Southwell Triathlon, with Darren Kelly coming home in 21st place overall.
The distances were: swim 400 metres, bike 11 miles, run 3 miles.
21. Darren Kelly 7:26 30:19 17:21 = 55:06 Age Group 5.
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Mark Bedford completed the Boston marathon in Lincolnshire in 3:27:50 beating his previous best time by 40-seconds. His next target is the Lakesman Triathlon in June, an Ironman distance race over hilly terrain.
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Entries close for the PACTRAC Peterborough Duathlon on Monday 23rd April. The event takes place from Castor on Sunday 29th April and comprises a 4-mile run, 18-mile bike and 2.5 mile run. Their is also a Relay option for teams of either 2 or 3. For further details and to enter, visit http://pactrac.co.uk/events/4215/