PACTRAC's Tristan Matthews completed the Bournemouthhalf marathon in a very respectable 1:24:25.
--------------------------
Paul Lunn and Roger Canham are currently in Hawaii acclimatising for
this Saturday's Ironman World Championships.
(swim 2.4 miles in the Pacific Ocean. Bike 112 miles in the heat of the
lava fields. Run 26.2 miles).
Paul Lunn competed in the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt,
in early July, coming 2nd in his Age Group to qualify for the Ironman
World Championships for the 2nd consecutive year. Roger Canham
qualified earlier in the year in China and will be competing in his
10th Hawaii World Championships.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Then on 24th October, Nathan Tweedie represents GB in the Elite under
23 European Aquathlon Championships in Ibiza. Nathan has propelled
himself to the top of the sport and is training hard at Loughborough
with the best British athletes. Also in action in Ibiza, in the Age
Group European Duathlon Championships on 21st October, will be
PACTRAC's Jim Fell and George Prodrick. Steve Hope, meanwhile will
compete on the same weekend on the neighbouring island of Majorca in a
half-Ironman distance triathlon.
-----------------------
PACTRAC's Paul Lunn and Roger Canham competed in the World Ironman
Championships in Hawaii for the 2nd and 10th consecutive time,
respectively.
Ironman interview with Paul Lunn prior to the 2018 Ironman World
Championships: https://www.tri247.com/triathlon-features/interviews/gbkona-2018-paul-lunn-profile
Distances:
swim 2.4 miles in the ocean.
bike 112 miles in the heat of the lava fields.
run 26.2 miles again in the same heat.
It is very difficult to qualify for this, as most long distance
athletes in the world covet one of only 2,221 places. Even if you do
qualify, you have to contend with the soaring heat and wind in the
barren lava fields.
Roger is normally in the top 10 in his Age Group, but last year he
suffered a broken collar bone in training but still raced and finished
55th. This year his main focus has been the RAAM Race Across AMerica, a
3,000 mile team bike race.
Roger said "This year, RAAM, Norseman Extreme Triathlon and half of the
run volume in my build up was never going to cut it for out here, but I
knew that. I was ready for the day that I had. I made some improvements
on the bike this year, so just need to get my run back up to scratch
and launch myself into the 55-59 Age Group next year. It was a hard day
at the office. That's the fastest I have ridden for ten year's in
Hawaii and that's the slowest marathon I have run for a long time."
Roger qualified for Hawaii, in the 70.3 Half-Ironman in Liuzhou, China,
in April.
Paul Lunn competed in his second Hawaii Ironman World Championships and
moved up from 5th place last year, in a tough Age Group, to 3rd this
year.
After a good swim, Paul moved through the field with a super-fast bike
split. He improved in all 3-disciplines on last year including 12-
minutes on the bike and 4 on the run.
2017 9:25:02
2018 9:08:27
Paul said: "That run was super tough. I'm pretty happy moving up the
Podium two places from last year. Need to start planning how to go two
better next time." This was the result of endless 6am starts, training
twice a day for months on end, alongside a full time job.
Results:
Paul Lunn 1:05:01.....4:43:47.....3:19:39..=..9:08:27 Age Group
3rd.
Roger Canham 1:09:29.....5:20:04.....4:06:57..=..10:36:30 Age Group
70th.
-------------------------
This weekend sees the European Duathlon Championships, Mid-Distance
Triathlon Championships and Aquathlon Championships in Ibiza, with Jim
Fell, George Prodrick, Paul Jephcott and Nathan Tweedie representing
GB.
Nathan is representing GB in the ELITE Under 23 Aquathlon
Championships, and is the only ELITE representative.
Schedule:
Saturday 20 October: Duathlon
Wednesday 24 October: Aquathlon
Saturday 27 October: Middle Distance Triathlon.
---------------------------
Two PACTRACer's represented GB in the European Duathlon Championships
in Ibiza. Jim Fell in the 70-74 Age Group and George Prodrick in the 75-
79.
George Prodrick only went and won his Age Group and is now the European
Duathlon Champion in the over 75 category. He won the GOLD medal by 9-
minutes.
The distances were:
run 6.25 miles.
bike 24 miles.
run 3 miles.
Over the first run, George took an early lead by 2-minutes. He then
pulled away further on each discipline to win by 9-minutes overall.
This was George's 2nd time representing GB and his first Podium finish.
He takes over from Georgina Jennings this year as PACTRAC's Gold
Medalist having trained with a select group of local GB athletes for a
number of year's now.
In the same training group is Jim Fell, who also represented GB in
Ibiza in the same race, bringing home the BRONZE Medal in the over 70
Age Category.
Jim was in a very close race and had the fastest first run over 6.25
miles to be first away on the bike. He was overtaken on the 24-mile
bike section, but had the 2nd fastest bike split and came in to start
the final discipline only 20-seconds down. All was still close, as Jim
had already ran the fastest in the first run. However, he was overtaken
in T2 and set off on the final 3-mile run in 3rd place, just behind and
chasing.
However, Jim had given it his best shot from the outset and wasn't able
to keep the high intensity in the final run, finishing over 2-minutes
behind the silver medalist. He still had the 4th fastest final run and
held onto 3rd place for a European BRONZE Medal. Jim beat the overall
winner by 1:25 minutes in the first run, as his plan to put a marker
down on the event unfolded.
This is the 6th time that Jim has represented GB; his previous best
placing being 8th.
He came 8th in his Age Group in the World Duathlon Championships in
Denmark in July.
He was also 8th in the World Duathlon Sprint Championships in Canada in
2017.
This is, therefore, the first time that both George and Jim have won
international honours.
The attached photo's are of George Prodrick a) in the finishing
straight b) on the bike and c) with Jim Fell at the local Dambusters
Triathlon in 2015 where both again won honours.
Results:
Jim Fell................53:51....67:57....31:11..=..2:32:59 Age Group
3rd BRONZE MEDAL 70-74.
George Prodrick..67:16....80:16....34:30..=..3:02:02 Age Group 1st
GOLD MEDAL 75-79.
Later in the week Nathan Tweedie and Paul Jephcott will be competing in
the European Aquathlon (Wednesday) and Middle-Distance Triathlon
(Saturday) respectively.
------------------
Steve Hope competed in the Challenge Paguera half-Ironman distance
triathlon on the neighbouring island of Majorca. The distances were:
swim 1900 metres - out and back with a strong current in the warm
Mediterranean Sea.
bike 56 miles - 2 laps of an undulating / hilly course that went into
the early part of the mountain, but all on closed roads.
run 13.1 miles. 4 laps constantly undulating.
Results:
463. Steve Hope 35:29 3:10:45 2:05:24 = 5:51:38 Age Group
14.
other.
550. Chris Shaw (Fenland Clarion CC) 43:35 3:14:56 2:10:19 = 6:
08:50 AG 18.
-----------------
Dan Wilson competed in Ironman Barcelona finishing in a great time of 9:
38:59. After a 2.4 mile sea swim, Dan averaged 23mph for the 112 mile
bike section before consolidating his position with a fast marathon
time of just over 3 1/2 hours.
161 Dan Wilson 1:05:34....5:00:33....3:32:52..=..9:38:59 AG 30.
-----------------
On the running front Nicholas Partridge competed in the Chelmsford
Marathon.
532. Nicholas Partridge 5:27:17.
---------------
Nathan Tweedie recorded a 2nd place in the European Aquathlon
Championships in Ibiza.
1. Samuel Dickinson 10:42 0:20 17:19 = 28:22
2. Nathan Tweedie 10:40 0:21 17:36 = 28:38
3. Dylan Magnien (FRA) 10:56 0:18 17:40 = 28:54
Nathan is doing the club proud. He is part of the GB Elite Triathlon
set-up at Loughborough and was one of only two athletes selected to
compete in the European Aquathlon Championships to represent GB.
The distances were short and sharp:
swim: 750 metres in the sea.
run: 3 miles.
The other GB athlete, Sam Dickinson, is a world under23 medal winner,
so Nathan was in good company.
Nathan led the field in the sea swim, but had Sam right on his toes.
The pair left transition together before Sam pulled just 16-seconds
clear over the 3-mile run, to bring home the Gold and Silver medals for
GB. Nathan was a further 16-seconds ahead of the Bronze medalist from
France, so it was all very close and the medals hard-fought.
This is the 3rd time that Nathan has represented GB in the Under23
Europen Aquathlon Championships and the 2nd time that he has been on
the Podium.
2016 2nd.
2017 4th.
2018 2nd.
Various events took place over the week, where George Prodrick and Jim
Fell competed for medals in the Duathlon. Paul Jephcott was selected to
represent GB in the Mid-Distance European Championships Age Group Team.
Unfortunately, Paul subsequently got injured and was unable to run, but
still went out their, put the vest on and completed the swim and bike.
--------------------------
Their is only one triathlon left for this year now:
Tristan Matthews will be competing in Challenge Daytona in Florida,
over the half-Ironman distance on 8th December.
Before that we have the PACTRAC AGM and Prize Presentation on 17th
November.