Terry Murphy competed in the Ironman Copenhagen triathlon for the second consecutive year. He beat all of his split times from last year and finished in 14:06:31 for 1st place in his 70-74 year Age Group. Their was 1 Age Group place available for the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii in October, but Terry felt that another IM in October was too soon, so declined. Terry had a great race and finished having given his all and left nothing out there.
The distances were:
swim 2.4 miles - 1 loop in the sea, in the salt water lagoon.
bike 112 miles - 2 laps with a mix of city centre, coastline and countryside.
run 26.2 miles - 4 laps taking in the Cruise Terminal and the Little Mermaid.
Terry had a consistent swim, conserving enough energy for the bike, where he expedited every one of the 112 miles at between 16 and 20mph. Terry had a solid first half on the marathon run, before gritting down to finish with an overall time of 14:06:31.
Terry said "That was one of the hardest physical and mental challenges that I have had to face for a long time, but that's what becoming an Ironman is all about, especially at the higher Age Group levels. It's back to normal biking and running for the next 3 months, before training begins on another assault next year." Terry only came into the sport of triathlon in his late 60's, and is already showing the youngsters how to do it.
2374. Terry Murphy 1:33:26 6:42:41 5:50:24 = 14:06:31 Age Group 2nd.
------------------------------------
The English National Sprint Championships took place at Box End, Bedford on Sunday. Originally scheduled for Welwyn Garden City, a case of blue-green algae in the water, forced the organisers to change the venue with little over a week to go. As a regular venue for the organisers, Box End proved to be a popular replacement.
The distances were:
swim 750 metres. 1-lap in the lake.
bike 12 miles. 1-lap on country roads.
run 3 miles - out, a loop, and back, all on grass.
PACTRAC's Georgina Jennings won the SILVER MEDAL in these National Championships in the 70-74 year Age Group.
96. Marcus Widdess 13:09 36:79 19:25 = 1:09:33 Age Group 16.
254. Steve Hope 14:37 39:26 23:14 = 1:17:17 AG 20.
263. Debs Wright 13:20 39:56 24:17 = 1:17:33 AG 9.
279. Bill Haslam 15:27 38:19 24:37 = 1:18:23 AG 6.
571. Georgina Jennings 27:19 54:12 40:02 = 2:01:33 AG 2nd.
---------------------
Dave Patmore-Hill (2 photo's attached) finished 20th in his Age Group in the Half-Ironman 70.3 Triathlon, in Vichy, France. It was a hot day for it, but Dave managed to achieve his target of a top 20 finish. His Age Group was won by the ex-Tour de France rider, Laurent Jalabert, who overtook Dave and most of the field on the bike.
Dave has had some ongoing achilles problems, which held up, but meant that he was unable to run at his best.
Dave said "I'm pleased with the race despite losing 5-10 mins, when I lost my chain - twice!"
His next race is the Half-Ironman 70.3 in Lanzarote, based around Club La Santa on 5th October.
The distances were;
swim 1.2 miles - 1 lap in the lake.
bike 58 miles - covering 2 separate laps, on a hilly course with good road surfaces and some closed roads.
run 13.1 miles - 2 laps around the lake, on a flat and fast course.
345. Dave Patmore-Hill 32:26 3:13:08 1:37:03 = 5:22:37 AG 20.
------------------
Congratulations to Amy Mellor on completing her Channel Swim. A great achievement. As far as I'm aware, Amy is the 5th PACTRACer to complete this gruelling task. Well done Amy. Amy's JustGiving Page is here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/amy-mellorswims
Amy Mellor, in honour of her dad, SUCCESSFULLY SWAM ACROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL ( England to France, approx. 21 miles ) in 14 Hours 19 minutes on Friday night / Saturday morning - swimming overnight across one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, to raise money for The Christie Hospital who looked after her dad, Kevin, who tragically lost his life to Cancer in 2017.
This is an astonishing achievement, which has taken years of dedication and determination, battling through hours of pain, emotional challenges and months and months of hard work.
Amy said "I always wanted to swim the channel, but always felt I couldn't commit the time and money etc. When my dad battled cancer I tried to support him as much as possible and watching his struggle taught me that you shouldn't make excuses but should live your life and do the things you want.
I booked my channel swim as soon as dad got the all clear and we talked about how he would be in Dover to cheer me on.
Then in May 2017 dads cancer came back and he died in July that year. This is the biggest sporting challenge of my life.
He cycled with me when I used to run, and was part of my support crew for both my one way and two way Windermere swims, as well as being the loudest parent cheering me on at hundreds of swimming gala's I did as I was growing up.
So my channel swim will be for dad and to support the Christie Hospital, where he was treated."
Amy swam through the night on Friday to realise her dream after a 14 hour 19 minute swim.
------------------
The Ely Triathlon took place on Sunday from Kings School in Ely.
The distances were:
swim 300m in the outdoor heated pool.
bike 12.5 miles - 1 lap on country roads.
run 3 miles - 2 laps on grass around the school playing field.
19. Adam Clark 6:34 42:18 23:48 = 72:40
39. Louise Bannerjee 7:17 44:02 28:35 = 79:54
-------------------
Adam Clark won his Age Group in the Harborough Triathlon over the distances of:
swim 600m in the pool.
bike 22 miles - 1 lap.
run 4.75m - 3 laps, flat.
10. Adam Clark 12:20 74:33 30:55 = 1:57:48 AG 1st.
------------------------
12 PACTRACers competed at St.Neots on Sunday with 5 racing in the Sprint Triathlon (750m, 14m, 3m) and 7 in the Standard Distance Triathlon (1500m, 26m, 6.25m). 3 came 1st in their Age Group whilst 7 came in the top 3. The best placed were Debs Wright who had a great swim and held on to win her Age Group in the Sprint; whilst Andy Chapman was the best placed in the Standard Distance and 2nd in his Age Group.
Jo Chapman competed in her first triathlon, and already has another one lined up.
Sprint:
34. Debs Wright 12:34 48:04 20:17 = 80:55 AG 1st.
51. Christian Richards 14:24 48:59 21:57 = 85:20 AG 8.
83. Pedro Polson 12:35 52:16 26:25 = 91:16 AG 3.
97. Jo Chapman 15:50 53:58 23:28 = 93:16 AG 6.
160. Georgina Jennings 19:23 59:13 31:42 = 1:50:18 AG 1st.
-----------
Standard:
11. Andy Chapman 25:28 79:58 39:36 = 2:25:02 AG 2.
17. Simon Guerin 23:59 81:17 42:36 = 2:27:52 AG 3.
18. Jon Crowley 26:22 81:23 40:27 = 2:28:12 AG 1st.
28. Steve Skelhon 26:04 82:12 44:50 = 2:33:06 AG 4.
31. Robert Spooner 27:57 81:49 43:55 = 2:33:41 AG 5.
67. Simon Pauffley 29:00 90:38 46:36 = 2:46:14 AG 10.
116. Angela Wallis 36:10 97:40 49:29 = 3:03:19 AG 2.
----------------------
Jonathan Oakey won the season long Junior Super Series League. He was second at Mallory Park with Nathan Tweedie also competing.
Jonathan Oakey came 4th in the Junior Triathlon at Mallory Park and claimed the overall male Junior Super Series Win. He has moved up from 70th overall last year to become the top Junior in the country. The male race was split into two tiers, with some aggressive racing from the start and attacks made on the bike and run in both waves.
Jonathan Oakey and Nathan Tweedie competed at Mallory Park in British Triathlon's Big Weekend - "a celebration of the performance of athletes of all ages. This pinnacle event at the end of the season, traditionally a key milestone in the development of future triathlon stars, previously known as the British Triathlon U20's Festival, now also includes racing opportunities for Elite Senior athletes." The event was run over 2 days. This was the final race in the Junior Super series, and Jonathan Oakey came 4th moving up 1 place in the overall rankings to take FIRST PLACE overall.
From 96 competitors spread over two start waves, Jonathan Oakey finished 4th Junior overall, with Nathan Tweedie 37th.
Jonathan went into this final race of the 7-race series in 2nd position, on 6604 points compared to the leaders 6619. Third place had 5950 points in the Series, but had a slower race at Mallory Park dropping back in the rankings.
In 2018 Jonathan competed in 3 of the 6 races, finishing 70th overall with individual race positions of 36th, 25th and 46th. What a difference a year makes!
Jonathan came out of the water 20-seconds behind the leader in 17th place. He quickly caught the lead bikers and established himself in the lead group of 3. These 3 pulled clear of a big chase group and had a near 30-second advantage going into the run. Jonathan's cycling has improved and he had the 2nd fastest bike split, whilst doing a lot of the work to keep away. He had a quick run too, and was able to come in just 36 seconds down on the leader in 6th place overall. Two of those ahead were seniors, leaving Jonathan 4th in the junior category (the seniors and juniors raced together).
He moved up one place to gain FIRST PLACE in the NATIONAL JUNIOR SUPER SERIES. This is a fantastic achievement. This puts Jonathan the number one junior triathlete in the country. Athletes have to achieve a very high standard to even get on the start line. At 19-years of age, Jonathan will move up to senior elite racing next year, competing against the likes of the Brownlees and others.
swim 750 metres - out, 2 loops and back: in the lake in the centre of the track.
bike 12.5 miles - 6 laps with lots of twists and turns.
run 3 miles - 4 anti-clockwise loops. A flat course, around the lakeside.
4. Jonathan Oakey 9:39 31:33 15:36 = 56:48
37. Nathan Tweedie 9:18 34:32 16:47 = 60:37
Jonathan's Super Series results:
8. Nottingham.
7. Llanelli.
2. Blenheim.
2. Leeds.
4. Eton.
dns Hetton Lyons.
4. Mallory Park.
--------------
Roger Canham was due to compete in the Half-Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice, but a bad back has curtailed his season.
-----------
Steve Hope completed the Ypres marathon in Belgium in a time of 3:55:57.
-----------------
The 17th annual Vitruvian Triathlon, a leading half-ironman distance event in the UK, took place at Rutland Water on Saturday.
The course was 2 laps of the equally well thought of Dambuster Triathlon, held in June.
The 1900 metre swim involved two laps from Whitwell, with a beach start, running into the water on large stones / boulders, with an exit and back into the water after one lap. The sun was still rising over the misty water as athletes started the swim.
The 53 mile bike started out in deceptively cool conditions. This involved 2 laps around Oakham, Uppingham, Morcott and Ketton, with 4 hills on each lap.
It did warm up during the two lap half-marathon 13.1 mile run, which went over the Dam to Normanton Church and back - twice.
PACTRAC's Paul Lunn came 3rd overall, just 13 seconds behind second place. Paul was 36th in the swim. He then had the 5th fastest bike to move up to 9th and the 4th fastest run to move up to 3rd overall. He won his Age Group, whilst Dave Thorold came 3rd in his, just pipping Giles Cooper into 4th. Paul is in good shape, heading for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October.
3. Paul Lunn 32:16 1:33 2:09:16 1:13 1:18:26 = 4:02:44 AG 1st.
43. Dan Wilson 34:35 1:45 2:22:44 1:51 1:32:28 = 4:33:23 AG 7.
56. Dave Thorold 39:42 1:39 2:23:18 1:07 1:34:02 = 4:39:48 AG 3.
58. Giles Cooper 36:27 3:02 2:26:27 1:37 1:33:24 = 4:40:57 AG 4.
163 Steve Hope 38:43 3:03 2:41:27 1:08 1:50:59 = 5:15:20 AG 5.
211. Liam McClean 46:07 4:23 2:52:35 2:00 1:45:08 = 5:30:13 AG 34.
384 Laura Johnson 42:36 5:32 3:48:07 3:40 2:09:11 = 6:49:06 AG 18
399. Sue Davys 46:36 4:16 3:38:45 3:01 2:36:04 = 7:08:42 AG 4.
416. Reuben Williams 66:35 4:07 3:43:15 7:27 2:42:11 = 7:43:35 AG 52.
---------------------------
Brighton held two triathlon's on Sunday. Simon Guerin and Graham Ribbons competed in the Standard Distance Triathlon (swim 1500m, bike 25 miles, run 6.25 miles) and came 20th and 13th respectively in their Age Groups. This was a qualifying event for the European Standard Distance Championships next year, and Simon will have to wait to see if he has a Rolldown Place. This was Graham's first Olympic Distance Triathlon in 20-years.
Brighton
95. Simon Guerin 29:14 68:35 49:12 = 2:27:01 AG 20.
360. Graham Ribbons 38:45 83:28 56:22 = 2:58:35 AG 13.
The Sprint Triathlon (swim 750m, bike 12.5 miles, run 3 miles), was a qualifying race for the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, next year, and the other Simon, Simon Hoppe came 5th in his Age Group and qualified.
Sprint:
45. Simon Hoppe 12:04 38:24 20:25 = 70:53 AG 5.
Top 5 Qualifying Slots:
1. Robin Harris 13:32 36:47 19:51 = 70:10
2. Will Harding 13:34 37:18 19:29 = 70:21
3. Paul Blackmore 12:01 38:27 19:54 = 70:22
4. Alexander Whisker 12:05 38:31 20:16 = 70:52
5. Simon Hoppe 12:04 38:24 20:25 = 70:53
The racing was fierce and very close. Their were 4 automatic places available with the top 5 all finishing just 43-seconds apart. Simon was 5th, beaten by A Whisker for 1-second.
Their were 91-seconds separating all 5 in the swim, with Simon 2nd just 3-seconds down.
The 2 slowest swimmers had the fastest bike legs and all 5 came in 23-seconds apart, with Simon still in 2nd place but right on the leader's heals.
All 5 had good run splits with less than a minute between them. However the pack was shuffled as 2 runners passed Simon, leaving just 1 behind. Alexander Whisker started the run 8-seconds behind Simon and chased after him. The two had a sprint finish and Simon was just beaten by A Whisker, with only 1-second separating them at the finish.
Their are 3 qualifying races, each with 4 automatic slots. The remaining 8 slots are then allocated to the athletes with the best percentage time compare to that race's Age Group winner. Simon is on 101% and has qualified for the World Sprint Championships in Edmonton next August.
-------------------------
Aaron Godden finished 15th overall in the North Norfolk Triathlon held in Wells-next-the-Sea.
The event was based on the quayside at Wells. The 1500 metre open water swim was held in the sea in Wells Harbour, followed by a 25-mile bike route around North Norfolk coastal villages in a loop returning to the quay. The 6.25 mile run course went along the North Norfolk coastal path and out onto the beach.
15. Aaron Godden 26:14 70:55 41:50 = 2:18:59 AG 6.
--------------------------
Willow Worthington completed her longest triathlon to date at Woburn Abbey.
swim 1500 metres in the lake.
bike 27.5 miles - on closed roads surrounding Woburn Abbey.
run 6.5 miles in the Abbey grounds.
175. Willow Worthington 30:45 95:15 62:56 = 3:08:56 AG 6.