Daniel wins the GoTri Duathlon.
PACTRAC's Daniel Richardson won the GoTri Duathlon at Milton Country Park, Milton, Cambridge on Sunday. The GoTri's are for people looking to take their first steps in multisport, and are over short distances. This event was all off-road and took place within the park, over the distances of:
Run 1-mile.
Bike 2.67 miles.
Run 0.65 mile.
Time: 29 minutes and 9 seconds.
Daniel said "I came 1st. That's never happened to me before, so I was very pleased with my performance today".
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Jaap Flikweert, meanwhile, took part in the Thoresby Park Duathlon near Worksop. The distances were:
Run 4-miles on mixed terrain paths within the park, with some rolling hills.
Bike 22.5 miles on local undulating roads with the park section on closed roads.
Run 4-miles as before.
Result:
56. Jaap Flikweert 27:31 .... 68:33 .... 30:21 .... = 2:06:25 Age Group 9th.
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The final Swim,Run event of 2020 took place at Box End Country Park near Bedford on Sunday. Their were 3 events of 5km, 10km and 21km, with over 70 athletes constantly changing discipline from swimming to running and back.
The course inspection on the day confirmed that the river levels were too high with a fast flow, so the courses were changed to use the lake only for the swims, at a low 13 degrees.
Adam Clark competed in the 10km race, swimming in his running shoes and running in his wetsuit, for a total of 7 runs and 6 swims.
Adam finished 3rd overall, just missing out on 2nd by 16-seconds after a constant battle. He finished over 2 1/2 minutes ahead of the next placed competitor and won his Age Group.
Willow Worthington chose the 21km race, which involved a constant change of discipline, taking in 15 runs and 14 swims. On a cold October morning, with the water temperature in the lake just 13 degrees, Willow had to get into the lake and swim 14 times, between runs. 3 competitor's failed to finish the 21km event, in which Willow was out there, taking in the elements for 3 hours and 50 minutes.
Results:
10km Swim,Run:
3rd. Adam Clark .... 1:26:04 Age Group 1st.
21km Swim,Run:
11th Willow Worthington .... 3:50:24 Age Group 2nd.
------------5 PACTRACers competed in the AsKeenAsMustard Swim,Run event at Ferry Meadows on Sunday. Due to the pandemic, all of the SwimRuns in the series have been put back to September and October, with the lakes at Ferry Meadows a cool 13 degrees. This is the 3rd year that the series has taken place and the events attract a loyal following from across the country.
The disciplines constantly change from run to swim and back to running, so competitor's swim in their training shoes and run in their wetsuits.
The 10km race involved 7 runs and 6 swims including a total of 1,840 metres of swimming, both in Gunwade Lake and the River Nene.
The 21km race involved 13 runs and 12 swims including a total of 3,915 metres of swimming, with 4 swims in Gunwade Lake, 4 up-stream and 4 down-stream in the River Nene.
It was a cold morning with rain and a temperature of 13 degrees in the river. The recent rains led to a faster flowing, colder river, and the 4 up-stream sections made it particularly challenging.
PACTRAC's Charlie Brookes took on the 21km challenge, fresh from his half-ironman distance triathlon at Thoresby Hall only the week before. He battled to 6th place in 3:05:57 hours in very challenging conditions.
The other 4 PACTRACers took part in the 10km race, which involved 8,200 metres of running between the swims. Adam Clark finished 5th in his first attempt at the sport, having competed in the Sywell Triathlon last weekend. Susie Freeman was 7th overall and 2nd lady, whilst Jaap Flikweert finished 9th and Sue Davys 29th.
The final event in the series takes place at Box End, Bedford, this coming weekend.
Results:
21km
6th. Charlie Brookes 3:05:57.
10km
5. Adam Clark 1:14:16.
7. Susie Freeman 1:17:07. 2nd lady.
9. Jaap Flikweert 1:18:36.
29. Sue Davys 1:44:41
Other local clubs:
10km. 19th Rod Hall (Werrington Joggers) 1:31:31.
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I don't know if you or Barry Warne are doing a roundup of runners in the Virtual Virgin London Marathon, but their were runners all over the country/county running their own 26.2 mile courses on Sunday. Local athletes included Josh Lunn who ran in the real event in London, recording 2:17:59. 2 PACTRACers ran their own courses - Ady Pendred recorded 3:00:37 and Aaron Godden 3:08:08, both recording Good-for-age times, which gives them entry into next years event. Their were also 15 Werrington Joggers who finished their own personal marathons and, I think, a dozen Eye Runners.
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Two PACTRACers took part in the Sywell Sprint Triathlon, near Northampton, on a very cold and windy morning. With the water temperature dropping quickly over the preceding days, the lake swim was reduced from 750 metres to 500 metres, followed by 12.5 miles of cycling and a 3-mile run.
Both Adam Clark and Christian Richards came 3rd in their respective Age Groups. Adam had the 9th fastest run overall, which moved him up 5 places to finish in 14th place overall.
Adam said: "After not having a strong swim, the bike leg went well before following up with a great run. I was a little disappointed as I was hoping for a top 5 placing, but I've learnt a lot ready for next year.
The transitions were a struggle for most of us, with cold hands and feet making taking the wetsuit off even more difficult.
This was my first Individual Open Water Triathlon, and I've taken a lot of positives from it, especially in the tough conditions."
Results:
14. Adam Clark .............. 10:15 .... 41:44 .... 18:20 .. = 70:19 Age Group 3rd.
28. Christian Richards ..... 9:44 ..... 43:25 .... 21:27 .. = 74:36 Age Group 3rd.
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7 PACTRACers opened their triathlon account this year at the Outlaw X at Thoresby Hall, near Worksop. The swim was reduced from 1900m down to 750m due to the sudden drop in the water temperature last week, taking it down to 13 degrees; but the bike and run distances remained the same at 56-miles and 13.1 miles. The air temperature was lower still and all of the PACTRAC athletes donned an extra top and full gloves for the bike section, although somehow Charlie Brookes only had one glove! It warmed up later on, for the run, so the extra tops were all dispensed with.
Paul Lunn came home 22nd overall in a top field including many professionals. He won his Age Group by the massive margin of 19:23 minutes. Paul was constantly moving up through the field and had a very consistent run, all between 6:01 and 6:09 minutes per mile. Paul said "It was great to finally get a race in for 2020 at the Outlaw X Triathlon, and show the form I’ve been carrying all year."
Jo Chapman said: "It was like jumping into a freezer then swimming in the freezer for 15+ minutes. The bike was pretty brutal! It seemed to be head wind followed by more head wind, followed by more head wind and then an extra mile added on at the end. The run felt hillier than last year, but it was definitely the best discipline out of the 3 for me.
My goal was to smash last years time but what with the swim distance being reduced the bike distance being increased and the weather conditions today, there wasn’t a lot of smashing going on. That wasn’t the race my training deserved!"
Results:
22. Paul Lunn ................ 13:10 .... 2:30:19 .... 1:20:00 = 4:03:29 Age Group 1st.
70. Dan Wilson ............... 13:23 .... 2:43:54 .... 1:30:00 = 4:27:17 AG 11.
350. Simon Guerin ........... 13:00 .... 2:57:50 .... 1:58:29 = 5:09:19 AG 54.
401. Andrew Chapman .... 15:32 .... 2:58:45 .... 2:01:09 = 5:15:26 AG 63.
428. Charlie Brookes ....... 15:01 .... 3:13:38 .... 1:49:58 = 5:18:37 AG 31.
782. Jo Chapman ............ 16:30 .... 3:38:47 .... 2:00:07 = 5:55:24 AG 23.
1095. Sue Davys ............. 18:35 .... 3:59:15 .... 2:36:06 = 6:53:56 AG 6.
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Half-Ironman distance triathlon in Windermere plus Swim,Run at St.Ives.
3 members competed in multi-sport last weekend.
Steve Hope ventured up to Windermere for the Epic Windermere Half-Ironman distance triathlon. It was more Adventure Sport than Triathlon. They do things differently up there.
There were 3 separate distances on offer, attracting 460 starters, a few of whom wouldn't finish.
223 opted for the main event, over the half-ironman distance.
Swim: 1900 metres in Lake Windermere. 1 large lap in 14 degrees, setting off in a line to enter the water and go.
Bike: 56-miles of hilly roads, some quite narrow, with 5 big hills to negotiate.
Run: 13.1 miles. 4 laps which meandered all over the place, on mud-based trails, with rocks, boulders and tree roots everywhere; then along a furrowed track and onto bumpy, grassy fields and jumping over logs. It was more Adventure Sport than Triathlon, and nothing like a normal run route.
Result:
142. Steve Hope .... 38:55 .... 3:47:25 .... 2:16:40 .. = 6:43:00 Age Group 21st.
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Charlie Brookes and Pedro Polson finished 14th and 27th respectively in the AsKeenAsMustard Swim,Run at Needingworth, St. Ives (Cambs) on Sunday. The 10km course involved constantly changing disciplines from running (in your wetsuit) to swimming (in your running shoes), around the RSPB Reserve at Fen Drayton Lakes. The 7 runs totaled 8,160m and ranged from 600m to 2,030m with a 250m sprint to the finish. The 6 swims totaled 2,130m and ranged from 400m to 640m with 2 short river crossings.
14. Charlie Brookes 1:33:03.
27. Pedro Polson 1:55:12.
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Rob Hammond won the Duathlon Trophy for this year - probably the only racing Trophy that will be awarded this year.
PACTRAC promoted a club Duathlon from Marholm on Saturday, with 12 members competing under Covid Guidance.
The event consisted of:
Run 3-miles - out-and-back, all on road, and flat.
Bike 17-miles around Bainton, Barnack and Southorpe.
Run 3-miles, the same as run 1.
The event started within a 30-minute window, with entrants setting off in batches, and at 30-second gaps within each batch.
Wayne Stainsby took an early lead on the first run, and came in 51-seconds ahead of Rob Hammond, with last years' Most Improved athlete, Jake Daniels a further 46-seconds back.
However, both Rob and Jake had storming bike sections and Rob took a lead of 1:33 minutes over Jake into the final run, with Wayne a further 20-seconds down. Wayne managed to pull time back on the final run, catching Jake and pulling 90-seconds ahead of him. He also pulled 45-seconds back on Rob, but he was unable to make the catch, leaving Rob a worthy winner by a margin of 68-seconds.
Hannah Bassett took an early lead in the ladies race, and pulled further ahead with each discipline, to come home in 6th place overall.
Results are on www.pactrac.co.uk/events/4232
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Two PACTRACers entered their first triathlons of the season last weekend. Jaap Flikweert and Steve Hope took the short trip to Box End, near Bedford for the Standard Distance Triathlon.
Athletes entered the lake in start number order, and swam the 40 metres to the start, in a line, arriving just in time to start at 20-second intervals. Entrants were seeded, with the fastest swimmers setting off first, so that competitors broadly spread out as the event progressed. The swim was reduced to 750 metres, ensuring that swimmers only had to swim 1-lap of Box End Lake, thereby reducing contact.
The 23.5 mile bike was a reasonably flat 2-lap course taking in the local villages, although some of the road surfaces were in need of repair.
The 6.25 mile run was all on grass taking in 2-laps around the park.
With the swimming pools having only just re-opened, most of the swim training this summer has been in the local rivers and lakes.
Their are few opportunities to compete in triathlon this year, so it was good to get one "under the belt". The sun came out and the course was dry, although their was a swirly wind for most of the bike section. This now makes it 36 consecutive seasons of competing in triathlons for me; with the next triathlon in a fortnight's time in Lake Windermere.
Results:
28. Jaap Flikweert 13:30 71:25 44:43 = 2:09:38 Age Group 8.
93. Steve Hope 13:08 80:43 53:40 = 2:27:31 Age Group 13.
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This Saturday, PACTRAC have a club Duathlon based in Marholm with a 3-mile run, 16-mile bike and 3-mile run; and a Bristows Cycles voucher up for grabs.
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The first of this season's re-arranged AsKeenAsMustard swim,run events was due to take place last weekend at Grafham Water. Unfortunately, having found a way to compete around Covid19, the organiser's befell another hazard - BlueGreen Algae; and the event had to be cancelled.
6 events were planned with the most local being at Nene Park on 4th October. Their are 5k, 10k and 21k options with each distance involving a constant change of discipline from run to swim to run etc. For instance the 10k event involves 7 runs and 6 swims and you run in your wetsuit and swim in your running shoes. Details of the Nene Park event are here https://www.akamustard.events/nene-park-peterborough-swimrun-2019 Two PACTRACers, Nicky and Chelsey Bailey, independently organise the swim,runs under their AKAM brand.
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A PACTRAC Team of Christian Richards, Richard Wright and Adam Clark came 16th in the Bedford Team Relays on Sunday, finishing in 4:07:28. The event took place at Box End Water Sports Park, and was the first triathlon to return in the area in 2020.
Each team member consecutively swam 750 metres in Box End lake, before each cycled 1-lap of 14 miles, before finishing with a 3.1-mile run. You had a rest between disciplines whilst your colleagues took over.
Christian swam first, followed by Richard, before Adam took over. This sequence was then repeated for the bike, and finally for the run.
Swim .... 13:31 .... 15:27 .... 12:58
Bike ...... 44:26 .... 46:41 .... 42:24
Run ...... 25:02 .... 22:28 .... 21:26
Total time 4:07:28 (including transitions).
Box End hosts an individual triathlon on 5th September, whilst PACTRAC have a club duathlon on 12th September. Their are also a number of swim,run events hosted by AsKeenAsMustard throughout September and October with the Ferry Meadows race scheduled for 4th October.