PACTRAC held the first of 14 club events for 2022 at Oundle on Sunday 23rd January. The Aquathlon was re-introduced into the race calendar after a 6-year absence. All 14 events are included in the 2022 Club Championships and new member, Graeme Kane, took an early lead, winning the event by 2:55 minutes from Christian Richards, with Steve Hope a further 35 seconds behind in 3rd. Willow Worthington was the first lady home ahead of Lynda Lock and Nikki Higgins.
First home on the day was the team of Amy and Rob Mellor. Amy was first out of the water in 6:06 with Graeme just 9-seconds behind. Rob then took over and recorded a fast 19:06 for the 5km run, pulling further ahead of Graeme, who came in to record his first individual win and take an early lead in the club championships.
The next Aquathlon takes place on 20th February over the same course and distances.
Swim 400m in Oundle's 25m pool.
Run 5km straight out to Glapthorn and back, with a detour around Milton Road in Oundle to finish.1st Amy Mellor and Rob 0:06:06 0:19:06 0:25:12
2nd Graeme Kane 0:06:15 0:20:46 0:27:01
3rd Christian Richards 0:06:26 0:23:30 0:29:56
4th Steve Hope 0:07:15 0:23:16 0:30:31
5th Willow Worthington 0:08:02 0:26:51 0:34:53
6th Lynda Lock 0:07:04 0:30:01 0:37:05
7th Nikki Higgins 0:10:28 0:28:39 0:39:07
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No PACTRAC report as such, but Lauren Steadman received an MBE in the New Year Honours List. The article on the British Triathlon website is here https://www.britishtriathlon.org/news/tokyo-gold-medallists-recognised-in-new-year-honours_16309
Lauren is originally from Peterborough, but is now a member of the Portsmouth based UK Sport Lottery Funded British Paratriathlon Squad. More information from the BTF website is here https://www.britishtriathlon.org/gb-teams/elite-team/athletes/lauren-steadman_4360
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Were PACTRAC the first local team in the Hereward Relays?
PACTRAC put in a solid performance at the Hereward Relays, finishing 12th overall from a field of 90 teams. This 39-mile, 4-man relay event from Peterborough to Ely cut across mud, grass and ice on a very cold November day.
PACTRAC's Hereward Relay team was a man down with less than a day to go, when Christian Richards, despite not having run all week with a nagging calf, stepped in to take the opening leg. Christian went on to run a 10k PB in freezing conditions to give the team the best start possible.
Chris Northern then smashed leg 2 with a 10km and 10 mile PB!
Richard Wright nailed the longest leg of the course with the 17th best time, before Adam Clark finished Leg 4 in fine style.
Time 4:31:44.
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PACTRAC held their annual AGM and Prize Presentation at the Black Horse in Elton on Sunday 21st November.
Many of the Club Championship Trophies were not competed for again this year, but we were able to award 6 Trophies.
The Mini-Series resumed in the summer with 5 mid-week events taking place at the brand new pool in Oundle. Mark Weathersby and Susie Freeman took the male and female honours over their best 3-events.
The other 4 Trophies were awarded by the Committee.
PACTRACer OF THE YEAR went to Louise Hathaway for her boundless enthusiasm as Head Coach, including organising virtual sessions during the Lockdowns and establishing a second swimming venue at Stanground.
Their were a number of potential winners of the OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE Trophy, and this was shared between Paul Lunn and Georgina Jennings. The two are regular winners of this Trophy having won it 4 times between them in the last 6 year's.
Paul competed in 5 half-ironman distance triathlon's, winning 2 outright and taking all 5 Age Group wins. His win at the Vitruvian at Rutland Water in September was sub-4 hours in 3:58:47. He also set the Mini-Series Course Record on the new course.
Georgina Jennings won the GOLD medal at the Triathlon England Sprint Championships at Box End.
Their were a number of candidates for the MOST IMPROVED Trophy, with Daniel Richardson winning it for his running improvement together with his first place in the AsKeenAsMustard Swim,Run 5k Series sponsored by Fenland Runner, which took in events from Rotherham to Tunbridge Wells.
The NOVICE Trophy went to Sam Chapman who has supported the club's swim program at Stanground, as well as competing in the full Ironman in Majorca and Outlaw X half-Ironman in his first year.
The club are looking forward to next year with Sarah Haslam taking over as Head Coach and a full program of club events taking place at Oundle including 10 Mini-Series evening triathlon's in the summer, 2 weekend triathlon's and 2 swim,run Aquathons over the winter.
Before then, PACTRAC have two teams and one solo runner in the Hereward Relays this weekend.
Last weekend 3 PACTRACers podiumed in Park Runs, with Adam Clark and Chris Northern finishing 1st and 3rd at Manor Park, Whittlesey, whilst Mark Weathersby finished 1st at Kettering. Together with Paul Lunn's 1st place at the Leazes Park Run in October that makes 3 different club member's who have now won Park Run's.
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Daniel Richardson competed in the Knebworth half-marathon, finishing in a time of 2:07:57 on an undulating circuit on closed roads. This represented a Personal Best time by 1:30 minutes - his second PB at the distance inside a month.
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Eric Winstone competed in the World Duathlon Sprint Championships in Aviles, Spain. Eric finished 7th in his 70-74 Age Group, which bettered his 15th position from Penticton, Canada in 2017.
Also competing in Aviles was Don Hutchinson in the 75-79 Age Group. Don is a long-time member of Cambridge Triathlon Club and recently moved to Waternewton PE8. Don also finished 7th in his Age Group, having previously WON GOLD in the European Triathlon Championships in Valencia in June.
Results:
Eric Winstone ...... 21:48 .... 55:32 .....14:01 ..= 1:31:21 Age Group 70-74 = 7th.
Don Hutchinson ..... 31:07 .... 54:39 .... 22:29 ..= 1:48:15 Age Group 75-79 = 7th.
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Rob Hammond finished 7th overall and first in his Age Group in the Grafham Water Duathlon at the weekend. The distances were: run 6.25 miles, bike 26 miles and run 3 miles. Rob moved up into 7th place on the bike and held it on the final 3-mile run.
7. Rob Hammond .... 42:34 .... 77:13 .... 21:59 ..= 2:21:46 Age Group 1.
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Mark Weathersby finished 17th overall in the Newport Marathon in a great time of 2:40:03.
Mark started well and was in a group of 5 after 5km with just 4 runners out ahead. He kept the pace high and was in the same group after 10km with one other having joined them and one slightly ahead. At the half-way mark, Mark was still in a group of 5 but with 9 runners now out ahead. He held on to finish 5th in his Age Group and 17th overall.
His 1/2 marathon split of 1:18:20 was just 2 minutes shy of his PB and 39 seconds slower than his London Marathon split 3-weeks earlier. However, he was able to hold the pace for longer and come in 47-seconds ahead of his London time. A great end to the season with two 2:40 marathons in 22 days.
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In the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon in Liverpool, ex-PACTRACer, Colin Benn, continued his comeback into racing with a time of 1:44:43 - good enough for 2nd in his Age Group. The route was full of live rock bands, cheerleaders and themed water stations, to keep the runners going.
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Paul 11th in Alcudia. Daniel takes the swim,run series.
PACTRAC had 8 competitors racing in Majorca on Saturday, in 3 different events.
In Alcudia in the North of the island, 5 competed in the Majorca 70.3 half-ironman triathlon, whilst another 1 completed the full ironman. 2 others competed in the Challenge Paguera half-ironman distance triathlon in the south.
The distances of the two half-ironman's were:
swim 1900m in the sea.
bike 56 miles up into the mountains.
run 13.1 miles - 4 laps each including some coastal paths.
Sam Chapman competed in the full Ironman from Alcudia, covering twice the distance. Sam had a consistently good race including covering the 112 mile bike section at just over 20mph.
However, it was Paul Lunn who secured PACTRAC's only podium place of the weekend, finishing 11th overall in a strong field and winning his Age Group. This was Paul's 10th consecutive time, racing in the Alcudia 70.3, stretching back to 2011, and in that time he has won his Age Group 4 times and podiumed 8 times. Paul took charge of his Age Group on the bike, having the 3rd fastest bike split in the whole field. He had the fastest bike and run splits in his Age Group and easily held onto his lead to finish in 11th place overall. Paul's last event before flying out was at the Leazes Park Run in which he took the overall victory in 17:26, a time that equaled his Park Run best from 3-year's ago.
Dan Wilson was next in 39th, with a consistent race that saw him take 7th in his Age Group.
Jon Crowley recorded a PB for the distance, after a frustrating season with injury; whilst Louise Hathaway also recorded a PB finishing 8th in her Age Group.
Results:
11. Paul Lunn ................ 30:31 .... 2:24:42 .... 1:26:10 .. = 4:21:23 Age Group 1st.
39. Dan Wilson .............. 29:38 .... 2:34:14 .... 1:30:47 .. = 4:34:39 AG 7.
188. Stuart Cleworth ...... 30:40 .... 2:59:47 .... 1:37:07 .. = 5:07:34 AG 20.
264. Jon Crowley ........... 33:30 .... 2:52:41 .... 1:54:18 .. = 5:20:29 AG 34.
342. Louise Hathaway .... 34:51 .... 3:05:42 .... 1:54:54 .. = 5:35:27 AG 8.
Full Ironman.
192. Sam Chapman .... 1:05:46 .... 5:42:04 .... 3:43:52 .. = 10:31:42 AG 27.
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Due to Covid Re-Scheduling, Challenge Paguera also took place on the same day, on the south of the island, and also involved a sea swim, a bike ride that went up into the mountains and a run around the sea front.
Results:
353. Steve Hope .... 37:23 .... 3:29:58 .... 2:00:17 .. = 6:07:38 AG 9.
385. Chris Shaw .... 45:40 .... 3:12:22 .... 2:23:38 .. = 6:21:40 AG 17.
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In the recently finished AsKeenAsMustard series of swim,runs Daniel Richardson has been confirmed as the men's champion in the 5km series. These swim,runs constantly change disciplines from swimming to running and back to swimming etc, so that you are swimming in your training shoes and running in your wet suit. 6 events took place over the summer and autumn, ranging from Ferry Meadows to Rotherham in the north and Tunbridge Wells in the south. The 5km Fenland Runner series sponsored by local Peterborough firm, Fenland Runner, saw PACTRAC's Daniel Richardson take the overall honours in the men's competition. Daniel scored points in 4 of the races and won the competition by 4-points.
In the Head Grass-Roots 10km Series, Adam Clark took a great 2nd place, having also competed in 4 of the races; whilst Steve Hope was not too far behind in 5th place.
In the Head Grass-Roots 21km Series, Willow Worthington came 6th in the ladies competition, her best result being a great 2nd place in the race at Long Eaton.
Next year's events are still being added to the calendar, but the AsKeenAsMustard swim,runs will take place at Ferry Meadows over the weekend of 18/19 June. Next year will include, for the first time, both a junior competition and a whopping 24-mile option. That will probably include 19-miles of off-road running and another 5-miles of lake and river swimming. Not for the feint hearted. Further details are on www.akamustard.events
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Manchester Marathon:
372. Jonny Hynes ........ 2:57:11
1884. Ali Brightey .......... 3:26:15
8861. Sarah Haslam ..... 4:36:42
13,849 runners.
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Silverstone Half-Marathon:
44. Adam Clark .............. 1:23:56 a PB by nearly 2 minutes.
1076. Daniel Richardson .... 2:09:36 a PB by 48 minutes !!! Daniel's only other half marathon was at Silverstone in 2019 where he recorded 2:57 hours.
Nearly 1,300 competitor's.
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PACTRAC had 3 runners in the VLM:
425. Mark Weathersby .... 2:40:50 Mark's build up included the Vitality Big Half in August where he recorded a new PB in 1:16. He hit that mark in 1:17:41 on Sunday. Mark was 96th in the Age Group World Championships.
848. Ady Pendred ....... 2:48:22
3028. Aaron Godden .... 3:09:08
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Paul 2nd overall. Simon 8th.
In possibly the last big domestic racing weekend of the season, PACTRAC had 3 competitor's in the Outlaw X, a half-ironman distance triathlon near Newark.
Swim 1.2 miles
Bike 57 miles
Run 13.2 miles.
Having come out of the water in 39th place, Paul Lunn moved up the field with the 3rd fastest bike split of the day and came into T2 in 4th position. A quick transition saw him quickly gain 2 places to move up into 2nd overall, which he comfortably held on to.
2 of PACTRAC's rising stars completed their step up to the half ironman distance, with Adam Clark moving up the field with an impressive 1:33 half-marathon, and Chris Northern having a solid race throughout. All 3 were happy with their results, with Adam saying "I've nearly emotionally recovered from my first Middle Distance Triathlon .... what an experience. It all started with the pre-race swim on Saturday morning to try and settle those nerves. The 1.2 mile swim had a lot of thick weeds, followed by a 57 mile bike - my longest cycle to date, followed by a 13.1 mile half marathon run. I haven't been training for any long distanced events, so I had no real expectations, so to finish in a time of 5:06 wasn't too shabby!!".
Results:
2. Paul Lunn ................ 31:01 .... 2:20:00 .... 1:22:04 .. = 4:13:05 AG 1st.
109. Adam Clark .......... 35:15 .... 2:57:26 .... 1:33:54 .. = 5:06:35 AG 21.
193. Chris Northern ..... 36:17 .... 3:05:31 .... 1:45:55 .. = 5:27:43 AG 22.
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Simon Hoppe won his Age Group, coming 8th overall, in the Celebration Cup Sprint Triathlon at Mallory Park. This was a triathlon put on by the British Triathlon Federation to celebrate and acknowledge the lack of international racing over the last 18 months for athletes who had qualified to represent GB but seen their events cancelled.
Mallory Park in Leicestershire was the chosen venue for this sprint distance triathlon, covering:
swim 750 metres in the lake.
bike 12 miles - 4 laps clockwise on the racing circuit. This was draft legal, so cyclists were able to compete directly working together with each other, on traffic free tarmac.
run 3 miles - 3 laps anti-clockwise on the racing circuit.
Simon finished in a time of 63 minutes.
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Jake and Louise 1st in Age Group.
We had 3 members competing in the Grafham Water Triathlon on Sunday over the Olympic distance of;
Swim 1500m in the lake.
Bike 23 miles.
Run 6.25 miles.
Both Jake Daniels (5th overall) and Louise Hathaway (13th overall and 1st lady) won their respective Age Groups. Jake was competing in his first Olympic distance triathlon, whilst Louise was back competing in triathlon after a 3-year sabbatical. Louise had the fastest bike and run amongst the female competitor’s; whilst both had top 10 bike splits.
Louise will be competing next month in Majorca, alongside clubmates Paul Lunn, Jon Crowley and Steve Hope.
Results:
5. Jake Daniels ……....... 23:46 …. 69:48 …. 43:31 .. = 2:17:05 Age Group 1st
13. Louise Hathaway .... 27:28 .... 70:08 .... 51:21 .. = 2:28:57 AG 1st.
23. Gary Shoemake ...... 26:44 .... 74:57 .... 57:42 .. = 2:39:23 AG 8.
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Richard Wright competed in the Sandman Triathlon on Anglesey over a multi-terrain course.
Swim 1500m in the sea. Out and back with a beach start.
Bike 37-miles. 1-lap.
Run 6.25 miles. 1-lap through forest trails and back over sand dunes.
Richard described it as “A top event, in a fantastic and beautiful location”. He had the 8th fastest run overall, to pull quite a few places back.
Richard Wright …. 25:01 …. 2:08:52 …. 43:04 .. = 3:16:57. AG 13 ----------------------------------------
Richard Rollings came 112th in the Exmouth Open-Water Triathlon in a time of 3:24:41.
Richard Rollings …. 25:45 …. 1:42:06 …. 1:16:50 .. = 3:24:41 AG 6th. -------------------------------------
At Blenheim, Robert Head competed in the Weekend Warrier Triathlon. Where most people completed a Sprint Triathlon over the distances of swim 750m, bike 16 miles and run 3 miles; the Weekend Warrior saw athletes complete as many Sprint Triathlons as they could in 11-hours. Robert completed in nearly 7-events, which involved getting back into the water after each run.
77th Robert Head …. 146.35 miles AG 14th. -------------------------------------------------
Willow Worthington competed in the Wild Wye 4.4-mile Swim. This was Willow’s longest ever swim, but fortunately it was all downstream, and she finished in 2:09 hours. --------------------------------------------
Laura Hardy swam the Solent Strait, a 3-mile swim from Stokes Bay across to Ryde Sands on the Isle of Wight - a swim complicated by the tides and busy shipping lanes. The swim is organised by Aspire with an Escort Boat and no wetsuits allowed.
On Saturday, Daniel Richardson ran in two 10km running races at Belvoir Castle, as part of the Equinox 24. The Day 10k started at noon, whilst the Night 10k was at 8:00pm.
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PACTRAC take 10 Podium spots over 5 races including Paul Lunn's overall win.
PACTRAC had 19 competitor's (and 1 relay team of 3), competing in 5 different events at the weekend, with 10 members (plus the relay team) finishing in the top 3 in their respective Age Groups.
Best performance came from Paul Lunn who won the Vitruvian Triathlon at Rutland Water. Their were also Age Group wins elsewhere for Jonny Hynes, Roger Canham and Olivia Corner.
Saturday's Dambuster Triathlon at Rutland Water was over the distances of:
Swim 1500 metres in the lake, starting on the bank with a run across rough stones to enter the water.
Bike 26 miles including the triple hills of the Rutland Ripple between Oakham and Uppingham, as well as climbing the Rookeries at Ketton.
Run 6.25 miles around the water's edge.
Jonny Hynes went into the run in 4th position and inspite of a 39:00 minute run, finished one place lower for a great 5th place overall.
5. Jonny Hynes ............. 24:29 .... 66:53 .... 39:00 ..= 2:10:22 Age Group 1st.
11. Roger Canham ......... 25:51 .... 69:46 .... 39:30 ..= 2:15:07 AG 1st.
31. Simon Guerin ........... 25:03 .... 74:25 .... 45:00 ..= 2:24:28 AG 7.
43. Chris Northern .......... 29:20 .... 80:51 .... 41:49 ..= 2:32:00 AG 3rd.
44. Jon Crowley ............. 28:33 .... 77:25 .... 46:10 ..= 2:32:08 AG 10.
56. Christian Richards .... 26:51 ....81:42 .... 47:33 ..= 2:36:06 AG 9.
115. Rebecca Burge ....... 33:01 .... 88:03 .... 48:26 ..= 2:49:30 AG 3.
232. Lynn Smitheringale.. 42:21 ... 105:31 ... 70:12 ..= 3:38:04 AG 3rd.
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Saturday also saw the Vitruvian Triathlon at Rutland Water over the half-ironman distance of:
Swim 1.2 miles in Rutland Water.
Bike 56 miles - two laps of the Dambuster Course including the hills around Oakham and Ketton.
Run 13.1 miles around the shores of the lake.
Paul Lunn won the Vitruvian Triathlon at Rutland Water on Saturday. Paul had to be on his best form, and with a top performance, won this half-ironman distance race by 64 seconds.
Paul was 2:30 minutes down on his nearest rival after the 1,900 metre swim, but had the fastest bike split of the day to start the run with 3:22 to spare. The top 3 finishers all recorded under 1:20 hours for the half-marathon run, with Paul's 1:19:14 good enough to hang on for the win by 64 seconds at the finish, with third place 7:30 minutes down.
Paul said "After 11 years and 7 attempts my stars finally aligned today at the Vitruvian middle distance triathlon to get my illusive sub 4 hours (3:58) and the overall win."
1. Paul Lunn .......... 33:01 .. 2:06:32 .... 1:19:14 ..= 3:58:47 AG 1st.
46. Aaron Godden .. 38:55 ....2:27:22 .... 1:41:06 ..= 4:47:23 AG 9.
82. Rhys Wilkinson .. 34:53 .... 2:47:17 .... 1:50:06 ..= 5:12:16 AG 10.
99. Mark Bedford ..... 46:56 .... 2:49:07 .... 1:45:26 ..= 5:21:29 AG 19.
109. David Naylor .... 36:37 .... 2:47:21 ....2:02:07 ..= 5:26:05 AG 21.
122. Ali Brightey ....... 44:31 .... 2:55:57 .... 1:51:49 ..= 5:32:17 AG 22.
In the Relay event with one athlete competing in each discipline, PACTRAC's team of Annette, Stuart and David finished 2nd from 11 teams.
2. Annette Wyld, Stuart Cleworth, David .... 43:41 .... 2:18:52 .... 1:30:37 ..= 4:33:10
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Steve Hope chose to race in the Helvelyn Triathlon, where 500 competitors swam 1500 metres in Ullswater, rode up Kirkstone Pass and "ran" up Helvellyn. 26 competitors failed to finish this grueling event, whilst Steve finished 2nd in his Age Group and 206th overall.
The water temperature was only slightly lower than the local Nene, whilst the bike section was constantly undulating, with 3 big hills thrown in, including the 2.5 mile "Struggle" up Kirkstone Pass, a 1 in 5 ascent that kept going up, up and up some more. It would have been easy to stop, but you would never have got started again. The "run" was straight up Helvellyn via Swirrel Edge. Soon after the start, you looked up and for the next mile their was a constant stream of athletes, all in a line and well spread out, all walking up the boulders and shale. Towards the top the path runs out, and the runners scrambled over large boulders to find the path again on the other side. The views at the top were stunning, but their was no time to stop and admire, as the descent although not quite as steep, was nonetheless over boulders and shale; this time, tired legs having to slow the runners down on the steep descent.
Steve was 28 seconds behind his Age Group winner at the start of the run, but lost a further 6 minutes from there, mainly on the tricky descent.
206. Steve Hope .... 21:52 .... 2:20:07 .... 2:07:35 ..= 4:49:34 AG 2nd.
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Adam Clark had an awesome race, coming 17th overall and 4th in his Age Group in the Blenheim Palace Sprint triathlon in a field of 3,836 competitor's. After starting at the back in his swim wave, Adam overtook most of the swimmers ahead of him to come out near the front, and took the bull by the horns , moving up the field further on both bike and run legs.
Adam had to swim 750 metres, bike 12.5 miles and run 3.5 miles, all around the estate.
17. Adam Clark .... 12:13 .... 40:31 .... 21:31 ..= 74:15 Age Group 4th
Rob Head, meanwhile, competed in Blenheim's Weekend Warrior Challenge. Warriors had to complete as many triathlons as possible, during racing hours, across both days of the event weekend. The winner is the Warrior who completes the most. The current record is 9 Sprint triathlons, but the results are NOT YET available.
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In the St.Neots Sprint Triathlon
Sprint:
Swim 750 metres in the River Great Ouze.
Bike 12.5 miles - 1 lap.
Run 3 miles - in the park.
6. Rob Hammond .... 13:00 .... 44:05 .... 19:41 ..= 76:46 Age Group 2nd.
12. Andy Corner ...... 15:13 .... 44:25 .... 20:23 ..= 80:01 AG 2nd.
Super Sprint:
4. Olivia Corner .... 7:50 .... 17:39 .... 10:40 ..= 36:09 AG 1st.
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Georgina wins GOLD and Marcus BRONZE whist Steve Qualifies for European Championships.
Two Triathlon events took place at Box End, Bedford at the weekend.
Saturday's Sprint Triathlon hosted the English National Championships, with PACTRAC's long-serving Georgina Jennings winning Gold in the over 75 category, whilst Marcus Widdess took Bronze in the over 20 category.
Georgina had a good start, coming out of the water nearly 2-minutes ahead of her nearest rival. She then extended the gap, on the bike, to over 5-minutes; before holding onto the lead on the run to finish 2:33 minutes clear, and take the Gold Medal.
Marcus had a solid race and remained in contention, going into the run in 4th place, just 20-seconds out of the podium spots. He then powered into 3rd place on the run to take the bronze medal with 2:32 minutes in hand.
Rob Hammond had a very respectable race, finishing in 51st place in his first triathlon for over 2-years.
Results:
11. Marcus Widdess .... 11:20 .... 34:35 .... 19:07 .. = 1:05:02 Age Group 3.
51. Rob Hammond ...... 13:29 .... 37:41 .... 22:05 .. = 1:13:15 AG 9.
201. Georgina Jennings ..18:44 ... 54:00 .... 41:50 .. = 1:54:34 AG 1st.
On Sunday the Standard Distance Triathlon was a qualifying race for next year's European Championships in Munich, with the first 4 automatically qualifying. Steve Hope finished 5th in his Age Group, but qualified as the fastest runner up over the 3 qualifying races. He joins clubmate Bill Haslam who had already qualified via the Southport event back in May.
Results:
83. Simon Guerin .... 24:49 .... 76:23 .... 53:19 .. = 2:34:31 Age Group 17.
159. Steve Hope ......30:45 .... 85:33 .... 51:55 .. = 2:48:13 Age Group 5th.
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Paul Jephcott competed in his first triathlon for 2-years at the Bosworth Water Trust, Market Bosworth on Sunday.
Swim 1500 metres in Bosworth lake - 2 laps around both islands in the main lake.
Bike 25 miles - 2 laps around the country lanes.
Run 6.25 miles - out and back twice.
24) Paul Jephcott 39:15 .... 90:43 .... 55:05 .. = 3:05:03 Age Group 7th.
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Lynn Smitheringale competed in the Louth triathlon. This was based at the Leisure Centre on a sunny morning, and included;
a 400m pool swim over 16 lengths.
a 14-mile bike. Out, a short 4-mile loop and back.
a 3.25 mile run. 2 laps, mainly on tarmac paths.
108. Lynn Smitheringale .... 97:42 .... Age Group 3rd.
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Steve 8th in National Championships. 3 runners all with PB's and Amy swims from Jersey to France.
Steve Hope competed in the British National Mid-Distance Championships in Aberfeldy, Scotland on Sunday, finishing 8th in his Age Group. Due to a re-arranged schedule from the fall out of 2020, Steve was also supposed to be competing in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, on the same day, alongside other PACTRACers, but with Edmonton now cancelled for a second year, the decision was made for him. After a 9 hour trip, Steve joined the 523 starters for this tough, wet, half-ironman distance triathlon, where 27 starters failed to finish.
Swim 1,900 metres in Loch Tay. 1 loop in the clear, cool waters at 16 degrees - 3 degrees below the current temperature in the River Nene.
Bike 56 miles. Including 2 big inclines and 2 descents, with the rest all undulating - and wet.
Run 13.1 miles straight out and back, past J.K.Rowlings house and again all undulating on a quiet road with about 10 cars on throughout.
Result:
260. Steve Hope 38:58 .... 3:15:40 .... 1:50:03 .. = 5:44:41 Age Group 8th.
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Other PACTRACers racing at the weekend took part in single sport events, with 3 runners competing in 3 different running races and all recording PB's.
Adam Clark recorded a PB of 37:52 in the King's Lynn GEAR 10km run, which included a strong first 5km which equalled his 5km PB. Adam finished 26th overall.
Chris Northern recorded a PB by 18-minutes with a time of 2:27:52 in the Oundle 20-mile running race, finishing strongly.
Mark Weathersby recorded his new PB of 76:14 in the Vitality Big Half Marathon in London. Mark is preparing for the full London Marathon in October over some of the same course.
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Meanwhile, on Friday, Amy Mellor swam from jersey to France in 7 hours 33 minutes. That's a long time to be swimming in the sea, but Amy has already swam the English Channel, so knew what to expect.
Amy missed a lot of pool swimming over the winter due to Lockdowns, but has been training as best as she could for this Jersey to France swim, for the last 18 months. Her window with the Pilot Boat was from Wednesday to Saturday, and with the weather being kind to her, she was able to set off on Friday.
The swim is 14 miles in a straight line but long distance swimming in a straight line is difficult, and taking tidal movement into account, a swimmer is more likely to cover a distance of between 15 and 18 miles; with swimmers wading ashore at Saint-Germain-sur-Ay Plage on the Normandy coast.
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Graeme Abrahams completed the second of his big three swims this summer, raising money for Addenbrookes Charitable Trust.
Graeme went down to Marlow to compete in the 6.25 mile Thames Marathon, and completed it in a time of 2:15:28. He always swims without a wetsuit and was 4th Male and 1st in his Age Group for the non-wetsuit swimmers.
Graeme has already completed the Ullswater Swim and is now looking forward to swimming the 5.25 miles end-to-end at Lake Coniston in 3-weeks time.
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Mark Qualifies. Roger and Olivia first in Age Group.
3 PACTRACers competed in the London Triathlon, held at the Excel Stadium; with Mark Weathersby finishing 3rd in his Age Group and qualifying for the World Championships to be held in Abu Dhabi next year.
Swim: 1,500 metres in London's Docklands - 1 lap with athletes setting off at 2-second intervals.
Bike: 25 miles on closed London roads, to Westminster and back plus a second shorter loop.
Run: Out and back along the river 3 times.
The rain kept coming down, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the thousands of athletes that took part.
Results:
31. Mark Weathersby .... 26:05 .... 64:34 .... 38:01 .. = 2:08:40 AG 3.
166. Christian Richards .. 26:02 .... 71:58 .... 46:50 .. = 2:24:50 AG 20.
233. Steve Hope ............. 28:33 .... 74:31 .... 47:17 .. = 2:30:21 AG 10.
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5 PACTRACers competed over 3 different distances at St.Neots on Sunday.
Roger Canham made a rare appearance at the shorter Standard distance, and with the 5th fastest bike split of the day, he moved up into 8th place overall, which he held on the run. Roger won his Age Group, as did Olivia Corner in the Super-Sprint race. Olivia moved into top spot in the first transition and held it, to finish 6th overall. Rob Hammond had a fast run to move up to 2nd place in his Age Group in the Sprint Distance event.
Standard:
8. Roger Canham .... 27:42 .... 73:38 .... 39:51 .. = 2:21:11 AG 1st.
26. Jon Crowley ........ 29:40 .... 82:53 .... 44:45 .. = 2:37:18 AG 6.
31. Chris Pike ............ 31:22 .... 84:15 .... 45:03 .. = 2:40:40 AG 8.
Sprint:
11. Rob Hammond ...... 14:42 .... 42:51 .... 19:35 .. = 77:08 AG 2.
Super-Sprint:
6. Olivia Corner ........ 9:27 .... 19:18 .... 11:33 .. = 40:18 AG 1st.
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Phil Jones competed on the bike, in the National 12 hour Time Trial Championships, held at Attleborough near Norwich. This was the second time that Phil has raced over 12-hours and he recorded 253.42 miles at an average speed of 21.14mph to finish 37th Nationally, on a rain-hit day with heavy drizzle at times. This was nearly 17 miles quicker than his previous time recorded in 2019.
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Rob 4th and Mark 5th; whilst Mark Weathersby wins the Mini-Series Trophy.
PACTRAC held the 5th of 5 Wednesday night Mini-Series triathlon's at Oundle in windy conditions with a sudden downpour an hour before the start ensuring wet roads to negotiate. This hampered the cyclists but allowed for some fast run splits.
13 athletes took to the start line, with 6 recording PB's but none of the top 5 did, in these conditions. 10 beat the hour, whilst 6 new course records were set in the men's over 60's category and ladies over 50's and over 70's.
Simon Guerin led the swimmers out in 5:57 with another 4 swimmers following him out in the next 23 seconds. Mark Weathersby took over the lead on the bike and came into T2 37-seconds ahead of Simon Hoppe whilst Simon Guerin was another 49 seconds behind. Mark had both the fastest bike and run of the night and pulled ahead to win by nearly 3-minutes from Simon Hoppe in 2nd whilst Adam Clark just managed to catch Simon G in the sprint finish for the line.
That was Mark's 3rd win from 4 events, the other 2 being taken by Paul Lunn and Jonny Hynes. Mark, therefore, wins the Mini-Series Trophy with a maximum 30 points. Susie Freeman had already secured the Ladies Mini-Series Trophy the previous week, again with the maximum 30-points. Louise Banerjee took full advantage of Susie's absence in this final week to come home first lady ahead of Sue Davys and Georgina Jennings.
Results:
1. Mark Weathersby ...... 6.12....23.00....19.09....= 48.20
2. Simon Hoppe ............. 6.17....23.32....21.25....=51.14
3. Adam Clark ................ 6.06....26.29....19.34....=52.09
4. Simon Guerin ............. 5.57....24.41....21.33....=52.11
5. Aaron Godden ............ 7.17....24.56....21.07....=53.20
6. Josh Daniels ............... 7.01....26.53....20.28....=54.22
7. Scott Lloyd .................. 8.37....26.03....19.48....=54.28
8. Steve Hope ................. 7.12....26.49....22.26....=56.27
9. Jason English ............. 7.28....29.03....21.31....=58.02
10. Tony Daniels .............. 6.20....26.16....26.56....=59.32
11. Louise Banerjee ......... 9.11....32.45....27.23....=69.19
12. Sue Davys .................. 8.45....31.48....30.18....=70.51
13. Georgina Jennings ..... 8.57....34.10....34.09....=77.16
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Mark Botteley finished 5th overall in the Calfman Triathlon held at Emberton Park, Olny, nr Milton Keynes. The distances were:
swim 950m in the lake.
bike 29 miles. 2-laps on local country roads.
run 6.5 miles off-road around the lake.
Mark had the fastest bike split of the day, moving up to 3rd overall, before dropping back just 2 places on the run to 5th overall and winning his Age Group.
Results:
5. Mark Botteley ........ 19:12 .... 72:50 .... 44:47 .... = 2:16:49. Age Group 1st.
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In the Sprint Distance Triathlon held at Box End, Bedford, Rob Hammond had the 2nd fastest bike of the day to haul himself up into 4th place, which he held onto on the run.
Swim 750 metres in Box End Lake.
bike 13-miles.
run 3 miles.
Results:
4. Rob Hammond ...... 13:27 .... 37:09 .... 22:44 .... = 73:20. Age Group 1st.
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Mark wins Mini-Series 4 to take the overall lead; whilst Susie wins the Ladies Trophy. Steve qualifies at Redcar.
PACTRAC's 4th Mini-Series event took place on a very warm Wednesday evening over the distances of:
swim 400 metres - 16 lengths of the new pool.
bike 9-miles around Glapthorn and the Benefield's.
run 3.1 miles out to Glapthorn and back.
3 new course records were set this week. Due to the staggered start Simon Guerin (5:54) took Adam Clark's overall swim record (5:56) with Adam following him out of the pool in 5:53 to re-take the record just seconds later. Paul Lunn's over 40's swim record (6:03) was taken by Simon Guerin in 5:54 and this time Simon got to keep the record.
Mark Weathersby was the next out in 6:04 followed by first female Susie Freeman in 6:23. Mark went to the front on the bike early on and increased his lead coming into T2 1:48 ahead of Simon, whilst Rob Hammond and Adam Clark were a further 3/4 minute behind.
Mark then had the fastest run of the night to pull further ahead and finish nearly 3-minutes ahead of Adam who had a great run to pull ahead of Rob in 3rd and Simon 4th. Susie came home first lady, in under an hour, just 1-second slower than her PB of 2-weeks ago.
Susie Freeman has now won the Female Mini-Series Trophy with a maximum score of 30. In the men's event Simon Hoppe was in the lead but took a well earned break to do his marshalling stint tonight, which allowed Adam to join him on 24 points, with Rob just 1 behind on 23. Mark moved ahead on 28 points from his two wins and a third. Jonny stays on 19 but has only competed in 2 events, so all of his points from next week will count. Mark could also be joined on 28 points by Simon Hoppe, but only if the latter wins next week outright. A Jonny-Mark 1-2 would see them tie for first.
Results:
1. Mark Weathersby ...... 6.04 .... 22.02 .... 19.33 .... = 47.39.
2. Adam Clark ................. 5.53 .... 24.46 .... 19.54 .... = 50.33
3. Rob Hammond ............ 6.41 .... 23.57 .... 20.48 .... = 51.26
4. Simon Guerin .............. 5.54 .... 24.00 .... 22.14 .... = 52.08
5. Chris Pike .................... 7.43 .... 24.13 .... 22.31 .... = 54.27
6. Jon Crowley ................. 7.00 .... 24.17 .... 23.31 .... = 54.48
7. Scott Lloyd ................... 8.34 .... 25.22 .... 20.59 .... = 54.55
8. Steve Hope .................. 7.22 .... 26.13 .... 23.05 .... = 56.40
9. Susie Freeman ............ 6.23 .... 28.29 .... 24.42 .... = 59.34
10. Willow Worthington ..... 8.41 .... 29.58 .... 26.12 .... = 64.51
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The only PACTRAC athlete competing in multi-sport at the weekend was Steve Hope who ventured up to Redcar to compete in the Sprint Distance Triathlon. Due to de-restrictions, this event was able to revert to it's original billing of being draft legal. Unlike most Age Group racing, drafting on the bike is allowed in a few qualifying races for the World and European Sprint Championships, because these Championships themselves are draft legal. Steve was, therefore, able to battle it out with groups of cyclists on a closed road course. Before this though, there was a 950 metre swim in the sea, which involved a hard slog against large waves to reach the first turn. Once out at sea the waves weren't as big, but concentration was still required before finally reaching the swim exit for the long beach run to Transition. Steve finished 7th in his Age Group and qualified for one of 20 UK wide slots that were up for grabs in each 5-year Age Group, for next year's European Sprint Championships. The venue has yet to be announced, but 3 other PACTRACers, Georgina Jennings, Simon Hoppe and Mark Weathersby qualified at Mallory Park last week, whilst Susie Freeman had a near miss, but after the race at Redcar, even though she didn't compete, has confirmed her place too. These 5 PACTRACers will be representing GB in the European Sprint Championships next year.
Swim 950-metres in the sea.
bike 13-miles - 4 laps on closed roads.
run 3.25 miles - 3 laps along the seafront.
Result:
127. Steve Hope .... 18:12 .... 38:43 .... 23:44 ..= 80:39 Age Group 7.
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In the half-marathon held at Bedford Autodrome, Adam Clark recorded a PB in a time of 1:25:18 for 25th place overall.
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3 Qualify for European Sprint Championships.
6 PACTRACers competed in the Sprint Triathlon at Mallory Park on Sunday. The event comprised of a 750 metre lake swim, 12-mile bike (6-laps) and 3-mile run (3 laps) and was a qualifying race for the European Sprint Triathlon Championships next year. 3 members qualified outright whilst 2 others were close enough to have a good chance in the Rolldown for the 20-places in each Age Group for the whole of Great Britain. The next event is in Redcar next weekend when final places will be allocated.
Georgina Jennings won her Age Group, Simon Hoppe was 2nd in his and Mark Weathersby 4th, with the top 4 in each Age Group qualifying for the European Sprint Championships. Steve Hope and Susie Freeman go into the Rolldown and will have to wait and see. Simon had the 15th fastest bike split out of everybody on the day, whilst Mark had the 16th fastest run, to move them up in the placings, on a hot day for racing where 12 competitor's failed to finish.
Results:
27. Mark Weathersby .... 12.33 .... 33.06 .... 15.58 ..= 61.37 Age Group 4.
44. Simon Hoppe .......... 12.13 .... 32.50 .... 18.30 ..= 63.13 Age Group 2.
113. Chris Northern ....... 14.00 .... 35.35 .... 17.46 ..= 67.21 AG 14.
211. Susie Freeman ...... 12.29 .... 38.49 .... 20.50 ..= 72.08 AG 9.
225. Steve Hope ........... 14.49 .... 37.29 .... 20.17 ..= 72.35 AG 8.
392. Georgina Jennings .. 17.57 .... 47.04 .... 31.58 ..= 96.59 AG 1st.
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Daniel O'Sullivan finally got to compete in the 70.3 Half-Ironman Triathlon in Staffordshire, after a 2-year wait, as so many races were cancelled last year. Daniel covered the distances of: swim 1.2 miles in the reservoir, bike 56-miles and run 13.1 miles.
605. Daniel O'Sullivan .... 6:37:47 .. Age Group 61.
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2 PACTRACers completed the Swim,Run at Long Eaton as part of the AsKeenAsMustard Series.
Willow Worthington competed in the 13.5 mile race race involving 13 off-road trail runs and 12 lake swims, seamlessly changing disciplines. This was the 5th event in the 6-event series, where you run in your wetsuit and swim in your training shoes. Willow had to run a total of 11-miles and swim 2.5 miles, finishing 6th in 3:06:58 hours and 2nd in her Age Group.
Daniel Richardson has raced in all 5 events and again opted for the 3.5 mile race involving 7 runs and 6 swims. Daniel finished 3rd in his Age Group.
Results:
3.5 miles:
24. Daniel Richardson .... 1:47:25 Age Group 3.
13.5 miles:
6. Willow Worthington .... 3:06:58 Age Group 2.
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Graeme Abrahams completed the first of his 3 swims to raise money for Addenbrookes Hospital. He swam the length of Lake Ullswater (7-miles) in 4 hours 6 mins and came 133 out of 645 swimmers. The majority wore wetsuits, but Graeme went in without one.
Graeme said "Beautiful scenery. It felt harder than swimming in the river. My next big swim is in the Thames in 4 weeks time."
In August, Graeme will be swimming in the Thames marathon (9-miles) followed by swimming the length of Lake Coniston (5.25-miles) at the start of September.