PACTRAC

by Steve Hope on Mon, 22nd August 2022

Roger Canham competed in the World Championships in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, in 30 degree heat, over the Standard Distance of:

swim 1500 metres - a non-wetsuit sea swim.

bike 24.5 miles

run 6.25 miles

Roger finished 6th in his Age Group and was just 2:39 off of a podium place. This was Roger's first outing in a GB vest for 3-years, when he won the 2019 World Long Course Championships in Spain (World Champion). After having back problems followed by calf problems, Roger has made a steady comeback and qualified for these Championships at the Woodhorn triathlon last year. Steve Hope and Chris Shaw had previously withdrawn due to other commitments, leaving Roger as PACTRAC's sole representative.

Roger was 21st in his Age Group out of the water, but then being the 5th fastest on the bike moved him up to 6th place overall. He again had the 5th fastest run, to maintain his 6th place overall. He finished 2:39 minutes behind 3rd place, and was the first Briton home, whilst gaining ground on the 3 athletes immediately in front of him, before running out of road.

Roger had "buried himself" on the bike and still had a 6.25 mile run to do in the searing heat, overcoming his injuries and finishing above his expectations.

Results:

6th. Roger Canham .... 26:29 .... 65:10 .... 44:40 ..= 2:16:19.

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3 members competed near Northampton in the Salcey Forest Duathlons, all finishing in the top-2 in their respective Age Groups, over 2 different distances.

Run - 2 laps totalling 6.25 miles on trails through the woods.

Bike - Harriet Lomas then cycled 20 miles in the Standard Distance race, whilst Rob Hammond and Giles Cooper completed 40-miles in the Mid-Distance race around the country lanes nr Newport Pagnel.

Run - 6.25 miles for the Mid-Distance and 3 miles for the Standard Distance.

Salcey Forest Duathlon. Mid-Distance:

5. Rob Hammond .... 44:48 .... 1:58:10 .... 45:50 ..= 3:28:48 AG 1.

6. Giles Cooper ....... 47:11 .... 1:57:47 .... 47:19 ..= 3:32:17 AG 1.

Standard Distance:

7. Harriet Lomas ...... 52:59 .... 1:07:36 .... 26:56 ..= 2:27:31 AG 2.

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PACTRAC held their AGM and Prize Presentation on Sunday, where 17 Trophies were awarded.

Club Champion - Steve Hope.

Vet Champion - Steve Hope.

SuperVet Champion - Steve Hope.

Female Champion - Susie Freeman.

Female Vet Champion - Susie Freeman.

Female SuperVet Champion - Sue Davys.

Mini-Series Champion - Adam Clark.

Female Mini-Series Champion - Susie Freeman.

Junior Champion - Ana Head.

Mid-Distance Triathlon - Adam Clark

Standard Distance Triathlon - Chris Pithey.

Duathlon - Steve Hope.

Aquathlon - Graeme Kane.

Novice - Harriet Lomas.

Pactracer of the Year - Rob Head.

Most Improved - Sam Chapman.

Outstanding Performance - Adam Clark.

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Paul Lunn won the GOLD MEDAL in the 50-54 year Age Group at the 70.3 Half-Ironman World Championships, held in St.George, Utah, USA at the weekend.

The name is derived from the overall distance of 70.3 miles comprising of a 1.2 mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1 mile run. Over 6,000 competitors qualified worldwide for this prestigious World Championships including 518 in Paul's Age Group.

Paul was 58th in his Age Group out of the water and very much in contention. From there he caught all in front of him as he powered his way through the bike course. Only a handful of cyclists could come within 10-minutes of his bike time, as he obliterated the field, leaving his nearest rivals to come into T2, 2, 5 and 9 minutes adrift. Paul moved into the lead ahead of Clive Kennedy-Burn (also GB) after 30-miles and pulled a further 2-minutes out of him by T2. With a fast transition and the 2nd fastest run of the day, Paul was on a mission to take his first World Championship title, ahead of Kennedy-Burn who dropped back a little to finish 5:35 minutes down; and Vladimir Figari from Hungary who had the fastest run to move up to 3rd, but still 8:03 minutes behind.

That was a convincing win to make use of his fitness from all of the solid training that Paul put in ahead of the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii 3-weeks ago.

With water temperatures of 62 degrees F and air temperatures of 40 degrees F, the theme of the day was managing the cold conditions of late autumn in southern Utah; but Paul pushed hard from the very start, setting out at a burning pace in the rolling hills. Then into Snow Canyon, he hammered up the steep gradients of the toughest climbs and descended with seemingly reckless abandon, driving the pace hard and pulling away from the rest of the field.

On the run, it was only in the final stretch to the finish line that he relaxed, offering high-fives to the crowd on his way to a run split of 1:23:28 and a final finishing time of 4:16:01. This was a satisfying conclusion, having put all of his focus into the race, and he is very happy with the result; but Paul already has his eyes on the full Ironman World Championships in Kona next October, where he has some unfinished business to conclude.

Other local athletes to compete in St.George were Louise Hathaway and Michael Stacey who both had good races, moving up the field and gaining many places on the bike in some tough competition.

Results:

131. Paul Lunn ............... 30:49 .... 2:21:44 .... 1:23:28 ..= 4:16:01 Age Group 1st. GOLD MEDAL and WORLD CHAMPION.

685. Louise Hathaway .... 37:43 .... 3:06:29 .... 1:58:36 ..= 5:42:48 AG 62.

other locals;

2737. Michael Stacey ....... 40:24 .... 2:57:45 .... 1:52:39 ..= 5:30:48 AG 45.

PACTRAC's previous World Champions:

2007 Georgina Jennings - Sprint Triathlon (Age Group 60-64) Hamburg.

2010 Georgina Jennings - Sprint Triathlon (Age 65-69) Budapest.

2010 Georgina Jennings - Aquathlon (Age 65-69) Budapest.

2017 Georgina Jennings - Sprint Triathlon (Age Group 70-74) Rotterdam.

2019 Roger Canham - Long Distance Triathlon (Age Group 55-59) Pontevedra.

2019 Roger Canham - Challenge Championships (Age Group 55-59) Samorin.

This compliments a number of European Championship wins from Georgina Jennings, Wendy Gooding and George Prodrick.

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Meanwhile, closer to home Rob Hammond and Harriet Lomas competed in the Grafham Water Duathlon over the Standard Distance of run 6.25 miles, bike 25-miles and run 3-miles.

69. Rob Hammond .... 41:13 .... 73:15 .... 20:42 ..= 2:15:10 Age Group 11th.

176. Harriet Lomas .... 47:47 .... 85:20 .... 26:07 ..= 2:39:14 AG 12.

We have our club AGM and Prize Presentation on Sunday 4th December.

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Dave Patmore-Hill made his long comeback from injury in the 70.3 Half-Ironman in Vouliagmeni, Greece.

Dave finished 22nd in his Age Group after moving up the ranks with a 1:42:18 half-marathon. This followed the 1.2 mile sea swim and 56-mile bike and was a strong finish - before moving up an Age Group next year.

228. Dave Patmore-Hill .... 32:29 .... 2:50:58 .... 1:42:18 ..= 5:05:45 Age Group 22nd.

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Paul Lunn and Louise Hathaway compete in the Half-Ironman 70.3 World Championships in St. George, Utah, this weekend with Paul looking for a good result, having not finished in the World Ironman Championships, held in Hawaii, 3-weeks prior.

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The last PACTRAC club race of the season, a Duathlon, was rained off on Sunday, and became a pure 5km run, won convincingly by Chris Northern.

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PACTRAC had over 20 runners in the Great Eastern Half-Marathon in Peterborough.
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PACTRAC members have competed in 17 Ironman distance races this year, with 8 athletes recording one apiece; whilst Paul Lunn, Sam Chapman and Stuart Cleworth chose to compete in 3 each.
Austria - Paul Lunn 9:38:53.

Hamburg - Sam Chapman 9:15:23. Stuart Cleworth 10:24:04.

Copenhagen - Sam Chapman 9:24:14. Stuart Cleworth 10:47:42. Paul Lunn dnf.

Kona, Hawaii - Sam Chapman 9:48:09. Stuart Cleworth 12:02:00. Paul Lunn dnf.

The World Ironman Championships are traditionally held every October in Hawaii, but due to the interruptions from covid they were last held there in 2019. Back on the Big Island this year, they are the pinnacle of the Ironman calendar and qualification is not only hard but often elusive. Athletes have to qualify, often by being in the top 3 in their Age Group at an Ironman race in the previous 12-months. Not only is qualification very competitive but it also means doing more than one of these tough events in a calendar year.

The three PACTRACers qualified this year and competed over this last weekend. Sam Chapman and Stuart Cleworth were making their Hawaii debuts, with Sam recording his 3rd sub 10-hour Ironman of the year. Stuart has made improvements this year and both were out there with their coach Paul Lunn who, unfortunately, wasn't feeling great on the day and had to eventually pull out with just 5-miles to go.

The distances involved are a 2.4 mile swim, which in Hawaii is in the ocean. Their then follows a 112-mile bike section which is open to the wind and the elements along the coastal road, before finishing with a full 26.2 mile marathon run, all with the infamous Hawaiian winds and heat.

440. Sam Chapman ..... 1:07:03 .... 5:00:46 .... 3:40:20 = 9:48:09 Age Group 119.

1935. Stuart Cleworth .... 1:16:53 .... 6:11:48 .... 4:33:19 = 12:02:00 Age Group 458.

Paul Lunn ........................1:03:59 .... 5:15:45 .... did not finish the run.

Paul along with Louise Hathaway will now concentrate on the World 70.3 Half-Ironman Championships in St. George, USA, in 3-weeks time.

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Meanwhile Claire Willis competed in the Chicago marathon finishing 9,003rd out of a field of 39,429 finishers. Claire hit the half way mark in 1:43:51 on her way to completing the full marathon in 3:38:49.

Roy Mayhew competed in the Stockholm half-marathon - another event with a big field, and finished in 2:35:27. Roy is in training for the London Marathon next April, when he will be competing in the 80+ Age Category.
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3 PACTRACers have qualified for the Ironman World Championships which take place in Hawaii this coming weekend. Paul Lunn, Stuart Cleworth and Sam Chapman are all on the big island at the moment, acclimatising and preparing for their race of the season on Saturday.

The Frostbite winter running league starts this Sunday from Hinchingbrooke Park, with 16 local running clubs competing over a series of 6x 5-mile races from October through to March.

The PACTRAC club duathlon takes place from Oundle on Sunday 23rd October.
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An intrepid trio ventured down to Hever Castle in Kent to participate in their weekend of multisport. Jane Mason competed in the Aquabike over the Standard Distance of swim 1500m and bike 25 miles, whilst both Mark Mason and Sally Leech competed in the Aquathlon distances of swim 1500m and run 6.25 miles. This was Mark and Jane's first venture into multisport, whereas Sally has previously competed in two triathlon's. All 3 recorded top 3 positions in their respective Age Groups with Mark winning his category.

Aquabike:
37. Jane Mason .... 39:47 .... 2:26:24 ..= 3:06:11 Age Group 2.

Aquathlon:
12. Mark Mason .... 32:51 .... 60:59 ..= 1:33:50 Age Group 1st.
25. Sally Leech ..... 40:36 .... 77:57 ..= 1:58:33 Age Group 3.

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2 PACTRACers competed in the East Leake end of season triathlon, near Loughborough, on a fast, flat course.
Swim 400m - 25m pool.

Bike 14m -1 lap.

Run 3.1 miles -3 laps.

157. Sara Pearce .... 10:23 .... 55:47 .... 25:30 ..= 1:31:40 AG 17.

193. Clare King ....... 13:03 .... 60:27 .... 33:56 ..= 1:47:26 AG 14.
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PACTRAC held their Standard Distance Triathlon from Oundle pool on Sunday. Following the 1,500m swim, competitor's cycled 3-laps around Glapthorn and the Benefield's on a hilly 27-mile course with the wind picking up; before finishing with a 4.75 mile run. Competitor's travelled over from as far afield as Ely, Northampton and Derby.

Chris Pithey was first out of the water and had a good lead over Rob Hammond and Matt Barnes. Chris forged ahead on the bike, with Matt moving into 2nd, only to see Rob reclaim that spot on the run. Not far behind were Andy Martin and Steve Skelhon with the former moving up to 3rd on the run; with Chris holding onto his lead and coming home a comfortable winner.

Chris went one better than his previous best club result; a 2nd place in the 4th of this year's Mini-Series events in June.

First lady was Debbie Montague in this, her 4th triathlon of a debut season; whilst the first team was Team 201 of Sean Whittaker, Georgina Jennings and Liz Whittaker - so named because of their combined ages.

1. Chris Pithey ........ 2:13:42.

2. Rob Hammond ... 2:22:59.

3. Andy Martin ......... 2:26:30.

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Dave Thorold competed in the Grafham Water Standard Distance Triathlon;

Swim 1500m in Grafham Water reservoir - two laps.

Bike 24 miles on a flat, out-and-back course.

Run 6.25 miles - 2 laps on footpaths around the lake.

9. Dave Thorold .... 33:15 .... 67:52 .... 43:31 ..= 2:24:38 AG 2.

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Stuat Neal competed in the Sywell Sprint Duathlon near Northampton. The event was changed from a triathlon at the last moment, with a 3-mile run replacing the planned swim, followed by a 12-mile bike and a final 2.5-mile run. Stuart has competed in all 3 Sywell events this year, the other two being triathlon's as planned.

39. Stuart Neal .... 28:15 .... 35:59 .... 23:30 ..= 87:44 AG 3.
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PACTRAC recorded 10 top 2 Age Group placings at the weekend, which included 2 outright victories at 2 separate venues.

Paul Lunn had a great race at the Vitruvian half-Ironman distance triathlon at Rutland Water. Paul was 33rd after the 1.2 mile lake swim, but after storming through the fastest bike ride (47 miles) of the day, he came in to start the run, just 26 seconds in arears. Paul then had the 6th fastest run split, with a 1:16 half marathon, which saw him move into the lead and forge ahead to win the event overall by 45 seconds.

This is the second time that Paul has won the Vitruvian, which is proving to be a favourite race of his. He put in a sensational performance, beating athletes much younger than him, ahead of his return to the big island in Hawaii for the World Ironman Championships next month, where he will be joined by colleagues Sam Chapman and Stuart Cleworth, both making their championship debuts.

Paul's time of 3:42:37 was made even more impressive, with only 14 athletes coming home in under 4 hours. Jonny Hynes was the next member home in 24th place, with Giles Cooper and Dave Thorold fighting it out for one-two in the over 55 category. In the accompanying swim,bike Aquabike event Roger Canham and Simon Guerin both had solid races to come home 2nd and 5th respectively.

1. Paul Lunn .................. 33:15 .... 1:52:27 .... 1:16:55 ..= 3:42:37 AG 1.

24. Jonny Hynes .............. 34:11 .... 2:04:18 .... 1:30:30 ..= 4:08:59 AG 2.

42. Giles Cooper .............. 35:40 .... 2:13:57 .... 1:32:13 ..= 4:21:50 AG 1.

58. Dave Thorold .............. 41:53 .... 2:10:18 .... 1:35:50 ..= 4:28:01 AG 2.

77. Rachael Coe-O'brien .. 36:36 .... 2:18:31 .... 1:41:01 ..= 4:36:08 AG 2.

123. Barry Ryan ............... 43:10 .... 2:29:08 .... 1:39:13 ..= 4:51:31 AG 8.

126. Louise Hathaway ..... 41:33 .... 2:25:15 .... 1:45:32 ..= 4:52:20 AG 2.

190. Steve Hope .............. 39:15 .... 2:35:57 .... 1:57:43 ..= 5:12:55 AG 2.

293. Rod Hall ................... 49:38 .... 3:12:41 .... 2:10:24 ..= 6:12:43 AG 19.

Aquabike:

2. Roger Canham ........... 33:41 .... 2:04:07 ..= 2:37:48 AG 1.

5. Simon Guerin ............. 33:20 .... 2:10:08 ..= 2:43:28 AG 3.

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3 members competed at St. Neots with Henry Morton winning the sprint distance triathlon by 94 seconds. Henry was 2nd out of the river as the top 3 came out together and went clear from the rest of the field. Henry then moved into the lead on the bike to give himself a healthy 47-second advantage at the start of the run. He then moved further ahead with the fastest run of the day.

Jon Crowley placed 11th overall and first in his Age Group, whilst Libby Mellor also won her Age Group in the Super-Sprint race.

1. Henry Morton .... 12:09 .... 43:18 .... 17:17 ..= 72:44 AG 1.
11. Jon Crowley ..... 15:21 .... 45:43 .... 21:57 ..= 83:01 AG 1.

Super-Sprint:
12. Libby Mellor ..... 11:06 .... 23:59 .... 13:46 ..= 48:51 AG 1.

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Rebecca Burge ventured over to Tenby in South Wales to compete in Ironman Wales. Following her Ironman debut in Nottingham last year, Rebecca recorded her 2nd 12-hour Ironman, but this time involving a sea swim and a hillier bike and run course. She had a consistent bike split which saw her move up in her Age Group and after some hard running, she was able to finish 9th in her Age Group.

1,098. Rebecca Burge .... 1:17:43 .... 6:50:08 .... 4:48:33 ..= 12:56:24 AG 9.

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Jonathan Oakey travelled to Maceio in Brasil to compete in the World University Triathlon Championships. Jonathan got into the second group on the bike and eventually ran home to 20th place in this prestigious event.

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PACTRAC hold their last club triathlon of the season at Oundle on Sunday, over the Standard Distance. The event is open to non club members and entries are via pactrac.clubpal.app

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Jonathan Oakey competed for Ireland in his first senior Elite race, finishing 46th overall in the European Triathlon Cup in Alhandra, Portugal. Jonathan came home just 107 seconds behind the winner in a sprint distance race where athletes were streaming in, in a line, one after the other.
The 750 metre swim failed to split the athletes sufficiently and after 12.5 miles, 57 competitors came in off the bike in the lead bunch in this draft-legal elite race - 75 seconds ahead of their chasers. The athletes then strung out in a line for the 3.1 mile run with Jonathan finishing 46th overall and pleased with his first event at Senior Elite level.

46. Jonathan Oakey .... 10:59 .... 25:52 .... 15:53 ..= 52:44.

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6 PACTRACers competed in the Box End (Bedford) Sprint Triathlon which was a qualifier for the World Sprint Championships to be held in Hamburg next year. Adam Clark, Mark Weathersby and Georgina Jennings all qualified to represent GB and join Simon Hoppe who has already qualified due to a top-10 performance at this year's Championships in Montreal. Mark has achieved his qualification and will now concentrate on training for the London Marathon in October.
Adam said: "The final triathlon for this year ... and I qualified!! Hamburg World Champs 2023 here we come. I have achieved what I set out to do, and have lots of racing abroad next year in both European and World Championships for Sprint and Olympic distances.

The swim at Box End was chaotic. Everybody was fighting, dunking and kicking with a little bit of swimming. A busy but decent bike brought me back inside the top 10 before the difficult cross country run. I have to be happy with 9th place overall and 2nd Age Group."

9. Adam Clark .............. 12:13 .... 35:18 .... 19:52 ..= 1:07:23 Age Group 2.

15. Mark Weathersby ..... 13:25 .... 34:41 .... 20:12 ..= 1:08:18 AG 2.

220. Steve Hope ............. 15:11 .... 43:00 .... 24:34 ..= 1:22:45 AG 14.

409. Lynn Smitheringale .. 19:46 .... 53:01 .... 35:18 ..= 1:48:05 AG 19.

439. Terry Murphy ............ 27:00 .... 52:34 .... 41:19 ..= 2:00:53 AG 3.

441. Georgina Jennings .. 21:49 .... 54:59 .... 48:33 ..= 2:05:21 AG 1.

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Rob Hammond and Sue Davys chose the longer Challenge Distance at Box End, with both winning their Age Groups.

Box End has "crystal-clear blue water, a unique swim course through the wakeboarding jumps, fast bike course and traffic-free off-road run round the grounds".

Swim 1500m swim. 2-laps.

Bike 37.5miles 2-laps relatively flat.

Run 6.25 miles 2 laps traffic-free on footpaths surrounding the lake.

Rob had the 2nd fastest swim, came in off the bike in 6th and held that position on the 6.25 mile run.

6. Rob Hammond .... 26:49 .... 2:00:25 .... 46:32 ..= 3:13:46 AG 1.

13. Sue Davys .......... 37:44 .... 2:21:56 .... 75:33 ..= 4:15:13 AG 1.

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Chris Pithey competed in the Outlaw Half at Bowood House over the distances of swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles. Chris got off to a great start coming out of the water in 22nd place overall, and consolidated on the bike, but paid for his efforts and had to drop back on the run.

230. Chris Pithey .... 28:55 .... 2:53:22 .... 2:37:44 ..= 6:00:01 AG 32.

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The Shropshire Triathlon took place at the weekend attracting athletes from all over the country to compete in this well-established race. The event has been held within the grounds of the Mere at Ellesmere since 1992.

Having completed her first triathlon at Blenheim earlier this year, Debbie Montague moved up to the Standard Distance at Ellesmere.

Swim 1500m in the lake at the Mere.
Bike 24 miles around the Shropshire & Welsh countryside.
Run 6.25 miles on fully closed roads, traffic free, but hilly.

Debbie said: "My goals going into it were to finish and not come last and I achieved both. The bike ride was my main concern as I knew the course wasn't exactly going to be flat, but it was nowhere near as bad as I thought and I flew round the course. We had torrential rain about half way round, which made visibility and bike handling tricky."

127. Andy Martin ............. 32:36 .... 74:37 .... 45:14 ..= 2:32:27 Age Group 16.

169. Debbie Montague .... 42:30 .... 98:29 .... 66:06 ..= 3:27:05 AG 3.
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The Oundle Triathlon took place on Sunday in the 25 metre pool over the distances of: swim 600m, bike 15.5 miles, run 3.25 miles.

This inaugural event was organised by ATW with Lauren Steadman as their Ambassador. Lauren raced to 7th spot overall, whilst local man Mark Botteley from Bourne took the overall honours.

PACTRAC had 10 competitors, 4 of whom won their Age Group with another 3 coming 2nd. Rob Hammond finished 3rd for the second time this year, with Phil Groves 4th. Rob was holding on to 2nd place overall coming out onto the run, but was caught and had to settle for a very encouraging 3rd place at the finish.

Mark Botteley had the fastest bike of the day by 2-minutes from PACTRAC's Chris Shaw. Mark moved into the lead on the 2-lap bike course and with a fast run held on to win the event outright by 47-seconds from James Calvert with Rob another 78-seconds behind.

Results:

3. Rob Hammond ........ 10:29 .... 46:48 .... 21:15 ..= 1:18:32 Age Group 1.

4. Phil Groves .............. 12:05 .... 47:22 .... 19:48 ..= 1:19:17 AG 1.

8. John Crowley ........... 12:08 .... 47:14 .... 24:09 ..= 1:23:31 AG 2.

14. Chris Shaw ............. 15:13 .... 45:40 .... 26:44 ..= 1:27:37 AG 4.

20. Harriet Lomas ......... 14:48 .... 50:56 .... 25:30 ..= 1:31:14 AG 2.

31. Laetitia Brighton ...... 14:04 .... 57:14 .... 25:13 ..= 1:36:31 AG 3.

34. Kate Armstrong ....... 13:25 .... 58:30 .... 26:17 ..= 1:38:12 AG 1.

41. Debbie Montague ... 16:53 .... 60:44 .... 26:12 ..= 1:43:49 AG 2.

53. Terry Murphy ........... 18:58 .... 62:18 .... 39:36 ..= 2:00:52 AG 1.

54. Claire King .............. 16:26 .... 68:20 .... 38:34 ..= 2:03:20 AG 3.

Others:

1. Mark Botteley .......... 11:51 .... 43:35 .... 21:01 ..= 1:16:27 AG 1.

7. Lauren Steadman ...... 9:23 .... 48:35 .... 24:53 ..+ 1:22:51 AG 1.

In the accompanying Junior event Hugo Flikweert took part in the TriStar1 section for ages 9-10 over the distances of 150 metres, 1.25miles and 3/4 mile run.

30. Hugo Flikweert ........ 4:06 .... 10:30 .... 6:52 ..= 21:28.

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2 PACTRACers competed in the Bedford Triathlon held in the River Great Ouse in the centre of Bedford. Both came home first in their respective Age Groups, with Rob Hammond finishing as the 3rd male overall, with a good run to consolidate his early efforts and propel him up the field.

3. Rob Hammond .... 28:42 .... 74:25 .... 44:42 ..= 2:27:49 AG 1st.

11. Steve Hope ......... 28:41 .... 75:54 .... 48:23 ..=2:32:58 AG 1st.

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Chris Northern ventured over to Cork in Ireland to compete in his first Ironman triathlon. After putting in the hours of training, Chris started the day well with a good 2.4 mile sea swim. He then consolidated with consistent 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run legs.

Chris said: "That was amazing. The support of the Irish was incredible - hosing us down on the hottest run I have ever done. I wanted a sub 12 and got 11hours 47. I am finally an Ironman after 2 years of grit."

168. Chris Northern .... 1:04:05 .... 6:11:19 .... 4:31:44 ..= 11:47:08 Age Group 31.

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The European Triathlon Sprint Championships were held in Munich last weekend as part of the European Games; with 3 PACTRACers competing in the Age Group Triathlon Championships. Competing against some of the best athletes in Europe, all 3 gave a good account of themselves, in closely fought races. Mark Weathersby finished 17th in his Age Group but was only 3-minutes off of a top-3 Podium spot. Susie Freeman finished 21st in her Age Group after a good swim put her in early contention; whilst Simon Hoppe finished 22nd in his Age Group and was similarly only 3-minutes away from a top-3 result. Simon was the 3rd Brit home and was looking to add to his collection of medals this year, having already finished in the 3rd team home at the World Sprint Relay Championships in Montreal, before picking up a bronze medal in the National Championships two weeks ago, after starting 5-minutes behind everybody else due to an incident with a deer on the way to the event (He chased down the pack to record the best time by 1:40 minutes but came home 3rd "on the road"). A third Championship medal of the campaign proved just a little too elusive, although his rapid swim and bike times put him in early contention.

Swim 750 metres, Bike 13-miles. Run 3.1 miles.

17. Mark Weathersby .... 12:29 .... 35:28 .... 18:35 ..= 66:32

22. Simon Hoppe .......... 12:25 .... 34:45 .... 21:22 ..= 68:32

21. Susie Freeman ....... 12:50 .... 41:16 .... 24:49 ..= 78:55

There are only 20 places per 5-year Age Group for the whole of the UK, so qualifying for GB is an achievement in itself. Simon and Mark were both only 3-minutes from a top-3 spot.
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Sam Chapman and Stuart Cleworth were amongst over 1,700 competitor's who completed the Ironman Copenhagen triathlon over the full distances of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile marathon run. Solid races saw both come close to their previous best times, recorded at IM Hamburg earlier this year. In 2021 Sam competed in Ironman Majorca and made an impressive debut, and has followed up with two more Ironman races this year. Sam recorded an average speed over the 112 miles of 23mph to ride for just 4:50 hours and put himself in a great position for the marathon run which he then reeled off at a consistent pace in 3:32 hours. Stuart completed his 4th Ironman.

84. Sam Chapman ...... 1:01:26 .... 4:50:17 .... 3:32:31 ..= 9:24:14 Age Group 24.
583. Stuart Cleworth .. 1:08:00 .... 5:13:30 .... 4:26:12 ..= 10:47:42 Age Group 86.

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Adam Clark had a great event at the London Triathlon, coming home 7th overall and 2nd in his Age Group, to qualify for next year's Age Group European Championships. The venue has yet to be announced.

Swim 1500m in London's Docklands.
Bike 25 miles on closed London roads.
Run 6.25 miles along the Thames, all in the 27 degree heat..

Adam came up against a super-strong swimmer who was out of the water 4-minutes ahead, but he managed to claw a minute back on the bike and another 2-minutes on the run, to finish in 2nd place and qualify for that coveted GB place.

Adam said: "What a weekend! I've been looking forward to this one, as it's such an iconic and popular event in the London Docklands and Excel Centre. I needed a top 4 in my Age Group to get a European Championship Age Group Qualification and I got 2nd!!!!
It was great to have the family there supporting and to put in a great performance in front of them".

7. Adam Clark .... 21:59 .... 61:35 .... 39:37 ..= 2:03:11 Age Group 2nd.

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At the St.Neots triathlon's Libby Mellor was the first Junior in the Super-Sprint event, whilst Rob Hammond and Mark Botteley competed in the Sprint Triathlon, both finishing 2nd in their respective Age Groups.

Rob Hammond had competed the previous weekend in the Box End Sprint Triathlon, where both he and Ros Goatly finished first in their Age Groups.

Super-Sprint:
9. Libby Mellor .... 10:03 .... 24:50 .... 13:33 ..= 48:26 Age Group 1st.

Sprint:
11. Rob Hammond .... 13:03 .... 44:26 .... 19:36 ..= 77:05 AG 2.
15. Mark Botteley ...... 15:38 .... 43:08 .... 19:58 ..= 78:44 AG 2.

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Box End.

4. Rob Hammond .... 13:12 .... 36:43 .... 22:24 ..= 72:19 AG 1.
47. Ros Goatly .......... 15:20 .... 47:38 .... 36:02 ..= 99:00 AG 1.

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Graeme Kane competed in Ironman Bolton over the distances of:
swim 2.4 miles. 2-laps in the lake at Pennington Flash.
bike 112 miles. 11-miles to Bolton followed by 3 laps over hilly terrain, each circling around Bolton.
run 26.2 miles. Out and back 4-times.

268. Graeme Kane .... 1:09:30 .... 7:31:56 .... 4:06:10 ..= 12:47:36 Age Group 52.

======================
The 8th and last PACTRAC Wednesday night Mini-Series Triathlon took place for this year at Oundle, with Phil Groves winning in his fourth attempt at the distance this year.

Suzanne May led out of the water, followed a minute later by Steve Hope and Phil Groves. Phil took the lead on the bike only to relinquish it to Scott Lloyd, who had quickly made up the swim deficit. Scott came in off the bike just 8-seconds ahead of Phil, with Steve another 30-seconds behind. Scott then improved on his recent running time with a 19:45 for the 5-kilometres; only to see Phil go past him on the way back from Glapthorn. Phil is improving his run times each week and recorded a superfast run time of 19:04 (including transition) to pull ahead and take the win by 33-seconds.

4 ladies came in off the bike within 90-seconds of each other, with Helen Etherington taking the lead early on the run and pulling away. Sue Davys took her own over 60's course record down to 69:40 including a new best swim time of 8:46 and bike time of 30:39; whilst Georgina Jennings took the over 75's swim time down to 8:52.

Top 3:

1. Phil Groves .... 7:40 .... 26:13 .... 19:04 ..= 52:57.

2. Scott Lloyd ..... 8:30 .... 25:15 .... 19:45 ..= 53:30.

3. Steve Hope .... 7:36 .... 26:47 .... 23:00 ..= 57:23.

In the series of 8 races plus a Novice specific race, 6 individuals took a first place, including Adam Clark with 4 wins; whilst Paul Lunn's overall Course Record of 45:46 set last year, still remains the best time on the course. Paul came just 10-seconds shy of his own record this year, whilst Adam Clark and Graeme Kane were the only two other athletes to dip under 50-minutes.

-----------------------

Paul Jephcott competed in the half-ironman distance event at Compton Verney nr Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire.

The 1900m swim took place in the Capability Brown designed lake, with competitor's completing 3-laps.

The 56-mile bike course featured climbs and descents along the Edge Hill, on mostly minor roads.

The 13.1 mile run was undulating on the local roads, tracks, trails and some grass.

Paul finished 35th in a time of 6:37:15, moving up to 2nd in his Age Group on the bike.

35. Paul Jephcott .... 44:38 .... 3:29:25 .... 2:23:12 ..= 6:37:15 Age Group 2nd.

=============
Correction to the report below: Simon Hoppe missed out on the Gold Medal in the English Championships. Unfortunately, whilst driving to the event at Mallory Park in the early hours, Simon hit a deer on the road and disabled his car. He phoned his friend, Adam Clark, who then drove through Leicester to pick him up. On the way to rescue Simon, Adam had a puncture, only to find that his jack didn't work. The RAC arrived soon after, and Adam was able to pick Simon up; the two of them arriving at Mallory Park just 10 minutes before the race start.

Simon and Adam were eventually ready to start their race together, 20-minutes after everybody else. Unfortunately these championships were draft-legal, meaning that competitors were able to take pace off of other cyclists around them. Without this added competition, the pair decided to ride together, to limit the damage and then had solo runs after the rest of the field had finished.

They were both given 5-minute penalties for a late start, which fortunately meant that Simon was still in the medals, only a BRONZE MEDAL instead of the Gold that it so nearly could have been. Adam missed out on the opportunity to contend for a podium spot, and showed that he would have been in the mix for the medal places.

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The 7th of PACTRAC's 8 evening Mini-Series Triathlon's saw Paul Lunn storm to victory in a valiant attempt at breaking his own Course Record. He missed that by a mere 10-seconds, but had the consolation of breaking every record in his new over 50's Age Group. His split times of 6:09, 21:24 and 18:23 totaling 45:56 were incredibly close to his previous assault in 2021.

Although 6-seconds slower in the swim, he managed to shave just 1-second off of Simon Hoppe's over 50's record. Previously Paul had recorded 21:25 on the new bike course, only to see Jonny Hynes take it down to 21:23. This time, Paul recorded 21:24 for his best bike split but still 1-second outside of the overall record. He will be consoled with a new best over 50's time, both on the bike and run sections, although his run split was just 5-seconds down on his own over 40's record.

Adam Clark chose not to race, preferring to save his efforts for the English National Championships on Sunday. This left Simon Guerin to exit the swim in second place just 7-seconds behind Paul, who flew off out of sight. Simon started the run 3:20 ahead of Scott Lloyd, who almost reeled him in, eventually running out of road and finishing just 18-seconds behind, whilst Phil Groves started the run 37-seconds behind Scott and finished just 10-seconds behind, in another closely fought contest.

1. Paul Lunn ........ 6:09 .... 21:24 .... 18:23 ..= 45:56.

2. Simon Guerin .. 6:16 .... 24:18 .... 23:09 ..= 53:43.

3. Scott Lloyd ...... 8:14 .... 25:40 .... 20:07 ..= 54:01.

4. Phil Groves ..... 7:38 .... 26:53 .... 19:40 ..= 54:11.

--------------------------

3 PACTRACers competed in the Outlaw Full Distance Triathlon at Holme-Pierrepont, Nottingham, over the distances of:

swim 2.4 miles in the lake.

bike 112 miles, relatively flat.

run 26.2 miles, a flat, multi-lapped course on tarmac.

462. Michael Samways .... 1:33:34 .... 7:02:25 .... 5:02:02 ..= 13:38:01 Age Group 67th.

562. Dan Walter ............... 1:27:55 .... 7:28:28 .... 5:43:24 ..= 14:39:47 AG 99.

687. Marc Hatfield ............ 1:35:52 .... 8:04:09 ..= 6:48:06 ..= 16:28:07 AG 110.

-------------------------

Adam Clark and Simon Hoppe competed at Mallory Park in the Triathlon England National Championships, in a draft-legal format, where cyclists are allowed to race directly with their fellow competitors.

Simon won his Age Group and with it the GOLD MEDAL by nearly 2-minutes. He had a rapid bike split that suited his talents, allowing him to pull away from the competition and hold his form on the run. Adam missed out on a Podium spot, finishing 4th in his Age Group but less than 90-seconds from the gold medal, in a hard fought race.

The distances were:

swim 750 metres in the lake in the centre of the legendary racing circuit.

bike 11.25 miles. 5-laps on the closed-road, traffic free circuit. A technical course with a short incline and long descent on each lap.

run 3.1 miles. 4-laps of a flat run on the circuit with very smooth tarmac.

16. Adam Clark ....... 12:21 .... 33:53 .... 17:43 ..= 63:57 Age Group 4.

22. Simon Hoppe .... 12:42 .... 33:37 .... 19:20 ..= 65:39 Age Group 1st. GOLD MEDAL. TE Champion.

=================
Adam Clark recorded his 4th win of this year’s PACTRAC Mini-Series in emphatic style. In spite of some fast individual splits from his competitor’s, Adam was able to record the fastest times in all 3 disciplines to take the win by 3-minutes from Rob Hammond, whilst the race for 3rd was taken by the improving Scott Lloyd just 3-seconds ahead of Phil Groves.

Adam exited the swim section 10-seconds ahead of Simon Guerin, with leading lady, Susie Freeman a further 10-seconds behind. Another 20-seconds passed before Rob came out of the pool, 30-seconds ahead of Graham Honey who led the main bunch out.

Adam extended his lead on the bike section to 1-minute over Simon, with a further 40-seconds to Rob in third. There was a further gap before Chris Pike led 4 riders in within 20-seconds of each other.

Adam had the fastest run of the night to come home 3-minutes ahead of Rob, whilst the battle for 3rd was unrelenting between Scott and Phil. Phil set off on the run just 9-seconds in areas and in spite of a sub 20-minute 5k was only able to close the gap by 6-seconds to finally run out of road only 3-seconds behind Scott; both athletes recording Personal Best times on the night, and catching Simon just before the final turn.

Susie Freeman held off Harriet Lomas for first lady, whilst 11 competitors broke the hour and 7 recorded Personal Best times on the course. Susie managed to equal her own over-40’s ladies Course Records for both the swim and then on the bike, whilst Harriet Lomas took the overall ladies bike record down by over a minute to 27:18.

Results:

Adam Clark ………. 48:45.
Rob Hammond …. 51:46.
Scott Lloyd ………… 52:30.
Phil Groves ….……. 52:33.
Simon Guerin ….… 52:51.
Only 2 events remain before the night’s start to draw in:

Wednesday 20th July in the 25-metre pool.

Monday 25th July in the 50-metre pool.

Both are open to non-members and can be entered via Pactrac.clubpal.app

=========
The 5th PACTRAC Wednesday night Mini-Series Triathlon attracted a few more non-members to this popular short-distance event held at Oundle.

Simon Guerin led the swimmers out, closely followed by Simon Hoppe 9-seconds behind. There was then a gap to Liam Higgins and Rob Hammond before Martin Thorpe led the main field out.

Simon Hoppe soon took the lead on the bike and came into T2, 45-seconds ahead with Rob moving up to 3rd and Jaap Flikweert into 4th.

Rob and Jaap had similar run times and both moved up 1 place at Simon Guerin's expense, with both Scott Lloyd and newcomer Phil Groves having super-fast run times to move up into 5th and 6th respectively.

All of this left Simon Hoppe to maintain his lead on the run, to take the win from Rob by 44-seconds. Simon won his first ever Mini-Series triathlon at Oundle back in 1987 and his win this week came 35-years later. He last beat the 50-minute barrier on the old course back in 2011 and has 3 more events left this year to see if he can "go under" on the new, amended course, utilising the new pool at Oundle.

1. Simon Hoppe ...... 51:01.

2. Rob Hammond .... 51:45.

3. Jaap Flikweert ..... 52:46.

The remaining dates in the series are:

Wed 13th July.

Wed 20th July.

Mon 25th July.

-----------------

2 PACTRACers competed in the Woodhorn Museum Triathlons at the QE2 Country Park in Northumbria.

The swim took place in the warm, shallow waters of the park lake, before the bike section followed a coastal route, and the run was on footpaths through woods and on grassland around the lake.

Adam Clark came 13th overall in the Standard Distance event (swim 1500m, bike 29-miles, run 6-miles). This was a World Championship qualifying race for 2023, and although 13th overall, most of those ahead of him were in his own 5-year Age Group, so he just missed out this time. Adam will try again in the London triathlon next month. He has already qualified for the European Sprint Championships by virtue of his performance at the Eastbourne Triathlon last month.

Georgina Jennings competed in the Sprint Distance Triathlon (swim 750m, bike 15-miles, run 3.75 miles), and won her Age Group, qualifying for next year's European Sprint Championships at a venue yet to be announced. Georgina is a previous European Champion and will be on the circuit again next year.

Standard Distance:

13. Adam Clark .... 17:22 .... 74:28 .... 36:45 ..= 2:08:35 Age Group 8.

Sprint Distance:

267. Georgina Jennings .... 23:39 .... 64:03 .... 57:59 ..= 2:25:41 AG 1.

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Hugo Flikweert competed in the Leighton Buzzard Children's Triathlon. Hugo competed in the TriStar 1 event for ages 9-10 years and finished 14th over the standard distances of swim 150 metres, bike 1-mile and run 3/4 mile.

14. Hugo Flikweert .... 3:42 .... 8:04 .... 6:27 ..= 18:13.

--------------

Willow Worthington competed in the Swim,Run organised by AsKeenAsMustard at Manvers Lake, Rotherham. Willow had to constantly change disciplines from running to swimming and back again, involving 8 runs in her wetsuit and 7 swims in training shoes over a 10km course. She finished 26th overall and 9th female in a time of 1:43:17.

=================
The Dambuster Triathlon's took place at Rutland Water over both the Sprint and Standard distances; with the bike section taking place on closed roads. In the Sprint event, Marcus Widdess moved up one place on the run into 2nd overall, whilst Chris Pithey started the run in 4th and held onto it. Both won their respective Age Groups, whilst Laetitia Brighton was 3rd in hers. Dave Thorold recorded a convincing win in his Age Group in the Standard race.

Standard (swim 1500m, bike 25 miles, run 6.25 miles).

27. Dave Thorold .... 30:28 .... 70:15 .... 43:36 ..= 2:24:19 AG 1st.

196. Clare Willis ....... 32:19 .... 94:11 .... 49:32 ..= 2:56:02 AG 5.

283. Rod Hall ........... 39:00 .... 99:20 .... 52:54 ..= 3:11:14 AG 22.

Sprint (swim 750 meters, bike 12.5 miles, run 3 miles).

2. Marcus Widdess .... 12:43 .... 36:47 .... 17:43 ..= 67:13 AG 1st.

4. Chris Pithey ........... 13:08 .... 36:46 .... 71:16 ..= 71:16 AG 1st.

40. Laetitia Brighton .. 21:46 .... 50:55 .... 21:19 ..= 94:00 AG 3.

-------------------------

The Outlaw Holkham triathlon covered the half-ironman distances of swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles. Sam Chapman completed the full Ironman in Hamburg just 4-weeks ago and was back on the trail with this half-distance event, finishing in a top 10 position. Sam moved up from 39th place to 11th on the bike, with the 8th fastest bike split of the day.

Chris Northern said: "Outlaw Holkham 70.3 you were amazing. I felt super strong today and almost got my dream time of sub 5hrs but unfortunately just over and wasn’t meant to be this time. Still a 25 minute PB from last year and happy with 16th in age category. 6 weeks now to build for my A race, Ironman Ireland".

Mark Bedford also recorded a Personal Best time by 7-minutes over the distance.

10. Sam Chapman ... 33:28 .... 2:23:37 .... 1:28:13 ..= 4:25:18 AG 5.

79. Chris Northern .... 34:16 .... 2:43:31 .... 1:45:19 ..= 5:03:06 AG 16.

244. Mark Bedford ..... 46:18 .... 2:57:45 .... 1:50:16 ..= 5:34:19 AG 27.

376. Iain Cushion ....... 36:52 .... 3:13:11 .... 2:04:42 ..= 5:54:45 AG 45.

-----------------------

Paul Lunn and Adam Neal competed in lronman Austria in Karnten-Klagenfurt. Paul won his Age Group for the 2nd weekend on the trot and in doing so, he qualified for the Ironman World Championships to be held in Hawaii in October. Last weekend he qualified for the Half-Ironman Championships and this weekend for the full Ironman. Paul had the 15th fastest bike split of the day to take the lead in his Age Group and paid for it on the run; but held on to take the win by just under 2-minutes, with 3rd place over 22-minutes behind.

Adam was competing in his first Ironman Triathlon and after a great swim and recording just under 20mpm for the 112-mile bike section, he suffered on the run in the 32 degree C heat, but finished in a great time.

29. Paul Lunn ........ 1:06:41 .... 4:57:40 .... 3:34:32 ..= 9:38:53 Age Group 1st.

1015. Adam Neal .... 1:04:24 .... 5:56:43 .... 5:45:18 ..= 12:46:25 AG 146.

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2 PACTRACers competed in a local triathlon at Sywell Country Park over the Sprint Distance. Steve Hope won his Age Group, whilst Stuart Neal was leading his until the final discipline.

17. Steve Hope .... 14:17 .... 39:30 .... 20:42 ..= 74:29 Age Group 1st.

38. Stuart Neal ..... 15:33 .... 40:17 .... 26:10 ..= 82:00 AG 4.

================
Various options were available for PACTRAC's Novice Mini-Series Triathlon last week. A few of the regulars took part, with Rob Hammond leading from start to finish, and Scott Lloyd moving ahead of Wayne Stainsby on the run to take second place.

In the Team competition, Adam Clark and Chris Northern attempted to beat Paul Lunn's individual record of 45:46 and came 59-seconds short in a gallant effort that recorded a run split quicker than the current record.

In the Novice race for athletes in their first season in triathlon, Laetitia Brighton took the honours, chasing Dave Rutherford down on the run once back in Oundle, nearing the finish.

Their was also a shorter version with the swim being halved to 200m before continuing on the normal course. Harriet Lomas took the honours, coming in, well under the hour mark.

-----------------------

Paul Lunn and Louise Hathaway competed in the 70.3 Half-Ironman European Championships held in Elsinore, Denmark. Paul collected the GOLD MEDAL in his Age Group, finishing 9th overall. Paul was lying 15th in his Age Group after the swim, but had the fastest bike leg to bring him into T2 in pole position. He then consolidated on the run, taking GOLD by nearly 9 minutes.

Louise had a great race to finish 9th in her Age Group after moving up the field well on the bike. She recorded a PB for the distance by 15 minutes; and both she and Paul have now qualified for the 70.3 World Championships in St.George, Utah at the end of October.

9. Paul Lunn .................. 29:49 .... 2:18:51 .... 1:22:57 ..= 4:11:37 Age Group 1st.

678. Louise Hathaway .... 36:31 .... 2:53:48 .... 1:50:04 ..= 5:20:23 AG 9.

--------------------

PACTRAC had 3 members competing in the World Sprint Championships in Montreal at the weekend, over the distances of: swim 750 metres, bike 12 miles and run 3.1 miles.

Both Simon Hoppe and Mark Weathersby finished 8th in their respective Age Groups. This was Mark's best placing in the 4 times that he has worn a GB vest - and he was only 53-seconds shy of a podium spot.

Mark said: "I started the swim too fast, then I got hit in the face which dislodged my goggles. The Bike was fun, as I gained quite a few places. My shoe then got caught under the pedal at the bike dismount. I went 3 inches over the line and got an on the spot wait penalty, before reeling in a few more places on the run. More than happy with 8th."

Simon has previously finished 3rd in both 2005 and 2010 and this time received a BRONZE MEDAL in the 4-man Relay Triathlon that accompanied the main event, the following day. Each athlete had to complete a short triathlon before handing over to the next teammate. Simon did the first leg and got his team off to a great start. Meanwhile Susie Freeman completed the 4th leg for her team which came 11th overall. This was Susie's best position in a GB vest, also from 4 events.

By finishing in the top 10, both Mark and Simon have qualified for next year's World Championships, at a venue yet to be decided.

8. Mark Weathersby .... 12:03 .... 35:25 .... 19:17 ..= 66:45 Age Group 8th.

8. Simon Hoppe .......... 11:24 .... 35:56 .... 20:28 ..= 67:48 Age Group 8th.

Mixed Relay - Teams of 4:

3. Simon Hoppe ........... 25:48.

11. Susie Freeman ....... 27:48.

-------------------------

Chloe Moore competed in the Super-Sprint Triathlon at Stewartby, finishing first overall. Chloe chose the shorter distance race of swim 400m in Stewartby Lake, bike 7.5 miles on flat roads and run 1.5 miles on lakeside paths. Chloe was first out of the lake and held the lead on the bike. She then held on, on the run, with the gap getting ever smaller, and finished first by just 5-seconds, to record her first win at senior level.

1. Chloe Moore .... 7:37 .... 28:53 .... 18:32 ..= 55:02 First overall.

====================
Two PACTRACers ventured down to Eastbourne for the European Championship Qualifier on 12th June (results late in).

The Sprint Triathlon consisted of:

Swim 750m. A triangular shaped sea swim - out against the current with the next two sections cutting across the flow from behind.

Bike 11.5 miles out and back, climbing 153m up to Beachy Head, then continuing down to sea level again before turning and cycling the same route back in reverse. A hilly course and one for the road bike.

Run 3-miles, out and back twice along the sea front with a sharp hill at the far turn.

With just 4 places at stake in each 5-year Age Group, Adam Clark finished 3rd and qualified, with the venue for next year's championships yet to be announced. Adam had a good swim and bike, setting off on the run, neck and neck, in joint second place. He had a great 17:47 5k run but still lost 26 seconds to finish 3rd in his Age Group.

Meanwhile Simon Hoppe finished 4th in his Age Group on the day, but in 5th qualifying spot, as an athlete in the Age Group below moves up an Age Group in the year of the Championships, 2023. Simon was particularly unfortunate, as he started the run 56-seconds ahead of the athlete behind him, but was caught on the line and missed out in a sprint finish. He will try again at the Woodhorn Triathlon in July.

20. Adam Clark ...... 12:26 .... 37:32 .... 17:47 ..= 67:45 Age Group 3rd.

44. Simon Hoppe ... 12:28 .... 37:43 .... 20:42 ..= 70:53 Age Group 4th.

--------------------------------

The 4th PACTRAC evening Mini-Series triathlon took place in the 50-metre pool for the first time. Previously only the 25-metre pool has been used at Oundle. In the first 3 events, Graeme Kane has come 2nd to Adam Clark each time, but in event 4 he took full advantage of Adam's absence to record his first win of the series. Graeme recorded his fastest bike split so far, which helped him to beat the magic 50-minute barrier by just 2-seconds.

Chris Pithey was first out of the water 32-seconds ahead of Graeme, whilst Tony Daniels was a further 8-seconds down in 3rd. Graeme managed to turn this around on the bike, coming into T2 5-seconds ahead of Chris, with Tony hanging onto 3rd by just 9-seconds from the advancing Rob Hammond.

Graeme then increased his lead in the final 3.1 mile run, while Chris held off Rob who moved into 3rd ahead of Scott Lloyd who had the fastest run on the night; with Laetitia Brighton having a great run to finish as the first lady.

Top 4.

1. Graeme Kane ..... 6:28 .... 22:50 .... 20:40 ..= 49:58

2. Chris Pithey ........ 5:56 .... 23:27 .... 22:39 ..= 52:02

3. Rob Hammond ... 7:09 .... 24:31 .... 20:48 ..= 52:28

4. Scott Lloyd ......... 9:06 .... 25:21 .... 19:56 ..= 54:23

---------------------------------

Mark Bedford competed in the Lakesman, an Ironman Distance race in Keswick.

The distances were: swim 2.4 miles in Derwentwater, bike 112 miles in a loop around the north west of the lake district and run 26.2 miles around the Keswick area. Mark took 38 minutes off of his best time, having previously competed in both 2018 and 2019. He moved up the field on the bike and then gained another 30 places on the run.

74. Mark Bedford .... 1:25:53 .... 6:27:47 .... 3:54:52 ..= 11:48:32 Age Group 14.

Mark said "The Lakesman is a very special event. Yesterday was a long day but very rewarding. I did a PB in the swim, had a few issues on the bike and the run was hard. I got cramp with 5 miles to go but still achieved a 38 minute PB overall. There's more to come. I'll be back next year."

On the previous day Mark also participated in the 1.2 mile swim in Derwentwater, recording a time of 45:25.

----------------------------------

2 PACTRACers competed in the North Norfolk Triathlon at Wells Next Sea, over the distances of:

swim 1500m in the sea.

bike 25 miles.

run 6.25 miles.

Both Simon Hoppe and Chris Northern finished in the top 10 overall whilst Simon also won his Age Group. Simon moved up from 12th in the swim to 3rd by the end of the bike. For the 2nd week on the trot, he was caught and overtaken in the finishing straight, just losing out in the final sprint.

Chris moved up from 18th in the swim to 12th off of the bike and then 11th after the run. He even punctured near to the end, and was able to manoeuvre the bike in on a flat tyre.

6. Simon Hoppe .... 24:56 .... 66:27 .... 42:53 ..= 2:14:16 Age Group 1.

9. Chris Northern ... 26:16 .... 69:05 .... 40:36 ..= 2:15:57 AG 6.

-----------------------

128 competitors took part in the various AsKeenAsMustard swim,run events held at Ferry Meadows. This involved constantly changing disciplines from swimming to running and back again. Competitors, therefore, swam in their training shoes and ran in their wetsuits. Willow Worthington chose the 13.1 mile half-marathon distance which had 13 runs and 12 swims, in and out of the river Nene and the lakes at Ferry Meadows. Willow finished 16th overall and 3rd lady in a time of 3 hours and 17 minutes.

The largest field was in the 6.25 mile event which had 7 runs interspersed by 6 swims. Adam Clark continued his good form from last year and came 3rd overall, holding onto the last podium position by 2-minutes.

13.1 mile swim,run

16. Willow Worthington .... 3:17:00 3rd lady.

6.25 mile swim,run

3. Adam Clark ......... 1:13:32

9. Ady Pendred ....... 1:24:51

12. Richard Wright ... 1:27:29

38. Carol Smallman .. 1:46:39

------------------------------------

In the Rob Mclean Junior Triathlon held at Impington, Cambridge, Hugo Flikeert finished 12th in the TriStar 1 category (9-10 year olds).

This started with a 150 metre pool swim followed by a 1.25m bike and 0.75m run, both on the fast, flat, grassed sports field.

12. Hugo Flikweert .... 3:34 .... 10:38 .... 5:24 ..= 19:36

===========
Sam Chapman and Stuart Cleworth competed in the Ironman Triathlon in Hamburg. This was Sam's 2nd Ironman and Stuart's 3rd with both recording Personal Best times over the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run.

60. Sam Chapman .... 68:13 .... 4:52:25 .... 3:14:45 ..= 9:15:23 AG 13.

410. Stuart Cleworth .. 70:30 .... 5:18:27 .... 3:55:07 ..= 10:24:04 AG 51.

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Simon Guerin competed with 700 athletes in the Cotswold Triathlon over the half-Ironman distances of:

swim 1.2 miles, bike 56-miles and run 13.1 miles.

104. Simon Guerin .... 32:20 .... 2:52:29 .... 1:50:15 ..= 5:15:04 Age Group 21.

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Jo Chapman competed in the Windsor Sprint Distance Triathlon and had a great 750 meter swim in the Thames to put herself in a good position, ready to complete the event with a 12.5 mile bike and 3.1 mile run.

88. Jo Chapman .... 12:40 .... 55:09 .... 25:08 ..= 92:57 Age Group 41.

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Georgina Jennings won her Age Group in the Culford Sprint Triathlon near Ipswich.

119. Georgina Jennings .... 7:36 .... 51:28 .... 27:46 ..= 86:50 Age Group 1st.

-----------

The 3rd Mini-Series Triathlon of the season took place at Oundle on Wednesday night; and it went the same way as the previous two, with Adam Clark taking the honours ahead of Graeme Kane. However the deficit between the two is gradually reducing, from 3:26 and 2:51 to just 1:11 minutes this time.

Adam was first out of the pool, 25-seconds ahead of Simon Guerin, and 33 ahead of Graeme. Another 4 swimmers emerged in the next 35 seconds. Adam and Graeme then produced the two fastest bike splits this season, with Adam needing to record a personal best time of 23:04 just to pull a further 7 seconds ahead. Adam once again had the fastest run of the night to increase his lead, but the overall gap is getting closer; as Graeme produced yet another Personal Best time overall.

Simon Guerin held onto 3rd place on the bike, but had to relinquish that spot on the run, when Rob Hammond caught him just before the half-way point. Susie Freeman had her usual consistent swim to exit in 4th place and squeezed in, in under an hour, for 7th place overall and first lady.

The Mini-Series on Wednesday 24th June is for novices and relay teams. Entries are invited via pactrac.clubpal.app with the bike and run courses following the usual route and a swim option of either 200m or 400m.

==========
The PACTRAC evening Mini-Series triathlons are underway with Adam Clark taking the honours in both races to date. Last year’s Mini-Series Champion, Mark Weathersby, is yet to open his account; but female champion, Susie Freeman, has competed in both events to date, coming home first lady each time. Having missed out on a PB by just 1-second in her final event last year, Susie then beat her own course record by 1-second in the first race of this season.

Event one took place on a windy night, leading to an unforgiving bike section. Adam Clark lowered his own 400m swim course record from 5:53 to 5:40 as he exited the water 39-seconds ahead of Susie with Graeme Kane a further 6-seconds behind. Andy Corner was the next out, already 1:36 behind Adam. Adam then had the fastest bike and run splits of the night to pull further ahead, with Graeme and Andy moving into 2nd and 3rd.

Susie Freeman broke her own ladies course record and, in the process, took the run split record down to 23:54.

Top results:

Adam Clark …….… 5:29 …. 23:13 …. 19:02 ..= 47:44 PB
Graeme Kane ……. 6:10 …. 23:43 …. 20:42 ..= 50:35
Jaap Flikweert …… 7:22 …. 24:07 …. 21:06 ..= 52:35
7. Susie Freeman …….... 6:18 …. 29:29 …. 26:37 ..= 62:24

---------------

2 Sprint Triathlons took place on the same day at Mallory Park. In the draft-legal triathlon where cyclists are allowed to ride together, Marcus Widdess took the lead on the bike, and came into T2, 22 seconds ahead of 2nd place and 30 seconds ahead of 3rd place.

In the 3.1 mile run, Marcus was caught on the line in a sprint finish that saw him lose out by just 1-second. Both of Marcus’s transitions were slower than the eventual winners, which just goes to show the value of the “fourth discipline”. Mark Weathersby was not too far behind in 8th place with similarly impressive bike and run splits.

Susie Freeman chose to race in the earlier non-drafting event and came home first in her Age Group and 2nd lady overall.

Both sprint triathlons covered the same course of:

Swim 750m in the lake; bike 12.5 miles – 9.5 laps of the Motor-Racing circuit: run 3.1 miles on an inner circuit.

Marcus Widdess .... 11:25 .... 33:22 .... 16:11 ..= 60:58 AG 2.
8. Mark Weathersby ......... 13:05 .... 33:55 .... 16:55 ..= 63:55 AG 2.

In the non-drafting sprint triathlon:

Susie Freeman .... 12:40 .... 42:30 .... 23:23 ..= 78:33 AG 1. 2nd female.
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Tristan Matthews represented Great Britain for the first time, in the European Standard Distance Triathlon Championships in Olsztyn, Poland. Tristan had a good race, finishing 20th in his Age Group, in a Championship where the Great Britain Age-Group Team returned home with 39 medals.

20. Tristan Matthews …. 24:19 …. 69:54 …. 46:50 ..= 2:21:03.

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Chris Northern and Mark Bedford competed in the Grafman at Grafham Water on Sunday over the Half-Ironman distance. Chris swam his fastest 1.2 miles to date, before jumping on his bike for the shortened 29-mile course. It was supposed to be 56-miles but the rain kept coming down and with the spray and large puddles, the course was shortened for safety reasons.

Chris said: “Considering that’s the longest I’ve run this year due to recovering from injury, I’m chuffed with my time and had no issues with the ankle. The torrential rain on the bike leg was horrible, cold and there was flooding everywhere.”

Chris Northern … 35:07 …. 1:35:05 …. 1:42:35 ..= 3:52:47 AG 11.
Mark Bedford ….. 47:25 …. 1:53:26 …. 1:45:56 ..= 4:26:47 AG 27.
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Steve Hope and Michael Berry competed in the Sywell Sprint Triathlon near Northampton.

The distances were: Swim 750m in the lake, starting on the bank.

Bike 12.5 miles – 2 laps on country roads

Run 3 miles around the lake.

Steve Hope ………. 13:50 …. 39:05 …. 21:31 ..= 74:26 AG 1st.
Michael Berry …..… 21:06 …. 42:38 …. 26:03 ..= 89:47 AG 7.
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Claire Maxted competed in the Keswick Mountain Festival Sprint Triathlon over the distances of:

Swim 400m in Derwent Water. Bike 11.25 miles. Run 3.1 miles.

Claire was one of only two competitors’ not using a wetsuit and described the event as "lovely and warm and a fun race".

Claire Maxted .... 11:20 .... 48:39 .... 27:23 ..= 87:22 AG 26.
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The Herts Sprint Triathlon took place over the distances of: Swim 750m, Bike 12.5 miles. Run 3.1 miles.

Laura Johnston .... 20:45 .... 48:30 .... 27:21 ..= 96:36 AG 7.
Chloe Moore chose to do the Sprint Aquabike over the same swim and bike distances but without the run. Chloe finished 2nd overall and first in her Age Group.

Chloe Moore .... 16:02 .... 48:34 ..= 64:36 AG 1st.
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Two PACTRACers competed in the Blenheim Sprint Triathlon, an event that regularly attracts well over 2,000 competitors. Debbie Montague competed in her first ever triathlon, whilst Daniel Richardson opened his account for the season.

1408 Debbie Montague .... 18:38 .... 62:16 .... 30:11 ..= 1:51:05 AG 33.

1838 Daniel Richardson ... 30:22 .... 64:38 .... 30:14 ..= 2:05:14 AG 127.
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3 PACTRACers competed in the Eton Triathlon at Dorney Lake on Sunday.

The distances were:

swim 750 metres in Dorney Lake.

bike 13 miles - 4 laps around the lake on a draft legal bike course, which meant that Age Group athletes were allowed to race directly and take pace from other cyclists - a form of racing that is normally reserved only for Professional Triathletes.

run 3-miles along the rowing lake and back.

26. Adam Clark .......... 12:53 .... 33:51 .... 18:22 ..= 65:06 Age Group 7th.

31. Mark Weathersby .. 12:32 .... 34:32 .... 18:31 ..= 65:35 AG 7.

247. Steve Hope ........... 15:08 .... 38:43 .../. 23:42 ..= 77:33 AG 17.

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Daniel O'Sullivan was PACTRAC's only representative in the Ely Duathlon; with an out-and-back, flat and windy 3-mile run, 15.5 mile bike on fen roads and another 3-mile run.

30. Daniel O'Sullivan .... 23:28 .... 49:42 .... 24:53 ..= 98:03

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2 members competed in the Outlaw Half Triathlon at Nottingham over the half-ironman distances of:

swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles.

229. Graeme Kane .... 31:56 .... 2:49:50 .... 1:39:33 ..= 5:01:19 Age Group 31.

1161. Sue Davys ........ 44:59 .... 3:29:31 .... 2:37:00 ..= 6:51:30 AG 5.

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3 PACTRACers competed in different races at St.Neots on Sunday, with the junior girls taking pride of place, both winning their respective Age Groups. Libby Mellor came 6th overall in the Super-Sprint Triathlon, whilst Chloe Moore finished 16th overall in the Aquabike (swim,bike).

Standard:

42. Michael Samways .... 36:07 .... 88:05 .... 45:53 ..= 2:50:05 Age Group 13.

Super-Sprint:

6. Libby Mellor .... 9:38 .... 25:03 .... 14:31 ..= 49:12 AG 1st.

Aquabike:

16. Chloe Moore .... 28:20 .... 1:52:27 ..= 2:20:47 AG 1st.

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The first Flight Centre Schools Triathlon took place at Oundle on Sunday, with 207 teams entered. Schools were invited to submit teams of 4 with each competitor swimming in turn, then cycling in turn before running in turn. Athletes therefore got a rest between each discipline whilst their team members took over.

PACTRAC's Hugo Flikweert competed in a team from Laxton Junior School, with 101 teams in the Year 3-4 race. Hugo's team finished 7th overall, but more importantly came first from the 13 Laxton Junior School teams, to take the bragging rights by just 21 seconds.

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PACTRAC had 12 athletes competing in the 70.3 Half-Ironman Triathlon in Alcudia, Majorca at the weekend. The event was held over the distances of:

Swim 1.2 miles in the sea at Alcudia Bay – out and back in a rectangular loop.

Bike 56 miles - 1 lap taking in the climb up to Lluc.

Run 13.1 miles - 3 laps on a flat course around the coast line and bay.

Paul Lunn had a superb result, finishing 14th overall from a field of 2,628 Age Group athletes. There was also a separate race for the professional triathletes, and had they been in the same event, Paul would have beaten the 2012 Olympic Women’s Champion, Nicola Spirig by 1-second. Given Nicola’s ability in a tight sprint finish, that would have been an interesting head-to-head race.

Paul was 12th in his Age Group after the initial swim, and took the lead on the bike before half-way, coming into the second transition 4:29 clear of his nearest rival. He then stormed through the half-marathon run in 1:19:36 to win his Age Group by over 15 minutes.

This was Paul’s 9th top-3 placing in this event in the 11 times that he has competed. It is also his 5th Age Group win in a race that he has finished in every year since 2011, although no event took place in 2020.

In his first triathlon of the season, he has started in great shape. Next up will be two more Ironman branded events in his quest to qualify once again for the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii in October.

Paul Lunn …….….... 29:14 …. 2:38:58 …. 1:19:36 ..= 4:27:48 Age Group 1st.
Sam Chapman …... 30:22 …. 2:51:15 …. 1:26:21 ..= 4:47:58 AG 29.
Jonny Hynes …..….. 29:17 …. 2:50:59 …. 1:47:13 ..= 5:07:29 AG 40.
Dave Thorold …..…. 35:59 …. 3:01:59 …. 1:41:51.. = 5:19:49 AG 8.
Simon Guerin ….….. 29:37 …. 3:06:48 …. 1:58:19 ..= 5:34:44 AG 120.
Chris Pike …….…... 34:23 …. 3:10:10 …. 1:54:46 ..= 5:39:19 AG 34.
John Crowley ….….. 32:34 …. 3:10:05 …. 1:58:45 ..= 5:41:24 AG 83.
Louise Hathaway .... 37:16 …. 3:22:15 …. 1:57:20 ..= 5:56:51 AG 22.
Barry Ryan ……....... 37:30 ..... 3:29:24 ... 1:51:39 .. = 5:58:33 AG 141
Richard Pike …....…. 34:31 …. 3:24:06 …. 2:06:08 ..= 6:04:45 AG 89.
Bill Haslam ….......... 33:31 …. 3:32:41 …. 2:14:57 ..= 6:21:09 AG 39.
Sarah Haslam ….... 36:44 …. 4:26:06 …. 2:21:11 ..= 7:24:01 AG 19.

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PACTRAC held their Mid-Distance club triathlon on Sunday at Oundle. 11 competitor's competed in this first club triathlon of the year.

Distances were:

Swim 800 metres in the 25-metre pool.
Cycle 18 miles - 2 laps of a course around Glapthorn and the Benefield's.
Run 4.7 miles around Glapthorn and Cotterstock.

Adam Clark set the standard on this new course, which has been amended slightly due to the building of the new swimming pool. Adam was first out of the water by over a minute from Tony Daniels, who led 3 more swimmers out in the next 13-seconds.

Adam was the fastest in all three disciplines, which enabled him to extend his lead on the bike, as he came into the second transition nearly two minutes ahead of Simon Hoppe in second, and over 3-minutes ahead of the next chasers, Simon Guerin and Sam Chapman.
Adam extended his lead on the run, whilst Sam moved up to 2nd, catching and passing Simon Hoppe, who held onto 3rd. Susie Freeman was 3rd out of the pool and had a consistent race to finish 6th overall and first lady.

This is Adam's 2nd triathlon win of the new season, having won the Grantham triathlon 3-weeks earlier.

Results:
1. Adam Clark ............. 11:17 .... 46:48 .... 28:12 .. = 1:26:17
2. Sam Chapman ........ 14:01 .... 47:15 .... 28:26 .. = 1:29:42
3. Simon Hoppe .......... 12:39 .... 47:17 .... 31:46 .. = 1:31:42
4. Simon Guerin .......... 12:29 .... 48:44 .... 34:23 .. = 1:35:36
5. Rob Hammond ........ 13:31 .... 52:33 .... 32:20 .. = 1:38:24
6. Susie Freeman ........ 12:28 .... 58:49 .... 38:18 .. = 1:49:35
7. Steve Hope .............. 14:58 .... 59:54 .... 38:39 .. = 1:53:31
8. Willow Worthington .. 17:33 .... 66:34 .... 40:44 .. = 2:04:51
9. Marc Hatfield ............ 20:09 .... 62:22 .... 43:40 .. = 2:06:11
10. Michael Berry .......... 24:20 .... 59:49 .... 42:37 .. =2:06:46
11. Tony Daniels ........... 12:26 .... 53:05 .... dnf

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Paul Lunn competed in the Clumber Park Duathlon on Sunday, over the distances of:
run 6.25 miles.
bike 25 miles.
run 3-miles.

The run sections took place on fully closed tarmac roads and featured steady climbs at the beginning.
The bike course was along tree-lined routes, including some closed roads within Clumber Park.

Paul was well in contention after the first run; and followed this with the 2nd fastest bike split of the day to push himself up into 5th place. He held onto 5th on the final 3-mile run and won his Age Group in convincing style, by over 8-minutes.

This race was a qualifying race for the Great Britain Age Group team in the World Duathlon Championships next year and Paul has qualified at the first attempt.

Results:
5. Paul Lunn .... 35:28 .... 58:26 .... 18:07 .. = 1:52:01 Age Group 1st.

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PACTRAC's Adam Clark won the Grantham Sprint Triathlon outright on Sunday 3rd April. With the top-3 all in the 30-39 Age Category, Adam had to take the overall honours just to win his Age Group - and he did it in some style.

The 400-metre pool swim saw Adam 2nd out of the water, trailing by just 6-seconds. He soon took the lead on the bike and with the 2nd fastest bike split of the day, came into the bike/run transition 1:43 minutes ahead. Only 6 athletes were now within 4-minutes of Adam, who continued the pressure with a tremendous 18:13 minute 5k run to record the fastest run of the day and take the overall victory by 2:09 minutes, with 3rd place 3:43 behind. Adam's comment: "That was a tough day in cold conditions."

This was Adam's first triathlon victory and follows the previous weekend's 12th place at the East Leake triathlon.

Georgina Jennings competed well in this early season event and recorded an Age Group win; whilst Kate Armstrong, in her first triathlon for 4-years, finished 2nd in her Age Group.

Distances:

swim 400m in Grantham swimming pool.

bike - 11.5 miles. 2 laps on local roads.

run - 3.1 miles. 2.5 laps on tarmac paths.

Results:

1. Adam Clark ................. 6:13 .... 28:46 .... 18:13 .. = 53:12 Age Group 1st.

114. Kate Armstrong ......... 9:08 .... 43:11 .... 25:40 .. = 77:59 Age Group 2nd.

198. Georgina Jennings ... 10:19 ... 49:52 .... 38:58 .. = 99:09 Age Group 1st.

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Adam Clark competed in the East Leake Triathlon near Loughborough, the previous weekend, over the distances of:

swim 400m in the pool.

bike 14 miles - out and back on undulating roads.

run 3.1 miles - 3 laps on pavement and trail.

12. Adam Clark .... 6:55 .... 36:01 .... 17:33 .. = 60:29 Age Group 3.

Adam moved up from 35th to 14th on the bike and then to 12th on the run, from 315 competitor's in this first triathlon of 2022.

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The first PACTRAC club triathlon this year takes place at Oundle Pool on Sunday 24th April, with the 8-race Triathlon Mini-Series starting on Wednesday 25th May.
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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

The 2022 Triathlon Season - Full Results and Reports.