The PACTRAC Annual Prize Presentation took place at the Montague Arms in Barnwell on Friday. The Guest of Honour was Mary Hardwick, an ex-BTF Chair who runs a Fitness Studio at Manton.
21 Trophies were awarded:
Adam Clark (PHOTO P1010184) took the overall Club Championships, the Mini-Series and 4 other Trophies (Aquathlon, Duathlon, Mid-Distance and Standard Distance); whilst Susie Freeman (PHOTO P1010182) won the Ladies Club Championships and Mini-Series.
The Supervets Trophies were won by Rob Hammond and Carol Smallman respectively.
The club celebrated their overall achievements this year, with 202 competitors taking part in the 10 club events overall and 58 separate competitors in the 6-race Mini-Series. 9 members competed in Ironman triathlons this year and 12 represented GB in either World or European Championships; and 2 members won English Championship Gold Medals.
From some stiff competition, Ellie Piccaver took home the Outstanding Performance Trophy for her Age Group win in the English Triathlon Mid-Distance Championships in September.
The Lee Kilby Most Improved Swimmer went to Claire Widdowson; whilst Sophie Robotham (PHOTO P1010179) picked up the Novice Trophy and Richard Jones the Most Improved Trophy.
15-year old Tom Hughes won the Junior Trophy for his 5th place in the European Duathlon Championships, competing in the 15-19 year Age Group, and finishing just 30-seconds from a Podium place.
3 new Trophies were awarded this year to:
Male Volunteer of the Year - Daniel Richardson.
Female Volunteer of the Year - Georgina Jennings.
The Endeavour Trophy - Frank Oakes.
The Presentation finished with the announcement of Rob Head as the PACTRAC'er of the Year for 2024. Rob not only runs the coaching team but was also the Race Director this year.
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Roy Mayhew had a very consistent run in the Verona half-marathon recently, winning the over 80 Age Group in 2:36:41.
Andy Martin and Debbie Montague competed in the Valencia Marathon both coming home together in 3:58:46.
A team of 4 entered the LobsterSquadUK Cold Water Team Championships held in Lincoln at the weekend.
Amy Mellor, Graeme Abrahams, Laura Hardy and Adam Boon had to each do two of 8 different distance swims and then compete together in the 4x 50m relay and the individual medley relay. Each swimmer swam 4 times in the lake at South Hykeham and with the points added up, the team finished 3rd overall.
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Paul Lunn, the reigning World Age Group Half-Ironman Champion travelled half-way around the world to compete in the full Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, for the fifth time.
Paul was in a very competitive Age Group and got off to a good start in the sea swim, moving up into the top 10 in his Age Group coming in off the tough, windy bike course. He made good progress in the first half of the marathon run, before the heat took it's toll and he endeavored to complete this "relentless, tough and brutal" race in just over 12-hours.
With over 60 qualifying races to choose from worldwide, Paul is already planning for next season.
Results:
1,666. Paul Lunn .... 1:07:39 .... 4:50:52 .... 6:08:02 ..= 12:16:03 AG 255.
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The ATW Grafham Water Duathlon attracted 250 of the best Duathletes in the Country, many of whom were trying to qualify to represent Team GB in the World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain next June.
4 PACTRACers took part; and with the top 4 in each Age Group qualifying, Sarah Caskey just missed out with an Age Group 5th place.
Run 6.25 miles.
Bike 25 miles.
Run 3-miles.
Results:
52. Phil Groves ........ 39:32 .... 68:04 .... 21:03 ..= 2:08:39 AG 9.
142. Darren Smith ... 48:35 .... 72:39 .... 30:32 ..= 2:31:46 AG 14.
163. Chris Shaw ........ 56:10 .... 72:51 .... 30:05 ..= 2:39:06 AG 14.
189. Sarah Caskey ... 46:07 .... 98:35 .... 27:06 ..= 2:51:48 AG 5.
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PACTRAC are pleased to announce a sponsorship deal with Dent Wizard towards our Junior Section, which goes from strength to strength under the guidance of Coach, Simon Hoppe. The next Junior Training session at Stanground Academy is on Sunday 10th November. Any juniors from ages 6-16 can sign up at pactrac.clubpal.app
That's it for regular reports for the moment as the season has drawn to a close.
The next report should be for the annual Prize Presentation on 6th December with former British Triathlon Chair, Mary Hardwick, as the Guest of Honour.
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Antony Brown won the SILVER MEDAL in the World Aquabike Championships, held in Malaga, Spain.
Antony was 7th out of the 1,500metre swim but had the fastest 25-mile bike section and moved quickly into 4th place; moving into 3rd with 2-miles to go, and catching the next rider in a sprint finish to take 2nd place and the WORLD SILVER MEDAL by just 2-seconds; with the winner still 48-seconds ahead and no more time available.
Susie Freeman represented GB for the 7th time; whilst Adam Clark put in a good performance in the Standard Distance Triathlon, but was unable to add to his podium finish in the European Championships.
In the World Sprint Championships, Mark Weathersby came 9th and just over 2-minutes from a podium finish, in spite of having the second fastest bike split and following it up with a 17:52 minute run. Simon Hoppe represented GB for the 33rd time and made inroads with the fastest bike split in his Age Group; whilst Hannah Bassett finished 22nd in her debut for GB.
Sprint:
9. Mark Weathersby .... 15:38 .... 36:44 .... 17:52 ..= 70:14 AG 9.
24. Simon Hoppe ............ 15:08 .... 38:33 .... 20:44 ..= 74:25 AG 24.
22. Hannah Bassett ........ 16:13 .... 44:35 .... 22:36 ..= 83:24 AG 22.
Standard:
12. Adam Clark ......... 24:19 ... 67:05 .... 35:47 ..= 2:07:11 AG 12th.
Aquabike:
2. Antony Brown ..... 28:39 .... 70:04 ..= 1:38:43 AG 2nd SILVER MEDAL.
14. Susie Freeman .... 27:59 .... 86:21 ..= 1:54:20 AG 14th.
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Steve Hope competed for the 7th time in the Challenge Paguera mid-distance triathlon in Majorca. This consisted of a 1.2 mile sea swim, an undulating 56-mile bike section and a 13.1 mile run.
Result:
397. Steve Hope .... 40:52 .... 3:11:51 .... 2:02:31 ..= 5:55:14 AG 10.
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Chris Northern finished 36th in the Eden Project Marathon in a time of 4:07:18. Chris said "Well that definitely wasn’t easy but another one in the bank, and managed to twist my ankle at mile 14 in the deep mud." Chris is now looking to step up to an ultra-marathon next February.
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Nathan Keir and Sara Pearce made their full Ironman debut's at the Barcelona Ironman. Nathan completed the 112 mile bike section at 20.5mph to put himself in a good position and eventually finish well inside the top half from this field of 2,656.
Results:
1075. Nathan Keir .... 1:04:04 .... 5:38:53 .... 4:31:16 ..= 11:14:13 AG 143.
2207. Sara Pearce .... 1:23:01 .... 6:44:41 .... 5:10:16 ..= 13:17:58 AG 43.
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The Thruxton Sprint Duathlon took place over the distances of:
run 2-miles.
bike 12.5 miles.
run 2-miles.
This was a qualifying race for the World Sprint Duathlon to be held in Spain next year.
Mark Weathersby came first in his Age Group and qualified alongside Tom Hughes who had already qualified at the Darley Moor Duathlon in May.
Mark had some stiff competition on the two runs but pulled a minute out of his nearest challenger on the bike and held that until the finish.
Tom was 30-seconds down in 3rd place after the first run; a gap which extended slightly on the bike; but he had enough stamina on the final 2-mile run to make some good inroads and finished 3rd, running out of road to catch a fading athlete in front.
Results:
12. Mark Weathersby .... 12:33 .... 30:12 .... 13:07 ..= 55:02 AG 1.
14. Tom Hughes ......... 12:01 .... 31:04 .... 13:27 ..= 56:32 AG 3.
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Richard Rollings continued his comeback with 130th place in the Torbay Autumn Triathlon.
130. Richard Rollings .... 8:29 .... 50:41 .... 50:13 ..= 1:49:23 AG 6.
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PACTRAC held their last club event of the season, the Standard Distance triathlon, at Oundle.
Adam Clark led Simon Hoppe out of the swim, but with just a slim margin of 17-seconds, and it was another 45-seconds before Chris Elder emerged.
Simon was able to bridge the gap on the 3-lap, 27-mile bike section and the two came in off the bike together. They now had a clear lead over Chris who remained in 3rd.
Adam was able to pull clear with a strong run to take the win from Simon: whilst further back Phil Groves and Jaap Flikweert moved into 3rd and 4th respectively.
Adam Clark has competed in all ten club events this year; and the Standard Distance win ensured that he will take home an impressive 6 Trophies at the Gala Dinner on December 6th; including the overall Club Champions Trophy. The only athlete to beat him this year was Paul Lunn (twice).
Most athletes improved their scores in the club's overall Club Championships; with Phil Groves jumping into the standings in 2nd place, behind Adam. Susie Freeman had already secured the Ladies Trophy, whilst Claire Widdowson moved into 2nd place ahead of Sophie Robotham.
Results: swim 1,500m, bike 27-miles, run 4.7 miles. Top 5 -
Adam Clark ......... 24:27 .... 70:02 .... 28:30 ..= 2:02:59
Simon Hoppe ..... 24:44 .... 69:44 .... 34:20 ..= 2:08:48
Phil Groves .......... 29:45 .... 76:37 .... 30:40 ..= 2:17:02
Jaap Flikweert .... 29:24 .... 78:09 .... 31:43 ..= 2:19:16
Chris Elder ........... 25:30 .... 78:21 .... 36:30 ..= 2:20:21
Club Championships - top 3:
Adam Clark
Phil Groves
Rob Hammond
Ladies top 3:
Susie Freeman
Claire Widdowson
Sophie Robotham
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Richard Jones completed his first half-Ironman triathlon at the Weymouth 70.3 event.
Results:
1148. Richard Jones .... 42:32 .... 3:34:53 .... 2:11:25 ..= 6:28:50 AG 102.
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The European Championships took place in Vichy, France at the weekend with PACTRACers competing in both the Standard and Sprint Distance Triathlon, whilst ex-PACTRACer and now BRJ, Gilles Corby, competed in the Sprint Distance race representing France; and Jonathan Oakey continued his development in the Elite world of triathlon. Lauren Steadman (not PACTRAC) raced in the PTS5 in her first outing since winning the Bronze Medal in the Paris Paralympics.
Susie Freeman raced to a great fifth place in her Age Group. 4th out of the water, Susie got into a good group on the bike in this draft-legal format, and put in a strong run to finish in fifth place. This was Susie's 6th time representing GB in Age Group Triathlon and her best finish yet.
Steve Hope and Sarah Haslam were both representing GB for the sixth time as well, whilst Gilles Corby (BRJ. ex-PACTRAC) had his best race from 11 times representing France.
Jonathan Oakey grew up through the PACTRAC Junior ranks, before becoming an Elite athlete in the British Triathlon squad. Jonathan now races for Ireland and gave a good account of himself, working hard on the bike to keep the second group on the bike in contention. A 32-minute 10km run, took Jonathan to 28th place overall in these European Sprint Championships, which just shows the quality of the athletes at the top end in triathlon.
Local girl Lauren Steadman (not PACTRAC), fresh from a Bronze Medal in the Paralympics, took an impressive GOLD MEDAL in the PTS5 category to be crowned European Para Champion. A great end to the season for Lauren, who will now concentrate on a new career in cross country skiing. Lauren won the European Championships by a 4-minute margin.
Results:
Elite: Standard Distance.
28. Jonathan Oakey .... 17:58 .... 54:19 .... 32:06 ..= 1:44:23
Standard:
19. Sarah Haslam .... 29:28 .... 1:40:53 .... 59:01 ..= 3:09:22
Sprint:
5. Susie Freeman .... 12:33 .... 37:11 .... 21:51 ..= 1:11:35
19. Gilles Corby ..... 14:20 .... 34:49 .... 22:46 ..= 1:11:55
32. Steve Hope ....... 14:31 .... 37:49 .... 23:13 ..= 1:15:33
Para Championship:
Lauren Steadman .... 11:50 .... 32:02 .... 19:52 ..= 1:03:44 GOLD MEDAL. EUROPEAN CHAMPION.
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Paul Lunn came 6th overall at the Erkner 70.3 Half-Ironman in Berlin, and won his Age Group by a comfortable 17:30 minutes. Paul is the current 70.3 World Champion (2022 and 2023) and after improving his swimming, he came out of the 1.2 mile swim section in 97th place overall from 1,162 athletes, with only 2 in front of him in his Age Group.
Paul soon moved to the front with a rapid bike split that was the 3rd fastest overall in the race, and took him into the lead in his Age Group, as he covered the 56-mile section at an average speed of 26.67 mph. He still wasn’t finished as he then put together a 1:19 half-marathon run to win his Age Group by 17:30 minutes and finish 6th overall.
Paul will be looking to defend his World Title at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Taupo, New Zealand on 15th December.
Louise Hathaway came a brilliant 6th in her Age Group, picking up places as she averaged 21.25 mph on the 56-mile bike section; with a solid half-marathon run to finish in just over 5-hours.
Results:
6. Paul Lunn …........ 24:42 …. 2:10:08 …. 1:19:43 ..= 3:54:33 Age Group 1st.
410. Louise Hathaway …. 31:36 …. 2:45:42 …. 1:51:19 ..= 5:08:37 AG 6.
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Darren Smith competed in the well-established season finale at Etwall, Derby, finishing 55th overall in the Sprint Triathlon.
Result:
55. Darren Smith …. 6:56 …. 36:58 …. 25:36 ..= 69:30 AG 10.
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Grafham Water Aquabike (swim 1,500m, bike 25 miles).
Results:
14. Verity Miles .... 36:32 .... 84:05 ..= 2:00:37 AG 2.
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Scott Lloyd ran in the 24th edition of the In Flanders Fields Marathon from Nieuwpoort on the coast following the river 26.2 miles past WW1 cemeteries to Ypres.
Scott finished in 3:40:09 in his first marathon for 8-years.
Result:
82. Scott Lloyd .... 3:40:09
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Laura Hardy took part in the Signature swim in a relay team of 4 to swim the 44 miles of Lake Geneva from the east shore at Montreux to the west shore at Geneva. That is twice as long as the English Channel, although in fresh water and is one of the toughest swims around. Laura was in the water for over 7-hours in various stints.
Andy Martin (5km) and Debbie Montague (750m) took part in the Brighton Sea Swim, both finishing 51st in their respective races.
5km 51st. Andy Martin .... 1:28:40
750 metres: 51st. Debbie Montague .... 22:19
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PACTRAC hold the final race in their club calendar next Sunday – a Standard Distance Triathlon from Oundle School Pool. Non-members can compete, with entries via Pactrac.clubpal.app
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Sue Davys completed the ROC Triathlon in the Lake District.
This involved:
swimming 1,500m in Lake Windermere.
biking 28.5 miles north of Coniston with some technical sections and plenty of long fast miles.
"running" up Scafell Pike to the summit and back, a total of 11-miles on a challenging route with a full mix of terrain - some steep, some fast and some technical with a fast and furious run back down. You have to carry a survival pack with you on this one, with extra clothes, whistle, foil blanket and rations. A tough run with 906m of ascent.
bike back to Windermere on the same 28.5 mile route, with plenty of hills and technical sections.
finish with a half-mile trail run.
This was a tough day and Sue managed the second cycle back quicker than the first ride there. Sue said "it was a great event, but it nearly broke me".
Result:
206. Sue Davys .... 38:34 .... 2:23:44 .... 4:29:35 .... 2:13:57 .... 7:58 ..= 9:53:48.
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The Vitruvian Half-Ironman distance triathlon took place at Rutland Water; and incorporated the English Triathlon Middle-Distance Championships. Athletes from all over the country came to compete, and encountered rain for the first half of the bike course, before the sun came out.
Ellie Piccaver was 2nd out of the water, in her Age Group, and already nearly 2-minutes ahead of the next challenger. Ellie then cycled the 56 mile bike leg at nearly 20mph, and set off on the run with a 3:40 minute advantage. However, with a 1:35 hour half-marathon, Ellie won the Age Group convincingly, coming home 18:33 minutes clear to win the GOLD MEDAL and be crowned English Middle-Distance Champion.
Giles Cooper was in the mix in both the swim and run sections and put himself in a good position, going into the run in 4th position. He was 6-8 minutes down on the 3 in front, but had the second fastest run split and caught 2 of those in front of him to take the SILVER MEDAL by nearly 4-minutes.
Simon Guerin was 3rd going into the run and in a medal position. However, in spite of a decent run, he was caught and had to settle for 6th place in the end.
Results:
67. Giles Cooper ..... 32:59 .... 2:37:36 .... 1:30:03 ..= 4:40:38 AG 2.
93. Simon Guerin ..... 32:23 .... 2:31:14 .... 1:44:35 ..= 4:48:12 AG 6.
106. Dave Thorold ..... 39:33 .... 2:33:48 .... 1:38:20 ..= 4:51:41 AG 5.
172. Ellie Piccaver ... 35:53 .... 2:54:59 .... 1:35:47 ..= 5:06:39 AG 1st.
262. Andy Martin ...... 44:16 .... 2:59:03 .... 1:46:14 ..= 5:29:33 AG 28.
321. Steve Hope ....... 39:50 .... 2:56:28 .... 2:04:40 ..= 5:40:58 AG 6.
364. Jack Shipton ..... 45:22 .... 3:14:44 .... 1:51:44 ..= 5:51:50 AG 12.
486. Ros Goatly ....... 40:59 .... 3:24:15 .... 2:30:57 ..= 6:36:11 AG 12.
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Steve Hope took on the Helvellyn Triathlon - an event that you only do once. Steve must have forgotten that he competed in 2021 and looking around to compete in 20 triathlon's in this, his 40th season in the sport, he entered the toughest triathlon in England for a second time.
The event is in it's twentieth year, but this is the first time under new owners, The Brownlee Foundation, with all profits going to support children to get into sport.
The 1,500m swim took place in Ullswater, one of the cold northern lakes at 14 degrees C.
The 37-mile bike was constantly up and down on a 1-lap course that took in nearly 3-miles of climbing up the Kirkstone Pass, with it's brutal ascents of 1-in-5 at various points. You had to keep your wits about you to avoid cyclists in front zig-zagging across the road, which was closed to other traffic, as you tried to find the shallower side of the road on each bend. Steve punctured just 2-miles into the bike section, which took 10-minutes to repair and ultimately cost 29 places and a top-half finish.
The 9-mile run took athletes straight up Helvellyn via Swirrall Edge which is more of a very steep walk before clambering over boulders to rejoin the "path". For the "run" up to Helvellyn, athletes needed to carry their own survival packs containing extra clothes, foil blanket and whistle plus take their own food and drink supplies. Once at the top, runners were relying on the marshals, signs and flags to navigate through the clouds on rocky paths, and trying not to run out of control on the steep stony trails back down to Glenridding.
Result:
217. Steve Hope .... 29:59 .... 2:44:56 .... 2:16:55 ..= 5:31:50 Age Group 8th.
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Sara Pearce competed in the 1066 Tri Half-Ironman distance triathlon at Bexhill, on the South Coast.
Sara had a good race, although the event didn't quite go to plan, with Southern Water dumping some sewage into the swimming area both the night before and again on the morning of the race. The sea was, therefore, unusable and the event became a Duathlon with a 1.5 mile run to start proceedings off, in order to split the athletes up before the 55-mile 2-lap, hilly bike section. The 12.5 mile run took in 4-laps of the Promenade on a good, flat surface; and Sara was able to win her Age Group and hone her fitness ready for her full Ironman debut in Barcelona in October..
Results:
25. Sara Pearce .... 10:48 .... 3:16:23 .... 2:12:39 ..= 5:39:50 AG 1.
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Christian Richards competed at Dorney lake in the Standard Distance triathlon. Finishing 49th overall, Christian was 3rd in his Age Group heading into the run, but had to settle for 5th in the end.
Results:
49. Christian Richards .... 23:55 .... 1:07:15 .... 51:45 ..= 2:22:55 AG 5.
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Chris Northern finished 3rd overall in the Standard Distance Triathlon at Belvoir Castle. The swim took place in the lake, in the Castle grounds, with a long run up to Transition. Chris finished the 2-lap 26-mile bike section in 3rd place and had a good 6.25-mile run to hold onto 3rd and a Podium spot. Chris was second in his Age Group, as was Paul North in the Sprint Triathlon, whilst youngsters Phoebe and Ophelia Goodale finished 6th and 4th respectively in their swim, run Aquathlons.
After a solid swim, Ophelia was making good progress on the run, and gaining time on the top three. She was catching up quickly, but ultimately ran out of time and missed out on a Podium spot by 2-seconds and a Silver position by just 3-seconds.
Results:
STANDARD;
3. Chris Northern .... 28:11 .... 1:27:01 .... 44:11 ..= 2:39:23 AG 2.
SPRINT;
62. Paul North ....... 21:56 .... 63:00 .... 28:26 ..=1:53:22 AG 2.
TS1 Aquathlon:
4. Ophelia Goodale .... 5:04 .... 11:10 ..= 16:14 AG 4.
TS3 Aquathlon:
6. Phoebe Goodale .... 7:36 .... 17:13 ..= 24:49 AG6.
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Meanwhile, Mariska Niemeijer (swim 400m, run 3.1 miles) and Hugo Flikweert (swim 150m, run 1.2 miles) competed in the Letchworth Duck and Dash Aquathlon.
Results:
Adult.
96. Mariska Niemeijer ....... 8:41 .... 31:08 ..= 39:49 AG 17.
TriStar2.
18. Hugo Flikweert ........... 3:58 .... 10:38 ..= 14:36 AG 18.
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Catherine Burbage and Heather Watts were amongst 7 local "Wadenhoe swimmers" who successfully completed the Windermere end-to-end 11-mile swim on Saturday. All 7 swam without wetsuits and Catherine and Heather finished in 8:27:39 hours and 8:45:05 hours respectively.
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Not PACTRAC, but Local girl, Lauren Steadman competes in the Paratriathlon PTS5 at 10:35am this morning.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION IS HERE:
The Games feature para triathlon racing for only the third time. The 11 events cover all of the para triathlon sport classes / categories.
All athletes, across all sport classes and genders, will race over the same sprint distance course. That comprises of a 750m swim in the Seine, a multi-lap 12.5 mile bike course and finishing with a 3.1 mile run, again raced over multiple laps. The racing is in non-drafting format.
The World Triathlon Para Series and World Triathlon Para Cup races were the routes by which athletes earned their qualification slots for Paris.
One of the key things to note here: is that it is the impact of the impairment “to the extent of activity limitation they cause the athlete when performing in the sport of para triathlon”, NOT the type/nature of that impairment(s) that determines which sport class an athlete races in.
Expected to be one of the closest races is the female PTS5 category, British athletes Lauren Steadman and Claire Cashmore have a similar disability (one missing forearm), but their closest rival, the USA’s Grace Norman, has a lower leg amputation. Different backgrounds… but always incredibly close and competitive racing!
The key difference – and these are the official ‘Laymen’s terms’ used by World Triathlon – are the degrees of impact, as determined by the formal classification process:
PTS2 – Severe impairments
PTS3 – Significant impairments
PTS4 – Moderate impairments
PTS5 – Mild impairments.
Women PTS5
For several years now this has been a Grace Norman / Lauren Steadman / Claire Cashmore battle, with everyone proving that they can win on their day. Grace won in Rio and Lauren took the gold in Tokyo, where she was joined on the podium by Grace (silver) and Claire (bronze).
It would be a surprise if – in some order – that wasn’t the podium again, though the progress of Kamylle Frenette (CAN) has continued to keep the pressure on the leading trio as the standard of para racing continues to evolve.
Steadman has not raced in international para competition this year, thanks to an Abu Dhabi cancellation and COVID, while Norman and Cashmore have not crossed paths during their unbeaten seasons so far. So, next to nothing in terms of form to go on.
https://www.tri247.com/triathlon-news/para-triathlon/paralympics-paris-2024-paratriathlon-schedule-change-water-quality-currents
The Para-triathlon events at the Paris 2024 Paralympics have been postponed by 24 hours because of poor water quality in the River Seine.
All 11 triathlon races had been due to take place on Sunday but heavy rain in Paris has caused water quality in the Seine to drop, World Triathlon said in a statement.
The events will now take place on Monday, subject to further tests.
all the events were switched to Sunday because of the forecast of bad weather.
That weather arrived earlier than expected, meaning the triathlon is now due to happen on Monday - the day initially vacated by organisers.
all the events were switched to Sunday because of the forecast of bad weather.
Great Britain has 11 athletes competing across seven of the triathlon events at the 2024 Paralympics.
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Paul Lunn finished 2nd in his Age Group at Ironman Frankfurt and qualified for the Ironman World Championships to be held in Hawaii at the end of October. Paul was the 69th Age Grouper to finish from a field of 2,422 and came in, in just over 9-hours with a very consistent race.
In a tightly fought contest, Paul was 13th in his Age Group out of the swim and right behind the eventual winner. Paul shot through the 112-mile bike split in 4:30 hours, giving an average speed of 24.9mph. Their was one athlete still 2:33 minutes ahead of him; and in spite of a rapid 3:17 hour marathon, Paul saw the gap slightly widen and had to settle for 2nd place, which qualified him for his 6th Ironman World Championships.
This is Paul's 19th Ironman race and gives him another shot at a Podium place in Hawaii, where his best result to date is 3rd back in 2018.
Results:
127. Paul Lunn .... 1:05:27 .... 4:37:11 .... 3:22:25 ..+ 9:05:03 Age Group 2nd.
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PACTRAC had 14 seniors and 13 juniors competing in the Oundle triathlons on Sunday.
Adam Clark won the main Sprint Triathlon outright, to take his first open win of the season and retain his Oundle Triathlon crown from last year.
Adam took a 6-second lead from the swim with 3rd place already 43-seconds down. He held on to a slender lead on the tricky bike section, coming in with just a 7-second advantage; but a quick transition and 18-minute 5k run saw the lead extend to 30-seconds by the finish.
Verity Miles was 2nd overall in the Aquabike Sprint and one of 7 seniors to win their respective Age Groups.
300 juniors took part in the afternoon's racing which covered 5 Age Group races for 8-16 year old's; each competing over different Age-related distances.
The outstanding performance came from Ophelia Goodale who won the TriStar 1 event outright from 86 competitor's, aged 9-10.
Ophelia was 3rd= out of the water, just 8-seconds down, but grabbed the lead in Transition and was 23-seconds up after the bike leg with only 2-athletes within a minute of her. She extended her lead to win by 35-seconds, with a consistent showing all round.
The PACTRAC Juniors train fortnightly on a Sunday at Stanground with the next session this Sunday 25th August. Young athletes from ages 6-16 can join in with these fun sessions by signing up at https://pactrac.clubpal.app with sessions currently free of charge.
Results.
Sprint: (swim 600m, bike 16-miles, run 3.1 miles)
1. Adam Clark ............ 7:50 .... 40:22 .... 18:11 ..= 66:23 AG 1.
5. Phil Groves .......... 11:53 .... 44:56 .... 18:37 ..= 75:26 AG 1.
6. Rob Hammond .......... 10:25 .... 45:28 .... 20:19 ..= 76:12 AG 2.
14. Steve Hope ........... 12:36 .... 49:27 .... 23:08 ..= 85:11 AG 1.
37. Jack Shipton ......... 12:13 .... 55:32 .... 24:32 ..= 92:17 AG 3.
70. Debbie Montague ...... 16:03 .... 65:53 .... 25:46 ..= 1:47:42 AG 5.
79. Daniel Richardson .... 22:35 .... 70:13 .... 24:15 ..= 1:57:03 AG 3.
83. Gill Bates ........... 20:08 .... 68:16 .... 35:39 ..= 2:04:03 AG 1.
86. Georgina Jennings .... 17:10 .... 69:39 .... 47:15 ..= 2:14:04 AG 1.
Sprint Aquabike (swim 600m, bike 16-miles):
2. Verity Miles ....................... 11:26 .... 51:19 ..= 62:45 AG 1.
Super-Sprint: swim 300m, bike 8-miles, run 1.5 miles)
10. Steph Fordham .............. 7:57 .... 34:01 ... 13:05 ..= 55:03 AG 2.
12. Sophie Greville-Heygate .. 11:27 .... 34:59 .... 14:17 ..= 60:43 AG 1.
24. Yvonne Lee .............. 13:06 .... 37:20 .... 17:57 ..= 68:23 AG 2.
26. Tracy Rookyard .......... 12:05 .... 41:29 .... 15:30 ..= 69:04 AG 3.
TriStart (8-years old):
16. Byron Stother ....... 1:59 .... 5:23 .... 3:31 ..= 10:53.
17. Mordy Smith ......... 1:55 .... 5:23 .... 3:38 ..= 10:56.
27. Jack Dundee ......... 2:38 .... 5:27 .... 3:39 ..= 11:44.
29. Thomas Moys ......... 2:08 .... 6:01 .... 3:44 ..= 11:53.
30. Imogen Lazenby ...... 1:54 .... 6:03 .... 4:01 ..= 11:58.
37. Orla Caskey ......... 2:41 .... 6:44 .... 3:56 ..=13:21.
TriStar1 (9-10 year olds):
1. Ophelia Goodale .... 3:01 .... 7:06 .... 5:25 ..= 15:32. FIRST OVERALL from 86 athletes.
TriStar2 (11-12 year olds):
23. Beatrice Faith .....3:29 .... 13:50 ..... 8:51 ..= 26:10.
44. Bentley Anthony ... 4:55 .... 13:50 ..... 9:03 ..= 27:48.
51. Hugo Flikweert .... 4:19 .... 14:45 ..... 9:55 ..= 28:59.
66. George Mansergh ... 4:36 .... 16:00 .... 10:08 ..= 30:44.
78. India Lazenby ..... 5:08 .... 15:42 .... 11:51 ..= 32:41.
Youth (15-16 year olds):
14. Phoebe Goodale .... 6:57 .... 21:29 .... 13:03 ..= 41:29.
---------------------
Saturday's Sprint Triathlon at Mallory Park on the closed Motor Racing Circuit, acted as not only the British Sprint Championships but also a Qualifying race for the European Sprint Championships to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, next year.
In the British Sprint Championships 3 athletes narrowly missed out on medals with Susie Freeman finishing 4th in her Age Group, Mark Weathersby 5th and Simon Hoppe 6th.
However, for the 2025 European Championships, athletes were in next year's Age Groups, and all three qualified for the race in Istanbul - as did another local Peterborough man, Don Hutchinson.
Simon came in off the bike in the lead group of three in this Draft-Legal race, with a further group of 4 athletes just 40-seconds behind. He eventually missed out on a podium spot by just 41-seconds. Susie was 3rd going into the run with the girl in front still within sight, and eventually finished just 1:11 minutes off of the Podium; whilst Mark was just 2:19 minutes short.
Results:
Mark Weathersby .... 13:01 .... 34:31 .... 17:19 ..= 64:51 AG 5th.
Simon Hoppe ........ 12:12 .... 34:11 .... 20:02 ..= 66:21 AG 6.
Graeme Kane ........ 12:49 .... 37:11 .... 20:07 ..= 70:07 AG 20.
Susie Freeman ...... 12:32 .... 39:47 .... 21:47 ..= 74:06 AG 4.
Steve Hope ......... 14:35 .... 39:57 .... 22:23 ..= 76:55 AG 19.
===================
With only 7 athletes in action at the weekend, PACTRAC had a 1,2,3 with Sam Pettitt winning the Super-Sprint Triathlon at St.Neots, Michael Shadwell coming 2nd in the St.Neots Standard Distance Triathlon and Adam Clark finishing 3rd overall in the English Triathlon Championships at Bedford to record a well-deserved overall BRONZE MEDAL and Age Group GOLD MEDAL.
Sam Pettitt came out of the Great Ouse at St.Neots in 4th place and after 5-minutes on the bike, proceeded to move into the lead with the 2nd fastest bike time of the day. He then put further distance into the rest of the field with a rapid run to win this Super-Sprint by 65-seconds.
Michael Shadwell came 2nd overall in the Standard-Distance Triathlon at St.Neots. Also 4th out of the water with a great swim, Michael moved into 2nd place early on the bike; and with the 2nd fastest run secured his place on the Podium.
Adam Clark won an overall BRONZE MEDAL and Age Group GOLD MEDAL at the English National Championships, held further downstream in the River Great Ouse at Bedford. Adam was 8th out of the water but moved up to 2nd on the bike section. He was then caught and lost 2nd place on the run, finishing just 4-seconds down on the Silver Medal place, due to not being aware of an athlete who started in a later wave. The event was won by the ex-Elite athlete Edward Castro, who also won the event at Milton Keynes last week.
Results:
Bedford Standard-Distance - English National Championships:
3. Adam Clark ...... 21:22 .... 62:45 .... 37:51 ..= 2:01:58 AG 1. GOLD / BRONZE MEDAL.
62. Steve Hope ...... 28:23 .... 73:24 .... 49:42 ..= 2:31:29 AG 6.
136. Rod Hall ........ 38:09 .... 93:28 .... 55:48 ..= 3:07:25 AG 14.
St.Neots Standard-Distance.
2. Michael Shadwell ...... 26:28 .... 76:22 .... 38:15 ..= 2:21:05 AG 1.
11. Nathan Keir ........... 27:30 .... 85:39 .... 46:13 ..= 2:39:22 AG 2.
St.Neots Sprint-Distance.
33. Sophie Robotham .... 14:05 .... 52:50 .... 25:34 ..= 1:32:29 AG 2.
St.Neots Super-Sprint.
1. Sam Pettitt .... 9:12 .... 16:37 .... 10:16 ..= 36:05 AG 1st.
================
We had 7 athletes competing in the various triathlon's at Emberton Park, Olney nr Milton Keynes and a further 13 swimmers in the SwimRutland events at Rutland Water.
At Emberton Park, Paul Jephcott came first in his Age Group in the half-ironman distance triathlon; whilst Steve Small continued his comeback with an Age Group 2nd in the Standard Distance Aquabike: and Sophie Robotham raced to an Age Group 3rd in the Sprint Triathlon.
However, the main action took place in the Standard Distance Triathlon, known as the Calfman, which was a Qualifying event for the 2025 World Championships in Sydney, Australia.
Adam Clark finished in 2nd place overall in this big National event, with plenty of competition from around the country.
Adam was 7th out of the water, and had the quickest transition of all, which resulted in an epic battle on the first of two bike laps with the eventual 3rd placed athlete. Adam eventually pulled ahead early on the second lap and started the run in 3rd place. He managed to hold his ground on the run section whilst also gaining one place and finished 2nd overall to the ex Elite triathlete Edward Castro.
Adam and Sarah Haslam both qualified for the GB Age Group Team to compete in Sydney, Australia next year. However, Adam has already had to give his place up due to family commitments. Sarah had already qualified for the accompanying Aquabike in Sydney, along with husband Bill Haslam, and now has two events to make for a busy trip.
Results:
Cowman: (swim 1900m, bike 56 miles, run 13.1 miles).
63. Paul Jephcott .... 40:52 .... 3:29:47 .... 2:22:14 ..= 6:32:53 AG 1st.
Calfman: (swim 1500m, bike 25 miles, run 6.5 miles).
2. Adam Clark ........ 20:36 .... 63:14 .... 39:22 ..= 2:03:12 AG 1.
33. Graeme Kane ....... 23:58 .... 70:12 .... 46:24 ..= 2:20:34 AG 9.
76. Steve Hope ........ 26:13 .... 75:11 .... 52:16 ..= 2:33:40 AG 6.
155. Sarah Haslam ...... 25:52 .... 85:28 .... 63:40 ..= 2:55:00 AG 4.
Calfman Aquabike: (swim 1500m, bike 25 miles).
9. Steve Small .... 28:16 .... 87:42 ..= 1:55:58 AG 2.
Stampede: (swim 750m, bike 12.5 miles, run 3.25 miles).
21. Sophie Robotham .... 13:07 .... 40:57 .... 26:54 ..= 1:20:58 AG 3.
-------------
13 swimmers joined nearly 700 others in Rutland Water for the 2k, 4k and 8k swims; with Laura Hardy and Dan Bassett choosing the tough 8km swim and winning their respective Age Groups.
=====================
Adam Clark came 2nd in the Mallory Park Sprint Triathlon. Taking a slight advantage from the swim, Adam forged ahead with another competitor and made the tactical decision to ease off just 20-yards before the end of the bike section. This proved his undoing as he was never able to bridge the 3-second gap and had to settle for second place but first in his Age Group.
Meanwhile, at the same venue, Jaap Flikweert and his nephew Arco Flikweert finished 2nd and 4th respectively in the Super-Sprint Triathlon, whilst both winning their Age Group. Jaap was overtaken on the bike leg around the Motor-Circuit and lost out by just 36-seconds at the end.
Hugo Flikweert finished 14th in the TriStar 2 Junior race for 11-12 year old's in a rare outing into the open water lake.
Jaap also won the Fenland Clarion's evening 10-mile Time Trial outright last Tuesday, with Jesse Flikweert a close second and Arco 6th.
Results:
Sprint:
2. Adam Clark ........ 11:37 .... 34:31 .... 19:15 ..= 65:23 Age Group 1st.
Super-Sprint:
2. Jaap Flikweert ... 7:22 .... 18:42 .... 10:14 ..= 36:18 AG 1st.
4. Arco Flikweert ... 9:17 .... 18:26 .... 11:39 ..= 39:22 AG 1st.
----------------------
Chris Pithey competed in the Outlaw Full Triathlon held at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham.
Now in its 14th year, the event covers the full Ironman distances of swim 2.4 miles in the rowing lake, bike 112 miles on a fast and flat 3-lapped course and run 26.2 miles around the lake and River Trent. Unfortunately, Blue-Green Algae was found in the Rowing Lake, and the swim was replaced by a 3-mile run around the lake in order to spread the athletes out before the start of the bike section. Chris performed well in the, now Duathlon event, and finished in the top half of the field in 11:35:02 hours.
Result:
227. Chris Pithey .... 26:43 .... 6:04:37 .... 5:03:42 ..= 11:35:02 Age Group 24.
-------------------------
Claire Lera finished 3rd overall and 1st in her Age Group in the Sprint Aquathlon at Belvoir Castle. Claire was first out of the 750m lake swim and was caught both early and late on the 3.1 mile run, to hold on to a podium finish, 23-seconds ahead of the next challenger.
Result:
3. Claire Lera .... 11:22 .... 34:29 ..= 45:51 AG 1st.
-------------------------
Amy Mellor and Graeme Abrahams competed in different distances at the National Masters Open-Water Swimming Championships held at Rother Valley; with Amy finishing 2nd in her Age Group in the 5k swim and Graeme 3rd in his Age Group in the 3k.
5km. 34th Amy Mellor .................. 88:14 AG 2.
3km. 51st Graeme Abrahams .... 52:54 AG 3.
=====================
Just the two races to report on from this weekend.
Mark Weathersby, Adam Clark and Rhys Wilkinson came second in the Bedford Team Relays, narrowly missing out in a tight contest by just 1:38 minutes.
Each athlete had to swim 750 metres in Box End Lake, one at a time, before handing over to the next team member. They repeated this on the 12.5 mile bike section and then each ran 3.1 miles in turn. Mark went first and handed the batten to Adam, with Rhys going third.
The team got off to a great start and were in 5th position after the 3-swim legs, dropping a further place in the transition to the bike leg, with several teams hot on their heels.
Mark then went full pelt on the bike and moved the team up to 3rd place, now just 9-seconds behind the leaders. Adam then had the 5th fastest bike of the day, which saw the top two teams creating a gap over third place, but saw the gap widen and they were 1:44 behind when Rhys took over.
A great bike leg from Rhys saw them start the run 36-seconds in front. However, the team from GreenlightPT had their top runners out and pulled back to take the honours by 1:38 minutes in a tightly fought contest; with the third team by now over 7-minutes behind.
Results:
Mark Weathersby / Adam Clark / Rhys Wilkinson 2nd overall.
Total swim: 40:46
Total Bike: 1:56:39
Total run: 1:02:55
Total time: 3:40:20
-----------------------------
Steve Hope won his Age Group in the Hathersage Hilly Triathlon - a sprint triathlon made up for by the very hilly nature of the course.
After a 420 metre swim in the outdoor Lido, the 13-mile bike section took in an 18-minute climb and several descents; before an even steeper 4-mile off-road fell run.
Results:
50. Steve Hope .... 8:56 .... 47:31 .... 37:20 ..= 93:47 Age Group 1st.
==========================
Adam Clark won the 6th and final Mini-Series Triathlon of the year at Oundle on Wednesday by a 3-minute margin. Adam had already won the Club Championships this year and added the Mini-Series to his collection of silverware. He has now won 7 of the 9 club events to date.
Adam came out of the water with a clear advantage over Paul Davies (23 seconds) and Simon Guerin (31 seconds). Sophie Robotham then led Chris Elder, Susie Freeman and Rob Hammond out, in quick succession.
Simon moved into second place on the bike, and gained a few seconds back on Adam, before relinquishing his place on the run to the fast moving Rob and Phil Groves, with Phil moving into second, but unable to make any gains on the impressive Clark. Simon held onto 4th by just 5-seconds in a sprint finish with the rapidly approaching Chris.
Susie Freeman won the ladies event, ahead of Harriet Lomas and Claire Widdowson. Susie is the Ladies Champion this year and also adds the Ladies Mini-Series to her list of Trophies; having won 4 of the 6 races, with Harriet and Sarah Caskey winning the other two.
58 different competitors took part in the 6-race series, with the top 3-places each week being spread amongst just 6 athletes; including Rob Hammond with 1 second and 4 third places who currently lies 2nd in the Club Championships, with Simon Guerin in third, with just one more event to race in September.
Adam Clark ............ 5:22 .... 23:17 .... 19:16 ..= 47:55
Phil Groves ............. 7:19 .... 24:05 .... 19:33 ..= 50:57
Rob Hammond ..... 6:34 .... 24:05 .... 21:14 ..= 51:53
Simon Guerin ........ 5:53 .... 23:08 .... 23:20 ..= 52:21
Chris Elder .............. 6:28 .... 24:36 .... 21:22 ..= 52:26
-----------------
Steve Hope competed in the Odyssey Triathlon at St.Neots. The event took place over the Ironman distance of:
swim 2.4 miles in the Great Ouse. Out and back 4 times.
bike 112 miles. 2 laps each containing 4 dog-legs, with rain for the first 3-hours and then more rain on and off thereafter. Together with the wind, this made for a cold ride, which made eating difficult before 50-miles; on a tough day where 25% of the starters didn't finish.
run 26.2 miles. 7 laps of a 3.75 mile circuit mainly on tarmac paths or grass.
Georgina Jennings won her Age Group in the accompanying Sprint Triathlon at the same venue, whilst Paul Jephcot recorded a second place in his Age Group in the Standard Distance race.
Result:
18. Steve Hope .... 1:27:00 .... 6:49:12 .... 4:54:23 ..=13:10:35 AG 1st.
Standard:
64. Paul Jephcot .... 38:51 .... 1:40:10 .... 57:51 ..= 3:16:52 AG 2.
Sprint:
101. Georgina Jennings .... 29:27 .... 73:50 .... 52:24 ..= 2:35:41 AG 1st.
-----------------------
Paul Lunn came 6th in his Age Group at the Ironman Distance Triathlon held at Roth in Germany. Paul had a solid 2.4 mile swim before completing the 112 mile bike section at an impressive 26.5mph. He was still 2nd in his Age Group half-way through the marathon run, but with only a slight drop in pace, finished 6th in his Age Group in a tightly contested race, in just over 9-hours.
106. Sam Chapman .. 1:03:21 .... 4:33:41 .... 3:00:33 ..= 8:41:26 AG 16.
205. Paul Lunn .... 1:02:44 .... 4:35:03 .... 3:23:13 ..= 9:01:00 AG 6.
------------------------
Becs Burge went to Thun, near Zurich in Switzerland to compete in her 4th Ironman Triathlon. After a consistent swim and bike, Becs started the run in the top half of the field, slipping slightly in the tough conditions.
1044. Becs Burge .... 1:20:51 .... 6:32:33 .... 6:07:21 ..= 14:00:45 AG 28.
---------------------
3 members took part in the Outlaw Holkham Half, held over the half-ironman distance at Holkham Hall.
Results:
436. Jessica Dove ......... 43:43 .... 3:16:27 .... 2:16:36 ..= 6:16:46 AG 14.
522. Andrew Taylor ........ 50:45 .... 3:08:21 .... 2:34:47 ..= 6:33:53 AG 39.
672. Ros Goatly ........... 40:48 .... 3:31:41 .... 2:56:45 ..= 7:09:14 AG 15.
============================
Paul Lunn showed that he is in fine form in the 5th Mini-Series at Oundle, whilst beating the previous Course Record, set by himself in 2021, by a whopping 52-seconds.
Paul produced his best swim time on the course by 4-seconds, to come out just 41-seconds behind Adam Clark, who himself produced a Personal Best time on the course, including breaking his own swim course record by 7-seconds.
Adam completed the 400m swim in 5:18, a new swim course record. Paul Davies who has been on Adam's feet all series, came out in 5:24 which would have beaten the record but for Adam's fine performance. Simon Guerin was just 16-seconds further back before Paul Lunn came out.
Paul then had an incredibly fast bike to come into T2 just over a minute ahead of Adam, and 2 1/2 minutes ahead of Simon.
On the 3.1 mile run, Paul produced a superfast 18:33 to Adam's 19:01, (which includes the transition time) and moved further ahead to take the win by 1:40 minutes. In doing so, he beat his own Course Record by 52-seconds whilst also pushing Adam to a new Personal Best time.
Paul now has the 5 fastest times on the course, 5 of the top 6 bike splits and the top 3 run times. His previous 3 best times were all within 10-seconds of each other, with tonight's showing suggesting that he is in fine form to attack the Ironman distance race at Challenge Roth this weekend in Germany - alongside PACTRAC's Sue Davys.
The racers tonight were all spread out with Rob Hammond moving up from 9th after the swim to 4th on the bike and 3rd on the run, exchanging places with Graeme Kane on the bike before holding off Graeme's advances on the run by 26-seconds.
9 PB's were recorded on the night, whilst 8 athletes went under the hour. Susie Freeman had some good competition amongst the ladies but came through 3:53 ahead of Claire Widdowson by the finish.
Paul Lunn ............... 5:59 .... 20:22 .... 18:33 ..= 44:54 PB and Course Record + swim PB
Adam Clark ........... 5:18 .... 22:15 .... 19:01 ..= 46:34 PB and SWIM Course Record.
Rob Hammond .... 6:41 .... 23:30 .... 21:30 ..= 51:41
Graeme Kane ........ 6:31 .... 24:23 .... 21:13 ..= 52:07
Simon Guerin ........ 5:40 .... 23:14 .... 23:36 ..= 52:30
---------
Antony Brown won a GOLD MEDAL in the European Aquabike Championships held in Coimbra, Portugal. Antony was 6th in his 65+ year Age Group and over 2-minutes down after the 1.2 mile swim, but quickly took the lead in his favoured 56-mile bike section to win convincingly by 11:06 minutes. This is Antony's first Podium finish in 7 attempts whilst representing Team GB.
Result:
1st. Antony Brown .... 35:17 .... 2:23:31 ..= 2:58:48. GOLD MEDAL.
------------------
Susie Freeman finished 3rd overall in the Swim,Run event at Grafham Water. The event, organised by AsKeenAsMustard took in 8 runs and 7 swims over a 10km course. Competitor's are constantly having to change discipline and swim in their training shoes and run in their wetsuits.
With the leader slightly out-of-sight, Susie was in a good battle with two other athletes for second position and managed a Podium finish in 3rd place overall.
3. Susie Freeman .... 1:29:36
14. Richard Wright .. 1:48:52
15. Ady Pendred ....... 1:48:54.
---------------------------
Laura Hardy and Amy Mellor competed in the Regional Open-Water 5km Swimming Championships, and in a close sprint finish won the GOLD and SILVER Medals in 1:27 hours. Both are now in training for the National Championships coming up.
==================
Adam Clark returned to winning ways in the 4th race of the Mini-Series Triathlon's at Oundle. With just two more events to go Adam just needs one more win to secure the Mini-Series Trophy. He cannot now be beaten in this year's Club Championships and has been crowned as the Club Champion for 2024, the trophies to be distributed at the Gala Dinner in December.
Susie Freeman is also looking for one more Mini-Series win to secure the Ladies Trophy, but did ensure that she retained her Ladies Club Championship status in the Ladies race. Susie attained the maximum points in Mini-Series 4 thus ensuring that she cannot be beaten with 3 Club Championship events still to take place.
Adam and Paul Davies came out of the swim section together, 50-seconds ahead of Graeme Kane, who had a 5-second advantage over Susie Freeman, Sophie Robotham and Simon Meade. It was another minute before Phil Groves led 9-swimmers out in the space of 30-seconds.
Phil made some inroads on the bike but Adam was still out in front by 1.42 at the start of the run. Phil had moved himself up to 2nd and was now 7-seconds in front of Graeme. Adam gained a further 13-seconds on the run to take the win by 1 minute and 55 seconds from Phil, with Graeme coming home in 3rd, a further 2:20 back.
Susie held on to the lead in the Ladies race, whilst Sarah Caskey moved into 2nd spot on the run, ahead of Sophie. It was a good evening for racing with 7 athletes recording Personal Best times and 9 going under the hour.
Results:
Adam Clark ............ 5:33 .... 23:23 .... 19:08 ..= 48:04
Phil Groves ............. 7:27 .... 23:11 .... 19:21 ..= 49:59
Graeme Kane ......... 6:22 .... 24:23 .... 21:34 ..= 52:19
-----------
The Dambuster Standard Distance and Sprint Distance triathlons took place at Rutland Water at the weekend; with both Ellie Piccaver and Giles Cooper qualifying for the European Championships to be held in Istanbul next year. The events were both held on closed roads and attracted over 700 athletes.
Ellie qualified at her first attempt, and won her Age Group by a huge 17-minutes, whilst Giles qualified with a second place in his Age Group.
In the Sprint Distance race Fi Phillips came 3rd in her Age Group whilst Sophie Robotham was 5th but just 2-minutes from a Podium place.
Dambuster results:
Standard Distance (1,500m, 25m, 6.25m);
56. Jonny Hynes ............ 26:23 .... 1:08:51 .... 42:20 ..= 2:17:34 Age Group 6.
76. Giles Cooper ............ 26:08 .... 1:13:39 .... 41:05 ..= 2:20:52 AG 2.
155. Ellie Piccaver ........... 26:41 .... 1:21:05 .... 43:52 ..= 2:31:38 AG 1.
330. Gary Shoemake ..... 29:46 .... 1:27:46 .... 56:21 ..= 2:53:53 AG 26.
459. Rod Hall .................... 39:48 .... 1:44:50 .... 53:05 ..= 3:17:43 AG 37.
480. Lynn Smitheringale 37:08 .... 1:41:09 .... 64:39 ..= 3:22:56 AG 17.
Sprint Distance (750m, 12.5 miles, 3.1 miles):
33. Fi Phillips ..................... 16:36 .... 47:50 .... 23:34 ..= 1:28:00 AG 3.
45. Sophie Robotham .... 14:53 .... 49:16 .... 26:09 ..= 1:30:18 AG 5.
111. Nadine Duncan ........ 18:19 .... 54:30 .... 30:20 ..= 1:43:09 AG 11.
125. Paul North .................. 24:18 .... 51:57 .... 30:54 ..= 1:47:09 AG 6.
127. Maggie De Pree ....... 22:20 .... 53:16 .... 32:02 ..= 1:47:38 AG 13.
================
24 athletes lined up for the 3rd of 6 Mini-Series Sprint Triathlons at Oundle on Wednesday night.
Adam Clark has had it all his own way so far, but current Course Record holder, Paul Lunn made his first appearance on the night.
Adam led the swimmers out, beating his previous swim Course Record, set only last week, by 1-second. He was again held up in the pool, suggesting that their is more to come.
For 1-second Adam held the best 10 swim times over this course, before Paul Davies came out right on his heels and equaled Adam's previous best time, recorded just last week.
Simon Guerin followed 30-seconds later, with another 30-seconds passing before Chris Elder led 4 others out, including top contenders Paul Lunn and Rob Hammond together with the first lady, Susie Freeman, who had Sophie Robotham hot on her heels.
Paul Lunn is one of the top cyclists in the country and turned a one-minute deficit on Adam into a one-minute advantage. Paul recorded his second fastest bike split on this course and now had a 3-minute gap ahead of third place Chris, with Rob just 15-seconds further back.
The added competition pushed Adam to perform at his best. As well as a new swim Course Record, Adam recorded a Personal Best time on the course as well as a PB for the run. He closed the gap on Paul to 43-seconds, but Paul was in top form and wasn't going to be caught over the 3.1 mile run.
Rob started the run 15-seconds behind Chris in the chase for third spot and moved ahead on the return into Oundle; but Chris hung on, before eventually having to concede 3rd place to Rob by just 10-seconds.
Susie gradually pulled away from Sophie, with Harriet Lomas moving between them on the bike, before Sophie re-took second place on the run; but Susie had the fastest run and wasn't going to be beaten.
Results:
Paul Lunn ............. 6:23 .... 20:55 .... 19:03 ..= 46:21 2nd fastest bike ever.
Adam Clark ............ 5:25 .... 22:54 .... 18:45 ..= 47:04 PB.swim CR again held up.run pb.
Rob Hammond ........... 6:30 .... 24:04 .... 20:48 ..= 51:22
Chris Elder ........... 6:21 .... 23:58 .... 21:13 ..= 51:32
Susie Freeman ......... 6:24 .... 29:38 .... 25:08 ..= 61:10
Sophie Robotham ....... 6:28 .... 31:38 .... 26:25 ..= 64:31
Harriet Lomas ......... 8:31 .... 29:00 .... 27:43 ..= 65:14
---------------------------
In the Lakesman Half based at Derwent Water in Keswick; the constant rain leading up to the event eventually stopped and the half-Ironman distance triathlon took place on dry roads with little wind. The swim in Derwentwater was a cool 14.6C which led to 40 competitors either abandoning in the swim or on the bike. It was half way on the bike before athletes were warmed up, with the bike heading out and back on the main A66 and then finding some hills on the large loop at the far end.
Results:
183. Mark Bedford .... 36:25 .... 3:11:07 .... 1:48:08 ..= 5:35:40 AG 23.
290. Steve Hope ......... 39:09 .... 3:20:32 .... 2:00:52 ..= 6:00:33 AG 5.
---------------------------
Tom Hughes competed in the European Duathlon Sprint Championships in the under 20 category, in Coimbra, Portugal. This was Tom's first time representing GB having qualified at the Darley Moor Duathlon in May last year. Tom is still only 15 but competed in the 15-19 year race and was only 30-seconds away from a podium position.
Tom was 7th after the initial 3.1 mile run in an impressive 17:03 and had the fastest bike split of the day as he caught the group in front in this draft legal format.
With one athlete out in front, Tom started the final 1.5 mile run in a group of 6 and soon pulled away from two athletes to finish in 5th place overall; just 8, 29 and 34 seconds behind the three in front; with the winner just over 2-minutes ahead.
Tom again qualified at this year's Darley Moor Duathlon for next year's World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain.
Results:
5. Tom Hughes .... 17:03 .... 32:35 .... 9:16 ..= 58:54.
------------------------------
Jack Shipton ventured over to Karnten-Klagenfurt in Austria to participate in his first Ironman event. At just 21-years of age, Jack was one of the youngest competitor's, and he paced the event throughout to get to the finish line in 16 hours and 17 minutes. Jack had to swim 2.4 miles in the lake, before cycling 112 miles on an undulating course and then finish with a full 26.2 mile marathon run.
Results:
2375. Jack Shipton .... 1:32:11 .... 8:25:43 .... 6:19:30 ..= 16:17:24 AG 66th.
=======================
PACTRACers were involved in 3 races this weekend as well as last Wednesday's Mini-Series triathlon at Oundle.
Christian Richards flew the flag for PACTRAC in the National Championships held in the River Thames at Windsor. Christian finished 195th from 1,350 competitor's and 25th in his Age Group
195. Christian Richards .... 26:24 .... 81:43 .... 48:58 ..= 2:37:05 AG 25.
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PACTRAC had 5 Juniors racing in the Rob McLean Junior Triathlon's held at Cambridge.
Imogen Lazenby led Orla Caskey home in the TriStart race for 8-year olds, whilst Bentley Anthony led Hugo Flikweert and India Lazenby home in the TriStar 2 race for 11-12 year olds.
TriStart:
6. Imogen Lazenby .... 1:08 .... 8:10 .... 3:15 ..= 12:33
9. Orla Caskey .............. 1:41 .... 8:17 .... 3:53 ..= 13:51
TriStar 2:
26. Bentley Anthony .... 4:30 .... 15:20 .... 8:13 ..= 28:03
44. Hugo Flikweert ....... 3:47 .... 18:54 .... 8:48 ..= 31:29
52. India Lazenby .......... 4:35 .... 18:44 .. 10:45 ..= 34:04
----------------------
3 members competed locally at Stibbington in the AsKeenAsMustard swim,run races held in the River Nene.
Steph Fordham was the first female home in the 3-mile event which took in 5 runs and 4 swims. Competitor's had to run in their wetsuits and swim in their training shoes, whilst constantly changing disciplines, in and out of the river. Swim floats and hand paddles are allowed but everything that you start with, you have to carry the whole way round.
The top 3 ladies finished within 34 seconds of each other and Steph took the top spot by just 9-seconds to record a win in her first swim,run event.
Rod Hall chose to compete in the 13-mile race over 8 runs and 7 swims. The longest run section was 2.5 miles long. Overall 117 competitor's finished the various distance races, but all had to swim part of the river against the current at 17C.
Results:
3-miles:
7. Steph Fordham ........... 47:03 1st Lady.
22. Daniel Richardson .... 60:37
13-miles:
19. Rod Hall ..................... 3:39:19.
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The 2nd PACTRAC Mini-Series triathlon of the summer took place at Oundle School in the 25-metre pool. Athletes had to swim 400m, cycle 9-miles and run 3.1 miles on a windy but dry night.
Adam Clark took his 2nd win from the two races so far and beat the 50-minute barrier comfortably. Adam had the fastest splits in all 3 disciplines and in spite of being held up in the swim section, still managed to break the swim course record by 3-seconds, exiting the pool in 5:26 minutes. Rob Hammond then led Chris Elder out a minute later, whilst Sophie Robotham was the next out, 16-seconds ahead of Steve Skelhon.
Adam, Rob and Chris held onto the top 3 places, whilst 75-seconds further back the race was on for 4th. Steve Skelhon extended his lead after the bike section to 1:05 minutes over Chris Pike and 1:42 over Andy Corner. However, positions were reversed on the run. Andy caught Steve on the way back into Oundle and at the half-way stage caught Chris and moved into 4th spot. Chris eventually caught Steve and won the uphill sprint for 5th place.
Sarah Caskey took the lead in the ladies race, coming into T2 6-seconds ahead of Sophie whilst Claire Widdowson had a great bike section to close to just 19-seconds further back on the two in front. Sarah had a superb run to take the win whilst Sophie and Claire kept 19-seconds apart throughout the run.
Results:
Adam Clark ............ 5:26 .... 23:27 .... 18:59 ..= 47:52 New Swim Course record.
Rob Hammond ..... 6:23 .... 24:57 .... 21:10 ..= 52:30
Chris Elder ............... 6:29 .... 25:00 .... 23:16 ..= 54:45
Andy Corner ........... 7:27 .... 26:24 .... 22:08 ..= 55:59
Chris Pike ................. 7:43 .... 25:31 .... 23:17 ..= 56:31
Steve Skelhon ......... 7:03 .... 25:06 .... 24:29 ..= 56:38#
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Adam Clark won the first PACTRAC Mid-week Mini-Series Triathlon at Oundle Sports Centre. The popular triathlons continue over 6 Wednesday evenings until 3rd July over the distances of:
Swim 400m in Oundle’s 25m pool.
Bike 9 miles on the hilly Glapthorn, Upper Benefield course.
Run 3.1 miles out to Glapthorn and back.
Adam exited from the 400m pool swim nearly a minute ahead of Graeme Kane and Christian Richards, with Rob Hammond 23-seconds further back; but 48-seconds ahead of Phil Groves. Steph Fordham followed Phil out and took an early lead amongst the ladies.
With the fastest bike split and run split of the night Adam pressed on to win the event by just over 3-minutes and lay a solid foundation in this year’s Club Championships. Having missed out over the last two year’s due to other commitments, Adam had already put a marker down, winning the earlier Aquathlon in March and the Duathlon in April. He added the first Mini-Series Triathlon to his list of victories, and now has a lead that will be difficult to beat.
It was a close battle between the 3 athletes behind Adam. Graeme finished the swim 23-seconds ahead of Rob with Phil a further 48-seconds back.
Rob managed to catch Graeme on the bike, and after some to-ing and fro-ing, he came in 10-seconds ahead, whilst Phil was still over a minute behind.
The opposite happened on the run, with Graeme eventually gaining the 10-seconds back and pulling away to finish 2nd by another 10-seconds. Phil meanwhile had a super-fast run and nearly caught the other two, but ran out of road, finishing 10 and 20 seconds behind respectively.
Harriet Lomas was the first lady home by 46-seconds from a fast-approaching Eleanor Pike in her first triathlon. Eleanor started the run 3-minutes behind Julien Roth but couldn’t quite catch him in the sprint for the line.
8 athletes broke the hour barrier, with Adam Clark well under the 50-minute mark on a night that saw 8 athletes record Personal Best times.
Adam Clark ……. 5:30 …. 22:51 .…. 19:18 ..= 47:39
Graeme Kane …... 6:27 …. 23:59 …. 20:17 ..= 50:43
Rob Hammond …. 6:50 …. 23:26 …. 20:37 ..= 50:53
Phil Groves …...… 7:38 .... 23:54 …. 19:31 ....= 51:03
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Simon Guerin came 33rd in the Grafman Triathlon held over the Half-Ironman distance at Grafham Water. The 1,2 mile swim took in 2-laps with the temperature 14.5C in the middle of the lake, but much cooler at the edge. Simon exited the swim in 19th place overall and after a solid bike section and a good run, finished 10th in his Age Group.
The event also incorporated the Eastern Region Middle Distance Championships, which helped to bolster the standard of competition.
Results:
33. Simon Guerin …. 31:50 …. 2:40:58 …. 1:52:54 ..= 5:05:42 AG 10.
134. Steve Hope ……. 41:34 …. 3:12:03 …. 2:07:17 ..= 6:00:54 AG 6.
Sophie Robotham competed in her first open triathlon at Blenheim Palace on Saturday in the Sprint Triathlon. Sophie had to compete against 2,420 other competitors over the 750m lake swim, 12.5 mile bike section and 3.5 mile run; all taking place on a traffic free lapped course around the grounds, before which, Sophie put her excellent swimming ability to good use.
Results:
891. Sophie Robotham …. 13:47 …. 59:45 …. 31:04 ..= 1:44:36 AG 22.
Laura Hardy and Graeme Abrahams swam in The Big Bala Swim in Llyn Tegid, North Wales. Laura chose the 9km swim and was the 4th non-wetsuit competitor home; whilst Grame competed in the 4.5km swim and was the FIRST non-wetsuit swimmer home. Both won their respective Age Groups.
Results:
9km ……. 11. Laura Hardy ……………. 2:53:16 AG 1st. 4th non-wetsuit.
4.5km …. 10. Graeme Abrahams …. 1:22:08 AG 1. 1st non-wetsuit.
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Simon Guerin and Mark Bedford competed in the Outlaw Half Nottingham (swim 1.2 miles out and back in Holme Pierrepont; bike 56 mostly flat miles; run 13.1 miles around the lake); whilst Antony Brown came 8th overall and won his Age Group in the accompanying Aquabike (swim 1.2m, bike 56-miles).
275. Simon Guerin .... 30:38 .... 2:51:35 .... 1:45:42 ..= 5:07:55 AG 24.
569. Mark Bedford .... 45:51 .... 2:56:15 .... 1:55:21 ..= 5:37:27 AG 55.
Aquabike
8. Antony Brown .... 35:46 .... 2:27:58 ..= 3:03:44 AG 1st.
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Meanwhile, Steve Hope travelled to Samorin in Slovakia to compete over the half-Ironman distance in the Challenge Triathlon Championships. With Challenge becoming ever-more prominent in triathlon, these Challenge World Championships are held at the X-Bionic Sphere Olympic Training Facility each year and attract the best athletes in the world (with PACTRAC's Roger Canham winning his Age Group World Championships there in 2019).
The 1.2 mile swim in the River Danube, was followed by a flat 56-mile bike leg, with the wind picking up on the last leg, and a run in the increasing heat.
374. Steve Hope .... 37:17 .... 2:52:32 .... 2:12:16 ..= 5:42:05 AG 27.
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Stuart Neal came 2nd in his Age Group at the Sywell Country Park Sprint Triathlon near Northampton.
25. Stuart Neal .... 15:20 .... 37:39 .... 25:38 ..= 78:37 AG 2.
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Richard Jones continued his introduction into triathlon with a Standard Distance triathlon at Box End, Bedford, finishing 69th overall and 7th in his Age Group.
69. Richard Jones .... 42:34 .... 90:25 .... 60:08 ..= 3:13:07 AG 7.
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Bill and Sarah Haslam competed in the Aquabike (swim,bike) at St.Neots, finishing 8th and 9th in their respective Age Groups.
52. Bill Haslam .......... 35:10 .... 1:29:41 ..= 2:04:51 AG 8.
76. Sarah Haslam .... 37:31 .... 1:45:22 ..= 2:22:53 AG 9.
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In the Uppingham Sprint Triathlon Gill Bates and Tracy Rookyard both came 4th in their respective Age Groups; whilst 3 PACTRAC Juniors opened their account for the season.
108. Gill Bates ............... 15:12 .... 60:31 .... 35:14 ..= 1:50:57 AG 4.
117. Tracy Rookyard .... 13:09 .... 74:45 .... 33:46 ..= 2:01:40 AG 4.
Tri-Start
11. Imogen Lazenby .... 1:37 .... 4:11 = 5:48
Tri Star 2
12. Hugo Flikweert .... 5:06 .... 12:08 ..= 17:14
26. India Lazenby ....... 6:16 .... 14:09 ..= 20:25
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Nearly 1500 athletes took part in the inaugural Burghley Multi-Sport weekend at Stamford,
competing over various running, swimming and triathlon events; with PACTRAC athletes winning all 3 triathlon races: Simon Hoppe won the Sprint, Jonny Hynes won the Standard Distance and Sam Chapman won the 100km Triathlon.
PACTRAC had over 20 athletes racing in the triathlons and also helped out organising the feed stations for the running races.
Nearly 600 athletes finished in the 5k, 10k and half-marathon running races, with many competing for the first time or upping the distance, including young Annie Thorpe competing in her first half-marathon.
The swims took place in Burghley's lake, a venue not usually accessible, and offered distances of 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m. The temperature of the lake was still on the cold side with just one-week to go, but the good weather in the week leading up to the event helped to quickly increase the temperature to an acceptable level.
Sundays racing offered triathlons over 3 different distances, as well as 2 Aquabike (swim,bike) events: and they didn't disappoint, with PACTRAC winning all 3 of the triathlons, with the swim and run taking place in the grounds of Burghley Park and the bike held on closed roads around Barnack.
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Simon Hoppe won the Sprint triathlon by 1:23 minutes. After exiting the swim in 6th with Susie Freeman right on his heels, Simon had a quick transition and was away on the bike in 3rd spot. He had the quickest bike split and moved into the overall lead after 8-miles. He held his own with the second competitor on the run, to come home comfortably clear and add to his collection of triathlon wins over nearly 40-years.
Susie Freeman won her Age Group by 8-minutes, whilst Carol Smallman, in her first triathlon for many years, took 2nd in her Age Group. Richard Jones and Hannah Rushton competed in their first triathlons, whilst one of PACTRAC's original members from 1985, Steve Small, competed for the first time in over 30-years.
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Jonny Hynes won the Standard Distance Triathlon by 43 seconds. He came out of the water in 33rd place, 5-minutes down on the leader, but with the fastest transition and in a blistering display on the bike, Jonny overtook all in front of him and even led by 45-seconds from 3 chasers, coming in off the bike. Chris Northern and Rob Hammond were just over 2-minutes behind Jonny by now and putting in solid performances of their own. Jonny held on well in the 6.25 mile run to take a well deserved win.
Rob Hammond recorded a 3rd place in his Age Group, coming home ahead of Chris and Christian Richards who had a top-10 swim. Ellie Piccaver continued her improvement with an Age Group win. 2-minutes down in the swim, Ellie gradually closed the gap, taking the lead early on the run. Gill Bates rounded things off, recording a 3rd place Age Group Podium finish.
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In the new 100 format, so called because the distances off swim 1.25 miles, bike 50-miles and run 11.25 miles add up to 100 kilometers, Sam Chapman and Dan Wilson absolutely tore the field apart on the bike, moving through the field to come into the second transition in first and second places. Sam had the fastest bike and run splits of the day and extended his lead to finish 11:25 minutes clear in an emphatic display for the second weekend on the trot, that showed his early season fitness ready for some big events later in the year.
Dan was caught on the run, but held on well to finish 3rd overall, whilst both Becs Burge and Claire Willis took 3rd in their respective Age Groups.
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Rounding off the weekend, Simon Meade and Jeremy Storey came 1st and 2nd in their Age Groups in the Standard Distance Aquabike.
In a successful weekend, the club had 3 athletes winning outright, another 3 winning their Age Groups and another 8 also making the Podium.
Results:
100 Triathlon (swim 1.25miles, bike 50 miles, run 11.25 miles):
1.Sam Chapman .... 26.49 .... 2.05.03 .... 1.07.01 ..= 3.38.53 Age Group 1.
3. Dan Wilson ......... 26.59 .... 2.12.11 .... 1.18.32 ..= 3.57.42 AG 2.
29. Andy Martin ....... 36.42 .... 2.39.37 .... 1.21.21 ..= 4.37.40 AG 6.
58 Becs Burge ........ 41.32 .... 2.42.35 .... 1.38.22 ..= 5.02.29 AG 3.
86 Claire Willis ........ 38.50 .... 3.14.14 .... 1.58.02 ..= 5.51.06 AG 3.
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Standard Distance Triathlon (swim 1500m, bike 25-miles, run 6.25 miles):
1. Jonny Hynes ............ 28.39 .... 1.09.00 .... 42.23 ..= 2.20.02 AG 1.
10. Rob Hammond ........ 26.59 .... 1.14.34 .... 42.23 ..= 2.23.56 AG 3.
13. Chris Northern ......... 26.51 .... 1.15.19 .... 45.45 ..= 2.27.55 AG 6.
15. Christian Richards ... 25.28 ... 1.16.54 .... 46.26 ..= 2.28.48 AG 8.
21. Ellie Piccaver ........... 28.41 .... 1.19.56 .... 43.42 ..= 2.32.19 AG 1.
36. Jason English .......... 32.05 .... 1.22.05 .... 46.22 ..= 2.40.32 AG 8.
53. Martin Thorpe .......... 31.00 .... 1.21.51 .... 52.46 ..= 2.45.37 AG 12.
94 PACTRAC RELAY .... 30.26 .... 1.38.09 .... 51.43 ..= 3.00.18
119. Rod Hall ................. 40.35 .... 1.41.16 .... 53.18 ..= 3.15.09 AG 21.
123. Willow Worthington. 40.22 .... 1.40.20 .... 58.03 ..= 3.18.45 AG 10.
140. Gill Bates ............... 56.50 .... 1.58.56 .... 81.28 ..= 4.17.14 AG 3.
Sprint Triathlon (swim 750m, bike 12.5miles, run 3-miles):
1. Simon Hoppe .......... 7.41 .... 41.52 .... 21.09 ..= 1.10.42 Age Group 1st.
15. Susie Freeman ....... 7.48 .... 48.32 .... 23.45 ..= 1.20.05 AG 1.
58. Richard Jones ....... 10.44 .... 52.11 .... 27.45 ..= 1.30.40 AG 15.
93. Hannah Rushden .. 12.56 .... 58.48 .... 28.17 ..= 1.40.01 AG 10.
102. Carol Smallman ...... 9.53 .... 60.13 .... 32.31 ..= 1.42.37 AG 2.
122. Steve Small .......... 10.50 .... 69.38 .... 40.19 ..= 1.49.57 AG 12.
131. Tracy Rookyard .... 15.10 .... 67.01 .... 32.30 ..= 1.54.41 AG 12.
Aquabike (swim 1500m, bike 25-miles):
5. Simon Meade .... 25.45 .....1.19.21 ..= 1.45.06 AG 1.
9. Jeremy Storey ... 30.20 .... 1.20.26 ..= 1.50.46 AG 2.
3.1 mile swim:
6. Dan Bassett .... 77.32 AG 2.
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At the Burghley weekend, nearly 1,500 athletes competed over various running, swimming and triathlon events with PACTRAC athletes winning all 3 triathlon races: Simon Hoppe won the Sprint, Jonny Hynes won the Standard Distance and Sam Chapman won the 100km Triathlon.
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Sam Chapman finished 17th overall in the 70.3 half-ironman in Venice-Jesolo and was on the Podium with a third place in his Age Group.
Sam's time of 4.05.26 was less than 10-minutes from a podium spot overall out of 2,420 competitors and qualified him for the World 70.3 Championships in Taupo, New Zealand in December.
An impressive performance to start the season with, Sam will join up with Paul Lunn next at Challenge Roth in Germany.
Results:
17. Sam Chapman .... 30.05 .... 2.14.49 .... 1.20.32 ..= 4.05.26. Age Group 3rd.
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Dan Wilson completed the full Ironman triathlon in Texas over the distances of: swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. Dan finished 366th overall and gained many places in his favoured cycle section.
Result:
366. Dan Wilson .... 1.05.59 .... 5.15.50 .... 4.16.02 ..= 10.37.51 Age Group 56.
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Paul Lunn competed in the 70.3 Half-Ironman triathlon in Alcudia, Majorca at the weekend. This was Paul's 13th time competing in this race, and the current World Champion didn't disappoint.
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 18th overall from a field of 2,854 Age Group athletes, and winning his Age Group by a massive 13.34 minutes.
After a great 1.2 mile swim where he was only 1.45 down on his Age Group leader, Paul had a fast transition and was away on the bike in 8th place. Before 10-miles had passed on the 56-mile bike section, Paul had moved into the lead in his Age Group and gradually extended it from there; to 4 minutes after 22-miles and over 7-minutes by the start of the run. Having averaged 23mph on the bike, Paul now ran a 1:20:50 half-marathon to extend his winning margin to 13:34 by the finish. Paul was a dominant force, showing why he has won the 70.3 Half-Ironman World Championships for the last two years. He beat a good quality field, in a surprisingly well contested race, with the next 6 athletes spread out by just over 3-minutes.
This was Paul’s 11th top-3 placing in this event in the 13 times that he has competed. It is also his 7th Age Group win in a race that he has finished in every year since 2011, although no event took place in 2020.
Paul has started the season in great shape. He is the current World Champion in his 50-54 year Age Group over the 70.3 distance and will be looking to retain his crown later in December in Taupo, New Zealand.
Results:
18. Paul Lunn .... 30.18 .... 2.34.11 .... 1.20.50 ..= 4.25.19 Age Group 1st.
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PART TWO will follow, probably tomorrow as we had around 20+ PACTRAC athletes registered to race over the weekend in the inaugural Burghley Multi-Sport weekend; where PACTRAC also helped out organising the feed stations for the running races.
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PACTRAC held their first triathlon of the season at Oundle on Sunday. This was the third event this year, following the earlier Aquathlon and Duathlon. The club have now been promoting multi-discipline sport in the Peterborough and Oundle area for 40 seasons. Adam Clark won the triathlon and has now won all 3 events so far this year, to take an early lead in the Club Championships; whilst Steve Hope finished 9th and has now competed in triathlons for 40 consecutive seasons since 1985.
Adam Clark took a convincing lead over the 800m swim in the 50-metre pool at Oundle, gaining 52-seconds over Simon Guerin with Susie Freeman a further 70-seconds behind. It was a further half-a-minute before Chris Elder then led 2nd lady Sophie Robotham and Christian Richards out; with Rob Hammond and Steve Skelhon another 25-seconds down.
Adam then extended his lead on the 18-mile bike section to come into T2 1:47 ahead of Simon. Chris Elder moved up to 3rd a further 3-minutes behind, just ahead of Rob.
Adam took a comfortable victory, with the fastest splits in all 3 disciplines, winning by over 8- minutes from Simon, who successfully held off a late charge from Rob by 39-seconds, with Chris Elder now a minute further back in 4th following the 4.7 mile run.
Susie led the ladies home with Claire Widdowson making inroads on the bike before Sophie regained 2nd spot on the final run in, back in Oundle.
Steve Skelhon led the over 60’s with Chris Pike closing the gap to just 40-seconds in the end and Steve Hope rounding off the top three.
Results (top 4):
Adam Clark ………… 11:36 …. 48:11 …. 29:15 ..= 1:29:02
Simon Guerin …….. 12:28 …. 49:06 …. 35:34 ..= 1:37:08
Rob Hammond …… 14:35 …. 50:35 …. 32:37 ..= 1:37:47
Chris Elder ………….. 14:04 …. 50:46 …. 34:11 ..= 1:39:01
The Wednesday night Mini-Series Triathlons start on 29th May and continue for 6-events over the distances of swim 400m, bike 9-miles, run 3.1 miles. Non members are welcome to come along, with bookings in advance is via Pactrac.clubpal.app These are perfect events to test your fitness or to try a triathlon for the first time.
The club will have a big presence at the inaugural Burghley Triathlons this weekend.
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Adam Clark continued his fine form, leading the club's Duathlon from start to finish. Having already won the Aquathlon (swim,run) 3-weeks ago, Adam extended his lead in the 10-event Club Championships over Rob Hammond, and Jack Shipton, with Susie Freeman leading the Ladies competition.
5 athletes formed a lead group early in the initial 3-mile run, with Adam and Phil Groves establishing a gap by the turnaround point. Adam tried to pull ahead, but Phil kept closing any gaps and the pair came in together, by now a minute and a half ahead of Scott Lloyd who had a 37-second cushion over Rob Hammond.
The 9-mile bike loop took in the hills around the Benefield's where Adam was able to pull ahead from Phil. Rob closed the gap on Scott and the pair came in together. Adam extended his lead on the final 3-mile run to come home 2:28 minutes ahead of Phil, whilst Scott pulled away from Rob for third. Susie Freeman was the first lady home in the defense of the trophy that she first won in 2017.
Top 4:
Adam Clark ........ 18:46 .... 24:05 .... 19:52 ..= 62:43.
Phil Groves ........ 18:46 .... 26:07 .... 20:18 ..= 65:11
Scott Lloyd ......... 20:19 .... 26:36 .... 20:42 ..= 67:37
Rob Hammond .. 20:56 .... 25:59 .... 22:14 ..= 69:09
Elsewhere, Sharon Asplin competed in the Harlech Duathlon over the sprint distances of run 3.1 miles, bike 13.5 miles and run 1.5 miles. Sharon finished 2nd in her Age Group in her debut Duathlon.
77. Sharon Asplin .... 33:24 .... 55:08 .... 16:23 ..= 1:44:55 Age Group 2nd.
The next club event will be the Mid-Distance Triathlon on 5th May.
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PACTRAC held their first event of this year's Club Championships at Oundle on Sunday, with the Aquathlon consisting of a 400m pool swim followed by a 3.1 mile run. 19 competitors lined up on a cool morning, with Adam Clark leading from the front. Adam came out of the water first, 7-seconds ahead of Paul Davies and 28 ahead of Simon Guerin. 21-seconds further back, Christian Richards led Susie Freeman out, ahead of Liam Higgins and Graeme Kane.
Adam had the fastest run of the day to extend his lead to 2:36 by the finish. Graeme Kane with the second fastest run moved up from 7th to 2nd with Christian catching Simon for 3rd. Susie finished 7th and first lady.
Results:
Adam Clark .............. 5:30 .... 19:08 ..= 24:38
Graeme Kane ........... 6:32 .... 20:42 ..= 27:14
Christian Richards .... 6:19 .... 21:59 ..= 28:18
Simon Guerin ............ 5:58 .... 22:38 ..= 28:36
Rob Hammond .......... 7:00 .... 21:58 ..= 28:58
Sam Pettitt ................. 8:01 .... 21:58 ..= 29:59
Susie Freeman .......... 6:21 .... 24:33 ..= 30:54
The next event in the Club Championships is the Duathlon from Oundle on 14th April.
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A roundup of the 2024 season so far:
Amy Mellor, Graeme Abrahams and Laura Hardy competed in the British Ice Swimming Championships in early January with Amy winning a BRONZE medal in the back stroke, a SILVER medal in the 100m freestyle and a GOLD medal in the 250 metre freestyle. Although Amy broke the Age Group record in the 250m with a Personal Best time, the temperature was just slightly too high for the record to be ratified.
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Amy and Graeme then competed in the PHISH (Parliament Hill Ice Swimming Hootenanny):
122m
Graeme Abrahams .... 8th 1:39 minutes.
Amy Mellor ................ 9th. 1:46 mins.
244m
Graeme Abrahams .... 4th. 3:32 mins.
Amy Mellor ................ 9th. 3:46 mins.
Relay 122m x2 .......... 7th.
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Amy Mellor and Graeme Abrahams were then selected to represent GB in the European Ice Swimming Championships in Oradea in Romania, where the 50m pool was at a temperature of 3.8C. Graeme competed in the 500m freestyle, recording a time of 7:22 and knocking 3-seconds off of his previous best time. He said "I started off about 6 seconds slower for the first 100m this time and finished 6 seconds quicker with a 3 second PB!". After just a 15-minute break, it was straight into the 50m fly, before competing the following day in the 250m freestyle.
Amy competed on all 3-days coming 5th in her Age Group in the 100m backstroke, whilst being one of 7 swimmers to break the old Age Group World Record. She also competed in the Relay event on day one, missed out again on a medal on day two, in spite of another PB, and on the final day recorded another PB by 1-second in the 250m freestyle.
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15 PACTRACers then competed in the local Folksworth 15. Paul Lunn came home in 6th position ahead of Sam Chapman in 15th and Harry Pitcher 32nd.
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PACTRAC's Nathan Keir finished 4,141st in the Zurich Marathon de Sevilla in a PB time of 3:30:55. Nathan had a very consistent run with the 3rd 10k slightly quicker to enable him to finish with negative splits (1:45:59 + 1:44:56).
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Simon Guerin competed in the Barcelona marathon finishing 9,136th in a time of 3:58:50, slowing just slightly in the second half but holding on to come in ahead of the 4-hour barrier.