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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.