Sam Chapman and Paul Lunn took the Cowman triathlon at Milton Keynes by the horns.
The top-3 athletes competed in a tightly contested race, and all came in over 20-minutes ahead of the rest of the field; in this half-Ironman distance triathlon over a 1.2 mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1 mile run.
With Sam Chapman exiting the lake in 5th place and Paul Lunn in 8th, the pair quickly established a lead on the bike. Paul started the run just 14-seconds ahead of the younger Sam; with the next competitor, James Ellis, nearly 10-minutes behind and 4th place already 14-minutes adrift.
Sam took the lead from Paul early on the run and the pair kept up a solid pace with Sam pulling ahead, but not without a fight from James whose 1:13 half-marathon saw him move into 2nd place, splitting the two Peterborough athletes. Sam held on for the win by 2:40 minutes with the pair winning their Age Groups by 40 and 31 minutes respectively.
1. Sam Chapman .... 31:37 .... 2:23:16 .... 1:20:31 ..= 4:15:24 AG 1st.
3. Paul Lunn .............. 33:15 .... 2:21:24 .... 1:24:49 ..= 4:19:28 AG 1st.
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Chris Northern headed to Jersey to compete in the Round the Rock 46-mile ultra-run, that circumnavigated the whole of the island's coastline. Chris finished 61st from 101 entrants, 15 of whom started but were unable to complete this extreme challenge held in intolerable heat.
The competitors all had to carry a First Aid Kit and a Jacket on the tough course that covered only 30% on road and the other 70% on trails around the cliff paths, with 4,500 feet of climbing.
Chris said: "What a challenge this one was. I underestimated the race conditions & course with less training than I’d have liked. It wasn't the day I was hoping for. The heat hit hard and the cramps came early at mile-17. I nearly stepped off the course, but I stayed focused and that's another Ultra banked."
61. Chris Northern .... 11:00:44.
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Richard Rollings made a long-awaited comeback from injury in the short-distanced Paignton Triathlon, finishing 1st in his Age Group in a time of 53:16.
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14 PACTRACers took part in the various swims at Rutland Water, all taking part in swims of either 2km, 4km or 8km; the best placed in each distance being Ollie Waghorn (2km: 24th in 40:27), Julia Kingsley (4km: 15th in 68:56) and Laura Hardy (8km: 15th in 2:27:35)
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Attached 2 photo's of Chris Northern. All of the photo's I have of the Jersey Ultra are a bit dark so I've also attached one of Chris in the Rome Marathon earlier this year.
Also attached is a stock photo of Sam Chapman.
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Becs Burge and Nathan Keir took part in the inaugural Ironman Triathlon in Leeds. This saw athletes take on a 2.4 mile lake swim in Roundhay Park, just three miles from Leeds City Centre.
They then embarked on a tough 112-mile bike course that went up into the Yorkshire Dales National Park with approximately 2,500m of elevation gain.
Finally, there was a 26.2-mile run on a four-lap course around Roundhay Park.
Becs Burge was 6th out of the 2.4 mile lake swim in her Age Group but had the fastest transitions of all her Age Group competitors and with the fastest 112-mile bike section, she moved into the lead coming into T2 and heading out onto the marathon run. In spite of a good run, Becs came up against some stiff competition and finished in 12 hours and 17 minutes for 5th place and just 3:42 from a Podium position. Nevertheless this was an Ironman PB by over 21-minutes and was enough to earn Becs a qualifying slot for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October.
Becs said: "I loved the support on a really tough day; I lost hope on the run so super happy to finish with a PB in my 5th Ironman, especially on such a tough course".
337. Becs Burge ...... 1:12:23 .... 6:41:10 .... 4:24:21 ..= 12:17:54 AG 5th.
606. Nathan Keir .... 1:03:27 .... 7:12:27 .... 4:51:55 ..= 13:07:49 AG 98.
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The Outlaw Triathlon took place at Nottingham over the full Ironman distances of; swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles.
Mark Bedford was in good shape going into the race. He said "The swim was as expected, and the bike felt strong - I was hitting the numbers, but it fell apart a bit on the run, with cramp after just 12-miles before both quads tightened up; and I missed my PB by 4-minutes."
Mark had the 9th fastest bike split in his Age Group; and recorded under 12 hours for only the 2nd time.
112. Mark Bedford .... 1:31:38 .... 5:59:54 .... 4:20:47 ..= 11:52:19 AG 15.
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Chris Elder came 12th overall in the On The Edge Triathlon in Warwickshire, over a challenging 1.2 mile open-water swim in Compton Pools, a rolling 56-mile bike leg through the Cotswolds, and a 13.1 mile countryside run.
Chris said: "I'm very pleased to have beaten my 5:30 hour target despite the rain and the 'rolling' course"
12. Chris Elder .... 35:58 .... 2:57:18 .... 1:53:09 ..= 5:26:25
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PACTRAC had 11 competitors in 9 different events at the Belvoir Castle MultiSport Festival at the weekend. The Goodale sisters Phoebe and Ophelia both won their events in convincing style; whilst Mother Emily and Samantha Jackson came first in their respective Age Groups.
Other Age Group successes were a 2nd for Steve Small in the Aquabike and 3rd for Sarah Caskey in the Sprint Duathlon.
TriStar 1
4. Byron Stother ........ 28:57
7. Orla Caskey ............ 37:02
TriStar 2
1. Ophelia Goodale .... 27:18
4. Hugo Flikweert ........ 30:08
Youth
1. Phoebe Goodale .... 46:28
Super-Sprint Triathlon
14. Sam Jackson .... 1:41:38 AG 1st.
Sprint Triathlon
19. Darren Coley .... 1:32:10 AG 4.
Standard Triathlon
22. Christian Richards .... 3:03:15 AG 6.
Sprint Aquathlon
9. Emily Goodale .... 44:23 AG 1st
Sprint Duathlon
11. Sarah Caskey .... 90:46 AG 3.
Standard Aquabike
12. Steve Small .... 2:21:49 AG 2nd.
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Debbie Montague raced in the Castle to Coast Triathlon, from Windsor to Brighton.
The 1.2 mile swim took place in Dorney Lake, followed by a cycle from Windsor to Hassocks just outside Brighton, across the Surrey Hills, for 65-miles with it absolutely pouring with rain near enough the whole way. The runners then ran over the South Downs into Brighton, to finish around 14.5 miles later on the sea front.
Debbie said: "That was the toughest bike ride I've ever done. I was exhausted before I got to the run."
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Adam Clark was part of a 3-man team that finished 12th in the Bedford Relays with each team member having to swim 750 metres in turn, before each then cycled 12.5 miles in turn and then finished with each doing a 3.1 mile run. Adam helped his team to finish in a time of 4:07:32
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With the dry summer and the inaugural Carsington Water Triathlon being cancelled due to low water levels, PACTRAC's Simon Guerin was left to fly the flag in the Cotswold Classic Mid-Distance Triathlon at Cirencester. Simon put his swimming skills to good use, coming out of the lake in 25th position from the near-500 competitors. He then had a fast 56-mile bike split, before finishing with a 13.1 mile run for 65th place overall.
65. Simon Guerin .... 32:17 .... 2:30:40 .... 1:51:17 ..= 4:54:14 AG 7.
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Graeme Abrahams and Steph Fordham chose the challenging 7.5 mile end to end Chillswim in Ullswater. This is the middle distanced swim of the Coniston, Ullswater, Windermere triple and in the coldest of the three lakes; although temperatures were warmer this year, which helped Graeme to a 15 place in the non-wetsuit category, whilst Steph finished 313th amongst the wetsuit clad swimmers.
15. Graeme Abrahams .... 3:57:01.
313. Steph Fordham ...... 5:35:23.
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Roy Mayhew competed in the annual Octogenarian Park Run at Bushy, which attracted 1,667 runners, including 117 who were aged 80 or over. Roy put in a good run for 16th place amongst the over 80-year old's in a time of 33:12.
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The 6th and final Wednesday night Mini-Series triathlon of the summer took place on a windy night which slowed the bike section down. This made Paul Lunn's achievement even better as he managed to record the 6th best ever time on the course and now holds all six of the top placings overall.
It was all to play for in both the Men's and Ladies Mini-Series Trophies, with Paul Lunn needing to record a top 3 place to take the overall Trophy from Adam Clark; and he did so in style.
Susie Freeman and Sophie Robotham went into this final race equal on points.
Susie has won the Ladies Mini-Series Trophy every year since 2019 and was determined to hold on to it; whilst Sophie has made a big leap forward this year and has hit top form at just the right time.
Adam Clark led the swimmers out, 20-seconds ahead of Julia Kingsley, who had Max Daniels, swim-coach David Faulkner in his first ever triathlon, and Paul Lunn hot on her heels.
A few seconds later, another 4 ladies emerged led by Eleanor Pike. At this point, Sophie Robotham had an 8-second advantage over Susie Freeman. Rachel Baker took off on the bike and established a lead of a minute over Ellie Piccaver, as the two of them came close to the ladies overall record, but were beaten by the wind. Ellie pulled a few seconds back on the run, leaving Rachel to come home 46-seconds ahead. Meanwhile, Sophie had managed to gain a further 18-seconds on the bike and came into T2 27-seconds ahead of Susie. But Susie is a Transition specialist and soon set off in hot pursuit; eventually catching Sophie on the run back in Oundle. Both are improving their running each week, but Susie pulled out all the stops and retains her Mini-Series Trophy for another year.
At the head of the field, Paul caught Adam on the bike, on the way to Glapthorn and pulled out an impressive lead, coming in nearly 3-minutes ahead; a lead that Adam was to bridge by just 10-seconds on the run leaving Paul to claim the win by 2:42 minutes and with it take his first ever Mini-Series Trophy.
Phil Groves (18th in swim) and Chris Elder (12th best swim), moved into 3rd and 4th places on the bike, and kept the same positions throughout the run.
16 competitor's beat the hour, including Darren Coley who recorded his 6th PB from 6 events.
Results: Top 11.
Paul Lunn ................... 6:00 .... 21:30 .... 19:03 ..= 46:33
Adam Clark ................ 5:32 .... 24:50 .... 18:53 ..= 49:15
Phil Groves ................. 7:13 .... 24:03 .... 19:32 ..= 50:48
Chris Elder .................. 6:29 .... 24:48 .... 22:19 ..= 53:36
Rachel Baker .............. 6:23 .... 25:56 .... 21:48 ..= 54:07
Nathan Keir ................ 6:28 .... 25:05 .... 23:10 ..= 54:43
Ellie Piccaver .............. 6:30 .... 26:47 .... 21:36 ..= 54:53
Christian Richards .... 6:24 .... 26:05 .... 23:09 ..= 55:38
Andrew Baker ............ 6:46 .... 26:55 .... 23:02 ..= 56:43
Susie Freeman ........... 6:23 .... 28:27 .... 22:15 ..= 57:05
Sophie Robotham .... 6:15 .... 28:08 .... 22:52 ..= 57:15
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PACTRAC had competitor's in all 4 of the race distances at St.Neots. With the river at just under 22 degrees, wetsuits were optional; with the torrential rain, which has a habit of following this early July race, coming down on the bike, and thunder met some of the runners.
Paul Lunn came into T2 just 26-seconds down in the Half-Ironman distance event, and had to watch as the distance very slowly expanded to 1:40 minutes by the end of this tough race. Sam Chapman was only 2-minutes behind Paul in 4th place; as both athletes took 1st place in their respective Age Groups.
Daniel Richardson also took 1st place in his Age Group in the Super-Sprint Triathlon, as all of the PACTRAC racers recorded top 3 Age Group placings.
St.Neots
Odyssey Half:
2. Paul Lunn .............. 32:57 .... 2:20:26 .... 1:27:27 ..= 4:20:50 AG 1.
4. Sam Chapman .... 34:09 .... 2:20:51 .... 1:27:56 ..= 4:22:56 AG 1.
Standard:
21. Jason English .... 30:57 .... 1:28:27 .... 42:41 ..= 2:42:05 AG 3.
54. Sara Pearce ........ 33:16 .... 2:47:35 .... 50:11 ..= 3:11:02 AG 2.
Sprint:
28. Darren Coley .... 16:55 .... 49:51 .... 22:38 ..= 1:29:24 AG 3.
Super-Sprint:
12. Sam Jackson ............... 14:23 .... 21:54 .... 15:00 ..= 51:17 AG 3.
15. Daniel Richardson .... 16:50 .... 24:51 .... 11:40 ..= 53:21 AG 1.
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Outlaw Half - Holkam
624. Andrew Taylor .... 46:51 .... 3:08:13 .... 2:33:01 ..= 6:28:05 AG 38.
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Steve Hope travelled to Woodhorn Museum in Northumberland seeking qualification for the GB team, and currently lies in 20th spot, as athletes chase 1 of 20 places in each 5-year Age Group nationally, with 1 event to go.
133. Steve Hope .... 17:43 .... 45:52 .... 32:05 ..= 1:35:40. AG 8.
====================
Adam Clark won his first Mini-Series of this year in a Season's Best time of 48:41.
Adam led Julia Kingsley out of the water by 16-seconds, with Sophie Robotham leading Susie Freeman out a further 23 seconds behind. Rob Hammond was the next out, just over a minute in arears of Adam.
Phil Groves, in his first event of the season, had the fastest bike split to move himself up from 10th to 2nd and now just 40-seconds adrift of Adam. Jaap Flikweert followed Phil in, 7-seconds behind, after being caught at the top of Lower Benefield Hill, 2-miles from home.
Adam had the fastest run, pulling a further 10-seconds out of Phil to win by a margin of 50-seconds. Jaap held onto 3rd; whilst Chris Brennan recorded his fastest Mini-Series run, as he caught Rob in a long sprint for the line.
Sophie and Chris Pike swapped positions on the run as Sophie soon closed the 5-second deficit and recorded a PB by 56-seconds in her 3rd triathlon in 8-days.
Defending Ladies Champion, Susie Freeman was 30-seconds behind at the start of the run, but couldn't close the gap as Sophie moved further ahead.
10 athletes beat the hour whilst 6 recorded Personal Best times, including 2nd placed Phil Groves; whilst Darren Coley recorded his 5th PB from 5 events.
Mini-Series 5: (Top 8)
Adam Clark ......... 5:33 .... 24:13 .... 18:55 ..= 48:41
Phil Groves ........ 7:16 .... 23:10 .... 19:05 ..= 49:31
Jaap Flikweert ..... 6:51 .... 23:42 .... 21:00 ..= 51:33
Chris Brennan ...... 7:28 .... 24:58 .... 21:36 ..= 54:02
Rob Hammond ........ 6:37 .... 25:00 .... 22:33 ..= 54:10
Sophie Robotham .... 6:12 .... 26:51 .... 23:02 ..= 56:05
Chris Pike ......... 7:50 .... 25:08 .... 23:50 ..= 56:48
Susie Freeman ...... 6:18 .... 27:16 .... 23:48 ..= 57:22
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Steph Fordham completed the 5.25 mile end-to-end ChillSwim at Coniston Water in 3:31:13.
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Tom Hughes continued his impressive form in the National Youth and Junior SUPER-SERIES event at Mallory Park. This is a series for the country's best up-and-coming talent and the races at Mallory Park spanned over two days with heats on Saturday and the final on Sunday.
Tom was 10th in the heats from 95 competitor's in the Youth section in Saturday's non-drafting event, having had the second fastest bike time trial. He followed this up in the final, where each discipline was just slightly longer and drafting on the bike was allowed.
A big group on the bike nullified Tom's best discipline as the athletes left it largely to the run; and Tom finished 22nd in the final to give him an overall ranking from the 3 events this year so far of 16th.
Heats: 10th Tom Hughes ..... 4:57 .... 10:05 .... 5:12 ..= 20:14
Final: 22nd Tom Hughes .... 6:00 .... 12:53 .... 6:36 ..= 25:29
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Mallory Park also hosted a general children's triathlon, with Phoebe Goodale winning her Age Group by 54 seconds and Ophelia Goodale moving up to 2nd in her Age Group on the run.
Results:
TriStar 2:
2. Ophelia Goodale .... 5:45 .... 13:46 .... 7:16 ..= 26:47
16. Hugo Flikweert ..... 9:53 .... 16:14 .... 8:31 ..= 34:38
Youth:
Phoebe Goodale ...... 8:06 .... 18:17 .... 10:03 ..= 36:26
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4 PACTRACers raced in the AsKeenAsMustard 10km swim,run at Grafham Water on Sunday. This involved constantly changing disciplines from running to swimming and back again. Competitors had to complete 8 runs and 7 swims which meant running in wetsuits and swimming in training shoes, for a total split of roughly 7km and 3km. Pull Buoys and Hand Paddles are allowed but if you start with an item of kit then you have to finish with it.
Susie Freeman set off in earnest and was soon amongst the leaders, finishing as first lady in 7th place overall.
7. Susie Freeman .... 1:27:38.
16. Chris Pike ............ 1:38:28.
19. Steve Hope ......... 1:40:55.
23. Katie Falconer .... 1:44:31.
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PACTRAC celebrated their 40th Anniversary at the 4th Mini-Series Triathlon of the summer at Oundle.
Members old and new were present to witness the 33 athletes lining up in two waves at Oundle Pool.
Adam Clark was again first out of the pool, leading Julia Kingsley by 25-seconds, with Paul Lunn right on her heals. Susie Freeman was the next out with a 6-second advantage over Sophie Robotham.
Paul had the fastest bike split, gaining a 2-minute advantage over Adam coming into the 2nd Transition; whilst Chris Elder and Rob Hammond now moved into 3rd and 4th positions, respectively 20 and 40 seconds further behind.
Chris Brennan in his first triathlon since 2019 was now in 5th place, whilst Ellie Piccaver took the lead for the ladies in 6th.
The top 7 places didn’t change on the run, with Paul extending his lead to 3:37 minutes over Adam who pulled away from Chris by 2:30 minutes for a clear 2nd place. Positions 3-6 didn’t change, although the gap narrowed between them to just 1:38 minutes.
10 athletes beat the hour whilst 11 recorded Personal Best times, including first lady Ellie Piccaver by 35-seconds, and Darren Coley taking his tally to 4 PB’s in 4 races so far this year. Paul Lunn recorded his best time this year, whilst Georgina Jennings lowered the over 80’s record by 8:14 minutes.
Results: (top 8)
Paul Lunn .........5:57 .... 22:06 .... 19:04 ..= 47:07
Adam Clark ........5:29 .... 24:39 .... 20:36 ..= 50:44
Chris Elder .......6:25 .... 24:01 .... 22:48 ..= 53:14
Rob Hammond ...... 6:28 .... 24:21 .... 22:47 ..= 53:36
Chris Brennan .....7:11 .... 24:57 .... 22:18 ..= 54:26
Ellie Piccaver ....6:47 .... 26:02 .... 22:03 ..= 54:52
Dave Allsop .......6:52 .... 26:06 .... 23:31 ..= 56:29
Susie Freeman .....6:04 .... 28:13 .... 23:51 ..= 58:08
5 photo's are attached of the event, last Wednesday, together with a separate article highlighting our 40 years.
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Steve Small continued his comeback with 99th place in the Chester Aquabike, involving a 1,500m river swim, mostly upstream, and a 25-mile bike loop.
99. Steve Small .... 36:39 .... 97:31 ..= 2:14:10 AG 13.
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Dave Wagstaff won his Age Group in the Dambuster Sprint Triathlon held at Rutland Water on Sunday. This was Dave's return to racing after a number of years off; and he took a commanding lead in the swim, which he extended on the bike and held on, on the run to win by 2:30 minutes.
Sophie Robotham had a good race, taking the lead in the swim in her Age Group, and having a good tussle on the bike, before starting the run just 24-seconds behind and having to settle for 2nd place.
Giles Cooper also recorded a 2nd in his Age Group in the Standard Distance event.
Dambuster. Standard Distance (1,500m swim, 25-mile bike, 6.25 mile run).
62. Giles Cooper ....... 28:29 .... 1:15:54 .... 43:34 ..= 2:27:57 AG 2.
72. Stuart Cleworth .... 27:09 .... 1:17:30 .... 44:50 ..= 2:29:29 AG 9.
363. Rod Hall ........... 43:57 .... 1:46:20 .... 52:37 ..= 3:22:54 AG 23.
Sprint (750m swim, 12.5-mile bike, 3.1 mile run).
16. Sophie Robotham .... 13:25 .... 42:38 .... 22:38 ..= 78:41 AG 2.
29. Dave Wagstaff ...... 15:04 .... 42:37 .... 26:57 ..= 84:38 AG 1.
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The third PACTRAC Mini-Series triathlon of the summer saw a new winner, with Henry Jarvis taking the honours at his first attempt. Henry, an ex-GB athlete, is returning to the sport and in his first race back, showed the potential to come.
First out of the water was Chris Pithey, closely followed by Simon Guerin and Max Daniels, whilst Sophie Robotham was next out leading for the ladies.
Simon took the lead with the fastest bike split and came in 30-seconds ahead of Chris, with Chris Elder a further minute behind, and Henry now in fourth place, 1:48 in arrears.
But Henry’s superfast run soon saw him blast to the front in imperious style, as he took the tape by 1:45 minutes; with Simon Guerin second and Chris Elder moving into 3rd ahead of Chris Pithey.
Sophie came in 7th overall and first lady, as she continues her improvement, with a PB in all 3-disciplines.
PACTRAC Mini-Series 4. Results: Top 7.
Henry Jarvis .............. 6:18 .... 24:27 .... 19:37 ..= 50:22
Simon Guerin ........... 5:54 .... 23:03 .... 23:10 ..= 52:07
Chris Elder ................. 6:41 .... 23:45 .... 22:40 ..= 53:06
Chris Pithey ............... 5:47 .... 23:40 .... 24:44 ..= 54:11
Dave Allsop ............... 7:03 .... 25:10 .... 23:19 ..= 55:32
Chris Pike ................... 7:47 .... 24:55 .... 23:28 ..= 56:10
Sophie Robotham ... 6:13 .... 27:19 .... 23:29 ..= 57:01
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Mark Bedford and Steve Hope returned to Keswick to compete in the Lakesman Half Ironman distance triathlon, which this year incorporated both the British and English Mid-Distance Championships.
252. Mark Bedford .... 47:56 .... 3:00:02 …. 1:45:09 ..= 5:33:07 AG 22.
380. Steve Hope ......... 40:32 …. 3:15:10 .... 2:04:10 ..= 5:59:52 AG 13.
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Dave Allsop made his long-awaited return to Olympic Distance racing at the Stewartby Triathlon, taking a great first place in his Age Group.
25. Dave Allsop .... 33:28 .... 66:45 .... 50:31 ..= 2:30:44 AG 1.
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… whilst Stuart Neil took a first place in his Age Group at the Roade Sprint Triathlon near Northampton. Chris Northern followed up with a 3rd in his Age Group in the Standard Distance.
Roade Sprint;
14. Stuart Neal …….. 15:22 .... 48:18 .... 29:45 ..= 1:33:25 AG 1.
Standard;
8. Chris Northern .... 26:45 .... 81:30 .... 46:28 ..= 2:34:43 AG 3.
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The second Wednesday night PACTRAC Mini-Series Triathlon of the summer took place at Oundle, with Paul Lunn taking his second victory of the campaign.
Julia Kingsley led the swimmers out, with Max Daniels just 6-seconds behind. Adam Clark was a further 12-seconds behind, with another 25-seconds to Simon Guerin, before Paul Lunn emerged 67-seconds down on the leader, but 10-seconds ahead of a big pack containing Graeme Kane and the next 4-ladies.
Paul had the fastest bike split by over a minute and came in 42-seconds ahead of Simon, who had a 47-second advantage over Adam, with Graeme another 65-seconds down.
In the ladies race, the four chasers set off in pursuit of Julia; with Rachel Baker soon pulling ahead of Ellie Piccaver, which is how it remained until the finish; whilst Susie Freeman held onto 3rd by 27-seconds ahead of Sophie Robotham.
Paul again had the fastest run of the day recording 19:09 for the 3.1 miles; whilst Adam and Graeme moved into 2nd and 3rd respectively, leaving Simon to hang on to 4th place ahead of a rapidly advancing Rachel.
Results: (Top 14)
Paul Lunn ................ 6:17 .... 22:17 .... 19:09 ..= 47:43
Adam Clark ............ 5:28 .... 24:34 .... 20:18 ..= 50:20
Graeme Kane ........ 6:27 .... 24:40 .... 20:55 ..= 52:02
Simon Guerin ........ 5:53 .... 23:22 .... 23:52 ..= 53:07
Rachel Baker .......... 6:27 .... 25:54 .... 21:20 ..= 53:41
Chris Elder ............... 6:50 .... 25:17 .... 22:50 ..= 54:57
Dave Allsop ............. 6:57 .... 25:57 .... 22:23 ..= 55:17
Ellie Piccaver ........... 6:33 .... 26:43 .... 22:12 ..= 55:28
Scott Lloyd ............... 8:39 .... 26:11 .... 21:57 ..= 56:47
Chris Pike .................. 7:28 .... 25:31 .... 24:00 ..= 56:59
Andrew Baker .......... 6:58 .... 28:12 .... 22:24 ..= 57:34
Susie Freeman ......... 6:27 .... 27:38 .... 23:48 ..= 57:53
Steve Hope ............... 7:22 .... 26:50 .... 23:55 ..= 58:07
Sophie Robotham .. 6:27 .... 28:07 .... 23:46 ..= 58:20
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Chris Pike finished 3rd overall in the AsKeenAsMustard 5km Swim,Run at Sibson Lake; whilst Susie Freeman was 3rd lady in the 10km race. The events involve constantly changing disciplines from river swimming in the Nene in training shoes to running in wetsuits.
The events start and finish with a run and Chris had 4 intervening swims to contend with whilst Susie had 5-swims in the longer race. Chris had to hold off a good challenge for 3rd spot, eventually taking the tape on the final run in by just 7-seconds.
5km.
3. Chris Pike ............ 45:17.
10km.
7. Susie Freeman .... 89:42 3rd female.
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Steve Hope completed 5 triathlons in 22-days with the National Sprint Triathlon Championships held at Blenheim Palace, against some stiff competition, on closed roads around the grounds, in a draft-legal format which allows for close riding on the bike.
214. Steve Hope .... 14:06 .... 45:14 .... 27:32 ..= 86:52 AG 19.
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PACTRAC had 6 juniors competing in the Rob McLean Junior Triathlon at Cambridge; with Parker Anthony putting his cycling prowess to good use to claim top spot in the TRiStar event.
TriStart:
Parker Anthony .... 1:25 .... 6:05 .... 2:45 ..= 10:15.
TriStar 1:
9. Mallory Faith ........... 3:34 .... 11:25 .... 6:09 ..= 21:08
14. Imogen Lazenby .... 3:17 .... 13:34 .... 6:39 ..= 23:30
TriStar 2:
13. India Lazenby .... 4:05 .... 17:09 ....9:06 ..= 30:20
TriStar 3:
8. Bea Faith ......... 4:29 .... 20:54 ... 10:12 ..= 35:35 AG 8.
11. Bentley Anthony .... 5:28 .... 20:20 ..... 9:09 ..= 34:57 AG 11.
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The first PACTRAC Mini-Series of this year took place at Oundle on Wednesday night over the usual course and distances of:
swim: 400-metres in the 25-metre pool.
bike: one 9-mile loop around Glapthorn and the Benefields with two sporting inclines and two good descents.
run: 3.1 miles out to Glapthorn and back.
Adam Clark was first out of the water with Julia Kingsley 12-seconds behind and Max Daniels a further 19-seconds, both in their first Mini-Series races. Paul Lunn soon followed, with a 40-second deficit on Adam, whilst 6 more swimmers came out in the next 20-seconds, including both Susie Freeman and Sophie Robotham together in what turned out to be a very competitive ladies race.
Paul Lunn smashed the bike leg to come in 1:40 clear of Jaap (bike) and Hugo Flikweert (swim and run), who were racing as a Relay Team. Adam came in 1:47 behind Paul, with Graeme Kane, Rob Hammond and Nathan Keir each coming in off the bike at further 20-second intervals. Not far behind, Sophie established a 15-second lead over defending champion Susie. But Susie gradually clawed this back on the run, with the pair running together before Susie pulled away to take the win by just 5-seconds; even catching Chris Pike on the line to split the pair further. Sophie gave her all and achieved a Personal Best time on the course by 6:34 minutes; and Susie will be looking over her shoulder for the rest of the Club Championship races.
Paul Lunn had the fastest run of the day to extend his lead to 3-minutes over Adam by the finish, with Graeme making small inroads to finish a further 13-seconds behind in third. 10 athletes beat the hour.
Annie Thorpe used the event as practice for her half-ironman debut at Grafham Water 4-days later; whilst Georgina Jennings set a new over 80's record, competing for the first time in her new Age Group.
There are 5-more events in the Mini-Series which finishes on 2nd July.
Results:
1. Paul Lunn ................... 6:04 .... 22:26 .... 19:30 ..= 48:00
2. Adam Clark ............... 5:24 .... 24:53 .... 20:43 ..= 51:00
3. Graeme Kane ........... 6:18 .... 24:15 .... 20:40 ..= 51:13
4. Rob Hammond ........ 6:40 .... 24:20 .... 21:31 ..= 52:31
5. Nathan Keir ............... 6:26 .... 24:53 .... 22:58 ..= 54:17
6. Christian Richards ... 6:22 .... 27:08 .... 23:24 ..=56:54
7. Susie Freeman ......... 6:16 .... 27:50 .... 23:09 ..= 57:15
8. Chris Pike ................... 7:52 .... 25:38 .... 23:46 ..= 57:16
9. Sophie Robotham .. 6:16 .... 27:35 .... 23:29 ..= 57:20
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Steve Hope completed his third European Triathlon in as many weekends with an Olympic Distance draft-legal event at Lac de l’Heure near Froidchapelle in Belgium. The only draft-legal Age Group Triathlons in the UK are over the Sprint Distance, so the format over twice the distance was an unusual concept. Another difference was that all 400-competitors had to supply their own transition kit box, which left Steve scrambling around to find a discarded cardboard box.
After a descent 1,500 metre lake swim, Steve managed to work with a good group on the bike, hanging on around the dead turns and steep inclines; before putting his new shoes to good effect with an improved running performance, that saw him move into 2nd place in his Age Group.
Having competed in two top World and European races over the last two weekends in Slovakia and Austria, Steve said “it was good to be up there mixing it in the Age Group again”.
Result:
130. Steve Hope …. 31:42 …. 78:09 …. 49:26 ..= 2:39:17 AG 2.
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Eleanor Pike picked up 2nd in her Age Group in the Grafman half-ironman distance triathlon at Grafham Water. At her first outing at this distance, Eleanor recorded just over 6-hours, whilst Phil Groves led the team home and Sara Pearce opened her season’s account in preparation for more long distance racing later in the year.
Results:
54. Phil Groves ……. 41:41 …. 2:52:41 …. 1:36:02 ..= 5:10:24 AG 5.
137. Andy Martin …. 45:50 …. 2:59:42 …. 2:09:54 ..= 5:55:26 AG 15.
150. Eleanor Pike …. 34:16 …. 3:20:50 …. 2:06:42 ..= 6:01:48 AG 2.
185. Sara Pearce ….. 41:19 …. 3:26:29 …. 2:18:04 ..= 6:25:52 AG 4.
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Emily Goodale came home as first female in the Sprint Triathlon at Uppingham, with Gill Bates finishing 3rd in her Age Group. Emily was 22 seconds behind at the start of the bike, but soon took the lead, which she extended to almost 2-minutes before gaining a further 30-seconds on the run.
10 Junior members finished the various Junior Aquathlons, with Ophelia and Phoebe Goodale both winning their respective Age Groups and completing a triple Age Group win for the family.
In the TriStart Aquathlon Parker Anthony had another good race coming out of the swim just 9-seconds behind and holding that gap on the run to finish in second place.
The team met Tim Don, the 2006 World Triathlon Champion and triple Olympian (2000, 2004 and 2008), whose son Hugo competed in the same Age Group as our own Hugo Flikweert.
Photo attached courtesy of PACTRAC Junior Head Coach Simon Hoppe and with all parents permissions – Byron Stother, Ophelia Goodale, Tim Don, Hugo Flikweert and Bea Faith.
Results:
Sprint Triathlon.
25. Emily Goodale …. 8:09 …. 47:21 …. 24:42 ..= 1:20:12 AG 1. First female.
82. Gill Bates …..…….. 14:31 .. 58:52 …. 34:53 ..= 1:48:16 AG 3.
TriStart Aquathlon.
2. Parker Anthony …. 1:28 …. 3:34 ..= 5:02 AG 2.
TriStar 1 Aquathlon.
6. Byron Stother …. 3:47 ….. 7:30 ..= 11:17
15. Mallory Faith …. 3:37 ….. 8:56 ..= 12:33
25. Orla Caskey …… 4:24 … 10:50 ..= 15:14
TriStar 2 Aquathlon.
4. Ophelia Goodale …. 4:04 …... 9:24 ..= 13:28 AG 1.
15. Hugo Flikweert …… 4:57 …. 10:15 ..= 15:12 AG 12.
30. India Lazenby ……… 5:09 …. 11:42 ..= 16:51 AG 10.
TriStar 3 Aquathlon.
14. Bentley Anthony …. 7:27 …. 14:09 ..= 21:36 AG 8.
16. Bea Faith …………….. 6:10 …. 16:09 ..= 22:19 AG 7.
Youth Aquathlon.
6. Phoebe Goodale …. 6:16 …. 14:14 ..= 20:30 AG 1.
=====================
Steve Hope continued his triathlon journey on the Continent with a 19th place in his Age Group at Challenge St.Polten in Austria.
The 1,900m swim took place in two lakes with a 200-metre run between them.
The 56-mile bike section was all on closed roads including a 10-mile stretch of Motorway and had 3 big climbs on a dry but windy day in the UNESCO Heritage Site at Wachau.
The 13.1 mile run was all flat along the river Traisen.
Result.
807. Steve Hope .... 35:22 .... 3:23:56 .... 2:06:00 ..= 6:05:18 AG 19.
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Ophelia Goodale took 2nd in her Age Group at the Darley Moor Junior Duathlon. After a good first run, Ophelia saw her main adversary pull away slightly on the bike, and with the pair running at a similar pace, Ophelia had to settle for 2nd place just 18-seconds adrift.
This followed her win last weekend at the prestigious IAPS Junior Triathlon at Monkton, Bath (No results available due to school policy).
TriStar 1:
10. Byron Stother .... 4:51 .... 10:20 .... 1:51 ..= 17:02
TriStar 2:
2. Ophelia Goodale .... 6:01 .... 10:20 .... 2:17 ..= 18:38
13. Hugo Flikweert .... 6:32 .... 10:39 .... 2:24 ..= 19:35
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The popular PACTRAC Mini-Series start on Wednesday 28th May, and continue until Wednesday 2nd July with the 6-event series taking place over the distances of: 400m swim, 9-mile bike and 3.1 mile run. Athletes can also choose to do a swim-run, swim-bike or team up to do a relay.
====================
The second race in the British Triathlon Super-Series for Youth and Junior athletes took place in Llanelli, with Tom Hughes continuing to improve with a 17th place finish against some stiff competition.
Tom had to swim 375 metres in the lake, before cycling 7.5 miles in a draft legal format on closed roads, finishing with a 1.5 mile run against the best Youth athletes in the country.
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Paul Lunn competed for the 14th time in the 70.3 Half-Ironman in Alcudia, Majorca. In a race that he goes back to every year. Paul finished 3rd against some top competition and ended a streak of 16 consecutive Age Group wins at this distance, spanning over 6-years. Paul who was the 70.3 Age Group World Champion in both 2022 and 2023 was involved in a hard fought race, which makes for an exciting World Championships in Spain at the end of the year.
Paul was 12th out of the swim, 1:30 to 2:30 minutes down on his main adversaries, with the gap only slightly extending thereafter, as the top three came in just over 3-minutes apart.
63. Paul Lunn .................. 29:23 …. 2:38:10 …. 1:24:21 ..= 4:31:54. AG 3.
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Steve Hope competed for the 2nd consecutive year at the Challenge World Championships in Samorin, Slovakia. With the swim shortened due to the 11 degree temperature in the Danube, some fast and furious racing ensued in a field stacked full of top athletes, as befits a World Championships (Challenge are a rival company to Ironman that use the same distances).
546. Steve Hope …. 13:54 …. 3:21:42 …. 2:06:31 ..= 5:42;07 AG 27.
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Athletes had to endure a cold swim at the Outlaw Half in Nottingham, which accounted for many of the 263 non-starters out of the 1,600 entrants. Simon Guerin had his usual fast start to finish 11th in his Age Group in another sub 5-hour performance.
Sophie Robotham continues to improve and finished 4th in her Age Group in the accompanying Sprint Distance Triathlon.
Half (swim 1,900m, bike 56 miles, run 13.1 miles):
139. Simon Guerin .... 29:52 .... 2:35:15 .... 1:46:09 ..= 4:51:16 AG 11.
368. Mark Bedford .... 42:30 .... 2:56:21 .... 1:43:16 ..= 5:22:07 AG 35.
Sprint:
136. Sophie Robotham .... 13:46 .... 39:23 .... 22:50 ..= 75:59 AG 4.
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300 competitors competed in the various events at Box End with Jason English winning his Age Group in the Sprint Triathlon with a top ten finish.
10. Jason English .... 17:20 .... 54:50 .... 25:28 ..= 1:37:38 AG 1st.
=================
5 PACTRAC Juniors took part in the Walden Junior Duathlon (run,bike,run) on Saturday; with the two runs on the track and the bike on the airfield. 8-year old Parker Anthony brought the Silverware home in great style on a tough course in very warm conditions.
Parker really had to fight for the win right from the start all of the way to the line. He had a 1-second lead from the swim, with his main competitor matching him pedal for pedal on the bike and the two left on the run neck-and-neck. The dual continued on the run with Parker taking a hard-earned victory by just one second in a sprint finish.
Ophelia Goodale had another good race, coming 2nd in her new Age Group to an older competitor.
TriStart:
Parker Anthony .... 1:52 .... 6:00 …. 1:04 ..= 8:56 First place.
TriStar 1:
32. Imogen Lazenby .... 6:39 .... 17:05 .... 2:13 ..= 25:57
TriStar 2:
2. Ophelia Goodale .... 6:20 .... 15:09 .... 2:21 ..= 23:50
12. India Lazenby ......... 8:14 .... 17:01 .... 3:05 ..= 28:20
TriStar 3:
11. Bentley Anthony .... 8:02 .... 19:18 .... 3:18 ..= 30:38
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30 PACTRAC athletes competed in the various events at the Burghley Multisport Festival in Stamford at the weekend.
With access to the private estate, the sheltered private lake was opened up for the swims; the bike course ventured out on closed roads around Barnack and Southorpe; whilst the runs were mostly on tarmac roads within the Burghley estate, with some slightly rougher sections.
Sam Chapman continued where he left off, retaining his gold medal from last year in the T100 triathlon (2k, 80k, 18k).
Sam was 13th out of the water, but had the fastest bike split by some distance and had a lead of 11:38 going into the 11-mile run. He extended his lead to secure a comprehensive victory by a margin of over 16-minutes.
Mike Shadwell moved up to 4th with the 3rd fastest run of the day, to finish 63-seconds shy of a Podium place.
T100 (2k. 80k. 18k.)
1. Sam Chapman .......... 33:06 .... 2:04:49 .... 1:06:41 ..= 3:44:36. AG 1.
4. Mike Shadwell .......... 31:58 .... 2:22:44 .... 1:08:55 ..= 4:03:37. AG 2.
61. Rebecca Burge ........ 40:03 .... 3:02:50 .... 2:16:43 ..= 5:59:36. AG 6.
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However, the main events of the weekend were the Standard Distance Triathlon and Aquabike (swim,bike), both of which incorporated not only the English National Championships but the British Championships as well, ensuring strong fields throughout.
In the Triathlon, Jonny Hynes finished 4th whilst Simon Hoppe and Jack Shipton were both 6th in their respective Age Groups; as was Verity Miles in the Aquabike Championships.
Jonny was trailing after the swim but had the fastest bike split which moved him up to 2nd, 2-minutes behind the leader, but with athletes in close attendance breathing down his neck. A solid 3.1 mile run in 41:28 ensured a good 4th place, just missing out on a medal.
Simon Hoppe finished 6th in his Age Group in a tightly contested race. Simon was just 3:47 behind his Age Group winner and was in the mix in all 3 disciplines, but finished 2-minutes from a Podium spot and commented “Unfortunately it’s not the British Championships medal I was hoping for”.
Standard Distance;
27. Jonny Hynes …........ 25:26 .... 66:56 .... 41:28 ..= 2:13:50. AG 4.
63. Simon Hoppe …....... 23:28 .... 71:47 .... 43:18 ..= 2:18:33. AG 6.
116. Chris Elder .............. 26:42 .... 74:01 .... 46:14 ..= 2:26:57. AG 12.
143. Ellie Piccaver ...…... 27:14 .... 79:48 .... 46:05 ..= 2:33:07. AG 8.
174. Jack Shipton …....... 33:34 .... 80:36 .... 45:49 ..= 2:39:59. AG 6.
176. Sam Folkes ….......... 31:19 .... 82:59 .... 45:58 ..= 2:40:16. AG 15.
209. Jennifer Williams ... 30:10 …. 90:31 .... 49:15 ..= 2:49:56. AG 8.
260 Michael Samways ... 38:03 .... 91:36 .... 57:50 ..= 3:07:29. AG 24.
293. Claire Widdowson . 42:20 .... 93:57.... 70:53 ..= 3:27:10. AG 9.
Aquabike - Standard Distance.
82. Verity Miles .... 30:04 .... 1:27:15 ..= 1:57:19. AG 6.
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Susie Freeman led the team home in the accompanying Sprint Distance Triathlon, whilst both Paul North and Gill Bates came 1st in their respective Age Groups.
Sprint (101)
12. Susie Freeman .... 11:14 .... 47:26 .... 23:32 ..= 1:22:12. AG 3.
56. Paul North …...….. 20:31 .... 54:43 .... 28:44 ..= 1:43:58. AG 1.
85. Tracy Rookyard ... 18:05 .... 69:30 .... 33:13 ..= 2:00:48. AG 8.
89. Gill Bates ............... 22:54 .... 64:13 .... 38:43 ..= 2:05:50. AG 1.
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In the Junior Triathlon’s, Byron Stother came 5th with Jack Dundee just two places behind in 7th.
5. Byron Stother ….. 21:13. Age Group 2.
7. Jack Dundee …… 22:00. AG 3.
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8 PACTRACers were amongst a further 315 swimmers who took part across 4 different distanced swims; including Rachel Miller who finished her 5km swim and then competed in the Aquathlon.
Aquathlon: (swim 750m, run 3.1 miles.)
34. Rachel Miller ......... 19:07 .... 33:28 ..= 52:35. AG 3
5,000m swim:
67. Rachel Miller .... 1:56:12. AG 7.
PACTRAC also had Age Group winners in the 500m, 1,500m and 3,000m swims.
500m;
17. Victoria Norgate .... 15:50 AG 2.
22. Sara Pearce .............. 17:10 AG3.
23. Yvonne Lee .............. 17:18 AG 1.
1,500m
8. Julia Kingsley .............. 23:55 AG 1.
82. Samantha Jackson ... 54:23 AG 8.
88. Kate Armstrong ......... 60:08 AG 8.
3,000m (84)
13. Rhiannon Loutit ........ 54:36 AG 1.
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With over 600 runners taking part in the various runs Sam Pettit finished 9th in the half-marathon in a time of 1:33:33 to claim 3rd place in his Age Group.
In other running races, Ophelia Goodale took first place in the Leicester & Rutland Under-13 1,500 metre County Championships. Living just over the border, close to Stamford, Ophelia, who is still only 10, regularly trains with the Junior squad in Stanground, and had 2 races over the weekend.
The Lloyd family had a good day at Eye with Scott (dad) in the 10k, James and Jake (both 3k), ALL taking 3rd in their respective Age Groups.
Meanwhile Jaap Flikweert, with 3rd overall in the 10k; and Hugo Flikweert, 5th in the 3k race, BOTH took 2nd in their Age Groups in the Titchmarsh running event; where Natasha English was 4th overall and first female.
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Chris Northern raced in the 50.34 mile Pennine Barrier Ultra-run in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This took in the 3 Yorkshire Peaks of Pen-y-Ghent (694 meters), Whernside (736 meters) and Ingleborough (724 meters), finishing back at Malham showground. With 8,536 feet of climbing, Chris finished 98th out of a field of 681 competitors.
98. Chris Northern .... 11:07:26. AG 20.
Chris’s next ultra run is a 48-mile full loop of Jersey in August.
=====================
The PACTRAC club triathlon was postponed, late on, due to Oundle School being busy with other activities. A couple of other triathlon's on but no local athlete's in the results.
========================
Paul Jephcott competed in the World Middle Distance Duathlon Championships in Alsdorf on Sunday finishing 14th overall, whist representing GB.
Just over the Dutch border, into Germany, Paul completed a 4-lap run of 6.25 miles; a 38-mile bike section with a nasty hill at the end of each of the 3-laps; and a final 6.25 mile run in uncomfortably warm conditions.
Paul said "I'm over the moon with that".
Results:
14. Paul Jephcott .... 51:17 .... 1:56:31 .... 53:37 ..= 3:41:25.
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Two Werrington Joggers athletes who also compete in triathlons with PACTRAC, completed marathons at the weekend.
Debbie Montague finished the London Marathon in a time of 4:28:34 ; whilst Sam Pitchford competed in her debut marathon in the Manchester Marathon on Sunday, finishing in 4:40:32.
Just coming back from injury and having missed a lot of training, Debbie managed to increase her speed consistently throughout the race, finishing with negative splits, and with every 3-miles quicker than the previous. She said "I'll take that, thank you very much".
Sam Pitchford had a very consistent first marathon, slowing by just over 4-minutes in the second half.
London:
26,453. Debbie Montague .... 4:28:34 (2:18:01 + 2:10:33).
Manchester:
14,709. Sam Pitchford ...... 4:40:32 (2:17:57 + 2:22:35).
====================
The Notts Aquathlon and Triathlon took place on Sunday, with Ophelia Goodale winning the TriStar2 Aquathlon event in convincing fashion.
Ophelia was the overall winner of the TriStar2 Aquathon whilst sister, Phoebe, came 3rd female overall in the adult triathlon (400m /9-miles /3.1 miles); and mother Emily Goodale completed the family affair, finishing 34th in the triathlon.
Byron Stother was 6th in the TriStar1 Aquathlon, with the second fastest run after nailing the transition.
Ophelia was 2nd in the swim but had the fastest run. Only 4 runners were within a minute of her in the 1.25 mile run and she won the event by 23 seconds from a field of twenty 11-12 year old's.
Results:
TriStar 1. swim,run.
6. Byron Stother .... 3:57 .... 6:27 ..= 10:24
TriStar 2. swim,run.
1st. Ophelia Goodale .... 4:10 .... 7:23 ..= 11:33
Adults Triathlon.
22. Phoebe Goodale .... 6:33 .... 39:37 .... 21:07 ..= 67:17. 3rd lady.
34. Emily Goodale ..... 6:50 .... 38:52 .... 25:03 ..= 70:45.
=====================
The second of the PACTRAC Club Championship races took place at Oundle on Sunday morning. A dry but windy day met the athletes for the Duathlon held over a 3.1 mile run, 9-mile bike and another 3.1 mile run.
New member Rachel Baker kept Rob Hammond on his toes, in the first 3.1 mile run and pulled ahead on the return leg into Oundle, taking a 28 second lead into the 9-mile bike section.
Rob gained the time back into a head wind on the bike and then powered ahead on the final tail wind section to come into the second transition 1:42 minutes ahead. The gap barely changed on the final 3.1 mile run as both athletes ran equally well.
Sophie Robotham gave current ladies Club Champion, Susie Freeman, a run for her money in the battle for third place; turning a 7-second deficit from the first run, into a 28-second lead after the bike section, only to see Susie get into her rhythm and pull back to win the battle for third place by a margin of 35-seconds.
Rob now leads the Club Championship, with Susie heading the ladies after her win in the earlier Aquathlon in March. The next event is the sprint triathlon on Sunday 4th May.
Results:
Rob Hammond ....... 21:51 .... 26:57 .... 22:56 ..= 1:11:44.
Rachel Baker ...... 21:22 .... 29:08 .... 22:55 ..= 1:13:25.
Susie Freeman ..... 23:20 .... 30:06 .... 24:08 ..= 1:17:34.
Sophie Robotham ... 23:27 .... 29:31 .... 25:11 ..= 1:18:09.
=====================
British Triathlon's National Youth and Junior Super-Series got underway with the Performance Assessment Weekend.
All athletes with aspirations to race in the Super Series had to attend this weekend, with the results setting the order of entry for the next races. The assessments included a swim time-trial on the Saturday at the University of Nottingham followed by a combined bike-run on the Sunday at the new venue of Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore; on a staggered start based on the swim times from the day before.
PACTRAC Junior, Tom Hughes, had to swim 400m in the pool on Saturday before cycling 6.25 miles and running 1.5 miles on Sunday, both on a flat traffic-free course.
Tom competed in all 6 events last year in the Youth A Category, finishing 37th overall. This year, and now in the Youth B Category, their will be 8 events, the next round being in Llanelli in May.
All Youth and Junior athletes looking to compete in this years Super Series were required to attend the Performance Assessment weekend; the results carrying series points as well as allocating athletes their initial rankings for the series.
The annual Super-Series is a key part of British Triathlon's performance pathway, and pits the best high-performing athletes from across the country against each other in highly competitive races at locations around the UK.
50 of the countries top 16-17 year old athletes, assembled in Nottingham in the Youth B Category, with Tom finishing 23rd in Saturday's 400 metre swim in 4:40, just 29 seconds behind the leader.
Athletes then moved to Kendrew Barracks for the following days bike and run. Here Tom was the 6th fastest on the bike section and quickly moved up to 4th position; and with competitors all around him for the short and fast run, he finished 11th overall.
Results:
11th. Tom Hughes (swim 400m, bike 6.25 miles, run 1.5 miles)
4:40 .... 17:20 .... 8:31 ..= 30:31
==================
3 PACTRACers opened their account for the season at the Basildon Aquathlon.
Jaap Flikweert was lying in 28th place after the 400m swim, but pulled back 19 places on the 3.1 mile run to finish 9th overall.
9. Jaap Flikweert .... 7:50 .... 20:04 ..= 27:54.
Tri-Star 1:
19. Byron Stother ..... 4:52 .... 5:32 ..= 10:24.
Tri-Star 2:
25. Hugo Flikweert .... 4:21 .... 9:23 ..= 13:44.
===================
PACTRAC held the first of their Club Championship races, an Aquathlon, at Oundle on Sunday. Competitor's had to swim 400 metres in the pool before running 3.1 miles out to Glapthorn and back.
Simon Guerin took an early lead in the 400m swim followed by Susie Freeman 21-seconds behind and Sophie Robotham a further 6-seconds in arears. Rob Hammond was next out but with 1:19 to make up on Simon.
Jack Shipton had the fastest run to move up into 4th place overall, just 23 seconds behind Susie who moved further ahead of Sophie to take the lead in the Ladies Club Championship by 53-seconds.
Rob managed to catch Susie on the run and move into second place, but Simon had an equally good run to hold on for the win by 75-seconds.
Results: TOP 5.
Simon Guerin ........... 5:55 .... 22:35 ..= 28:30
Rob Hammond........... 7:14 .... 22:31 ..= 29:45
Susie Freeman .......... 6:16 .... 23:54 ..= 30:10
Jack Shipton ............. 8:06 .... 22:27 ..= 30:33
Sophie Robotham .... 6:22 .... 24:41 ..= 31:03
The next event in the series is the Duathlon on 13th April.
----------------------
Paul Lunn completed the Absa Cape Epic Mountainbike Race over 8-stages in South Africa in 34 hours and 5 minutes.
Paul joined up with another Brit, Ross Welton, in a team of two; with Paul and Ross finishing the shorter 16-mile Prologue Time Trial Stage in 154th place, before moving up the rankings on a daily basis, once they got into the longer stages, to finish in 27th position, after 8-gruelling days in the saddle.
With a new host venue and over half of the trails in use for the first time, this twenty first edition started with a short 16-mile Time Trial followed by 7 longer stages over 8-days. Most of the Stages had over 2,000 metres of climbing.
Taking place from 16th to 23rd March, tented accomodation was included each night.
The race took place in "the wild and untamed" areas of the Cape Wine-lands, with sharp climbs and sweeping singletrack descents.
4 of the 8 Stages took the duo up to 6-hours to complete, around some brutal racing in the ultimate test of grit and endurance; in this physically gruelling and mentally demanding multi-stage mountain bike race.
"The terrain is as varied as it is harsh - dusty and demanding gravel roads, strenuous rocky climbs, thrilling technical descents, refreshing river crossings, and fast forest singletracks."
27th overall. Paul Lunn and Ross Welton .... 34:05:44.
Prologue TT .... 16 miles .... 1:43:30
Stage 1 ........ 58 miles .... 5:43:55
2 .................. 41 miles .... 3:03:19
3 .................. 49 miles .... 5:21:48
4 .................. 50 miles .... 4:20:39
5 .................. 61 miles .... 5:58:04
6 .................. 55 miles .... 5:36:58
7 .................. 40 miles .... 2:17:31
Total .......... 370 miles ..34:05:44 .... 16350 metres of climbing.
-
The Absa Cape Epic is the most televised mountain bike race in the world.
It's official UCI status makes it a highlight on the professional calendar; and it attracts a top field of 680 professional and aspiring amateurs, all competing together in teams of two.
===================
Four weeks after finishing 42nd in the Brecon-to-Cardiff 43-mile Ultra-Marathon; PACTRAC's Chris Northern was in the top 10% in Sunday's Acea Run Rome Marathon. Chris was pleased with his position, consistent pacing and finally being free of any running niggles. He said "The sun arrived early, but disappeared and the showers cooled us off nicely".
In a race where the top 7 places all went to Kenyans, Chris conquered Rome in a time of 3:23:06 to record a marathon PB by over 5-minutes.
(Pos) 2,362 / (out of) 26,023. Chris Northern .... 3:23:06.
Next up for Chris is the Pennine Barrier Ultra-50 taking in the infamous 3-Peaks of Pen-Y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.
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On Saturday, PACTRAC will be holding a Triathlon workshop on Goal Setting, which is free and open to non-members. This is the first of three triathlon workshops being run at Oundle School Sports Centre from 1030-1200. Further workshops will be on 5th April and 3rd May.
PACTRAC hold the first of their 10-event Club Championship races at Oundle next Sunday. The early season Aquathlon consists of a 400 metre swim followed by a 3.1 mile run.
All events need to be booked in advance at pactrac.clubpal.app
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Paul Lunn won his Age Group at the weekend in the Half-Ironman 70.3 Oman held in Muscat.
Paul was the 70.3 Age Group World Champion in both 2022 and 2023, but didn't defend his title in New Zealand at the end of last year. He rarely gets beaten at this distance, and took the victory in Oman by 5:35 minutes.
Swim - 1.2 miles on a rectangular out-and-back course in the 75 degree waters of the Arabian Sea.
Bike - 56 miles on a rolling 1-lap course.
Run - 13.1 miles on a flat 3-lap course.
Paul was 6th in his Age Group out of the water; but took the lead early on the 56-mile bike course, which he completed at an impressive 25mph average speed. He then extended his lead by a further 2:40 minutes on the run; and qualified for the 70.3 World Championships to be held in Marbella, Spain in November, where he hopes to regain his title.
Fellow Peterborians Stuart Cleworth and Louise Hathaway were also in action, with Stuart putting in a solid performance to come home in just over 5-hours; whilst Louise had a consistent race, averaging nearly 21mph on the bike and heading into the run in 3rd place. Two Age Groupers passed her on the run and she settled for an impressive 5th place.
Overall, British entrants made up 129 out of the 885 competitors.
Results:
11. Paul Lunn ................ 30:25 .... 2:18:43 .... 1:22:48 ..= 4:11:56 Age Group 1st.
173. Stuart Cleworth ..... 33:02 .... 2:47:20 .... 1:42:03 ..= 5:02:25 Age Group 19.
257. Louise Hathaway .. 36:29 .... 2:49:01 .... 1:55:53 ..= 5:21:23 Age Group 5th.
===========================
Amy Mellor competed for Team GB in the International Ice Swimming World Championships held in Molveno in the Italian Dolomites. Amy recorded a Personal Best time on her way to a BRONZE MEDAL in the 100m Backstroke, in really challenging conditions. Amy competed 3-times over the 2-days
Amy said "Being part of team GB swimming in the Ice Swimming World Championships at 2 degrees was an absolute honour and a privilege. Amazing team spirit in a gorgeous place.
I’m really proud of my bronze medal, my personal best times and the fact that I even got in water that cold!"
Competitors took part from 47 different countries; and before the first day of competition the organisers had to remove solid ice from the surface of the pool and did a great job of keeping the pool ice free all week, with water temperatures ranging from 0.8 to 2C.
=========================
The PACTRAC Juniors had a good weekend, taking part in the Frostbite run at Hinchingbrooke in the morning, followed by a 2-hour training session at Stanground.
Hugo Flikweert, India Lazenby, Byron Stother , James Lloyd and Ophelia Goodale have all recorded Park Run Personal Best times so far this year.
Phoebe Goodale came 7th in the Northamptonshire XC under 17's and qualified for the County Team, whilst Bea Faith just missed County selection by 3 spots, whilst running in the Under 15 race at age 12.
Hugo Flikweert took part in the Northants County Swimming Championships this weekend at Corby; recording PB's in both the 50m and 400m races.