Due to the water below being 11C and an air temp hovering around 6/7C the triathlon has been changed to a duathlon on safety grounds - BTF rules say that below 11C, then the swim should not go ahead and so it ended up being a 5.3km run a 56 mile bike and the full half marathon.

Instead of combining the reports into one I have left them separate as the opinions on the race vary.

Training aside, it seemed like I had done no preparation for the race itself as it was only on the Saturday afternoon that I worked out what time I'd have to leave on the Sunday that I decided it would be best to stay over somewhere. After a lot of panicked calls I managed to get a place quite close, it appears that there had been some cancellations due to the water temperature reports. The organiser had informed that the water temperature had reached a balmy 15 degrees, one of the lads at the place I stayed at said that there was a thermometer at the venue when they registered earlier on the Saturday and it indicated a very frosty 10 degrees. Brrr! 

Needless to say the swim was cancelled on the day, but in typical disorganised fashion it was only at the last minute. This was changed to a 5.3Km run, much to Steve's disgust! This threw all my clothing preparations and in my panic I forgot my timing chip. A couple of minutes before my wave started I made a mad dash for the car to get it. I returned clutching the device only to find the rest of my wave disappearing into the distance. I quickly caught up with the tail enders only to find Kay running her own race. I managed to work through about half of the wave before a very pedestrian T1.

Unfortunately I got stuck behind a car that was trying to overtake some of the other cyclists at the beginning of the bike leg.. It took about half a mile of shouting to get around the car before I could start to get motoring. The bike course wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting, fairly flat with a couple of hills. It was wet and a bit blowy so I was glad I had my thermal cycle gear on. I started to get a bit saddle sore after nearly 50 miles and struggled to maintain an aero position after that. It was at this point of the bike course that we started to head back to Camber Sands and Lydd, directly into a strong headwind :-(

Getting off the bike at T2 felt strange as I had no feeling in my feet! I hobbled over to my transition area and changed quickly (too quickly as it turned out) before heading back out on the run. It was at this point that I realised that wearing a soggy thermal bike top on the run was not such a good idea, as was wearing an extra pair of cycle shorts with a super thick pad. Despite this I managed to set off at a fairly quick pace of about 7:40 mins per mile which I managed to keep going for over half the distance of the run course before starting to tire. By mile 9 I was starting to slow down a lot and walk through the aid stations, by mile 10 this started to manifest into the odd 'walk of shame'. What I did like about the run was that the organisers had printed our names on the race number which the few hardy souls that were out supporting used to cheer us on.. That felt good.

Ant

Gutted that the swim was cancelled due to water being too cold. Have to respect the officials that enforce these rules for our well-being, however, 30-mins in 11 degree lake wearing a wet-suit would have been ok by me.

Had been looking forward to a decent dress rehearsal with Roth just a couple of months away. However, this race was therefore turned into a duathlon.

Well organised event and the marshals were extremely friendly, despite the horrid weather they had to put up with.

Jamie and Ant produced excellent performances and are looking good for 10 hour finish times at Roth, if all goes well for them in July.

Steve and Jim suffered set-backs with muscle strain and puncture respectively. Nice fast cycle course that is predominantly flat and reasonably free of traffic.

Would do the event another year despite it being a little disappointing this time around. Good value, good half-ironman on a good course with good organisation.

Jim

Unfortunately with Ironman training as this was for all of us there was no taper for this race and after a hard week training the half marathon was a step too far for my legs.

I'm still not sure if I am happy about not swimming or not, the first run was all about getting warm, control and taking it easy so had a fairly lesurly jog round once in T1 I had to change into cycle kit decisions to be made and I went with the wrap up warm one instead of the get out quick. As you can tell I decided to ignore my times in transition (11 mins in total) and make sure I was properly clothed and could walk.

Out on the bike and it was not too bad if you like the cold, wind, wet and lots of drafters this all paled into insignificance when my hamstrings started to play up. The bike took us through Camber sands I had never been there before and was looking forward to seeing it, I think I smelt it first which confused me as the smell was old oil in deep fat friars, not nice when you are putting that much effort in, I went past the source. Pontins, well made me go a little faster to get out of there, very dull uneventful bike so into T2.

Bike dismount is on a serious downhill and quite a few guys landed quite hard. This is where my troubles really began as when I got of my bike I could not move my legs and had to lean on the bike to move around transition quite strange, racked the bike and got out of my warm bike gear and into my trainers. Tried to move and could only manage a poor hobble, hamstrings, hips everything was screaming to DNF, bollox I said so I zipped up the man suit and moved slowly out to the run. Said hello to Kay, Emma Goodhead and kids and moved slowly off into my own personal hell.

The run started bad and just kept getting worse, my hamstrings/legs just kept getting tighter and tighter and after mile 7 or 8 I had to keep stopping every mile or so to stretch them

The day started bad and just kept getting worse in fact I don't think I smiled once well not until 400m from the finish line when Hannah and Sam Goodhead joined me to run to the finish line then I had a smile. Finished 25mins longer than I had planned but glad to have finished.

Would I recommend it. No not even if it was sunny.

Steve Mac

One of the marshals told me after that he had not seen so many DNFs after a bike leg - many were just too cold and/or cramped up to continue and a few who did go on the run, canned it after a few km.

351 on the start list for Marshman - 211 finishers given that there were probably quite a few no shows/DNS then I would suggest around 100 DNFs  that is quite a lot for any race.

Position                     Age group
Overall      Name         Position   Run 1      T1        Bike           T2         Run 2       Total
33       Jamie Goodhead    8      22:23     1:50     2:43:32     2:03     1:47:23     4:57:13
62       Ant Grey              13      26:41     0:00     2:49:26     2:38     1:52:27     5:11:12
96       Jim Graham         10      25:25     2:16     3:07:02     4:05     1:50:38     5:29:27
131      Steve Mac           17      26:54     4:33     3:01:46     6:13     2:10:41     5:50:09
 

In the past we have never had more than 6 athletes racing a Duathlon. This time we had 18 starters, and had it not been for the clashes with Marshman and Steyning Triathlons it would have been quite a few more! Mind you - the Marshman turned out to be a duathlon because the water was too cold!

The weather was the main talking point before the start. Cold and wet and with increasing wind, but compared to the conditions the weekend before it was something of an improvement.

The race briefing does not usually provide any interesting material for reports, but James was so focused on the forthcoming race that he could not get his head around the idea of a circuit of the car park for T1 and had to have it explained in words of one syllable. However, he had written the risk assessment for transition himself!

The first 10k at least got everyone warmed up.  Neil and James set off at a blistering pace. Whilst this would be a quick course in the dry, the wet conditions were totally different. There was mud, standing water, some technical turns where it was slippery underfoot and one dead turn to be negotiated every lap, but it is a great scenic route and an accurate 10k measured with a wheel. Neil (37.29) had the edge over James (38.37) and it would have been more but for a small error on the first lap which cost him 10 seconds. Rob, Steve and Mike were much closer together with only 24 seconds separating them at T1 - all about 41minutes. Rachel (46.44) led Hazel (47.42) in the ladies race. In the short Duathlon Fiona had a very fast 5k in 20.38, well ahead of Callum and Jade.

There were no great issues for anyone in T1 in the end but John MacTear became completely disorientated once he got out on the road. He first tried to cycle in completely the opposite way to that which he was supposed to. Fortunately David Ricketts was on hand to scream at him to go the other way - which he duly did - straight down the muddy Downslink path! David shouted at him again, and by process of elimination (he had now gone down every incorrect route he possibly could) John did a muddy U-turn and finally went the right way.

The bike route featured a patented, height co-ordinated marshal system to make sure everyone turned at the correct roundabout. The short course featured a short marshal, and the long course a tall marshal at the respective turn points. It clearly works as no-one went wrong on the bike circuit, and the only challenge was the weather. It was very windy and whichever course was being ridden it was into the headwind for the entire first half. Of course this made for a much quicker second half. It was also now steadily raining, just to make sure everyone got extremely cold, especially hands and feet.

James overhauled Neil on the bike as expected, with a 61m05s transitions and bike split time, and gained 3 minutes in total, to exit T2 2m23s ahead. Rachel overtook Martin, and Hazel overtook John on the bike leg, and Del had the vision of Trevor overtaking him like he was part of the Tour de France! Both Trevor and Del overtook Kate, but she did not have any aero bars which would have made a huge difference. Callum had the fastest Short course bike split with 41.48, which was not quite enough to catch Fiona, who left T2 34seconds ahead. Jade(49.07), Jean(49.42) and Julie (50.51) all completed the bike leg in the same order as they had left T1. Rose had a very steady ride and having been round the course 2 weeks earlier was much more confident with her riding and did 57.36.

T2 caused many more problems, mainly for the long course athletes because with frozen fingers and blocks of ice for feet it was very difficult to do anything. Rob was so cold he needed a hand with his helmet. Pete was happy to oblige! Hazel nearly resorted to doing the second run with her hat on. It was difficult to get shoes on with such cold hands, but eventually everyone was out running again.

Fiona easily pulled clear of Callum to do her last 2.5k in 10.43, Callum finished second with a 12.18 split and Jade made up some time with a 12.03. The long course race was proving quite a spectacle. It was clear that Neil was not giving up and ran an incredible 19.08, gaining on James all the way round. James had paced it well however and had 69seconds spare at the finish. Rob ran an impressive 20.38 to finish 3rd and was always pulling away from Steve who lost a minute over the 5k, finishing 4th and maintaining a 3 minute advantage over Mike.  The next fastest 5k was run by Kate in 24.15, making up a lot of time, comfortably faster than Rachel and Martin and much faster than the others and clearly enjoying it in spite of the conditions. Alan commented on her big smile as she was running round (and honourable mentions went to Julie, Fiona and Mike for being especially cheerful in the conditions). Apparently Rob looked as frozen as he felt, and Trevor looked positively pale by the finish.

The marshals enjoyed the race and several have told me how fired up they now feel about getting race fit. It was great watching the tussle between James and Neil - hopefully the first of many. As is now typical of out own races, all the earlier finishers cheered in the later ones and both Del and Kate had huge cheers when they finished. Several people have commented on how good the camaraderie is within the club - and the fact that everyone feels like this after a race in difficult conditions is great testament to what is now being achieved. For many of the athletes this was their first Duathlon. Well Done to all of you.

Author Steve Alden

I am running in memory of my Grandad, Jock who died in June 2011 after suffering from heart conditions for several years.  He was very active and a keen runner, running many half marathons, and only stopped on doctors orders in his seventies due to his heart condition.  His favourite past time was walking his dogs around the local country parks.  I know he is very proud of all my achievements to date, and I wanted to dedicate this challenge to him.  This challenge would only have been made better if he was here to see me do it.

So the challenge itself... The event starts on the 19th May at 1pm and I will be running as many laps of a 6.55 mile loop as possible in 24 hours.  I am hoping to run at least a minimum of 50 miles, and hope to be capable of more on the day... but you have my promise that no matter what I will do my very best!  There will be an area at the race HQ where I can rest/eat as and when I feel necessary, but the rest of my time will be spent running.

The British Heart Foundation save thousands of lives every year thanks to their ground-breaking research and innovative health initiatives.  They rely on the generosity of people like you to help them to continue their vital work.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it's the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.

http://www.justgiving.com/JadeOvery24

Her first triathlon, East Grinstead last year, was a DNF because of a puncture, but on Sunday Fiona confirmed her potential by winning the senior women's category in atrocious weather at the inaugural Haywards Heath triathlon, staged by Hedgehog Tri.

Fiona's win was underpinned by an impressive 11^thplace overall in the run category in 22.17 - and all on the eve of her birthday. What a way to celebrate!

It wasn't an easy race in which to score your first victory, with the wild wind and squally rain making for a perilous bike ride in particular and (look away Steve Alden) some lengthy transitions as competitors struggled to find the right combination of clothes to beat the weather.

James Dear, who joined the club as a cyclist, also based his second place on a storming run, a 20.23, the fastest of the day. Lawrence deserves a special mention for his seventh place, including coming fourth overall on the bike, despite his recent health problems. Just think what he can do when he's fully recovered.

Lawrencewas just one place and 43 seconds ahead of Phil, who, in his customary style took first place overall in the swim with a time of just 5.23 for the rather unusual distance of 384 metres. Barely time for a warm-up there, Phil.

Two places back, in tenth, was Ant, showing that all those death rides and the Wimereux trip haven't been wasted as he scored an eighth place overall on the bike leg, with an impressive 50.17.

Then came Martin Shoesmith, Mike and Steve Crocker, separated by less than a minute in 18^th, 19^thand 20^thplaces: superb results for three relative newcomers to the sport/club. Mike's wife Emma was fifth out of 23 in the novice race, her first ever triathlon. We expect to see her application to join the club imminently.

Fiona was in 36^thposition and then came a bit of a gap before Callum in 49^thposition with a decent bike leg, a slightly disappointing run and his usual disaster in the pool.

Tim had an excellent swim in 84^th place and Angela was delighted to finish her second sprint triathlon ever three minutes faster than her first, East Grinstead last year, coming in comfortably under the two-hour mark in 1.56.09.

The real heroes/heroines of the day were the marshals, though.  Respect, thanks and a warming cup of coffee to Mark, Rose, Ian, Claire Cresswell, Jon Webster, Jools, Hazel, Roger, Sharon and anyone else I've forgotten.  Not only did you make the race possible for the rest of us, you also helped to forge even closer bonds between our club and Hedgehog Tri.

Callum

The race was held on Sunday 29th, at the Dolphin Leisure Centre Haywards Heath and MSTC were well represented with 12 competitors. Club members did fantastically well, with Fiona Bussell winning the Women's event and James Dear coming second in the Men's. With Ant Grey's 10th, Phil Couch's 8th and Lawence Wintergold's 7th, MSTC took 4 of the top 10 places.  Competitors were greeted with strong winds and heavy rain, and this was the first time I have laid my kit out in the pouring rain! The bike was getting soaked and I carefully laid my kit out in a giant Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Carrier bag. As I left it, secured by my front wheel, I wondered which end of the car park I might find it when I emerged from the pool. This was my 3rd Tri and I looked on at my more experienced competitors, with their heavy duty water tight giant tupperware boxes, grinning at me whilst they put their gear in. Not to worry, the smiles and support from the fantastic MSTC marshals restored my confidence. The pre race briefing was excellent and we were told we had three policemen, with marshals, patrolling the 3 right hand turns on the bike course, with a "foot-down" instruction at the mini roundabout right turn by the Dolphin pub.
 
I noted 96 competitors made it to the start, from an original starting line up of 131, which goes to prove that not all tri-athletes are daft. In the pool we had the luxury of a 32m  length, just 12 lengths for a total swim of just under 400m. Oddly we entered at the opposite end from the pool emergency exit, which meant a 32m "walk" down the pool length before exiting. Running poolside was band, so competitors had to walk. I watched in amusement as early competitors tried to get away with "lifting" , the incidence of which increased with the increasing competitor number. I did try and "feel" the water in my swim as "Coach Jones" tells me, but the water was having none of it, so I fought it all the way. Out of the pool I gave an outrageous demonstration of "lifting" , got away with it, but on exit I was totally disorientated by all the bike park, the layout looked very different from the pool exit. I spotted my giant blue carrier bag, which to my relief was still on the floor and not up a tree, and it was sitting by my bike which looked a lot cleaner than when I last saw it.
 
The bike routed took us around the Sainsbury's one way system and you were then soon warmed up going up Paddockhall, the foot-down was very sensible at The Dolphin mini roundabout and a massive 25mph NE wind then rocketed you along the A272 and down the Cuckfield bypass. There was a lot of debris on the road and a sapling tree down just south of Ansty, there were very strong cross winds here and I held on to the tri bars like never before. We then knew what was coming.... a turn North into Issacs Lane and a massive head wind to fight. Fortunately there were always lots of cyclist to chase down here, but as we all crawled along, catching them was sometimes impossible. At the top of Issacs, you had to dodge the road works barriers which were now half way over the road, and for me a Crocodile Dundee hat,  which blew off a marshals head as I passed. A left turn, for another roller coaster ride on the Cuckfield Bypass, Ansty, Burgess Hill, Issacs lane circuit, before heading back to the Dolphin. I mad dash down Paddockhall before a dismount, and another scan for my bag, still doggedly standing where I had last left it.
 
The run exited the centre left, up the tiny Pasture Hill Road, left up Harlands Rd and once you had got to the top and would have a reasonable flat run, you turned left and down the very steep Lucasters Rd. Up the other side of Lucasters and once you were almost at the top, a left turn into a footpath, for a steep decent back down to the centre and around the back. You then played a bit of dodgems with the bikers coming back, and had 4 loops of this 1.25km roller coaster of a run! I had a bit of an issue with my number, I had lost the front number pinned to my cycle top, so I had to rotate my cycle top 180 degrees, to get the number on the right way around. This of course meant my top was on the wrong way around, I must have looked rather odd, especially as my neck zip was undone pretty much all the way down to the bottom of my back. The nice point about a small loop is you get to see all your team mates, especially when you run as slow as me. I was undertaken by Mike Jaffe, looking fresh after his impressive 3.14 in the Brighton marathon, Fiona Bussell on her way to her historic victory, James Dear overtook me several times, Ant overtook me and put his arm around me offering support, either that or he was trying to slow himself down going down Lucasters.  
 
The presentation followed soon after the race, I cheered very loudly to the thank you to the Marshalls, many of whom were MSTC members and did a fantastic job in the wind and pouring rain, and an even loader cheer for Fiona's first place, congratulations to her. I will be back for more next year.        

Martin

2^nd 1:11:16 115 James Dear, Mid Sussex Tri Club 6:36,:44:17, 20:23

7th  01:16:52 106 Lawrence Wintergold, 07:07, 46:58 22:47

8^th 01:17:35 125 Phil Couch ,05:23, 51:08, 21:04

10^th 1:21:03 105 Anthony Grey, 7:13, 50:17, 23:33

18^th 1:26:16 82 Martin Shoesmith 7:25, 53:11, 25:40

19^th 1:26:41 68 Mike Jaffe, 8:17, 56:42, 21:42

20^th 1:27:13 55 Steve Crocker, 08.10, 55:33, 23:30

36^th 01:31:52 49 Fiona Bussell, 8:20, 1:01:15, 22:17  (1st Lady)

49^th 01:34:32 24 Callum Murray, 9:28, 58:56, 26:08

84^th 01:53:10 74 Tim Cresswell, 07:21, 1.08.54, 36:55

86^th 01:56:09, Angela Murray, 11:31, 1:14:52, 29:46

Where do i begin? When i first got the email informing me that i had been selected to represent GB i just could not believe it! So i sent the BTF an email asking if they had made a mistake!! NO they said we haven't!!

I arrived in Eilat via Tel Aviv on Weds. 18.4.12. On the coach between airports in Tel Aviv i saw a sign for Jerusalem, it made me think of all those thousands of years of biblical history.

Wednesday was basically a free day after putting my bike together and setting it up. There was a swim recce at 17.00 and most people swam without a wetsuit as the water temperature was 21c. Most people after the swim were discussing the pros and cons of wearing a wetsuit.

Thursday and it's my BIRTHDAY!! Up early and out on the road at 06.00 to recce the bike course. Good road surface but very windy and open, lots of steep inclines on the way out. On the way back the traffic was starting to build up, luckily on race day the roads will be closed. Once back at the hotel it was out again to walk and jog 1 x lap of the run course. Only one incline which was on the way out of T2 against the wind, otherwise a flat course mainly on tarmac surface and gravel track. Then it was back to the hotel again for breakfast. At 09.00 it was registration time, then at 16.00 it was the race briefing and team photo. 17.00 it was bike, helmet and race kit check and racking of the bike in T1. I let some air out the tyres so that they didn't explode in the heat overnight!

It was all sinking in now, the enormity of what 1 would be taking part in. It was time then for the evening meal, plenty of pasta!!

It's Friday RACE DAY!!! Up at 05.00 and had two pots of porridge that i had taken out with me [good old Tesco ] At 06.00 i made my way to transition, luckily i was staying in the Team Hotel which was only 5 mins. walk.

Once in T1 pumped up my tyres and laid out my kit. By now i had made the decision to wear a wetsuit for the swim. Obviously NOT for the BIKE and RUN!!!! 
The majority of the age groupers had also decided on a wetsuit as the water temperature had dropped a few degrees. The organisers were very strict about what you could leave in transition, any excess clothes, track pump etc. had to be placed in a bag in an adjacent hotel. We had to leave transition by 07.00 with our wetsuits half on and make our way to the swim area approximately 400m away.

At the swim start there were huge crowds and music playing over the loud speakers, great atmosphere. At 07.50 our wave was called forward and you had to line up on this long matting that was laid out on the beach. Suddenly the music stopped and all you could hear was this really LOUD heartbeat over the speakers. As if i wasn't nervous enough!! Then on your MARKS and then the claxon. We're off!!!

We had been advised before the swim that there was a strong current moving from left to right so kept to the left side of the pack. I managed to keep a pretty good line out to the turn around buoys even though the water was a bit choppy and then it was back to the beach and the swim exit. The run from there to T1 was hard on the feet even though they had put matting down covering most of the tarmac surface.

My T1 time was a bit slow due to the run from swim exit and taking off the wetsuit. It was another 50m run with the bike to the mount line, then it was down on the tri-bars and go!!!

The ride out to the turnround point was extremely hard against a very strong wind and undulating inclines, average speed out was between 14 and 16 mph!!! The return leg was fantastic with the wind behind and averaging 30mph. Heading towards the finish of the bike i removed my feet from my shoes and performed a good dismount!!  [ i had been practising at home in the local school playground !!! ]

Into T2 a quick turnaround and out on the run, the first 500m was up an incline against the wind and then settled into my pace.The run was 4 x laps and by now the it was pretty hot but i dug in and even managed a faster last lap. 
What an amazing feeling as you run up the blue carpet towards the finish gantry and you hear your name called out over the loud speakers and the crowds are cheering!! I've got a lump in my throat just writing about it!!!

I may not have won a medal but i did bust a gut trying!!!

Swim  : 1500m              39 mins 42secs [ a PB my previous time was 47mins 23 sec !!]

T1      :   4 mins 42secs

Bike    :  40k                    1 hr. 22mins 50secs

T2      :   1 min

Run    : 10k                     57 minsOverall:  3hrs 4mins 14secs

Overall Position : 10th

The Dambuster Duathlon is a qualification event for the Short Course Duathlon World Championships 2012 - Nancy, France.

Dambuster Duathlon took place in perfect conditions on 10 March 2012 at Rutland Water, Leicestershire 10k run - 42k bike - 5k run

Margaret put in a fantastic performance and was runner up in her age group to last year's World Champion.

Steve did terrific race times and transitions but his effort was messed-up by a puncture towards the end of the cycle. However, he completed the cycle on the wheel rim rather than waste further time fixing the puncture. His form seems superb, so he is certainly capable of achieving a GB age group qualifying time on another day.

Jim thoroughly enjoyed an exhilarating event but was out-classed on this occasion by a fiercely competitive field in his age group. However, Jim has been selected for his GB age group to compete at the World Long Course Duathlon World Championships 2012 in Zofingen, Switzerland.

Results:

Margaret Hollamby  2:44:48 overall....45:30 10k....1:32:14 cycle.....23:51 5k

Steve Crocker         2:27:02 overall....39:34 10k....1:25:10 cycle.....19:46 5k

This is lited in the forum:

http://forums.midsussextriclub.com/yaf_postsm852_Free-local-Triathlon-series---yep-free-and-local.aspx#post852#post852

SWIM - BIKE - RUN

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/226519147379576/

After a successful 2011 The Brighton Tri Race Series are ready to offer more fantastic training and challenges throughout 2012

A group for all those interested in Triathlon events, both in and around Brighton, the BTRS Training Series has been set up to offer a set of FREE 'race conditioned' sessions to help you with your training. There are absolutely no costs for these events.

2011 was a successful season for all involved with the series and we would like to thank you all for being part of a fantastic Journey. With many new strengths discovered, new limits passed and new friends made it was a fantastic year that culminated in Novembers half Ironman challenge. The event was a tough day for all involved and for those who had the courage to take it on we would like to congratulate you for what you have achieved.


Our '2011 end of series' award night was also a great success, with recognition and awards handed out to our athletes for some exceptional performances. The evening raffle helped raised funds to support our local athlete, Sophia Warner who will be representing Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics.

We're excited about taking things forward in 2012, so with this in mind may I wish you all an awesome start to the new year race season. We're looking forward to welcoming new athletes into our ranks and also seeing familiar faces return from last year where we hope to help you reach some new personal bests.


Yours in good health and happy racing,

Kimi Kann & Kurt Charnock


For more information call 07878 259 255 (Kimi) or 07429 230 803 (Kurt), email kimikann@brightontriraceseries.com or kurtcharnock@brightontriraceseries.com or find us on Facebook by searching for Brighton Triathlon Race Series

To register just pop an e-mail over with your preferred race dates, and initially, a bit about yourselves to help me gauge experience ability etc.

I'm organizing handicapped triathlons this year as part of the series, as well as fixie only bikes for one of the races.


Available events for the South East in 2012:


- Wed 30th May - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Wed 13th June - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Wed 27th June - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Wed 11th July - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Wed 25th July - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Wed 8th Aug - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Thurs 16th Aug - 100mile bike ride. Westminster - Dover (In support of Josie Dade on her 1700mile London to Portugal ride. Giving one of our athletes a good 'send off!')

- Wed 22nd Aug - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Wed 5th Sept - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Wed 19th Sept - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Wed 3rd Oct - Sprint Tri - 7pm (800m Sea swim/ 20k Bike/ 5k Run) from Madiera Drive

- Sun 30th Sept - Half Ironman Distance Tri (1900m Sea Swim/90k Bike/21k Run)



**These are free but they ask that each participant volunteers to Marshall a particular point on the bike or run course for at least one of the series, that way we can maintain a FREE Tri series.


Daily training is available each morning at Brighton Marina. Please call Kurt Charnock to arrange timings. If you would like to hold your place for any of the above sessions please notify Kimi or Kurt.

A perfect morning, bright sunshine, 12 degrees, 5 knots of wind, no rain for two days, and a midday start to allow for a lie in. It all seemed so civilised.

I arrived at the Castle Coombe race track nice and early to rack my bike in a good position and sensed a change in the air from the November race. The average value of bikes seemed to be around the £3,000 mark with some very slick looking machines whose wheels alone probably cost that. Something was very different. A van pulled up next to me, and out jumped last years winner who kindly informed me that with the national championships looming, every serious duathlete in the area was using this as a warm-up event - my hopes of finishing in the top half were rapidly diminishing.

Time for some positive thinking - I still had a PB to beat, and a sneaky look around the paddock confirmed that the guy who beat me by 6 seconds last time was here again..

My pre race plan had me starting in the middle of the pack (rather than at the back), in the hope I would pick a faster pace for the first 2 miles. Off goes the gun and my plan is working well with only one tiny flaw. The pack last time did not include 200 duathletes wanting to compete in the national championships. Lungs burning, vision blurring I manage half a mile before backing off to a more sensible pace. My rival comes past me at the mile mark - but I keep the gap to 20 metres as we go into T1.

Out onto the track and I start reeling in some of those quick runners. The bike feels great on the road after a winter on the turbo trainer and my pace feels good. I go past my rival on lap 2, and in I go after lap 5 (10 miles) for T2. The ##*# next to me has kicked my running shoes out of position when he racked his bike - but transition practice works a treat and we are off on the final 2 mile run.

My legs are really wobbly and I'm not feeling good, throwing up or throwing in the towel both feel like attractive options. Just when it can't get any worse my rival cruises past me looking fresh.

Sheer bloody mindedness kicks in and I set about reeling him in.

With a half mile to go I realise that I need to get past him or he will control the finish. My stride lengthens and at 500m I go past him and another runner. I can see the 200m mark coming up, and suspect that they will kick on at that point. I kick at 210m, and then again at 100m. Through the finish line I go - VICTORY IS MINE!!! Oh, and I took 5mins off my PB.

156^th overall - not too shabby considering the field.

http://www.dbmax.co.uk/assets/results/745/original/web_duo.html?1330283559

Andrew Lennox

As usual there were a couple of pantomime horses at the front which must have taken at least 2-3 minutes of every ones times as the runners attempted to get past and skidded on the manure, another PB slips away in the first few minutes.

There was a strange orange lady running that looked like she had drunk some special Orange fizzy drink from Willy Wonkers chocolate factory, expanded in strange places and changed colour

Jade (who was not orange) lavished in the sun shine, it was a beautiful day, and she really enjoyed 'racing' a fast course. 

Steve Mac also had a great race and felt very comfortable all the way round until about mile 10 when allegedly Saturdays bike ride came back to pay a visit, a quick stretch (he did not say where) and by mile 11 it was all ok again.

Jade set off steadily increasing her pace and surprised herself when she smashed her previous best time (that was previously well over 2 hours!) and even managed a negative split

Steve was running in his new MSTC running vest and  appeared to be missing 2 nipples at the end and has customised his vest with red go faster streaks

Well done to Andy who was quite surprised at his result with a stupendous 1.21.53 and third in his age group he says that despite being 53, it just goes to show that by laying off the alcohol, abstaining from sex and only eating fruit, it really can turn a man from being a cart horse plodder, who in previous years has only achieved a PB of 1:39, into a testosterone crazed athlete capable of dramatically improving his performance by 18 minutes.

Colin tried to hide from all the MSTC runners to save being taken down in the final minutes fortunately Steve Mac did not spot him but Martin did a sterling effort to chase him to the line crossing  just a few places behind. Colin would have gone faster but slipped on Steve's nipples (not for the first time) as they rolled across the road in search of the orange lady (in a kind of cathodic way)

The general consensus from the throng of disgruntled sweaty athletes moaning as as they crossed the line is that ½ mile was added on to the course (700m by my and others Garmins), which meant most had run slower than they thought they should have. The organisers have amended the race results to try and reflect this but not correctly and most agree that the calculations are wrong and additional time should be taken off the final results.

Colin (in his very boring nerdy way) believes that at least 3min 40secs should have been deducted from his original time as he was running an average of just under 7.20min miles, where only 2m 20 was deducted, so he is going to take of an additional 1:20 it all helps so all should give themselves a proper adjusted time by deducting half of a one mile pace from the original time.

Jim and Martin would benefit from the Colin rule of taking of extra time time to give exceptional PBs as will Helen who did a stonking PB, Jade, Jean and Steve also PB'd which were most deserved with Jim doing  a spectacular 1.25.01 which should be amended to sub 1.25 and Martin about 1.36

Steve Mac smashed his PB by nearly 7 mins to show that level pacing and steady Heart Rate really do work and for the first time felt like he could have carried on for a few more miles. If there was a prize for the biggest PB smash then maybe Steve and Jade are in the running.

Jade reckons it is a great course, great day, fun atmosphere and great results all round, terrible organisation but won't dwell on any negatives, no  bumping into the boobtastic Miss Price so an all round good day!

And a big cheer for the support from MSTC spectators inc Claire and Tim who have had their loyalty cards stamped - five more spectator sightings and they get a big sweaty club hug.

After a very short millisecond Andy honourably fessed up that he was not a turbo charged whippet capable of creaming the opposition and smashing younger club runners into the middle of next week, he was ill on the day and one of Steve Macs new pace makers had taken his place. Although if its there in print it's hard for the 'race time denialist' to argue as Colin knows with his 2.03 London Triathlon certificate which takes pride of place on his wall.

So it was all a bit Pee Bee City on the seafront with about eight noted and sorry if your PB has not been mentioned especially as they may be more PB's with the statutory Colin adjustment

 Authors: Colin and various others

Sunday 12 February 2012, Great Walstead School

Still not sure how the three of us got persuaded into doing our first cyclo cross event; something to do with Steve Mac thinking it would be a good idea to have a team representing the Mid Sussex Tri Club and we just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. 

Mark Smith from the Crawley Wheelers kindly showed us the course the day before, which really helped familiarise ourselves with the snow, ice, mud, tight corners, Dougie's dip and the odd tree stump!  The only thing missing was the other one hundred and thirty two riders.

Morning of the race dawned bright but very cold - oh, what to wear! So we layered up, with me trying to match my colours - which in the end didn't matter as we were all a lovely mud colour by the end. Andy and I arrived with plenty of time to spare, to calm the nerves, which got worse when we saw how professional the other guys were looking, on their cyclo cross bikes and skin suits. I decided to break the reflectors off my mountain bike, in a desperate attempt to fit in. One team member even had a bell on his bike.

Oh, but where was our third team member? A thermos of soup in hand, Mat turned up 30mins before the start, all smiles until we pointed out it might be a good idea to familiarise himself with the course, so off we dashed to the woods.

There we found Steve, Kay, Tim and an old man under a blanket, which turned out to be Kevin trying to keep warm. They did a grand job of lap counting. Off dashed Andy and Matt to recce the course with 15 minutes to go.  Five to go...where are they?  Round the bend they appear with Mat stripping off, so Andy and I make our way down to the start and position ourselves at the back of the of riders. One minute to go, where is Mat? On the phone to his wife giving directions to the event before a swift handover to Dougie who finished off his conversation! 30 seconds to start ..where are my team members? Peeing in the bushes! Beware of yellow snow.

We're off and any nerves have now disappeared as we head round a field covered in snow, desperately trying to stay on our bikes as by now the route is really slippy. Into the woods and we try to navigate a load of hair pin bends which lead us into our first drop followed by a sharp turn to the right up a quick climb into more bends. We twist and turn on snow and mud until we get to a great little downhill bit, were we could pick up some speed and smile at Ant who was taking some great pictures.

Right hand bend and we are at Dougies dip, for me this was the best bit, straight into the drop no brakes and the speed carries you out the other side, just missing the tree on your right. I think I even got some 'air'! Round the corner someone leaves a tree across the path!  Off the bike, carry it over the tree, back on and we're on the home straight and then do it all again (x4).

The course was really technical and made all the more fun by overtaking riders, very slippery conditions (rumour has it Mat fell off three times!), trackside bonfires and Tour de France style drums and tooters!  A great day out and a huge recommendation to others.

For the three of us, being our first cyclo cross event, it was fantastic fun, made all the better with the support from the club, the sight of all those familiar faces spurned us on. 

Jean Fish, Andy Jenkins and Mat Record

 Photos here