Race Reports

Open Water Swimming at Ardingly Reservoir

The Club's Open Water swimming has now commenced at 8.15am on Saturday mornings and 6pm on Tuesday evenings. Usually between 20 and 40 swimmers participate.

This is one of the club's most popular activities and the club is the only organisation which has an agreement for swimming in Ardingly Reservoir with the Activity Centre.

Ironman World Championships, St George, Utah, USA

Having qualified last year, Stewart Conway went all the way to Utah for the World Championships. However he suffered a stress fracture in training so could not push himself. Despite this setback, decided to go to enjoy the experience, finishing in 12hrs 37mins 30secs. Reporting after finishing he said it had been an awesome experience and he had loved every minute of it. This was despite the 33 degrees of dry heat, very strong winds and more elevation on both the bike and the run than pretty much any other Ironman.  However he said his inability to pedal to full power or run had possibly played to his advantage as he could have been knocked over by the the strong winds, as happened to so many other athletes.

Ironman 70.3, Alcudia, Mallorca 7th May

Three members went to Alcudia to compete in the Ironman 70.3 (1.9km swim, 90km bike & 21.1km run) in warm and sunny conditions.

Andy McGregor finished in 5.49.40 followed closely by Katie McGregor in 5.53.11. Kate Bradford was delighted to finish in 6.44.42, although commenting that 90km on the bike felt a long ride.

Three Forts Challenge, Sussex Downs, 1st May

Helen Graham & Douglas MacTaggart took on this tough marathon, which is mainly on the Downs between Devil's Dyke and Cissbury Ring. It has 3450ft of climb and for this reason is known as The Tough One. Helen said she ran faster with Doug than she would have without his company.

The Mid Sussex Triathlon, Sunday 12th June

Members are looking forward to hosting the popular Mid Sussex Triathlon at The Triangle, Burgess Hill on Sunday 12th June.

Stewart Conway Training For World Ironman, Kona Hawaii

On 6th November Stewart spent a day filming with Ribble Cycles for a forthcoming mini documentary on the training required on the road to the Ironman World Championships. It is about helping 'age groupers' to get to the peak of fitness, including juggling work, family and the training required with regular 4am starts.

Abersoch Sprint Triathlon 16th October

Jacqueline Naish went all the way to Abersoch in North Wales for her first Triathlon. Despite feeling quite nervous, she completed the course in 2hours 14 minutes, coming 15th in her category. Afterwards Jacqueline commented that it was so much fun and that she is now completely hooked on triathlon.

Doug MacTaggart Ironmans & Marathons

Doug MacTaggart went off to compete in the Mallorca Ironman on the 16th October finishing in 13.21.15. He then competed in the Beachy Head Marathon on the 23rd October event, finishing in 4.55.28.

Finally, he then went thousands of miles away to compete in Ironman South Africa in Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth. Doug commented that it was a fun day out, with horrific sea conditions and really bad winds on the bike and run! He said this Ironman had the worst conditions of any he had done. However he was really pleased with his time of 11:58:28.

Helen Graham

Helen also competed in the Beachy Head Marathon finishing in 5.57.19. She laughingly said that she was easily tempted by a bit of bling (medal) and a burger on offer for finishers. She then went on to complete a Midweek Marathon in Milton Keynes on the 9th November.

Saturday 11^th September

Swimrun Holy Island, Anglesey

Three members went to North Wales for this coastal event (see image above). The sprint category of this event involves four swims (total 2.1km) and five runs (total 7.9km) along the beautiful coast of Anglesey. In order to get the most enjoyment from the event, Jean Fish, Sarah Hinton and Kay McMenamin ran together, finishing in 2.46.10.

5km Adur Swim

Eight members entered this event which starts in Shoreham with a 2.5km swim upstream in the slack water at high tide. Swimmers must avoid sandbanks to have a clear route. After turning at 2.5km the second half of the swim is then aided by the outgoing tide.

Kate Bradford was the first member home in an impressive 1.15.07, followed by Barry Davids (1.17.02), Esther Clutton (1.19.31), Liane Davids (1.22.54), Vicky Von der Linden (1.28.08), Adam Bryant (1.29.22), Vicki Revis (1.31.55) and Kirsty Perryman-Best (1.32.00). Vicky Von der Linden was pleasantly surprised with her time as she had not managed much training.

Sunday 12^th September

Half Ironman Bowood Wiltshire

Luc Berthouze enjoyed the Capability Brown parkland setting but there were some challenging hills for this very scenic half ironman event (1.2m swim, 56 mile bike, 21.1km run) on Bowood Estate, finishing in 5.05.50.

Brighton Marathon

Five members participated in the Brighton marathon this year in warm, sunny weather. Tom Haywood was the first to finish in a respectable 3.06.59. Mike Jaffe finished in 3.20.34, followed by Doug MacTaggart (4.55.10), Angela Murray in her first marathon (5.41.29) and Helen Graham (6.34.11). The organisers have apologised as the course was 568m too long!

World Long Distance Triathlon Championships Almere, Amsterdam

Stewart Conway continued in World Championship events in Amsterdam this weekend, finishing in 10.06.36 and placing 13^th out of 34 in his M45 age group and 83^rd out of 233 overall.

A broken hip and torn knee cartilage from a cycling accident in September 2019 prevented Jim Graham doing two important things the following month. He could neither run for the England Age Group Marathon Team nor compete at the 2019 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii.

He had completed 99 marathon finishes in 10 years with 7 finishes under 3 hours and his fastest time of 2:51 at Brighton Marathon at age 52. A burst appendix 6 weeks before the 2018 Ironman World Championship impaired his performance in that particular race but top results during that season meant he was 'The Overall Ironman World Number One' in the age 55-59 category.

Jim has been recovering during 2020 and most marathon races were canceled due to COVID social distancing rules. Races for up to 30 runners have just been reintroduced and Jim managed an official marathon finish in Kent in a time of 6:26 on 26^th July. He is delighted with the 100-Marathon Club Medal and Megamarathoner Shirt but most of all he cherishes the card made by his kids.

Many thanks to MSTC members Carol, James and Douglas MacTaggart plus Helen Graham for running with Jim to help him get his 100^th Marathon finish. Celebrations included a much-needed haircut and shave.

Thank you to Rachel and Traviss of SVN who staged the 'Very British Challenge' Marathon at Betteshanger Country Park in Deal, Kent. A very pleasant undulating trail run of 6 laps around a 4.37 miles course mostly on gravel.

Over the past three weeks Mid Sussex Triathlon Club members have been running marathons in Manchester, Brighton & London, with Dr James Graham running all three.

Manchester Marathon 8th April

James Graham completed this marathon in 2.59.52, coming 21st in his age group. Sarah Moore also ran this marathon coming in with a time of 4.23.25.

Brighton Marathon 15th April

James Graham was running again coming in with a time of 3.12.58, placing 29th in the 50-59 group. Doug MacTaggart and Clair Hunt also ran, coming in with a times of 4.24.36 and 7.04.21

London Marathon 22nd April

Five members ran the London Marathon this year with Mike Jaffe being the 1st club member to finish in 3.12.40, James Graham, running his 3rd marathon in 3 weeks came in on 3.13.23, with Steve Alden the 3rd member to finish in 3.33.36. Kevin James was close behind, finishing in 3.40.49, whilst Clair Hunt completed her second marathon in a week with a time of 7.30.56.

Uckfield Triathlons 22nd April

Meanwhile other members got their Triathlon season underway closer to home at Uckfield. Phil Couch and Paul Richardson took on the Standard Triathlon (600m swim, 22km bike & 5.25km run) with Phil finishing 4th overall in 1.08.36, and Paul finishing in 47th place in 1.31.31. Lawrence Wintergold came in 5th in the Sprint Triathlon (400m swim, 16.5km bike, 3.5km run) in 51.19 with Jon Clark following on in 1.05.36.

Bluebell 10 mile Angmering

Sam Drake enjoyed the picturesque Bluebell 10 mile event in the grounds of the Angmering Estate, completing the course in 1.59.21.