Race Reports

Ardingly Triathlon Race Report - 5 June 2011

The reincarnated Ardingly Triathlon, revived by Paul Hedger's Hedgehog Tri after a one-year break, was not on the BAR list this year, but with 12 MSTC athletes competing surely deserves a race report.

Five MSTC athletes - James Dear, Ant Grey, Andy Heath, David Ricketts and Callum Murray - were enticed to compete by the offer of a free place in the race in exchange for counting lengths in the pool, an experience that generated a new respect for those that do the tricky job of counting the lengths of four swimmers simultaneously, while remembering to stick the '2 lengths to go' paddle in the water at the right time for each swimmer.

Two others, Angela Murray and Rachel Baker, counted lengths but didn't compete, contributing to the good relations we are building up with Paul, who will play an important role at the Go Tri! Juniors event we are running on July 30 and 31.  Many thanks to them.

For those doing both, as James Dear said, it was a case of getting your counting head on first, followed by your race head, and not mixing up the two.  James, needless to say, had no such problems, coming second in the race overall in 1.08.50, with a magnificent bike split of 40.36, considering that the long drag up to Turners Hill - hard going at the best of times - was into the teeth of a strong headwind.

Performance of the day probably has to go to Ant Grey, though, who was 13th in 1.16.31, with strong showings in all three disciplines.  With a five lap run course up and down the hill on the college playing fields, I got plenty of chances to see him gradually closing the gap between us as he came round each time.

Also proving himself to be a strong all-rounder was Martin Sanwell in 32nd position, while Andy Heath's strong swim split of 08.19 drove him into 46th position.

Other notable performances came from: Trevor Moore, who was competing the day after completing the Arun River Swim; Stuart Anderson, with a welcome reappearance in club colours after concentrating more on cycling recently; Paul Wills, who's definitely getting the hang of this triathlon game; David Ricketts who continued his long-awaited triathlon comeback; Tim Cresswell who was reduced to a walk at one stage on the tough run course but still gamely finished in a decent time; Jean Fish, who threw her leaky goggles away in disgust as she emerged from the pool (don't worry Jean, I rescued them, and will return them when I next see you), but vented her fury on the bike course with a storming split; and Rose Ryan, whose delight at getting another triathlon under her belt warmed the heart.

As at East Grinstead, it felt like MSTC 'owned' the finish line, as our athletes gathered to cheer home each of our finishers.  Great shouting guys!

Oh, and perhaps I could just mention that I scored an Ardingly Triathlon PB and have been on a high ever since.

MSTC athletes' results below.  There were 149 finishers in the race in total.  For the full results, follow this link: http://www.hedgehogtri.co.uk/ardinglytri/docs/results/Ardingly_20110605_Tri_Summary_v0.pdf

Ardingly Triathlon 5 June 2011.  MSTC athletes' results
Position Name Time
2 James Dear 1.08.50
13 Ant Grey 1.16.31
32 Martin Sanwell 1.22.41
46 Andy Heath 1.25.00
51 Callum Murray 1.25.34
55 Trevor Moore 1.26.42
61 Stuart Anderson 1.27.38
65 Paul Wills 1.28.03
83 David Ricketts 1.32.44
111 Tim Cresswell 1.40.24
120 Jean Fish 1.42.58
128 Rose Ryan 1.46.54

Author: Callum Murray
 

With a lot of other races going on we were not expecting a large contingent from MSTC for a 100m Time Trial. Loz Wintergold and Dave Lashbrook entered but unfortunately Loz was struck down with a tummy bug that resulted in significantly more running than cycling. This left the door open for Dave for a stress free uncontested ride to 10 BAR points.

However Dave still had the small matter of attempting a PB over this distance but it was not going to be easy. This course can be quick, but today it was windy which made it very tricky.

In 2008, Dave did 4hr35m26s, and I know he was round about 4h 35s this time but I have not heard his final time yet. Clearly it is going to be close. Fingers crossed! (Just for the record Dave then beat his 10m TT PB on Thursday evening in 23m51s. Well done!)

Mind you the winner did 3h38m46s - a truly astonishing time - and about 5 minutes inside the course record.

Winner: 3h38m46s

Dave Lashbrook:    4h 35m approx      10 points

 Author: Steve Alden

We had 13 entries from the club, but Dave Lashbrook and Sam Anderson did not race, leaving 11 hardy swimmers on the start line. This is an interesting swim as it in salt water even though it starts 2.5 miles inland. It is timed to start with the high tide so by the time you reach the finish you are swimming with the current. Theoretically this could be the case all the way along but it certainly doesn't feel it.

There were about 250 swimmers on the start line, and when that klaxon goes the water just turns to froth as everyone scrabbles for room. There is bumping, kicking, elbowing, and occasional swimming in the melee that is the first 800m. Then suddenly it all settles down and as far as I can say, is just plain boring for the next 2k as you just concentrate on keeping the effort up. Nature did its bit to keep it more interesting as a headwind in some parts of the river made it very choppy, resulting in many unexpected mouthfuls of sea water. At least that reduced the risk of cramp with a steady salt intake. It was a relief to see the A259 road bridge as Steve Mac had told us that meant 1200m to go and time to ramp up to the finish. When we passed the Ropewalk Bridge he had warned us there was just 400m to go, and we were now in the strongest current. We all felt like Olympic athletes as one good pull seemed to propel you 5 metres downstream.

Steve Mac was easily the strongest swimmer of us without Dave racing and he did not disappoint with a very strong swim finishing in 57m25s and 33rd overall. Steve Alden was 2nd home over 5 minutes behind (62.54), with Andy Jenkins just over a minute behind (64.18).

John Liebers treated it as a gentle limber up before his double Ironman attempt next Saturday and cruised home in 68.35 - some 6 minutes faster than last year. (Good luck next week, John).

Pete Harris showed that his swimming has improved massively as he surprised himself with a 69.37, just seconds ahead of Jeff Woodall (69.44) and Trevor Moore (70.21). Trevor was also delighted to get 4 BAR points! He also beat last year's time by 7 minutes. Excellent! Pete and Jeff have not done this sort of distance before so this was an amazing achievement.

Katie Walch led home the ladies with 64.52, but had only got back from Hungary the day before and had lost a couple of weeks of training.

Claire Cresswell showed that her Lanzarote training camp had really paid off with a strong 70.43 swim, which hopefully will improve her confidence as she heads towards her Ironman attempt.

Jules was rightly delighted with her swim, nearly 13 minutes faster than last year, in probably harder conditions to finish in 73.29, one place and just 13 seconds ahead of Sharon Chladek in 73.43. This was Sharon's first attempt at this sort of distance and open water, so was a superb effort.

One final mention goes to all the family support crews who came along. Some followed the race all the way down the river bank! It was a beautiful day and I think they all enjoyed it.

The Results:

Men Winner 47.27

• Steve MacMenamin       57.25    20.91     10 points
• Steve Alden              1.02.54    32.47      9
• Andy Jenkins            1.04.18    35.42      8
• John Liebers             1.07.35    42.32      7
• Pete Harris               1.09.37    46.60      6
• Jeff Woodall             1.09.44    46.85      5
• Trevor Moore            1.10.21    48.05      4

 Women Winner 48.49

• Katie Walch                  1.04.52    32.87   10 points
• Claire Cresswell             1.10.43   44.86     9
• Jules Stuart-Colwill    1.13.29   50.53     8
• Sharon Chladek            1.13.42   50.98     7

Author: Steve Alden

Saturday 21st May, Bintan Island Indonesia (Olympic Distance Triathlon)

Having hung around in the heat, 38c and the humidity 93%, for nearly four hours, I was almost looking forward to the start at 14.00hrs. This was going to be my first triathlon abroad and my first sea swim tri. So you can imagine I was feeling a little nervous.

About an hour before the start I had to sit in a chair on the beach and get my arms stamped with the race number, that made me look quite professional! Lining up on the sands waiting for the start was amazing, just being there with all the different nationalities. Then we were off racing across the sand to enter the water, very different to a lake start!!

The water temperature was 29c and very salty!! Running through the water eventually it came up to my neck, I then realised that this was the swim leg not the run leg!! Once I got into my rhythm I was fine, I was even out swimming the jelly fish and the sharks!! The swim course was two laps, so we had to run out of the water around a marker on the beach and back into the water. No problems on the second lap except that as I got nearer to the beach I went to stand up and the water only just reached my knees!!! Didn't want to be accused of the not swimming the full distance!!!!

I was in and out of T1 in 1min 22sec and out on the one lap bike course which was very undulating on wide smooth roads. I was flying on the bike and managed to overtake loads of people, making up for the time lost on the swim!! No problems on the bike and I made sure I was drinking plenty as the temperature was rising.

In and out of T2 in 1 min 3 sec and on to the two laps run course which was on and off road and very undulating. I was feeling good coming off the bike and soon got into my stride. Although it was extremely hot luckily there were drink stations every 2K which had isotonic drink, water and cold sponges!!! With lap one out the way I managed to pick the pace up a bit overtaking a number of other runners and before I knew it I was sprinting down the finish chute!!!

What a fantastic experience and a great setting matched only by my lovely daughter and her husband cheering me on!!

My results:

• SWIM 1500m               47min 59sec
• T1                              1min 22 sec
• BIKE   40k                   1 hr 15min 33sec
• T2                              1min 3sec
• RUN    10k                   57min 51sec
• OVERALL TIME              3hrs 3min 48sec
• OVERALL POSITION       239
• AGE GROUP POSITION   2nd

 Author: Del Hastings

Its 03:00 pitch black and raining and I am trying to eat porridge... Have I gone mad or am I in a nightmare? No Claire talked me into doing Swashbuckler half IM with a start time 05:15 in all my years I have never checked the start time of a race when booking. That has changed now.

04:00 racking bikes.

Its pitch black and still raining, there's no flood lights and we don't have a torch so we leave the bikes in transition and go back to the car for a power nap. 04:30 Dawn back to transition (still raining) and set up, things are better now.

05;15 (apparently it has to be this early to get the slack water)

A deep water start with a very nice wide start and the water is lovely. Unfortunately no slack water but the current is not too strong. Two loops up and down stream, people were moaning after about the strength of the current but I did not notice it , I was about a minute slower than expected but I did find some feet to draft off so that helped, apparently the current got stronger the more time that went on. Feel sorry for the Ladies then as they started 5-10 mins behind the men.

Out of the water in a little over 30mins and a 400m uphill slog to T2. Biked out all going well. The bike route is great, although there was a mighty head wind, flat and fast with the obstacles of deer, cows and horses to keep you alert. Uneventful ride except being distracted by the foals playing and having to slalom my way through a herd of cows which was fun.

2hrs 28mins as the bike was only 50 miles but that's my day done this was only ever going to be a aquabike for me. There is a great sense of relief when you know you don't have to go out on the run.

I change and realise it's only 08:30 and on to join Kay and Tim in supporting Claire and a friend of mine from the midlands who I talked into doing this race.

Overall I really liked this race stunning surroundings and what can be a quick course so don't let the start time put you off.

Claire's thoughts:

I thought that on reflection ....as it didn't continue to rain and that there were some bright skies later on that its good to still be friends.... which is asking a lot when it was a 3 'clock start to the day, a power nap of ten minutes in the car after a quick drop off of bike in the wet dark un lit transition. The race itself went well'ish I made lots of silly mistakes that included getting lost as we racked up in the dark and then i ran the wrong way out of T2 and had to run down the hill and back up. I did a pb of 37 minutes - but it was a battle of being very tired after the sprint the week before and an Olympic with two week training camp at club la Santa... anyway its all done and dusted and now i only have to panic about the IM in 6 weeks.

Photos are in the photo section