In the end 9 hardy souls took part, 2 for the short course and 7 for the long. At the off, Phil Couch was initially quickest, but Neil then reeled him in and went on to run 38.17 for the 10k, which was very impressive as it was quite wet and slippery and muddy in places. Jim Graham was next through in 40.56.
Phil was doing the short course as he is just getting fit again and completed 5k in 19.24. Rachel and Lucy were running at the same pace, but Lucy was doing 5k (23.26) and Rachel 10k (47.12). It was great to see Jeff back racing again. 47.38 for 10k may have been the slowest on the day, but is still a respectable stand alone time for this sort of course.
The times will show that Jim had the fastest T1, but it was one
of the most bizarre transitions ever. He reached the mount point
still wearing his trainers then proceeded to change into his bike
shoes and dumping the trainers with Helen who was marshaling there.
Phil is the man to watch in T1, because he is so quick you might
miss him - very slick!
John MacTear learnt from last year's error and got out of T1
without a hitch this time. Lucy took the most leisurely approach
but getting the right number of layers on for a cold bike leg was
the key to survival.
The bike course was modified from last year due to roadworks.
However it is much easier to navigate and nobody went wrong,
although the excellent marshaling form Helen, Gordon and Andy as
well as Sharon on the run course guaranteed it. Neil is clearly on
top form at the moment because sub 64 minutes on a cold wet and
windy day was awesome. Most people were slower than their
usual but the weather did get worse once the rain
started and the wind picked up, especially on the return leg of
the lap. If you look at the results you will see that there were no
bad times - everyone did so well in the conditions.
T2 is always interesting. Phil again showed what is possible, with an astonishing 20 second split. Ant looked like he had a good T2, but not before he came in the out way, and then had to go back out and round to the proper dismount at the car park entrance. Luckily we weren't penalising anyone for transition aberrations. Rob took both his transitions (and most of the race) at a laid back pace, he always looked like he had loads left in the tank.
Most people ran the last 5k at a slightly slower pace than the first 10k, but Neil still managed sub 20 minutes and it was Rob with the second fastest time in 21.30, although again no-one was slow. Phil managed 10.15 for his last 2.5k for a very fast overall performance in the sprint race, and Lucy again ran strongly with a 12.06 lap.
Prize for the most cheerful athlete must go to John for insisting on enjoying himself all the way round whilst still making a huge effort and racing extremely well.
Thank you again to all the marshals, Sharon Chladek, Helen Graham, Gordon Skeats, Andy Jenkins and Hazel Tuppen. Everyone appreciated all of your efforts and support. Special thanks go to Hazel for bringing her homemade chocolate covered flapjacks - they were absolutely delicious!!
It was also nice to Mike and Emma Jaffe coming out of their way on
a long run to cheer everybody on.
LONG MEN
Neil Giles
38.17 1.20 1.03.58
0.53 19.40 2.04.08
10pts 0%
Jim Graham 40.56
0.56 1.09.53 0.57
22.51 2.15.33
9 9.2
Rob Hoodless 42.30 2.22
1.12.11 1.52 21.33
2.20.28
8 13.16
Ant Grey
44.43 1.23 1.13.54
0.53 24.09 2.25.02
7 16.84
John MacTear 43.56 1.23
1.16.44 1.04 23.57
2.27.04
6 18.48
Jeff Woodall 47.38 2.02
1.16.53 0.59 25.36
2.33.08
5 23.36
Women
Rachel Baker 47.12 2.20
1.15.23 0.59 26.44
2.30.43 10
0%
SHORT MEN
Phil Couch 19.24
1.00 0.35.45 0.20
10.15 1.06.41 4pts
Women
Lucy Williams 23.26 2.52
0.44.53 1.23 12.06
1.24.40 9pts