Race reports

The Jubbs and the Wards went to the West Midlands presentation evening held at the Sports Cafe, Broad St B'ham. Helen was first in tristar 1 for both aquatholn and triathlon series whilst David was first in the aquathlon and 2nd in the triathlon series for tristar 2. Rachel Ward won the ladies race series for the West Midlands with Ros Viner 2nd and Jacqui Philips 3rd.

Well done to Duncan Jubb as the only Worcester tri club member to compete at the Wombourne Aquathon. 24th overall and 7th Male Vet with a 7.45 swim, 22.45 run and total time 30.30.

The Ironman World Championship 70.3 took place in Clearwater, Florida USA on 1st November 2008. Over 1200 competitors took part in this top race of the year for Ironman competitors who had to qualify at one of the 31 races held throughout the world. Les Bailey of the Worcester Tri Club had qualified for the race by winning his age category (70-74yrs) in the Monaco – France Ironman 70.3 in September this year.

The race consisted of a 1.2 mile out and back sea swim, 56 mile bike on closed roads and a 13.1 mile 2 lap run. The total mileage makes the 70.3. Clearwater, a seaside resort, is a perfect venue with good swimming in the Gulf of Mexico adjacent to Pier 60. The bike course was very flat as was the run, the only uphills being the causeway bridges into Clearwater from Tampa area. The race started at 0650 hrs with 5min intervals between various age categories. Weather conditions were ideal, little wind, clear skies and temperatures in the mid 70◦s F.

On the swim, Les came out in 7th position in the 70-74 yr category, on the bike he made up time and was lying 4th but on the run he quickly gained two places to finish in the silver medal position of second in a total time of 6.04.31. Les was extremely pleased as he had been suffering with painful knees and was expecting to finish in the top 5 category, not 2nd overall.

After many endurance races this year Les will now take a well earned race until the 2009 season.

From Neil Wicks - "Actually that’s the only part of me that doesn’t hurt. Shin splinter, calf cramper or hamstring destroyer would all be much more appropriate names. An established bi-annual event, the Ballbuster incorporates an 8-mile course that you run twice and bike three times. The main feature is the peak at Boxhill where the race starts. So after 6 miles of gentle downhill you have 2 miles of climbing. I can’t remember any flat bits. All I can remember is the constant rain.

The advice given by the organisers and by anybody who has done this before is to pace the first run, else it’s a very long walk up the final hill. With this in mind, I started at what I thought was a gentle pace. The first 8-mile run was completed in 53:57. Despite the rain there was a good crowd at the end of the climb with pom-poms and cowbells.

The bike section was very technical with the rain, the constant undulation, sharp turns, leaves and quite a bit of traffic. I found I made up quite a few places but should have gone with the road bike instead of the TT. The 24-miles was completed in 1hr 20:17.

A quick muddy changeover (transition was in a field) and I was back out for the final run. This was where pacing was to come into play. Unfortunately my legs had other ideas and, after completing the bike in the top 50, I started to slip back. A final lap of 1hr 0:28 gave me an overall time of 3hrs 14:42 and 57th place.

The only other Worcester member to take part was Kevin May who finished 51st with splits of 51:40, 1:21:13 and 1:01:23 to give an overall time of 3hrs 14:16. The Spring Ballbuster takes place on Saturday 21st March 2009 if anybody fancies a good early season challenge."

Duncan Jenkins ran Birmingham half on 26th October. "It was a challenging, surprisingly hilly course. The support from spectators was excellent, particularly down Broad Street heading to the finish. I finished in 65th place in a time of 1hr 24mins, improving my PB by nearly 4 minutes."

"The weather conditions were not kind to us with rain all through the race and wet roads. But the atmosphere was good and after the first run you soon warm up!. My time was 1:47:20, 4th female vet with splits 21:39 (5km run) 1:02:01 (30 km bike) and 23:40 (final 5km run)."

Rimini, Italy, was the venue for the World Duathlon Championship held over the weekend of 26th – 28th September. During the race days the weather was very mixed with strong east winds and rain storms.

Four members of the Club had qualified for the GB Age Group team, but Michelle Parsons had to pull out due to injury. However the others performed well. Rachel Hobbs, in the very competitive 30 – 34 year category, finished 5th in her class but also 10th overall lady in a fast time of 2.18.33 for the 10km run, 40km bike and 5k run. Les Bailey just missed out on a medal coming in 4th in the 70 – 74 year category in a time of 2.41.16. Finally, Ray Bunn in the 70 – 74 year category came 6th in a time of 2.45.20.

Over 200 competitors lined up for the Warwick Sprint Triathlon at the weekend. The start time of the event, which included a super-sprint and various Tri-star junior races, was delayed due to a thick blanket of fog over a section of the bike course. The BTF marshal pushed back start times by nearly 2 hours. Eventually the bike course was altered to two laps of the super-sprint course. This lead to some very quick bike splits despite road works and a detour. The race was won by Andrew Shipton in a time of 53mins 58secs.

For Worcester, Neil Wicks came 14th overall (9th in his category) with a time of 1hr 14secs. Neil thinks there were two other members of Worcester Tri down to race, as well as a girl from Runaround (doing her first ever Triathlon). Unfortunately he confesses to being a bit useless with names, sorry!

Alison Hughes competed in the Weymouth Jumbled Sprint at the weekend:

After a few weeks of awful weather, we were lucky on race day with almost perfect weather, warm with little wind and calm sea conditions for the swim. The sea swim was my first in an event. The water was much warmer than anticipated and the beach start was good experience. The run was fairly flat along the esplanade (although pedestrians had to be dodged!) and the bike leg was through the Dorset countryside, which incorporated several climbs.

I came 5th in the female category (26th overall) in the Jumbled Sprint in a time of 01:48:52 (after taking a wrong turn on the bike leg where I added an extra climb - a valuable lesson for the novice - always familiarise yourself with the route!)

All in all this was a really good event hosted by the local Fire Service, Paramedics and Police and although there weren't a large number of marshalls on route (hence my detour!) it was a friendly affair with a free BBQ and drinks at the local fire station afterwards. I'd recommend it for anyone interested in doing it next year. I’m currently trying to persuade my husband and his friend to join Worcester Tri Club. They both competed in the Jumbled Sprint, which was a first for my husband who came 14th overall in 01:43:05 and his friend finished 7th in 01:36:04!

Bala Standard Distance

Rachel Ward was a solo Worcs tri member to take part in this event. It was a beautiful setting with fantastic scenery and we were very lucky with sunshine breaking through to clear the fog .The race was delayed 15 mins so the swim was considered safe (ie the canoeists could actually see if anyone was in trouble).

My time was 2:35:19 making me 12th F >40 and 3rd F >45.

The very popular Powerman race was again the focus of attack for Kevin May and Les Bailey (the latter’s 5th visit) held in the pretty towns of Weyer and Grossraming, Austria. Phil and Michelle Parsons were due to compete but injury to both forced them to withdraw a week before the race.

Sunday 24th August was race day with good weather – warm, sunny and little wind. It was held over the distance of 14km (2 lap) run, 74km (2 lap) bike and 7km run. It’s a very tough bike course with long climbs up to 450 metres, where spectators line the summit, much like the Tour de France. Kevin did a very good race in a total time of 3.57.34 which was a time almost identical to 2007. Les was very pleased as he improved on his time by 5 minutes from last year and finished in 4.46.45 and won the over 70 years gold award. Next year the Club will hopefully have a larger contingent to this very competitive, friendly race.

Kevin May ventured down to the New Forest for a tough Ironman distance race on Sunday 13th July. This is a new, small, friendly race, well organised in and around the New Forest in Hampshire. The swim of 3.8km was in the Elligham water ski lake near Ringwood and an early start of 0530hrs was the order of the day. This was followed by a 180km bike consisting of 3 laps of 60km on undulating roads winding round the New Forest National Park. Riders had to be very vigilant as Forest ponies and local cattle were grazing the wide open spaces of the park. Some riders even encountered pigs – enjoying the acorns under the Oak trees! The last sector being a full marathon of 42km was held on both forest tracks and roads – it was a tough course with numerous sharp steep hills. It was a 3 lap course with aid stations every mile to supply much needed fluids and energy replacement.

Kevin had a very good race and finished in overall 4th position in a time of 11.40.39 this achieved in spite of mechanical problems and a puncture. He reckons it was one of the toughest Ironman races he has completed, but would recommend it to others who are looking for a first attempt at this distance.

Neil Wicks put in a good performance for his first half IM distance race coming in 45th at last Sunday's Little Woody in a time just over 5hrs 40. The highlight of his day was riding past pro Scott Neyedli during the bike! Unfortunately Mr Neyedli was at the side of the road fixing a puncture, but it's still a good one to tell the grandkids. Race splits suggest that the swim was a tad short, and that there were problems on the run course, with several competitors managing suspect sub 90 minute half-marathons. Despite this Neil said he enjoyed the day, especially the scenic bike.

Worcester Tri members were out in force and it was no surprise that the team event was won yet again by Worcester Tri Club’s team of Kevin May 7^th (1.03.35), Johnny Stephens 5^th (1.02.53) and Phil Parsons 2^nd (1.01.33).

In the age group results Worcester Tri members were also victorious:

Les Bailey produced yet another excellent performance to win the Male Ultra Vet in a time of 1.18.28 (93^rd overall) and Ray Bunn was 2^nd in that category in 1.23.20.
Ros Townsend-Hope won the Female Super Vet category in 1.21.26 and team mate Carole Caligari was 2^nd in 1.24.32.
Rachel Ward was once again in good form to finish 2^nd in the Female Vet category in 1.14.17, a time good enough to place her 4^th overall in the female event. Gill Jubb racing for the first time in a club event finished strongly in 1.23.02 putting her into 7^th position in the female vet category.
The most competitive category at events is often the male vets and Droitwich was no exception. Duncan Jenkins was 3^rd in the category in 1.06.46, a time good enough for 15^th place overall. Next home was Duncan Jubb in 1.11.03 for 11^th and 35^th overall. Both Duncans had raced in the day before in the Cardiff Triples event for the club.
Marc Scriven in his first ever triathlon (previously Marc would only ever compete in duathlon due to his dislike of water) was next home in 1.12.15 in 14^th then came Mark Howe in 1.13.40 in 17^th (Mark also raced in the Cardiff event the day before). Ever consistent Tony Knight recovered from a problem in the pool with his goggles to finish 19^th in the category (54^th overall) in 1.14.06.
Alison Hughes, another making her triathlon debut, completed the course well in a time of 1.30.37 finishing 22^nd in the female open event.

After the adult race the club as always puts on a childrens’ aquathon event over a shorter distance of 100m swim and 800m run. The tristart category for children aged 8 was won by Bethany Draper. Carrying on the good performances of the family for the weekend was Helen Jubb winning the Tri Star 1 category (9 and 10 year olds). Tri Star 2 category (11 and 12 year olds) was won by Rebecca Hudson (girls) and Sam Turner (boys). The Tri Star 3 category was won emphatically by David Jubb even after his exploits of the previous days. Sam Elliott, another debutant, won the Junior with disability category.

Saturday’s event was the Cardiff Triples Race held at Maindy Pool, Cardiff which saw teams of four racing together over relatively short distances of 200m swim, 5km bike and 1km run. However, the twist involved the team of four covering those distances a total of three times and in a different order each time. Being a team event it meant that the teams would swim together bike together and run together with the team’s time being taken as the last of the 4 crossed the line.

Worcester Tri managed to enter two teams and competing in this event for the first time did exceeding well finishing in 4th and 9th positions overall. The overall winners were from the host club Tri Team Glos in a time of 46.30. A special mention should go to 14 year old David Jubb racing for the first time in one of the Mens Senior team for the club. David’s team finished 4th in a time of 49.46 just slightly ahead of his father’s team, who were 9th in a time of 53.04. Both teams did win their respective waves and will use the experience gained this year to mount a better challenge at next year’s event.

Worcester triathlon Club members were out in force at the annual Bredon Triathlon on Sunday held at Croft Leisure Park in Bredons Hardwick. The event is slightly different to the standard distance races because the lake swim is shorter than usual at 1200m but the cycle leg is longer, 50km in total, and it includes the tough climb up and over Hollybush hill near Eastnor Castle twice. The final section is a 10km run from the leisure park out to the river at Tywning and back twice over.

The weather was exceptionally warm for the first time in many years for this race and with only a light breeze it was likely that times would be good even in such warm conditions.

Rachel Hobbs produced yet another superb all round performance to take victory in the ladies race recording the fastest female bike split of the day to finish in a total time of 2.42.54, good enough for 30th position overall in the race. Not to be outdone her sister in law, Emma Gill, finished strongly with the fastest female run split of the day to take second position in 2.45.45.

The mens race was dominated by Andrew Shipton from Stroud AC who tore away from the field on the bike and then held on to victory with a solid effort on the run to finish in 2.20.58. He was closely followed by a fast finishing Paul Rogers from Black Country Tri. Jon Rawlings from Tri Team Glos rounded out the podium positions. Worcester Tri’s Phil Parsons finished a close 4th in 2.25.14.

In the age group results Worcester Tri Club were well rewarded:

Rachel Ward continued her fine run of form by finishing 1st in the female 46-55 category in 2.58.59. Kim Bray finished strongly in 4th place in the same category in 3.52.19.

Ruth Finney took 3rd position in the 36-45 category in 3.03.06 and Tracey Hall 7th in 3.28.51.

Les Bailey was once again on the podium, even though he was in the same age category as competitors some 16 years his junior. The ultra vet finished with a superb last 10km run to record a total time of 3.11.17 and grab 3rd place in the over 56 age category.

New member Russell Willis in his first longer distanced event finished 9th in the 46-55 age category in 3.26.01 in what appeared to be a painful experience.

Kevin May was 7th in the mens 36-45 category and 12th overall in 2.32.45. he was followed home by Duncan Jubb in 22nd position in the category in 2.52.44, then came Tony Knight 2.57.30 (25th) and another new member Mark Howe 3.11.30 (32nd).

Mark Corbett swam and biked his way through the field before holding on the run to finish in 2.41.52 for 27th overall and 11th in the 26-35 age category. Neil Wicks was hot on his heels in 2.45.07 for 13th in the same age category.

15 members of Worcester Tri Club made the journey down to Dorney lake near Eton to take part in the Bananaman relay triathlon on Sunday. The weather was kind to the competitors with none of the forecast rain materializing but a strong wind would add to the challenge on the bike and put a small chop on the lake for the swimmers.

First off in the morning was the Team Time Trial. In this event teams of three raced together swimming 750 m in the lake then cycling 30 km on the service roads around the lake and then running 7.5 km along the towpath. The teams need to cross the finish line together to count in the race so all three race the entire event together to encourage and help each other around the course.

The team made up of Johnny Stephens, Kevin May and Phil Parsons managed to hold onto the 3rd position they worked themselves into on the bike section to finish in an overall time of 1:32:56. Worcester’s other team made up of youngster Callum Tustin and veterans Duncan Jubb and James Fowler worked well together to finish 14th out of the 43 teams taking part. Their time was 1 hour 45 minutes exactly. James was quoted as saying it would be his first and last triathlon of the season (he enjoyed it really).

In the Relay teams of three did one event each on a straightforward relay basis. Worcester Tri managed to pull together three teams and all faired exceptionally well even after some last minute changes.

First of the Worcester teams home were the all female squad made up of Rachel Hobbs, Michelle Parsons and honorary member Annie Emmerson. The girls were the first female team to finish and managed to secure 4th place overall in a total time of 1:32:46. Next home was a team made up of ‘first year’ members of the club. Alison Hughes completed the swim before passing onto Duncan Jenkins who flew round the bike course before tagging Mark Howe who brought the team home into 15th position in a time of 1:37:11. Last but by no means least were the ‘experienced’ squad of Mark Elliott on the swim; Les Bailey on the bike and Carole Caligari on the run. Their total time was 1:48:34 finishing in 36th place out of 93 teams.

All competitors gave each other a great deal of support and the club gazebo and banner stood out well on the run course (well done Les).

First time out for the our new event based at Top Barn. Gusty wind conditions gave the competitors quite a problem whipping across the surface of the lake making the water very choppy for parts of the swim and definitely adding another challenge to the lumpy bike course.

In the double-sprint event Worcester Tri Club's Johnny Stephens worked hard to take 3rd position finishing in 2.43.02. Rachel Hobbs recovered from a difficult swim, cut through the field with a strong bike leg to take a two minute victory in 3.03.00.

Worcester Tri Club were the winners of team prize by virtue of third placed Johnny Stephens plus Phil Parsons in 4th and Mark Corbett 8th.

Other Worcester Tri Club members finishing the long distanced event included Tony Knight who was 5th in the male vet category in 3.23.32 and Rachel Ward who was 3rd in the female vet category in a fantastic time of 3.26.56. Greg Albrecht completed his first ever longer distance open water event in 3.27.14 and Duncan Jubb, who was unlucky to suffer a puncture on the bike section, persevered to finish in 3.38.38. A special mention must go to super vet Les Bailey who completed the race in 3.46.00 only two days after completing a charity walk of 31 miles with some fairly significant blisters for his efforts.

The sprint event field included lots of first time open water entrants and the choppy conditions did little for their confidence.

Youth competitors dominated the swim, but the senior athletes were soon chasing down on the bike course. Worcester Tri Club's own junior, Tom Watts was just pipped at the line to finish in 1.22.10. Tom can be pleased with his performance being first junior to finish and 3rd overall.

Richard Gourlay competing in the male open category finished in 9th position (22nd overall) in 1 hour 38 minutes exactly. In the male vet category it was again a close affair with WTC's Jim Chalmers finishing 3rd (12th place overall) in 1.34.16 and less than 60 seconds separated the first two in the male supervet category with Worcester's Nick Turner coming in second in 1.41.42. Ray Bunn had no competition in his male ultravet but nevertheless the Worcester veteran still managed to finish in an overall time of 1.59.43 beating a good number of the overall field and was the oldest competitor in the short distanced event at 69 years of age.

Worcester Tri Club dominated the female supervet category with Ros Townsend-Hope winning in 1.48.15 and Carole Caligari second in 1.54.52.

Rachel Hobbs continued her fine form this season with a win in the Open-Female class at Saturday's Upton Sprint Triathlon in a time good enough to put her in the top five overall. The other Rachel, this time Rachel Ward, was also first home in the Female-Vets for the Olympic distance. Well done ladies! Other Worcester Tri-club members competing were Tony Knight and stalwart Les Bailey in the Olympic distance, Gail Flanaghan and Mark Corbett in the Sprint.