Anna completed the 10km run/40km bike/5km run race distance in a time of 2:52:27 to not only produce a medal winning performance but also put herself in serious contention for an automatic qualifying slot for this year’s Duathlon World Championships, being hosted in Edinburgh in September.

The event also marked the first of two husband and wife results over the weekend as Anna’s husband Chris Priestley also competed and finished in a time of 2:35:56.

The day’s fastest club finisher however was Dil Wetherill, who gave a true heart and soul performance to finish in a superb time of 2:12:40, which included a brilliant sub-40 minute 10km run leg.

On the same day, Darren Greene took to the startline of the Tri and Run Spring Ballbuster Duathlon at Box Hill, in Surrey, and faced the challenge of an 8 mile run/24 mile bike and second 8 mile run. Not disappointing, Darren finished 51st overall out of more than 190 finishers to set a great time of 3:23:28.

Sunday saw five athletes from the club run the Nike Milton Keynes Half Marathon in bright but chilly conditions. The course, which was held on the various roads and cycleways of Milton Keynes city centre, saw Andy Chatterton finish first for the club in an exceptional personal best time of 1:21:22 to finish 51st overall out of more than 3200 competitors. There was also a sub-90 minute finish from Rob Davies who recorded a time of 1:29:43. Also competing were; Gerry Corrance (1:36:41), Richard Allen (1:38:12) and Lynn Allen (2:01:40).  

And finally, Ryan Johnson also covered a 13.1 mile race distance, this time at the Bath Half Marathon. In an extremely cold race Ryan clocked a time of 1:47:29 to finish 3061st out of more than 10,000 competitors.

In challenging conditions, and on a course that one participant described as “chuffing hard!”, Turner set a great time of 1:11:29 over the 25 mile race distance to finish 32nd overall against a top class field in which only one competitor broke the hour barrier; an indication of the difficulty of the course and conditions.  

On Friday Ryan Johnson took part in the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k road race and set a time of 22:59 to finish 120th overall.   

The last event in the five race series took place on Sunday in the grounds of Cassiobury Park, Watford and allowed the Hitchin based triathlon club to secure its second consecutive cross country title as well as honours across all other categories.

In addition to being crowned overall champions, the club were also victorious in the Men’s Senior championship, Women’s Senior championship, Women’s Veteran championship and second in the Men’s Veteran championship.

There was also individual honour for Sarah Stimpson, who won the Senior Women’s trophy at her first attempt and underlined her dominance by winning the women’s race on the day. Stimpson’s impressive form throughout the series was the icing on the cake for what was an incredibly strong presence by the club’s female athletes this winter.

Individual trophy honours also went to Lesley Dutton, Kate Turner, Rachel Armstrong, Gemma Sargent, Mike Russell, Jane Chappell, James Grierson and elite athlete Stephen Harrison.

In addition to Sarah Stimpson’s race winning performance, Steffan Ford produced an exceptionally fine run on Sunday to finish first for the club and 10th overall.

Sunday’s race proved to be a successful conclusion to not only the cross-country season but also the FVS TRI name, as the race marked the very last time that the club will compete under its former title.

Club Chairman and Head Coach Keith Perry said; “This was a fantastic team performance and a great legacy for the FVS TRI name. We now look forward to creating an even greater legacy as Team Trisports”.

Full results and timings from Sunday’s race were unavailable at the time of going to press.

On Saturday, Anne Chatterton and Dil Wetherill took to the startline of the Big Cow Winter Duathlon and finished 4th and 5th Vets respectively. Both performances were all the more impressive as the race marked Chatterton’s first ever multisport event and the first on road duathlon for Wetheril. The race distance of 4km run/11km bike/4km run provided both athletes an opportunity of some exciting race action.

As part of the club’s continued efforts to provide the highest standards of training possible, Gemma Sargent and Tim Smith both qualified as Level 1 British Triathlon coaches at the weekend. Their addition to the coaching staff was made possible by securing full funding via Herts Sport Partnership Community Funding. This brings the number of qualified coaches within the club to twelve and in turn provides it membership with a coaching ratio of 1 coach for every 10 athletes.

Last weekend saw the first official multisport race results under the Team Trisports name for the Hitchin based triathlon club formerly known as FVS TRI.

Setting the scene on Sunday morning, Dil Wetherill competed in the Triferris Chiltern Off-Road Duathlon in a time of 1:18:14 to secure an excellent finishing position of 22nd overall out of more than 200 competitors. 

Wetherill’s finishing position was all the more impressive as he’d suffered a mechanical failure during the bike stage of the 2 mile run/10 mile mountain bike/2 mile duathlon event.

On the same day, Steffan Ford returned to his native Welsh roots to enter the Fearless MTB Duathlon held in Ruthin, North Wales.

Racing on a course that consisted of a 5km trail run, 20km mountain bike ride and second 5km run, Ford managed to keep upright on the challenging course to cross the line in a time of 1:52 :20 to finish 44th overall.

There was also some on road race action, this time from cycle specialist Alex Turner who raced at Round 12 of the Imperial Winter Hillingdon Circuit Series on Saturday. Turner secured a 7th place finish in the Cat 3 race and means that he has secured top ten finishes in all four races in which he has entered and earned an 11th place finish overall in the 12 race series. An awesome achievement considering he only entered a third of the races!

Next up for the club is the final round of this winter’s cross country championship held in Watford on Sunday 21^st February, where they hope to maintain their strong position overall and secure their second consecutive championship.

Race Report: Simon Douglas

The awards ceremony,  held at the Mecure Letchworth Hall Hotel, saw local clubs and athletes recognised for their contribution to and achievements in sport during 2009.

Despite not winning on the night, the club is immensely proud to have been nominated and to have had it’s efforts and contribution to its membership and the sport of triathlon publicly recognised.

Such recognition only goes to further inspire the club and its members to achieve even more in 2010.

Returning refreshed from her recent trip down-under, Sarah Stimpson was once again in peerless form as she won the women’s event in a superb time of 35:42, a margin of nearly two minutes over her nearest female competitor! Her time also meant a finishing position of 18th overall and the third club member to finish, male or female.

Kate Turner and Gemma Sargent finished in second and third for the club in the women’s event, with times of  40:13 and 40:23 respectively.

In the men’s event, elite athlete Stephen Harrison produced a fine display to finish 3rd overall, and first for the club, in a time of 32:07. James Foy was also in strong form as he recorded a time of 35:07 to finish 15th overall and second club male. The third male to cross the line for the club was Steffan Ford in 36:16.

Another strong display by the club’s female athletes meant that they finished in 1st place in the Women’s A Team and Masters Team events; a position they also hold in the championship overall.

In the men’s events, strong running secured 2nd place in the Men’s A Team and B Team events and 3rd in the Masters Team event. In the overall championship, the men hold 1st place in the A Team and B Team events and 2nd in the Masters Team event.

With the club also winning the overall competition, Team Trisports will be looking for a big turn out from its athletes at the final round of the championship held in Watford on 21 February, to ensure the best possible chance of winning the trophy for the second year running.

Full Results: Stephen Harrison (32:07), James Foy (35:07), Sarah Stimpson (35:42), Steffan Ford (36:16), Andy Chatterton (36:34), James Grierson (36:45), Gavin May (37:29), James Bedford (37:30), Mike Russell (37:33), Steve Chalk (38:57), Charlie Harris (39:33), Chris Baxter (40:03), Kate Turner (40:13), Gemma Sargent (40:23), Andy Mussett (41:10), Ed Manson (42:06), Rob Davies (42:11), Jane Chappell (42:31), Darren Greene (42:39), Mick Humphris (42:48), Rachel Armstrong (42:57), Katy Jinx (43:25), Lesley Dutton (43:47), Max Lapoutre (44:33), Mark Beaver (44:37), Pete Eames (44:38), Drew Lowrie (45:15), John Wilson (45:16), John Rose (45:20), Ian Hobbs (45:40), Simon Douglas (45:48), Anna Holden (46:29), Paula Adams (47:19), Steve Rust (47:23), Keith Perry (47:52), Karen Dodsworth (48:02), Will Long (48:29), Darren Woodhall (49:23), Tim Smith (49:26), Jackie Perry (49:35), Richard Thomas (49:36), Steve Mussett (50:18), Kim Humphris (50:28), Tony Shortland (51:23), Lisa Dunne (51:37), Paul Dutton (52:13), Anna Priestley (52:30), Alyson Sprawson (53:22), Meline Fletcher (62:56).

From cross-country to crossbars; club coach and cycle ace Alex Turner raced in round five of Imperial Winter Series at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit on Saturday and finished a superb 6th overall in the 3rd Category race.

Race report by: Simon Douglas

On Monday, five athletes from Hitchin based triathlon club Team Trisports, competing under former name FVS TRI, raced the Buntingford Year End 10 Mile road race.

Finishing first for the club in a new PB time of 1:03:29 was Steffan Ford, whose impressive time resulted in a finishing position of 25th overall. Next to finish for the club was Chris Suckling in 1:10:38, just ten seconds ahead of Richard Allen (1:10:48). Gemma Sargent also recorded a PB, clocking 1:11:05 to finish 6th senior female. Darren Greene also raced well to cross the line in 1:11:47.

With more than 400 competitors taking part, it was a great achievement to see all five athletes finish well inside the top 100.

Boxing Day saw James Foy race in round four of Imperial Winter Series at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit and finish in the lead bunch, and an impressive 13th position, in the 4th Category race.

Also on Boxing Day; athletes from the club took the opportunity to work off their Christmas dinners by taking to the start line of the Pirton Boxing Day Run.

The event, which allows members to race with friends and family in a fun and relaxed atmosphere, was well supported by the club from both a participant and organisational point of view.

Combining race organising skills with athleticism, Dil Wetheril finished first for the club and in the process managed to keep fleet-footed Steffan Ford at bay by a mere two seconds, with Andy Chatterton just a further four seconds back.

Gemma Sargent led the way home for the club’s female entrants, with veteran athletes Lesley Dutton and Jackie Perry rounding out the top three women.

Also competing were; Mark Malone, who entered and won the fun run event, Andrew Mussett, Steve Moakes, Ed Manson, Keith Perry, Stuart Sprawson, Graham Perry, Elodie Irving, Tim Smith, Paul Dutton, Steve Mussett, Alyson Sprawson, Pete Eames, who ran with his daughter, Meline Fletcher, Naomi Woodland, running with her partner; followed by Sean Baker and Tony Shortland, who also ran with his daughter.

And finally; the club would like to acknowledge the fantastic efforts from friends and family of club members, who covered a wide range of ages and ability levels and helped to make the day even more fun.

Race Report: Simon Douglas