AWESOME HARRISON SHOWS HIS CLASS
A weekend of race action by athletes from Hitchin based triathlon club FVS TRI got off to a great start on Saturday when elite athlete Stephen Harrison secured his highest ever elite class finish with an incredible 5th place at the Parc Bryn Bach Elite Triathlon in South Wales. The event, which doubled up as the British Triathlon Sprint Distance Elite Championship, was held over the official sprint distance of 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. Harrison’s superb performance saw him clock a time of 1:00:24, including a 32:47 bike split on his new race bike provided by Letchworth based triathlon specialists TRISPORTS. Harrison is now aiming for a top ten finish in the British Triathlon Super series, which is being held over 4 events. The last of which will be the London Triathlon in 2 weeks time.
On Sunday, twenty athletes from the club took part in a blustery Autoglass Bedford Classic Triathlon. Finishing first for the club was Rob Wilson, who set an excellent time of 2:14:50 for the Olympic distance of 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run. There were also impressive performances by James Foy (2:17:50), James Grierson (2:24:42), Richard Melvern (2:25:14) and Simon Shaw (2:29:22), who all set sub 2:30 times. First female finisher for the club was Gemma Sargent, who again put in a great performance in her first season of triathlon to post a time of 2:31:50. The race also marked the Olympic distance debuts of Rachel Armstrong, in a great time of 2:37:35, Graham Perry (2:49:51), Tim Smith (2:57:34) and Lynn Allen (2:59:34). Also competing were; Chris Priestley (2:38:14),Jackie Perry (2:38:49), Greg Evans (2:42:44), Ed Manson (2:43:52), Steve Mussett (2:52:54), Paul Dutton (2:56:34), Nina Pitcairn (3:00:29), Stevan Allison (3:05:29), Alyson Sprawson (3:05:59), Meline Fletcher (3:16:19) and Ryan Johnson (3:30:34).
Again on Sunday, six athletes took part in the Box End 3.8km Long Swim. First home for the club was Ian Hobbs in a time of 1:01:26. Also taking part were; Kevan Armstrong (1:02:02), James Bedford (1:06:00), Darren Woodhall in the non-wetsuit class (1:08:31), and separated by a single second, Dawn Green (1:24:08) and Greg Blount (1:24:09).
Andy Chatterton took part in the Thetford Summer MTB Series on Sunday, setting a time of 2:27:02 to finish in 59th place overall.
Saturday saw club coach Alex Turner compete at the Terry Cronin Memorial Race and again put in an impressive performance to just miss out on a top ten finish.
Steffan Ford made an impressive debut at the Stevenage Cycling Club ‘Evening 10′ series on Wednesday to finish first for the club in a great time of 25:01. Also competing were; Tim Smith (26:27), Mike Russell (26:38) and Simon Douglas, who set a new PB time of 27:57; an improvement of 1:05.
Also on Wednesday, Rob Davies made his comeback from long term injury, and marked his TT debut, by participating in the CC Ashwell 10 mile TT; setting a time of 29:09 in the process.
Race Report: Bam
