DOUBLE PODIUM JOY FOR FVS TRI PAIR
Athletes from Hitchin based triathlon club FVS TRI made the most of the Bank Holiday weekend to compete over a variety of venues, distances and surfaces on both Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, as part of the Bedford Multisport Weekender sponsored by Trisports, Andy Chatterton and Dill Wetheril both produced superb performances to finish on the podium in the Off-Road Triathlon event that consisted of a 400m open water swim, 10km mountain bike and 5km trail run. Chatterton finished 2nd overall and 1st male-vet, with fellow member Wetheril finishing just one place behind in 3rd overall and 2nd male-vet.
As part of the same event weekend, ten athletes competed in the On-Road Triathlon on Sunday; with Simon Hall finishing first for the club in a time of 1:18:50 to cross the line 39th overall out of more than 230 competitors.
Also enjoying strong performances, James Bedford and Mike Russell both finished in the top third of the field to record times of 1:21:23 and 1:23:03 respectively.
As the only female representative of the club, Kate Turner continued to show her competitiveness by finishing ahead of much more experienced athletes to finish 3rd in her age-group with a time of 1:27:11.
Also competing over the 750m swim, 25km bike and 5km run were; Richard Thomas (1:32:35), Drew Lowrie (1:33:53), Tim Smith (1:35:32), Graham Perry (1:37:58), Chris Penfold (1:38:36), Greg Blount (1:44:00).
Sunday also saw eight members of the club take to the start line of The Orca Classic Olympic Triathlon and The Orca Sprint Distance Triathlon at the fast and flat Dorney lakes venue.
First home for the club in a time of 2:13:30 was elite athlete Mike Bridge; followed by James Grierson (2:25:22) and Jane Chappell, who finished 1st in the Female 40-44 age-group, with a time of 2:26:58. Also competing were Darren Greene (2:37:13), Rob Davies (2:40:33), who made his Olympic distance debut, and Simon Douglas; who recorded a DNF due to a faulty bike pump that prevented him from repairing a puncture sustained early on the bike leg.
In the sprint race, Stevan Allinson clocked a time of 1:23:07 with Ryan Johnson coming home in 1:27:03.
Veteran athlete Penny Wylie entered the VTTA 30 Mile TT East Anglia Championships at Newmarket on Sunday and completed the 30 mile course in a time of 1:27:50.
And finally, Wednesday saw Kevan and Rachel Armstrong compete in Race 4 of the 220 Dorney Evening Triathlon Series; with Kevan setting a great time of 1:10:14 to finish 36th overall out of more than 300 athletes. Wife Rachel also recorded a great time of 1:15:45 for the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run to finish in the top third of the field.
Race Report: Bam