AWESOME HARRISON DOES IT AGAIN
The past weekend saw some fantastic results by athletes from Hitchin based triathlon club FVS TRI.
Most notably; ever-modest elite athlete Stephen Harrison continued his spectacular form, in what has been a vintage season, to finish third at the Bala Standard Distance Triathlon on Sunday. His result was achieved in a stunning time of 1:55:35 for the race distance of 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run. Fellow elite athlete Mike Bridge was also competing at the event and set a great time of 2:01:21 to finish 25th overall. Steffan Ford produced a strong performance to set a time of 2:14:08, as did Gemma Sargent, who made a her debut at the event in a time of 2:27:00. Anna Priestley ensured club representation by its’ veteran membership to cross the line in 2:46:32 and qualifies for the ETU European Age Group Championships for 2010.
On the same day, James Foy produced his own superb performance to finish first for the club at the Clacton Triathlon. Held over the same race distance as Bala, Foy produced an excellent time of 2:11:03, which included a sea swim along the famous Essex coastline. Pete Ryan was next home for the club in a great time of 2:14:10, an improvement of four minutes on his previous best time at the event. James Bedford also produced a sub 2:20 time to finish in 2:17:58. Also competing were Anna Holden (2:37:15), Sean Bradley (2:38:55) and Tim Smith (2:48:31).
Rachel Armstrong also took part in a coastal triathlon at the weekend, but this time in the somewhat more exotic location of Australia’s Gold Coast. Making her Great Britain age-group debut at the ITU World Championship Grand Final, she didn’t disappoint, finishing the sprint race of 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run in a time of 1:16:22. As a warm-up to the main event, Armstrong also took part in the Aquathlon event and finished 17th in her age-group in a time of 45:56. Husband and support crew Kevan also took the opportunity to race in the open Gold Coast Sprint Man finishing in 103rd in a time of 1:13:33 for first British athlete.
A little nearer to home; Pete Eames raced in the Fairlands Valley Spartans Jubilee 5 mile road race on Sunday, setting a time of 37:52 as he continued his preparations for the upcoming Standalone 10k race.
Brian White announced his retirement from marathon running with a 3:26:21 time for 214th from 1325 finishers at the Robin Hood Marathon. Normally a consistent sub 3 hour runner this event was a test for form after an ongoing injury problem and now means that Brian will focus on competing in duathlon events.
Ian MacKerness made his return to racing after recent illness to compete in the Icknield Road Club Charity 10 mile TT on Sunday, finishing 18th overall in 22:32.
Also on Sunday; Karen Parnell took part in the Bananman Chase 10k and set a new PB time of 52:34 to finish 2nd in her age-group.
Race Report: The Boss