TURNER’S TURN OF PACE
Last Sunday saw three athletes from Hitchin based triathlon club Team Trisports (competing under former name FVS TRI) take to the start line of the 21st Folksworth 15 road race as part of their build up to the Brighton Marathon in April.
On a course the race organisers described as ‘testing’, Kate Turner set a great time of 1:48:46 to finish 85th overall out of more than 400 competitors and 12th female finisher.
Also competing were Jackie Perry and Paul Dutton who recorded times of 2:03:34 and 2:17:54 respectively. Dutton’s time was an improvement of more than 10 minutes on his performance in the same race last year and proved an encouraging start to his marathon preparations.
Again on Sunday, six athletes from the club competed in the Fred Hughes 10 road race. Finishing first for the club was Rob Davies, who clocked a time of 1:12:13 to finish 120th overall out of more than 600 competitors. Darren Greene finished in a time of 1:14:05, with Richard Allen just under two minutes behind in 1:15:59.
Rob Bugler crossed the line in 1:27:25, with Lynn Allen following home in 1:32:33. Meline Fletcher also raced and recorded a time of 1:42:26 on her debut over the 10 mile race distance.
From run to bike, James Foy raced in Round 9 of the Imperial Winter Series and finished a highly impressive 14th in the Category 4 race. As is usual with criterium racing, the racing was fast and furious with a large field closing up for a bunch sprint at the end.
On Friday, the club were announced as runners-up in the ‘Club of the Year’ category at the 2009 Comet Sports Awards.
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 were immensely proud to have been nominated and to have had its efforts towards to its members and the sport of triathlon publicly recognised.
Club Chairman Keith Perry said; “We are looking forward to a bumper year with the re-launch of the club and maybe hope to go one better and win the top spot in 2010″.
Race Report: Simon Douglas