The race, a middle-distance event which featured a gruelling 1.2 mile swim, 54 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run on one of the toughest triathlon courses in the country, saw a series of great performances from the club’s athletes, who had to contend with wet and windy weather conditions in addition to the challenging course layout.
Racing like a spring chicken, veteran athlete Adam Laycock finished first for the club for the second race running to make it two straight club championship victories. Posting a blistering time of 4:36:14, Laycock enjoyed a race long battle with Ironman specialist and fellow veteran Gavin May, who finished just over a minute behind in 4:37:39 to earn a well deserved second place finish. And also putting in a great performance, Simon Shaw rounded out the podium in third place with an impressive sub-five hour finish of 4:51:45.
Turning to the club’s female athletes, the same three women appeared on the podium as round one, but this time it was Kate Turner who finished first in a time of 5:19:34. Next across the line, Katy Jinks made the most of her great swim time to stop the clock at 5:27:29. In third place, Gemma Sargent, winner of round one, also dipped below five and a half hours on her way to a finishing time of 5:28:08. All three performances were all the more impressive as the race marked the first time any of them had competed in a middle distance event.
There was also a fantastic display of grit and determination from Ian Hobbs, who battled excruciating cramp throughout the bike and run legs of the race but still battled through to see the finish line, much to pride of his team-mates.
Also competing were: Pete Ryan (5:29:41), Chris Suckling (5:33:04), Helen Shulver (5:34:17), Simon Douglas (5:37:59), Drew Lowrie (5:44:24), Mark Beaver (5:49:41), Sam Tophill (5:51:24), Max Lepoutre (6:15:16), Darren Greene (6:15:16), Naomi Woodland (6:17:04), Mark Malone (6:20:55), Ian Hobbs (6:56:42), Gerry Corrance (6:05:05).
Deciding to take on a slightly less daunting challenge, three athletes from the club also competed in the ‘Little Beaver’ race that took place before the main event.
Held over the shorter Olympic distance of 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run, James Foy produced a fine display to set a time of 2:26:00 and a finishing position of 98th overall out of more than 600 competitors.
Just 41 seconds behind, Steffan Ford also produced a sub 2:30 time to cross the line in 2:26:41, with Rachel Armstrong setting a time of 2:46:03.
The final round of the Championship takes place on 27 June at The Northampton Triathlon and will be held over the Olympic distance.
On Sunday, Gary Grinham competed at the Fritton Lake Triathlon. Held over the Olympic distance, Grinham set a great time of 2:27:51 to record his first result for the club.