Recent Events
A number of people have been competing recently with some great results.
Karen Shimmin was at the Chester diva Tri on 12th June and was second overall in a time of 2:18:59. Full results here
Andrew Nash was in Scotland competing in the Strathclyde draft legal race and finished 5th against tough competition in a time of 1:02:41 . Results are here
I am always pleased to receive race reports to publish.
Andrews report can be seen here.
Strathclyde Draft Legal Sprint Tri
June 5th 2016
Last weekend I competed in the inaugural Scottish Age Group Draft Legal Sprint Tri, held in Strathclyde Park, the same park as the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. There were 73 competitors in the race, with a strong competitive front end, including Bermuda Island Games winner Bobby Oag of Orkney; who finished second on the day.
The swim was hectic, yet after a strong start I found myself in a good position not far behind the front pack. I knew the course well and I knew that the only way I was going to have a good race was to push very hard in the opening laps of the bike leg, in order to catch the front groups. I caught a number of people on the 1st lap and before long I had the main bunch of about 10 riders in my sights.
Fortunately the eventual winner of the race got on to my wheel at the beginning of the second lap and by working well together we caught the leading group half way round the lap. Pretty gassed at this point I sat in. By the 3rd lap we were catching the 3 leaders and as we crested one of the hills the bridge was made at the expense of a few more riders. After a final flying lap I came into transition in 5th, posting the 2nd fastest bike split of the day.
Soon into the run both of my calves started to cramp to the point I had to stop briefly. Unfortunately this meant I lost 4 places and had to settle in a group behind the leaders. As the end of the first lap neared I could feel my legs starting to ease and I was able to push hard again. It wasn’t long before I managed to drop the group I was in and on the final stretch I regained 5th place and came over the finish line 1min 19secs behind winner in a time of 1:02:41.
This was a great race and, although it was not a fast course, I was desperate to take part as I knew it would be a good test and great speed training for races over the longer Olympic distance. I have to say that my participation in this event was solely down to the generosity of support from local sponsors Lord Cockfield Memorial Trust and additional support from Apollo Blinds.
