Manx Tri Club

What a difference a year makes.  Last year's Microgaming Junior Triathlon, held at the NSC in Douglas, was held in lovely warm sunshine 2 weeks after the big snow.  This year, the weather wasn't playing ball at all and when the day of the Tri arrived, it poured down.  This didn't deter 91 hardy young Triathletes who enthusiastically racked their bikes and got ready for the first discipline of the Swim.  The distances are all graded according to the children's age, with the youngest age group, 8 year olds starting first. The ages then go all the way up to 14 years. The swim in the pool, is immediately followed by a cycle around the NSC Raceway, and then after re-racking their bikes in Transition 2, the children head out onto the Athletics Track for the final element, the Run.  This is a great opportunity for the children to have a go at a multi-sport event and a real achievement to complete the course, particularly given the miserable weather. 

Thanks to all the staff at the NSC for their assistance in staging the event and to the many marshals without whom the event just wouldn't happen.

One of the children left a pair of White Shimano cycling shoes behind.  if anyone has found them please get in touch with Martin on 450288.

You can now  Join the Club or renew your Membership on-line using the link below

Full Members - £20

Junior Members - £15

Social Members - £5                     

Membership of the Club provides the following benefits:

  Reduced entry fees to MTC events

·           Automatic membership of England Athletics

·           Reduced entry fees at Athletic events

·           Eligibility to buy Club Kit

See some great photos taken by Rob Quine & Peter Bradley on the Manx Tri Club's Face Book Page

Despite a relatively small field of 34 competitors, this year's Off-Road Winter Duathlon at South Barrule Plantation was thoroughly enjoyed by all who took part.  The event kicked off with a 3k Run starting near to the Foresters Cottage.   The run course quickly takes in a very steep 200m climb up to the top firetrack.  At the end of the 2 laps, Andrew Nash and Simon Skillicorn came into transition neck and neck, with Joseph Ricciardi, Russ Collister, John Coppell, and Neil Brogan following in quick succession.  Paul Kneen was next into transition, but despite being almost a minute down on the two leaders at T1, Paul moved up into 2nd place on the 1st lap of the 15k bike course.  Simon however stretched his lead out to 1 1/2 mins over Paul by the time the two had returned to start the 2nd Run phase.  Meanwhile Joe Ricciardi put all his years of Motocross skills to good use to pull out a minutes lead on Russ Collister, who had also pulled out a further minutes gap to John Coppell.   Simon wasn't going to be caught, further extending his lead and securing the win in under an Hour, with Paul holding on to 2nd.  Russ Collister had paced the event well and managed to overhaul a tiring Joe on the last lap to take 3rd.  John Coppell held off a chasing Andrew Nash to finish 5th and 6th respectively and a superb performance from 15yr old Nathan Hinks gave him 7th place in a fantastic time of 1:10:35. 

The Manx Tri Club will be hosting the annual Junior Triathlon event at the NSC on Saturday 5th April 2014.

The Event is open to children between the Ages of 8yrs & 14yrs (with the age being determined as at 31st Dec 2014)

The capacity for this event is limited to 100 children and so entries will be accepted on a 1st come basis. 

THIS EVENT IS NOW FULL

If anyone is looking for some winter racing the Lancashire Cross Country championships are on 4^th January at Witton Park, Blackburn. More details are on the entry form.  Further information including course maps are on Facebook.

Chris Crellin , Paul Swindale and David Carridge raced at the Bala Standard distance event on 8^th September. This year it was also a European Championship qualifier. In age group Paul finished 9^th in 2:13:23  ,Chris  13th in 2:18:03 and David 59th in 2:47:07 .Full results here.  

Jon McGowan competed in the Eaton Dorney Sprint Triathlon on 29th September at the venue of the Olympic rowing events. It was a  fast flat course but made slow by the strong wind. Jon was 2nd out of 42 in his age and 7th overall in 1:09:34.

Jon had persuaded his partner Heather to try the Super Sprint which was to be her first Triathlon . After being quickest in the swim she finished 7th in age and 61st overall. A great result for her first Triathlon.

Jon would like to thank Roger Raatgever for the use of his Cervelo.

For their first taste of off island triathlon action Manx Tri Club’s Brody Hewison and Rebecca Storrie travelled to Hever Castle in Kent, the family home of Anne Boleyn. Despite some 1,300 entries in the Adult Sprint event the 15 year olds managed to keep their heads and came away with good results to show for the long trip. Both are also members of the AXA IOM swimming squad so would have preferred more distance in the water than the 400m lake swim but showed their pedigree in that section with Brody having a clear lead over the field out of the water and Rebecca third out and first lady. Following the trip through a long transition area they set off on what was a hard undulating 20k bike course. Both lost time to the stronger cyclists but made it safely back to transition for the run still well placed. The 4k run leg was within the stunning grounds of the castle but neither had time to admire the view as they pressed on for a good finish.

Andy Nash's strong performance over the Season continued as he competed in the World Age Group Championships in London last weekend.  Andy managed fabulous 22nd in Age Group (and 12th Brit in Age Group) and a 102nd place overall.  Despite the shortened swim, Andy reported back that the bike course was super fast and he again finished with a strong run.   

Jon McGowan and Lawrence Weatherill flew the flag for the IoM and the Manx Tri Club at the tough Salzkammergut Austrian 111 Triathlon.  With the choice of a long and a short course, Lawrence decided to opt for the longer 1k Swim, 100k bike and 10k run.  Jon took on the task of the faster but shorter 1/2 distance, finishing the race in 1hr 55.  Lawrence posted a very respectable time of 5hrs 42m, particularly taking into account that the 2nd half of the long bike course covered 1700m of climbing!

Meanwhile, Karen Shimmin continued her winning streak at the Wiggle Portsmouth Sprint Triathlon.  Karen, fresh from her win over the Sprint distance at the IoM Triathlon Championships, took another 1st to win her Age Group 20-29 and was 3rd Lady overall. 

Next weekend, Brody Hewison and Rebecca Storrie will be competing in the Sprint event at Hever Castle - good luck to both of them.

Congratulations to all the 110 athletes who took part in the 2013 IoM Triathlon Championships today at the Mooragh Park in Ramsey (Photo - Andy Nash on his way to winning the Title in 2:02:15s)

Many thanks to Microgaming for their continued support and help with the running of the Event and particular thanks to Steve Shimmin for his excellent commentary and to Race Referee's Andrew Parker and Graham Stigant. Thank you also to the many marshals and water safety team that make the event possible and to Shane from Greenmann Spring for both supplying and manning the water station.

This was our first event will Electronic Timing Chips and Graham & Sue Hughes from Manx Timing Solutions did a superb job with the complexities of all the Splits.  Full results are available here and splits here and read the Race Report here.

LOST PROPERTY from the Tri - the following items were left behind at the Tri on Sunday.  If you think any of them are yours, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

2 x Swimming Googles

1 x Bike Helmet

1 x Pair of Flip Flops

2 x Windstopper Jackets