Manx Tri Club

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

Andrew Nash finished 4^th overall and 2^nd in the 20-24 age group at the Virgin Active London Triathlon. Fresh from his return from Bermuda he finished in a time of 2:03:19  You can view the results here along with some video of Andrew during the event. Jon McGowan also took part in the event, this being his first Standard distance event.  He finished in 2:17:00 and was 18th in the 40-44 age group, and 175th overall.  Photo here.  The personalised Microgaming race kit looks great.

Andrew’s next event will be our own Triathlon on 1^st September, then on to the ITU World Age Group Championship in London on 15^th September .  Jon's next event will be the Sprint distance race at Eton Dorney on 29th September along with fellow Club member Lawrence Weatherill.

Another Manxie, Sam Brand (Son of Ian Brand) has also qualified for the Worlds which will be the biggest Triathlon event to be seen in the UK since the Olympic games.  The World Championships were last held in Britain in 1993 when they were won by Spencer Smith of GB and Michellie Jones of AUS.

The long hours of training paid off when Jenna Macgregor crossed the finish line for the first time at Ironman UK in Bolton at the weekend.

With only 3 women competing in her age group she had only to finish to gain a podium.

At the end of the Bike Jenna was only 8 minutes behind the eventual winner. Her  other competitor did not finish the bike leg guaranteeing a second place . Her previous worries over cut off time were put behind her when she finished the bike with an hour in hand, and the event with an hour and a half in hand. Well done Jenna!

Swim 1:19:33, Bike 8:02:36, Run 5:42:38   with transitions  15:24:33   2^nd  18-24

Results     

There was one place available for Kona in Jenna’s age group at the awards presentation and it was not taken by the winner. She was then faced with a dilemma. Having initially been worried about cut off times she had a Kona slot in her grasp by roll back. For anyone not familiar with the routine it is a decision that has to be made on the spot with entry fee in hand. As it was never in her wildest dreams a possibility and the huge cost involved she also declined.

Seasoned Iron Man campaigner Rob Parker competed in the 15^th running of the Lake Placid Iron Man at the weekend . According to reports there was cool weather with wind and rain.  Rob finished in 82nd place in age group in a time of  13:37:37. Well done Rob how many is that now?

At the other end of the spectrum Jenna MacGregor will be contesting her first Iron Man this weekend at Iron Man UK, Bolton.

Jenna will be bib number 51 in the 18-24 age group. Long distance Triathlon is not popular with younger women hence only 3 in this age group. It does mean however a guaranteed podium if she can finish. Jenna is well capable of this but by her own admission it will be the cut off times that will be her enemy.

All the very best of good luck Jenna.

While many of the Manx Tri Club regulars were away in Bermuda there were still some left to compete in the domestic scene.

Russell Collister was away doing the Cowman National Middle Distance championships and finished 8^th in his age group 42^nd overall in a time of 4:56:56.

The water temperature was around 21°C and so wetsuits were optional, although the majority of the field still choose to swim suited up.

Results  

The British Triathlon Championships was taking place on our doorstep in Liverpool.

The temperature in the dock was 20°C making wetsuits optional. Needless to say the majority opted for the suit.

Gaynor Evans and Wendy Sandford were our only representatives this year. Gaynor was 33^rd in the 45-49 age group in 2:38:52 and Wendy was 23^rd  40-44 in 2:31:09.

The event will be shown on Channel 4 on 28^th July at 7am.

Full results here

The Triathlon results have been published and can be found here. The best placed Manxman was Andrew Nash in 9^th 2:08:44 and the best Woman was Gill Crennell in 10^th 2:42:59.

The Isle of Man secured a Bronze in the team event where the best 3 finisher’s times are aggregated. The three to count were Andrew Nash, Roger Raatgever and Juan Kinley. Without having any first hand reports it looks like the heat has been a major factor in the run with times being significantly slower than expected.

Congratulations to our Island neighbours Bobby Oag of Shetland and Kerry MacPhee of the 

Western Isles who were the Men’s and Women’s Gold medallists.

Some pictures can be seen  here.