Up North, Way out West and Down the Road.
There was a good turn out from TTC at the Cotswold big swim Paul was first home in the 2 mile event in 43:18, followed by Karl (48:20), Gwynn (56:31), Emma (57:29), Anne (1:12:41 and Nyall (1:17:39). In the one mile event Tracy finished in 35:38 followed by Sheena in 38:34.
Meanwhile Dave P, Scott, Ruth and Claudia headed up north for the Ripon National Championships. The journey was made easier knowing that the race start was at the civilised time of 1pm on the Saturday. It was a huge weekend of racing with many GB strips on show!! The event started and finished on Ripon racecourse with a single 1.5k loop lake swim followed by an undulating 40k bike route which required relentless peddling. It was topped off by a picturesque 10k run along tow paths and country lanes. Ruth logged a great swim which set her up to finish 4th in her age category which qualifies her for the ITU final in Rotterdam. Claudia admits she still has some way to go to improve her swimming skills but nevertheless made 6th in her age group. Dave kept the flag flying for the men by taking 8th in his age group while Scott raced well and was pleased to finish injury free.
The weekend saw Becky out flying the TTC flag in Wales where she took part in the Tenby Long course weekend. She completed the 1.2 mile swim, 66 mile cycle and half marathon course in a cumulative time of 7:20 and then celebrated a fine collection of bling with an impressive amount of cake.
Tom took part in the Sherborne Sprint Tri and managed impressive run and swim legs but unfortunately was let down by a miscommunication with a marshal on the bike course. This led to him doing 32k rather than the 20k of other competitors. This meant that while he was 11th fastest in the pool and 8th fastest on the run, he was a distant 82nd on the bike. Still a creditable 58th overall. We live and learn.
photo (C) Phillip Halling
More locally, the was a great turnout at the Upton race where TTC was well represented in the Sprint, Standard and Relay races. Ruth had what by her standards was a weekend off by sending her husband off to do the bike leg of the Standard relay while she dawdled in transition between the swim and run legs. Together they managed to finish in 2:25 to take 4th place. Kathy teamed up with an Allrunner colleague and partner to finish 7 minutes further back in 6th place.
In the Sprint event, Nick kept up a great run of results by finishing 1st again in 1:05. He was followed in by Paul (1:27), Pete (1:32), and Mike and Glenda both in 1:37. Glenda celebrated her birthday by finishing third in her age group and then boogied the night away! I suspect Sunday was a little quieter!
In the Standard event, Dave finished 20th and first in his age group in 2:23 and Jane was 2nd in her age group in 2:34. Ten minutes or so covered Gavin (2:42), Liz (2:49), Mark (2:50) and Alec in 2:53. Liz's result was good enough to earn her 2nd place in her age group despite losing her timing chip on the swim. Mark struggled during the last 5k of the run but determination saw him over the line to raise around £2.5k for cancer research. I'm sure if anyone wishes to add to this worthy cause, Mark will be more than pleased.
If your moment of glory from the last week or so is not on the list, you know what to do!
