Home and Away
The season is well under way now but we begin with the Newport marathon and 10k race. PJ went for the shorter distance, clocking 44mins for the 10k. Meanwhile, Martin and Julia went long clocking 4:03 and 5.22 respectively for the marathon.
I'm not sure where Jen Sue was but she was out doing her bit in what she described as 'the coldest windiest muddy triathlon ever done. Can you imagine the run route after so many athletes had passed through from 8 am til 12am, after all that rain the previous night. You have to laugh or you'd sit down and cry. Thought I was on mud runner. Great support and laughter especially going over the mud bumps all for one and all for one, made some great friends in the end we could not take it too seriously'.
And then there was the main event of May, our own sprint tri at the Leisure Centre!
We were definitely out in force on what proved to be a very warm day. Nick Slim retained his title from last year finishing first overall and first Male Vet in a cumulative time of 57:58 to come home with almost a 30 second advantage over the runner up. Tewkesbury Running Club was also well represented with Jon Mansfield taking the Senior Vet prize (1:02:14).
Other Club performances were Owen Grant 1:01:07, Paul Howell (1:12:34), Alec Vincent finished his first triathlon in (1:12:34) and it was good to see Jane Harris (1:14:02) back competing. Other notable performances were:- Russell Palmer (1:14:06),, Wayne Meade (1:14:37), Chris Redfern (1:16:21), Elaine Clarke (1:18:37), Glenda Gill (1:25:42).
Finally, spare a thought for Kelly Ann Archer from Evesham Vale Triathletes who stopped to help a fellow competitor on the bike course but still managed to finish in just over the 2 hours. A selfless performance that shouldn't go unrecognised.
It was a great day all round which ran like clockwork. We received a number of compliments via the website and Facebook. I'm sure Keith was well pleased with his first major event. As he said, 'it was all due to the enthusiasm and dedication of Club members and Tewkesbury Leisure Centre that we were able to put on such a great event'.
Finally there was one member who was racing elsewhere. Jo would have been racing at Tewkesbury but was distracted by the thought of winning a medal with a horse on it! She did however do the Club proud finishing the White Horse Triathlon in 1:22:55. She was particularly pleased to record a PB of 7:35 in the swim.
