Racing for Freedom Tri this weekend was Richard Allen (pictured below), at the Mojito Standard Triathlon, organised by Monster Racing at Peterborough rowing lake for the second year running. After a very early start, Richard was in the shallow, murky water for a 1,500m swim, then a 38km bike ride taking in the villages surrounding Peterborough, followed by a 2 lap run totalling 10k around the boating lake. Richard posted a course best time of 2:44:27, despite a slower run than last year due to the heat. His time secured Richard 93rd position.
On Saturday, Ben Gilbert and Louise Willis raced the first swim of the Box End MASS START Swim Series. The very water cold meant that the 5km race that Ben had entered cancelled, so he opted to race the 3.8km. This was a distance too far for a lot of people, so quite a few "did not finish" were posted. Louise took part in the 750m race and was first female and second overall, finishing her swim in 13:47. Ben completed the 3.8 km finishing in 01:06:03, 11th male and 13th overall.
On a bright Sunday morning, 8 members of Freedom Tri raced the North Herts Road Runners Greenway Challenge. The scenic but challenging 13.1 mile loop of the Letchworth Greenway was enjoyed by all, with some fantastic performances. Lee Gilchrist was 18th in 01:34:58, Jonathan Hart-Smith was 33rd in 01:39:55, Declan McCabe finished 43rd in 01:42:59. Angela Phillips was 65th, finishing in 01:49:29, Christine Caine 123rd in 01:56:25, Dave Ball 125th in 01:56:56, Lewis Green 126th in 01:56:57, Andi Woolas 169th in 02:10:30.
Racing the half marathon distance in Milton Keynes on Bank Holiday Monday was Adrian Robinson. Adrian finished in 417th position in a personal best time of 01:49:22.
Taking on the full 26.2 mile marathon distance in Milton Keynes were Michael Day, Dean Heuer, Gareth Bates, Greg Bowie and Jackie Livings. The marathon boasts a scenic route, encompassing wide city boulevards and numerous beautiful lakes, picturesque parks and even the meandering grand union canal, with entertainment en route too. Michael Day was first in for Freedom Tri in 03:46:14, 134th in his category. Dean Heuer finished in 04:19:30, 393th in category, Gareth Bates finished in 04:16:47, 394th in category, Gregor Bowie finished in 04:41:43, 511th in category, and Jackie Livings finished in 06:10:29, 129th in category. Very well done to everyone racing!
Freedom Tri were in the mix again on Sunday, competing at a range of different events, including some early season triathlon fun.
Mark Lacy completed the Harlech Triathlon in Wales. The 400m pool swim, then 21km cycle was the easy park, the 6km run was a gruelling course, taking in sand dunes, the beach, and finishing with 200 steps to finish at Harlech castle. Mark finished 41st in category in a brilliant time of 1:28:21.
7 Freedom Triathletes were racing at the Chilly Triathlon at the Inspire Sports Village in Luton. This was a slightly unusual race, where the first transition from the 400m pool swim to the 20k bike course is not timed, to allow the athletes as much time as required to get dry and warm, so they don't suffer the elements too much on the bike leg. Stepping up were Kieran Feetham, Matt Cotter, Tracey Palmieri, Adrian Robinson, Peter Carpenter, Sara O'Callaghan, and Rob Sedgwick. Returning to triathlon, Feetham was first to finish for Freedom in 1:14:45, 12th in his category. Cotter was 8th in category in 1:19:13, Palmieri 9th in category in 1:23:20, Robinson finished 10th in category in 1:23:28, Carpenter, 1st in category in 1:36:03 and O'Callaghan, 8th in category in 1:43:52. Rob Sedgwick unfortunately did not complete the race, due to a technical issue on the bike.
Up in north Bedfordshire, Jackie Livings and Kevin Smart tackled the 20 mile road running race at Oakley. This mentally and physically tough 2 lap race was no match for Smart and Livings. Smart was 187th in 2:41:26 and Livings, 761st in 3:56:01.
Sunday saw 8 Freedom Tri athletes running the Welwyn Half Marathon, covering the 13.1 mile course in some impressive times. First home for Freedom was Adrian Sherwood, finishing 18th over all and 2nd in his age group in 1:25:08. Martin Hawke finished 13th in his age group in 01:27:35, Mickey Day, also 13th in his age group in 1:30:38, Kevin Smart, 31st in age group in 1:39:55, Dean Heuer, 42nd in age group in 1:40:40, Chris Clark, 47 in age group in 1:42:14, Jenny Cotter, 13th in age group in 1:45:29 and Adrian Robinson, 49th in age group in 1:49:46.
Meanwhile, Freedom member Declan Mccabe and his family (pictured above) took on a 14km swimathon challenge for Sport Relief, swimming at the London Aquatics Centre. Declan swam 5km in 1:55, Sam swam 1.5km in 40 minutes, their 12 year old daughter, Eva swam 5km in 1:35 and youngest, Hannah, 10, swam 2.5km in an hour. Donations to Sport Relief can be made via their page: http://my.sportrelief.com/sponsor/declanmccabe
Freedom Tri performed fantastically well at Sunday's Bedford Autodrome Duathlon Race. The run/bike/run event was competed over the Sprint distance of a 5km run, followed by a 20km bike, then a final 2.5km run. Despite a very cold and foggy start to the multi-sport season, the four Freedom athletes, Michelle Reeves, Suzy Hawkins, Chris Belcher and Lee Gilchrist all performed exceptionally. The draft legal race was a qualifier for the ETU Sprint Distance Duathlon Championships, which will be held in Avilies, Spain in June.
Reeves and Hawkins both finished in 5th in their age groups, in respective times of 1:07:46 and 1:09:19, and should automatically qualify for the championships by finishing in the top 6 in their age groups. Chris Belcher should also qualify, by being within the required time, finishing in 17th in his age group, om 1:03:21. Lee Gilchrist just missed the qualifying time, but did very well by finishing in 20th in his age group in 1:06:02.
Sunday saw the fifth year of staging the Saucony Cambridge Half Marathon, and as always, Freedom Tri we well represented at the race. Selling all 7,000 places in a matter of days, 16 "lucky" Freedom Tri athletes managed to secure sought after places to this race. The course has been reformatted to a single lap, which improved the course massively. Mickey "The Masher" Day (pictured above) was finished 49th in his category in a fantastic personal best time of 1:27:46. Chris Clark was next in 198th in category in 1:33:18.Lee Gilchrist was 181st in 1:36:30, Andrew Jones was 337th in 1:43:44, Jenny Cotter was 55th in 1:43:50, Angela Phillips was 53th in 1:44:58,
Rachel Lynes was 76th in 1:46:34, David Ball was 608th in 1:53:55, Gareth Sharp was 672th 1:57:50, John Phillips was 237th in 1:57:51, Janet Bassett was 271th in 1:58:42, Manjit Virdee was 703rd in 1:59:48, Matthew Cotter was 774th in 2:04:41, Jackie Livings was 489th in 2:17:23, Sarah Taylor was 722nd in 2:32:09, David Wright was 376th in 2:57:52.
Also racing on Sunday were a trio of triathletes. Lining up with 300 runners on a cold Sunday morning to take on the Baldock Beast half marathon. Reputed as the toughest half marathon in the area, even the downhill feels like it's uphill. Gareth Bates was first home for Freedom, finishing in 32nd place in a time of 1:37:38, Mark Lacy finished 105th in 1:47:57, and Gareth Bradbury finished in 187th in 2:08:37.
Freedom Tri were out for the fourth fixture of the Run Herts Cross Country League at Watford at the weekend. The cold and snow wasn't enough to put off Freedom's team of 19 athletes, who were out competing, amongst almost 350 hardy types.
