Sunday saw the last of the Run Herts Cross Country league series being played out on the frozen slopes of Royston. The 5 mile off road course saw 19 local clubs take on the snowy challenge. First home for Freedom Tri was James Parsons 57th in 41:29; Gareth Charles 68th in 42:40; Chris Clark 106th in 45:41; (Team Captain) Paul Fairchild 152nd in 48:47; Jenny Cotter 179th in 51:20; Mark Allen 210th in 54:31; John Philips 213th in 54:41; Angela Philips 221st in 56:04; Matt Cotter 222nd in 56:17; Emma Kinsey 232nd in 56:55 and Monica Corcoran 249th in 58:23. The cumulative series results ensured that Freedom’s Tracey Palmieri came 2nd in her age group – a fantastic third year in the top three. Plus the ladies Vets Team came away with the 2016-2017 trophy for 3rd place in the series.
On Sunday, six Freedom Tri athletes raced at the St Noets half marathon. Tracey Palmieri (pictured below), Jenny Cotter, Rachel Carling, Angela Phillips, Mickey Day and Declan Mccabe took on the 13.1 miles running race in tough, wet and windy conditions. Despite the tough conditions all six performed fantastically well, all finishing in the top 100 of their age categories, and a personal best time for Declan Mccabe. Tracey Palmieri finished 7th in her category in 1:36:58, Jenny Cotter 9th in category 1:39:13.
Rachel Carling 20th in category in 1:43:25.8, Angela Phillips 36th in category in 1:54:02, Michael Day69th in category in 1:36:56, and Declan Mccabe 82nd in category in 1:39:12
Letchworth locals Freedom Tri have been busy racing over the weekend. The swim season may have come to an end, but there's still multi-sport events going on in the form of duathlon, a run/bike/run event. 7 athletes raced at the Bedford Autodrome Duathlon, a qualifier even for the European Championships. Michelle Reeves, Chris Belcher, Michael Day, Chris Priestly, Gareth Charles, Thomas Sauka and Rob Sedgwick lined up at the start in wet and wild conditions, contending the race over a 5km run, followed by a 20km bike ride, then finishing off with a 2.5km run. Reeves finished in 7th position in her age group in 1:09:16, Belcher in 11th in 1:00:31, Day in 11th in 1:03:15, Priestly in 11th in his age group in 1:14:33, Charles finished 14th in his age group in 1:03:48, Sauka finished 20th in 1:05:36. Unfortunatly Sedgwick did not finish due to a puncture on the bike.
James Knight raced in the fourth round of CycloCross league at Leighton Buzzard. A twisty course weaved its way round Cedars Upper School playing fields. The torrential downfalls of the morning creating a slippery and tricky course, but despite that James finshed 39th in category.
Running the Manchester half marathon was Jenny Cotter (pictured below), finishing in a fantastic personal best time of 1:40:03, 30th in her age group.
Saturday saw the second fixture of the Central CycloCross League season at the Milton Keynes Bowl. 4 Freedom Tri athletes took part, with two of them finishing on the podium. Rod Sedgwick finished 2nd in his category in 32:53, and Jackie Livings (pictured below) finished 3rd in her category in 36:54. Rob Clarke fininshed 22nd in 33:07, while James Knight finished 35th in his category in 44:59.
Freedom Tri were well represented at the Standalone 10k, with over 20 athletes running the 10k course around Letchworth. Gareth Charles was 57th, and home first for the club in a fantastic personal best time of 39:16. 62nd was James Parsons in 39:35. 81st was Lee Hayes in 40:11. 87th was Mathew Freeman in 40:21. 91st was Chris Clark in 40:36. 131st was Michal Day in 42:16. 158th was Gareth Bates in 43:36. 206th was Mark Allen in 44:50. 272nd was Jenny Cotter in 46:10.
310th was Lewis Green in 47:21. 322nd was Rachel Carling in 47:29. 474th was Emma Kinsey in 50:27. 641st was Mark Bullivant in 53:30. 777th was Matthew Wainwright in 54:48. 803th was Rob Evans in 57:01. 854th was Gareth Sharp in 57:23. 912th was Robb Lockwood in 57:43. 1053th was Jane Britten in 1:01:11.
1072nd was Jackie Livings in 1:02:39. 1209th was Sarah Taylor in 1:08:04. 1306th was Samantha Sharp in 1:16:37.
9 Freedom Triathletes made the journey down to Dorest this weekend to race the Ironman Weymouth. Thankfully, they were blessed with pan flat a sea for the swim. Half Ironman first timers Liz Aitkin, Emma Croxon, Martin Hawke, Robb Lockwood, Sara O'Callaghan, Michele Reeves joined Suzy Hawkins and Rob Sedgwick opting for the 70.3 distance, swimming 1,900m in the sea, then off on a 57 mile bike ride, including 3,500 feet of elevation through out the course, and finishing off with a 13.1 mile half marathon run along the promenade.
Suzy Hawkins (pictured below) did fantastically well, finishing on the podium in 3rd place in 5:30:20, adding to the bulging trophy cabinet. Michelle Reeves finished in 13th in her age group in 5:47:33. Sara O'Callaghan, 32nd in age group in 8:18:22,
Liz Aitkin was 34th in age group in 7:41:51. Emma Croxon finished 37th in her age group in 8:30:54, Martin Hawke finished 119th in his age group in 5:57:31, and Robb Lockwood finished in 131st place in his age group in 8:27:37. Rob Sedgwick was on track for a great race, but unfortunately became very unwell during the bike ride, and was taken from the bike course by an ambulance. Thankfully he is recovering well now.
Ironman specialist David Wright doubled the challenge, taking on the full Ironman distance of 140.6 miles, swimming 2.4 miles in the sea, cycling 112 miles, and finishing off the day with a full 26.2 mile marathon run. David did fantastically well to finish 75th in his age group in 15:34:44. David is now part of a select group of people who have finished all 3 UK full Ironman events; Wales, UK in Bolton, and now Weymouth, and was presented with a special polo shirt.
Also racing on Sunday at the St Neots Triathlons were Jeff Thompson and Dean Heuer. Jeff raced the sprint distance of 750m river swim, 24km bike and 5km run. Jeff raced hard from the start, finishing in 54th position in 1:34:39. Dean raced the standard distance race, 1,500m river swim, 45km bike and 10km run. Dean finished in a fantastic 36th place in 2:51:48.
Sarah-Jane Court was representing Freedom Tri and Team GB on Sunday at the 2016 Gran Fondo World Championships in Perth Australia. Lining up shoulder to shoulder with professional road racers, former Olympians, and Tour de France veterans, Sarah-Jane did fantastically well on the 100km ride, finishing 25th in her age group, in a time of 3:51:28.
Sunday saw Freedom Tri's triathletes out racing for the Hertfordshire Triathlon Club Champs Standard distance at Stanborough Lakes, Welwyn, swimming 1,500m, cycling 40km (25 miles), and running 10k (6.2 miles)
Below are this weeks results. Attached is a photo of Simon Jackson chasing down Chris Belcher at the St Neots triathlon (photo credit Rob Evans).
Sunday was the NiceTri Events St Neots Triathlons, which was also Freedom Tri's Sprint Triathlon championship race. 20 Freedom athletes lined up to tackle the sprint distance of a 750m river swim, 24km bike and 5km run. 11 of the 20 finished on the podium in their age groups, Gareth Charles 1st in age group in 1:21:04, Suzy Hawkins 1st in age group in 1:25:30, Sarah-Jane Court 1st in age group in 1:26:22, Peter Carpenter 1st in age group in 1:58:13. Simon Jackson 2nd in age group in 1:14:53, Emma Kinsey 2nd in age group in 1:32:22, Tracey Palmieri 2nd in age group in 1:35:43, Helen Cairns 2nd in age group in 1:37:58. Michelle Reeves3rd in age group in 1:33:41, Jeff Thompson 3rd in age group in 1:39:39, Chris Belcher 3rd in age group in 1:15:42. Also racing were Dean Heuer 4th in age group in 1:27:30, Arnaud Pouillard 6th in age group in 1:19:19, Mathew Freeman 6th in age group in 1:39:06, Andrew Jones 6th in age group in 1:25:22, Declan Mccabe 8th in age group in 1:47:42, Martin Hawke 9th in age group in 1:25:04, Chris Clark 10th in age group in 1:27:59, James Parsons 11th in age group in 1:28:39 and Mark Allen 13th in age group in 1:29:55.
Taking on the standard distance at St Neots (1500m swim, 45km bike, 10km run) was Mark Cheadle. Mark did brilliantly well, finishing 16th in category in 3:11:31.
Rachel Carling was flying the Freedom wings at the Cardiff Olympic Triathlon. Rachel finished 23rd lady, 4th in age group 2:39:36.
Racing the tough and hilly Hitchin Hard Half marathon on Sunday were Gareth Bates, Andi Woolass, Manjit Virdee and Liz Aitken. In 66th position was Gareth Bates in 01:43:10,
Andi Woolass was 107th in 01:48:33, Manjit Virdee finished in 222nd in 02:12:10, Liz Aitken finished in 239th place in 02:20:56.
Jonathan Hart-Smith and Dave Ball raced the IRONMAN 70.3 Exmoor race. IRONMAN 70.3 Exmoor consists of a 1.2-mile one lap swim course. The IRONMAN 70.3 UK Exmoor bike course is a tough two lap course right in the heart of Exmoor National Park. The run at Wimbleball Lake is a three loop course on a mix of terrain including tarmac, hard pack trail and grass. The course remains firm underfoot even during prolonged bad weather. There is one short sharp climb in the course which is tackled three times.
Hart-Smith finished in 59th position in his age group in 06:12:03, and Ball finished in 145th in age group in 07:47:06.
Freedom Tri athletes were racing at various events over the weekend
Rob Evans raced his first standard distance triathlon at the inaugural Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon in Leeds. This race represents the pinnacle of triathlon competition in the UK, providing more than 5,000 recreational triathletes with a unique opportunity to compete on the same course as the world’s best, including home heroes Ali and Jonny Brownlee who will be competing in their last event on home soil before Rio. The race was contested over the standard Olympic distance, 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run. Rob did fantastically well, finishing 247th in his age group in 3:07:23.
Steffan Ford and Rob Sedgwick (picture below)raced the IRONMAN 70.3 Staffordshire race. IRONMAN 70.3 Staffordshire consists of a 1.2-mile swim in Chasewater reservoir and a 56-mile bike course through the stunning countryside outside Lichfield, Burton-upon-Trent, and across Cannock Chase area of outstanding natural beauty. The 13.1-mile run will start and finish at the historic Shugborough country estate. Ford was having a great race, putting in some fast miles on the bike after a good swim split when the weather turned and managed to get a flat tyre. A quick roadside fix and he was under way again. The run course could only be described as something like cross country, and Ford reported it was the hardest race ever, even compared to full Ironman distance. Despite the weather, bike and hard run, Ford performed brilliantly, finishing in 55th in his age group in 5:22:02. Sedgwick was racing for the Gordon and Tana Ramsay Foundation, and he raised over £4,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Despite recent illness, Sedgwick managed a PB of over 16 minutes, finishing 102nd in age group in 5:49:07, and is now looking forward to Ironman Frankfurt in 3 weeks time.
Glenn Beardon raced the 5k Great North Swim at Lake Windemere. Windermere is England's largest lake at 10.5 miles long (17km), stretching from Ambleside in the North to Newby Bridge in the South.
Surrounded by some of the nation’s most spectacular natural scenery - the Lake District National Park - the Great North Swim is an inspiring outdoor swim. Glenn managed to finish the swim in 531st position in 2:05:13.
