Race Results September 2004

Sunday 26th September

Hitchin Nomad 10 Mile Time Trial

Bike 10 miles

11 FVS TRI members competed in the Hitchin Nomad 10 Mile Time Trial with

Michael Summers showing his continued excellent cycling form to win the race. 

There were also PBs for Jon Gillham, Ed Manson and Dave Farthing with great first time performances from new members Richard Thomas and Felicity Bertram. 

Not so lucky were Paul Gibb who punctured right at the beginning of the Time trial and also Kevin Holt who went slightly off course (late night?) 

Gavin May continued his training build up to Ironman Hawaii with another strong performance. Gavin will now be spending a week training in the acclimatisation chamber at University of Hertfordshire preparing for the 35c temperature and 90% humidity. Gavin will be tested by undergraduates to measure how his body adapts to the temperature over a 7 day training cycle that will involve daily sessions of between 3-5 hours on his bike and a running machine!

Sunday 19th September

FVS TRI GO TO WALES!

BALA OLYMPIC TRIATHLON

1500m lake swim /39k bike/10.25k run  

5 members of FVS TRI braved the worst weather of North Wales to compete in the Bala Olympic Triathlon, which this year hosted the Welsh Championships 

557 started the race and despite the rather inclement weather our three senior men were 7^th, 23^rd and 51^st respectively! 31 failed to finish largely due to the gale force gusting winds making the lake swim a little more interesting than usual! 

Steve Harrison was first home for the Club and had an amazing swim and run to give a time of 2:07:22.  

Adam Laycock, more used to competing in the longer course discipline, described the swim as the “hardest ever”, but still finished an amazing 23^rd beating many Olympic specialists! 

A strong swim from Jon Gillham gave him an excellent 51^st position in a quality field. 

Jackie Perry was 7 minutes faster than last year and was an excellent 9^th in her age group beating husband and Club Coach Keith for the 2^nd race in succession in 2004! 

Sunday 19th September

WIMBOURNE SPRINT TRIATHLON

400m Swim/24k Bike/6.40k Run 

Michelle Pratt finished her season in style with a 2nd place in the 35+ age group in 1:28 at Wimbourne.  

Tuesday 7th September 2004

MK Summer Duathlon

2 mile run /10mile bike /2mile run  

FVS TRI member Brian White returned to Milton Keynes to compete in the last of the 5 race Duathlon Series. Brian was 5^th Veteran and an excellent 14^th overall in a time of 51:49. The veteran category was very close with approximately 30 seconds covering the top 5 places. 

Brian turned to duathlon this year after a sustained injury disrupted his running season, but his excellent running background gave him top ranking in each of the run legs. 

Inspired by his excellent showing, Brian is determined to feature next year and aims to win the veteran category. 

Now if only we could get him to swim training we might make a triathlete of him yet! 

Sunday 12th September 2004

QR Cotswold triathlon

750M lake swim/29km Bike/5km Run    

Simon Patenall represented FVS TRI at the Cotswold sprint triathlon over the weekend and finished an excellent 19^th overall.

Simon almost didn’t make it as his wetsuit required major surgical repair following a training swim in the Serpentine. Reports of fresh water shark attacks were dismissed with operator error the most likely cause of the right leg hanging off the suit!

Sunday 5^th September

Clacton Olympic Triathlon

1500m sea swim/40k Bike/10k run

Jon Gillham was the only member of FVS TRI racing this weekend as he completed his second Olympic distance in successive weekends. 

Conditions could not have been more different to Bedford the week before with light sea breezes and soaring temperatures greeting the 176 competitors to the 1500m sea swim, 40km undulating bike and 10km run along the promenade to the pier and back. 

Despite the tide turning which affected the later starters, Jon still managed 15th place in a time of 2hrs 13mins 2 seconds.