Race Reports

Midnight Wo/Man AquaBike Event, Dartford, 14th August

This is a friendly event, set amongst scenic lakes, formerly gravel pits, within sight of the QE2 Bridge at Dartford. It involves racing through the night to the finish line. Lawrence Wintergold finished 2nd overall and first in his 55-60 age group in the Aquabike event involving a 1.9km swm and 90km  bike ride. Lawrence commented that the bike ride was very different in the dark, with many competitors having a variety of twinkling lights. It was also challenging trying to gauge the speed of slower riders when overtaking in the gloom.

Sunday 4th September

Poznan Ironman 70.3, Poland

Paul Newsome travelled to Poland for the Ironman 70.3 in Poznan, by the side of Lake Kierskie, the site of Poland's first Ironman in 1984. The 70.3 involves a 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and 21.1km run.

Paul was delighted to finish 6th in his 35-39 age group in 4hrs 18mins.

Shropshire Middle Distance Triathlon, Sunday 4th Sept

Stewart Conway was in Shropshire for the Middle Distance Triathlon (2000m swim, 78km cycle, 20km run) and was very pleased with his age group win in 4.18.26, as it was a good warm up for the Weymouth 70.3 event on the 18th September.

Sunday 11th September

David Turner was in Snowdonia for the Big Brutal 5km wetsuit swim in the glacially formed Llyn Padarn, the 6th deepest lake in Wales. Despite the name this is known as a friendly and relaxed swim for new and experienced swimmers. David celebrated with a beer after completing his two circuits in 2.39.22.

Susie Cowie competed in the St Neots Sprint Triathlon (750m swim, 24m bike and 5km run), her 1st with an open water swim, in the River Ouse. She said she enjoyed almost all of it, which she completed with her son, finishing in 2.07.05.

Meanwhile, along with about 2,000 other competitors, Doug MacTaggart went to Tenby for the very tough Ironman Wales. This comprises a gruelling 2.4 mile sea swim, a hilly 112 mile bike ride and an exhausting and also hilly 26.2 mile run. He started at 7.09am and finished at about 9.36pm, giving a total time of 14.27.31, which was well within the 17 hour time limit.

Mid Sussex Triathlon Club

It has been a busy weekend for members participating in Swimming, Sprint and Ironman Triathlons and cycling Sportives.

Ironmans at Bolton & Bavaria

Doug Mac Taggart was at Pennington Flash lake on Sunday 3rd July for the Bolton Ironman (3.8km swim, 112km bike & 42.2km run. Doug finished 27th out of 60 in 14.32.08 in the M55-59 category.

Meanwhile Stewart Conway had travelled to Bavaria in Germany for the world's biggest long distance triathlon event at Roth bei Nurnberg. Stewart finished 45th out of 594 in the M50 category in 10.43.38.

JLL Property Triathlon event at Dorney Lake Friday 1st July

Tom Wade did brilliantly placing first in his M 35-39 age group in the 2.2km swim in Dorney lake. Meanwhile Florence Wolfe and David Howard Jones completed the Triathlon (750m swim, 21.2km bike & 5km run) in 1.26.30 and 1.33.23 respectively.

Hever Festival of Endurance 10km Swim

It was Adam Bryant's first time in the 10km swim and was happy with his time of 4hrs 11 mins considering the weeds a twisty course and a nice medal.

Wolfe Sportive Bike Ride, Westerham

Simon & Joanne Barton and Sam Crofts enjoyed the popular 72 mile ride through the lovely Kent countryside.

Eastbourne Triathlon 12th June

Paul Newsome had a brilliant result, placing first in the M35-39 category and 7th overall in the Eastbourne Standard Triathlon (1500m swim, 36.6km bike & 10km run) in 2.09.53. Richard Brazier also participated in the M55-59 age group, finishing in 2.46.28.

Open Water Swimming at Ardingly Reservoir

The Club's Open Water swimming has now commenced at 8.15am on Saturday mornings and 6pm on Tuesday evenings. Usually between 20 and 40 swimmers participate.

This is one of the club's most popular activities and the club is the only organisation which has an agreement for swimming in Ardingly Reservoir with the Activity Centre.

Ironman World Championships, St George, Utah, USA

Having qualified last year, Stewart Conway went all the way to Utah for the World Championships. However he suffered a stress fracture in training so could not push himself. Despite this setback, decided to go to enjoy the experience, finishing in 12hrs 37mins 30secs. Reporting after finishing he said it had been an awesome experience and he had loved every minute of it. This was despite the 33 degrees of dry heat, very strong winds and more elevation on both the bike and the run than pretty much any other Ironman.  However he said his inability to pedal to full power or run had possibly played to his advantage as he could have been knocked over by the the strong winds, as happened to so many other athletes.

Ironman 70.3, Alcudia, Mallorca 7th May

Three members went to Alcudia to compete in the Ironman 70.3 (1.9km swim, 90km bike & 21.1km run) in warm and sunny conditions.

Andy McGregor finished in 5.49.40 followed closely by Katie McGregor in 5.53.11. Kate Bradford was delighted to finish in 6.44.42, although commenting that 90km on the bike felt a long ride.

Three Forts Challenge, Sussex Downs, 1st May

Helen Graham & Douglas MacTaggart took on this tough marathon, which is mainly on the Downs between Devil's Dyke and Cissbury Ring. It has 3450ft of climb and for this reason is known as The Tough One. Helen said she ran faster with Doug than she would have without his company.

The Mid Sussex Triathlon, Sunday 12th June

Members are looking forward to hosting the popular Mid Sussex Triathlon at The Triangle, Burgess Hill on Sunday 12th June.

Stewart Conway Training For World Ironman, Kona Hawaii

On 6th November Stewart spent a day filming with Ribble Cycles for a forthcoming mini documentary on the training required on the road to the Ironman World Championships. It is about helping 'age groupers' to get to the peak of fitness, including juggling work, family and the training required with regular 4am starts.

Abersoch Sprint Triathlon 16th October

Jacqueline Naish went all the way to Abersoch in North Wales for her first Triathlon. Despite feeling quite nervous, she completed the course in 2hours 14 minutes, coming 15th in her category. Afterwards Jacqueline commented that it was so much fun and that she is now completely hooked on triathlon.

Doug MacTaggart Ironmans & Marathons

Doug MacTaggart went off to compete in the Mallorca Ironman on the 16th October finishing in 13.21.15. He then competed in the Beachy Head Marathon on the 23rd October event, finishing in 4.55.28.

Finally, he then went thousands of miles away to compete in Ironman South Africa in Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth. Doug commented that it was a fun day out, with horrific sea conditions and really bad winds on the bike and run! He said this Ironman had the worst conditions of any he had done. However he was really pleased with his time of 11:58:28.

Helen Graham

Helen also competed in the Beachy Head Marathon finishing in 5.57.19. She laughingly said that she was easily tempted by a bit of bling (medal) and a burger on offer for finishers. She then went on to complete a Midweek Marathon in Milton Keynes on the 9th November.

Here is some news of the range of activities of Mid Sussex Triathlon Club Members through the summer.

8th August Goodwood Ultra Triathlon

Stewart Conway placed an impressive 7th in the inaugural 255 Triathlon at Goodwood in 12.38.35. This is the world's longest single day Triathlon which involves a 5km swim, 200km bike ride and 50km run. The swim is in Westhampnett Lake whilst the bike ride and run are on the traffic free motor circuit. Competitors must complete the event in 18 hours. Despite the wind and rain, Stewart described it as a great day out.

21st/22nd August Seaford, Uckfield and Ripon

Liz Griffin Hind, who is a very experienced swimmer, completed her first triathlon at Seaford (750m sea swim, 20km bike ride, 5km run) in 1.36.51.

Carlos Castro went all the way to Ripon to compete in the Dalesman Triathlon, his first long distance ironman triathlon (3.8km swim, 180km bike ride, 42.2km run) in just over 12 hrs.

Meanwhile Zoe Deeley and Jon Clarke stayed local, competing in the Uckfield Standard Triathlon (600m swim, 22km bike ride, 5.25km run) finishing in 1.53.18 (11th woman) and 1.28.14 (22nd man), respectively.

4th September Aquasphere Chillswim 5.25 mile Lake Coniston End to End

After much training at Ardingly Reservoir through the summer Caroline Ray and Carl Clarke travelled to the Lake District on Saturday 4th September for the very popular 5.25 mile Lake Coniston swim, finishing in 3hrs 6min and 3hr 19 min respectively.