The juniors have been busy racing over the past few weeks with ...
The juniors have been busy racing over the past few weeks with almost 50 children taking part in at least one triathlon – many for the first time. The month of May was very cold with water temperatures struggling to reach 12 deg C and although the water temperature at Mallory Park on the last day of the month was apparently over 14 , not many of the spectators on the bank were convinced. It was very cold, very windy and very wet. Undeterred our junior triathletes, took to the open water and battled through the miserable conditions. First off were Aaron Goulding and Emmie Towns. The field was very spread out in the water, but Aaron came out in the lead group and after a solid bike left T2 in fourth place and then had a great run to move up onto the podium. Emmie kept her head down and worked hard on the bike in the driving rain and was rewarded with a good second place.
The Inter-regional Championships will be held at Mallory in September and this race was being used by children from all over the country as a test event. Consequently, there were a whopping 63 swimmers jostling for position at the start of the TS3 swim. They say that the swim can be brutal. Sandy Jarvis learned what it is like to swim with someone hanging onto his ankles and Tom Hughes, who was recovering from a chest infection, inhaled some of the rough water causing him to choke and clamber into the safety boat. Those that survived the swim and onto the bike soon showed how good the cycle training is at 4Life with Hayden Greaves and Peta Jarvis both overtaking the field to have the fastest bike splits with Peta entering T2 in first place. Unfortunately, lack of stamina following a cold and a spectacular fall over the edge of a mat left her in fifth place. Similarly, Hayden’s week of training in the Alps left him tired on the run and he also dropped back on the run finishing in fourth, but first from the East Midlands, putting him in contention for a place on the IRC team. Lucas Wolf-Pudney, Lizzy Edge and Sam Marsh also showed that they are contenders for the East Midlands IRC team. Lucas had borrowed his mum’s bike for the day and although he and Lizzy were both well down after the swim they were racing hard against each other and in doing so made their way through the field on the bike. Lizzy’s superior running speed gave her the victory over Lucas nd and earned her a trophy for 2 girl. Lucas finished fifth overall but the first East Midlands boy home. Sam Marsh, who has stepped up a gear this year, had a th great run and was third East Midlands boy (7 overall). Well done also to Frankie Berry who had a great swim in her first open water event. The grim conditions did not deter her enthusiasm for racing. By the time of the Tristar 1 race the drizzle had set in and visibility was poor so the race referee took the decision to run the TS1 and TSS races as duathlons. This will have disappointed Hal Turner-Farrell who was also hoping to complete his first open water triathlon. Thomas Dixon dominated the race, as he has all others th this season, and Hal finished in a creditable 6 place.
Just a week later nearly all of our active juniors turned out to race at our 4Life Nottingham Children’s Triathlon at Clifton Leisure Centre. Volunteers had been there from 5.30 a.m. setting up a very technical bike and run course around the park. With over 300 children racing it was a major operation and there was an air of excitement and anticipation because this was the first pool-based triathlon of the year in the East Midlands Series. Chloe Barkes, Freddie Salcedo, Charlie Walters, Joe Atkinson and our youngest member, Ellen Weaver were all competing in their first triathlon. For some others this was their first race since the 4Life event last year and a chance to see how much they have improved through training.
4Life started with a win in the first race with Emmie Towns finishing almost three minutes ahead of the girl in second place. There were wins too for Tom Hughes and Libby Coleman (TS3), Thomas Dixon (TS1) and Freddie Salcedo (TSS). Libby’s win was all the more amazing because she had to pick herself off the floor twice during the bike leg. Daniel Carter and Maddie Hubner showed their strength on the bike to put themselves on the podium, with Maddie just hanging on in a sprint finish ahead of Peta Jarvis who, after having fallen in the warm up had problems with her gears on the bike, but put in one of the best runs of her triathlon career. Performance of the day goes to Tom Southgate who is at the bottom end of his age group, but had one of the fastest bike and run times, just missing out on a podium spot. Everyone who took park raced well, although there are a few who need to improve their counting of laps before the race at Derby next week!
Elsewhere, Louis Dunne, who has recently returned to triathlon after a break to concentrate on his running, had a great race over in the West Midlands at the Barton Marina triathlon. This was Louis’ first open water triathlon for three years and he put in a solid performance, earning himself a trophy for third placed boy in TS2. Grace Rigby travelled even further afield to tackle the water in Lake Windermere and was possibly the youngest competitor in the half mile race of the Great North Swim. She finished in 16.19, making her dad glow with pride. Long distance swimming in open water is a tremendous achievement for a 12 year old girl.
A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers who made the Nottingham Triathlon run smoothly. There is a huge amount of hard work and preparation that goes into running such a large children’s event and often goes unappreciated. Well done to everyone who has raced this year. If you have been inspired to do more then why not enter the Desford Triathlon on 2 August? Dean is planning to run a coaching day in the run up to this event.
4Life Triathlon Club www.fourlife.com
The Inter-regional Championships will be held at Mallory in September and this race was being used by children from all over the country as a test event. Consequently, there were a whopping 63 swimmers jostling for position at the start of the TS3 swim. They say that the swim can be brutal. Sandy Jarvis learned what it is like to swim with someone hanging onto his ankles and Tom Hughes, who was recovering from a chest infection, inhaled some of the rough water causing him to choke and clamber into the safety boat. Those that survived the swim and onto the bike soon showed how good the cycle training is at 4Life with Hayden Greaves and Peta Jarvis both overtaking the field to have the fastest bike splits with Peta entering T2 in first place. Unfortunately, lack of stamina following a cold and a spectacular fall over the edge of a mat left her in fifth place. Similarly, Hayden’s week of training in the Alps left him tired on the run and he also dropped back on the run finishing in fourth, but first from the East Midlands, putting him in contention for a place on the IRC team. Lucas Wolf-Pudney, Lizzy Edge and Sam Marsh also showed that they are contenders for the East Midlands IRC team. Lucas had borrowed his mum’s bike for the day and although he and Lizzy were both well down after the swim they were racing hard against each other and in doing so made their way through the field on the bike. Lizzy’s superior running speed gave her the victory over Lucas nd and earned her a trophy for 2 girl. Lucas finished fifth overall but the first East Midlands boy home. Sam Marsh, who has stepped up a gear this year, had a th great run and was third East Midlands boy (7 overall). Well done also to Frankie Berry who had a great swim in her first open water event. The grim conditions did not deter her enthusiasm for racing. By the time of the Tristar 1 race the drizzle had set in and visibility was poor so the race referee took the decision to run the TS1 and TSS races as duathlons. This will have disappointed Hal Turner-Farrell who was also hoping to complete his first open water triathlon. Thomas Dixon dominated the race, as he has all others th this season, and Hal finished in a creditable 6 place.
Just a week later nearly all of our active juniors turned out to race at our 4Life Nottingham Children’s Triathlon at Clifton Leisure Centre. Volunteers had been there from 5.30 a.m. setting up a very technical bike and run course around the park. With over 300 children racing it was a major operation and there was an air of excitement and anticipation because this was the first pool-based triathlon of the year in the East Midlands Series. Chloe Barkes, Freddie Salcedo, Charlie Walters, Joe Atkinson and our youngest member, Ellen Weaver were all competing in their first triathlon. For some others this was their first race since the 4Life event last year and a chance to see how much they have improved through training.
4Life started with a win in the first race with Emmie Towns finishing almost three minutes ahead of the girl in second place. There were wins too for Tom Hughes and Libby Coleman (TS3), Thomas Dixon (TS1) and Freddie Salcedo (TSS). Libby’s win was all the more amazing because she had to pick herself off the floor twice during the bike leg. Daniel Carter and Maddie Hubner showed their strength on the bike to put themselves on the podium, with Maddie just hanging on in a sprint finish ahead of Peta Jarvis who, after having fallen in the warm up had problems with her gears on the bike, but put in one of the best runs of her triathlon career. Performance of the day goes to Tom Southgate who is at the bottom end of his age group, but had one of the fastest bike and run times, just missing out on a podium spot. Everyone who took park raced well, although there are a few who need to improve their counting of laps before the race at Derby next week!
Elsewhere, Louis Dunne, who has recently returned to triathlon after a break to concentrate on his running, had a great race over in the West Midlands at the Barton Marina triathlon. This was Louis’ first open water triathlon for three years and he put in a solid performance, earning himself a trophy for third placed boy in TS2. Grace Rigby travelled even further afield to tackle the water in Lake Windermere and was possibly the youngest competitor in the half mile race of the Great North Swim. She finished in 16.19, making her dad glow with pride. Long distance swimming in open water is a tremendous achievement for a 12 year old girl.
A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers who made the Nottingham Triathlon run smoothly. There is a huge amount of hard work and preparation that goes into running such a large children’s event and often goes unappreciated. Well done to everyone who has raced this year. If you have been inspired to do more then why not enter the Desford Triathlon on 2 August? Dean is planning to run a coaching day in the run up to this event.
4Life Triathlon Club www.fourlife.com
