Stimpson breaks course record at Nokia Windsor Triathlon
Sunday 14 June 2009….Over 2500 athletes lined up at the crack of dawn to take to the Thames what is regarded as the UK’s premier triathlon.
Today’s action saw Jodie Stimpson and Stuart Hayes take a double successive victory with Jodie completing the course in the fastest time in the event’s 19 year history.
The exciting action unfolded under the steps and surrounding grounds of Windsor Castle, Eton and alongside the majestic river Thames with perfect weather providing optimum race conditions.
Jodie, who followed predictions, took her second successive win in two weeks and in doing so retains top spot in the British Super Series ranking. She led from start to finish in a supreme performance leaving the rest of the field in her wake finishing in 2:03.21 breaking the course record by 33 seconds, previously held by Helen Tucker in 2006. The rest of the women’s race however didn’t follow the pre-race predictions and it was Jill Parker who had the race of her life, taking second in 2:11.07 with newcomer Non Stanford chasing hard only five seconds behind.
Jodie commented "I am delighted with my performance today, it was a beautiful course out there and a great race - I loved it. I’ve been training very hard and it worked out really well for me today.”
As anticipated, Stuart Hayes who was firm favourite going into the men’s race took the honours in great style but not without pressure, also from relative newcomers to the sport, Adam Bowden and Bryan Keane.
Hayes led from the start following a superb swim, and together with Mike Adams and Ollie Freeman (who was later forced to drop out), headed off with a 45 second lead. However the chasing pack, led by former pro cyclist Bryan Keane soon made up the gap leaving it all to play for on the run. Hayes pulled away on the run with current steeplechase National Champion, Bowden close behind on his heels and Keane chasing hard in third. Bowden closed the gap but couldn’t quite do enough and Hayes took the victory in 1:52.14 with Bowden only thirteen seconds behind and Keane crossed the line in third in 1:53.19.
"I was pushed much harder than I expected’ commented Hayes ‘the weather was hot, but it was the competition that pushed me to my limits today. We all worked together hard on the bike but it’s the run that matters and both Bowden and Keane are International runners so I had to pull out all the stops." Amongst the sell out field of age group competitors, was double Olympian James Cracknell, who completed the Olympic distance (1500m swim/42k bike/10K run) as part of his training for the European triathlon championships in Holland next month. He finished in an impressive 3rd place and 17th overall in a time of 2:10:27.
Former rower Cracknell, who earlier this year raced to the South Pole commented, “I was thrilled with my time. I’ve always wanted to do Windsor – it was a great bike and run course and I pushed really hard to make up for my weaker swim. It was tough but I really enjoyed it.”
John Lunt of Human Race commented, “It was great to see so many competitors providing some very exciting racing amongst our elite and age group athletes. The event saw some of the best conditions we’ve had in its 19 year history and the towns of Windsor and Eton provide a perfect venue for this race and it was fantastic to see so many spectators supporting our sell out event.”
For full race results on the Nokia Windsor Triathlon visit the Results Page. The event will be broadcast on television (provisionally scheduled for 4th July on Channel 4 at 8am).
Nokia Windsor Triathlon Results
Top Five Men (1500m swim/42K bike/ 10k run)
1 Stuart Hayes 01:52:14
2 Adam Bowden 01:52::27
3 Bryan Keane 01:53:19
4 James Gilfillan 01:54:19
5 Marc Jenkins 01:54::28
Top Five Women (1500m swim/42K bike/ 10k run)
1 Jodie Stimpson 02:03:21
2 Jill Parker 02:11:07
3 Non Standford 02:11:12
4 Tamsin Lewis 02:11:31
5 Lucy Bowen 02:11:40
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