Saturday 18th September saw 250 athletes descend on the historic and scenic Pippingford Park Estate in East Sussex, for the off road trail run, duathlon and triathlon Tough Tracks.
The perfect autumnal weather conditions ensued to make the scenery one of the main talking points, however race organizers were unfortunately forced to cancel the swim leg that morning due to health and safety reasons, resulting in the swim being replaced with a 4km run.
The picture perfect British countryside provided the notoriously tough course with steep hills, deep gullies and uneven terrain, proving to be challenging but rewarding for all those taking part.
Julliette Cooper from Dennis Publishing did the 8km trail run at the finishing line she said "it was really good fun. Such a nice change to run around lakes and in forests rather than on a treadmill or road".
Race sponsors Men's Fitness were on hand with USN to give racers nutritional advice and samples to aid recovery following the race.
The trial run saw a lot of athletes compete with their canine friends, including Mark Dunbar and Norman the Springer spaniel who finished second in the trail run.
The day saw some impressive times and the notable winners were David Chapman in the 8km trial run with a time of 30 minutes and 38 seconds, completing the Sprint distance triathlon in 1:02:54 David Shilland and in the full distance triathlon Graham Wadsworth ran in with a time of 1:23:07.
The Duathlon saw Warren Lloyd finish first with a time of 1:25:56 with Vicky Bruce coming home for the women in an impressive 1:43:09 even after a fall during the last run.
Vicky said "The bike was really nice and dry, it was really good fun and I wouldn't have minded doing another lap".
She continued to say "When the weather is like this where else would you want to be".
“Tough Tracks was a really fantastic day. The beautiful weather and stunning views at Pippingford Park made it a unique event for competitors and spectators alike. Although it was very unfortunate that we were unable to use the water; the challenging nature of the course made for superb off-road racing and competitors seemed to really enjoy themselves. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for your support. We look forward to seeing you in 2011…”
Tom Townsend-Smith – Men’s Fitness and Health & Fitness Events Manager
Many thanks to our sponsors USN for their support of Tough Tracks – check out USN products at: http://www.usn.co.uk/
