Olympic 2012 venue Dorney Lake has a reputation for windy conditions at this time of year but athletes lining up for the Dorney Tri Challenge event saw this taken to extremes with wind speeds of up to 70mph recorded across the country on Sunday.
The strong winds not only added to the challenge for those looking to complete their first triathlon, but also meant athletes using the event to try and qualify for the 2011 World Champs in Beijing needed to carefully study their race strategy, paying particular attention to the bike leg!
As was expected, there was fierce competition (and some seriously nice bikes on show) across all age groups for the qualifying slots just a few places up for grabs on the day. In the 20-24 category, Robert Abraham (University of Bath) used a sub-18min run leg to seal victory for the men in 01:08:04 while Anna Anderson (Leeds Met) posted a 01:14:55 for the win in the women’s race. Next up saw the 30-34 age group where Ful-On-Tri put on an impressive showing to clinch first place in both the male and female categories. Olivier Pinchard posted a 01:04:39 to win by just two seconds from James Stephenson (Oxford University) while teammate Sarah Gailey notched up an equally impressive 01:08:39 to take the matching title. In the 35-39 age group, the men’s race saw Barry Marshallsay (Newcastle Tri) record a 01:06:20 to emerge victorious, while Liza Williams won the women’s race in 01:17:57. The 40-44 groups were two of the most hotly contested of the day, the result of which being Andrew Shipton’s (Tewkesbury Triathlon Club) 01:03:59 which was not only good enough for first in his category, but was the fastest time across all the age-groups on the day. A bike leg of 31mins 56secs proved right earlier predictions that those who handled the windy conditions best would prevail. For the 40-44 women Penny Bulley (7oaks Tri) used consistent times across all three disciplines to win in a time of 01:16:23. Moving up to the 45-49 category, Marianne Clark (Esporta Brighton) was first across the line in 01:17:44 while David Hamdorff (Tritalk.co.uk) used a 01:06:08 to take the win for the men. A very creditable 01:08:00 from Gary Crane (Evo TC) was enough for the win in the male 50-54 category while the female win was taken by Helen Howells (BRAT) in 01:23:21. In the remaining age groups, winners included David Sutherland and Joanna Lewis (Hillingdon Triathletes) in the 55-59 range, James Chisholm (Wakefield Triathlon Club) and Barbara Walton (Lymington Triathlon Club) in the 60-64 group and Tony Kesterton (Salisbury Tri) and Marilyn Mitchell (St Austell Tri) in the 65-69 range. There were also a number of Junior and Youth athletes posting very competitive times and mixing it with the adults, notably Ben Cockburn (White Oak Triathlon Club) and Josephine Blunt (Wellington College) who posted fastest times of the day in the respective categories.
The Beijing qualifiers only formed part of a packed day of racing, with the Dorney Tri Challenge also featuring both half-distance and three-quarter distance events following hot on the heels of the age-group action. In the half distance event Pete Beaumont (Cardiff Tri Club) exited the water well over a minute clear of the chasing pack and held his lead to win in 01:09:08 from David Weir (TVT) in second place and James Norton (Tri Sport Epping) in third. For the ladies, Kerry Small (David Lloyd) came home in 31st place overall for the win with Gillian Mcalister (Hillingdon Triathletes) just 16 seconds back for second and Alison Bowen only a further 12 seconds back in third! In the three-quarter distance event, competitors completed a 1000m swim, 30k bike and 7.5k run, meaning more time out there in the wind which had grown stronger still by the time their waves set off in the afternoon. Eventual winner Billy Parker-Brown (RG Active Race Team) defied the choppy water with a 13min swim leg which gave him a sizeable advantage out onto the bike. Mark Brooks (Tri Sport Epping) closed the gap considerably on to the bike but with both men running almost identical times on the final leg, Parker-Brown held on to the win in 01:34:08 with Brooks second in 01:34:30. Behind the action Anthony Dodson comfortably secured third place with a 01:38:26 finish. Vicky Gill (Team Dillon) took the win in the women’s race comfortably in 01:48:45 and 12th place overall with Jen Miller (Square Mile Triathlon) second in 01:55:53 and Lara Woodward third in 01:59:51.
Next weekend sees Human Race back in Eton for the first event in the Speedo Open Water Swim Series on Saturday 28th May. With distances from 750m up to the 10k ‘swimmers marathon’, there is something for every open water swimmer.
For more information and to enter now at www.openwaterswimseries.co.uk
