Club Lido Race – August Assortment
The above photo may look similar to a Team GB pose from Rio, but the occasion was Tuff Fitty’s third summer lido race combining racing and some serious nutrition in the form of a Tuff Barbecue.
The Met office got this spot on; after a morning of heavy rain and leaden sky, the rain was scheduled to stop at 5pm, the sky clearing by 6 and warm and sunny by 7pm and so it proved; ideal conditions once again.
The format for the race was the return of our August Assortment – a fast and furious 1k run, 200m swim, 1km run, 200m swim and 1km run. When the date was decided it was known this was the opening night of Arundel Festival with Burlesque on stage in Jubilee gardens. The race organisers walked around early to see if our run route was suitable, but with a couple of burly security guards on the pavement, the route was changed to laps around the Lido complex and the riverbank for each stage of the run.
A mass start saw the first 1km run from the car park and it would be interesting to see whether our run specialists would prevail over swim specialists. Into the Lido for a snake traverse across the pool, there was a mix of people going for serious overtaking moves whilst a couple of others stopped at the end to say ‘after you’ ‘no, after you’; what a polite Tri club we are. Joe Pascoe was first into the pool, but Tom Goddard wasn’t having any of that emerging in the lead by the end of the first swim. Clearly some thought had gone into tactics with many racers wearing their goggles throughout for a faster transition. No time to catch your breath as it was straight out onto the second 1km run where Joe managed to regain 1st position. By now the racers were throwing caution to the wind with some elegant dives and some less successful belly flops back into the pool (Tom Daley they ain’t!). Tom Goddard was the clear winner on the swim front taking the fastest swim splits on both swims. The third run saw competitors pulling on trainers that were damp from the transition before, but some quick changes nonetheless. Whilst Tom had been in touch all the way round, Joe Pascoe recorded the best split times across all three run legs and crossed the line first overall. Mention must be made of Dave March and Ollie McDonald where on each segment split they were never more than 5 seconds apart and crossed the line with just one second between them in third and fourth. One trainer that was reluctant to go back on for one of them…. it could have made a difference.
Joe has clearly been watching the diving from Rio
Great to see Tom Gray stepping up a gear this year after an illness last year in 5th and also Anthony Towers, always a strong performer pulling on the trisuit again. Nice to see some special guests racing, Jason Rae from Awesome Sports and also Daphne and Steve Belt.
As the finishers crossed the line it was good to see everyone remain to cheer the rest of the field over the line and receive the traditional Tuff medal in recognition of a good evenings work. That worked up an appetite for the Barbecue which Steve Jones had successfully piloted during the evening. There were some who had indicated they could come but didn’t make it, but this meant the pressure was on to go for another August Assortment, Sausage, Burger, Sausage etc. There was also beer available as well.
Marshalling tends to work up quite an appetite!
What of the Burlesque? a few hardy Tuffs crossed the bridge afterwards to have a beer and watch, but despite several attempts by the rest to get Glenn noticed and pulled up on stage, their best efforts went unrewarded!
Every split time was recorded and is shown below. The swim split started when you jumped in the water and stopped when you heaved yourself out, so each run split will include the time spent (faffing about?) in transition. Also thanks to Jon and Glenn who were camera operatives; please feel able to take any of the snaps below for your own use.
Clive
| 1km Run | 200m Swim | 1km Run | 200m Swim | 1km Run | Total | |
| Joe Pascoe | 3.36 | 3.04 | 4.31 | 3.14 | 4.13 | 18.38 |
| Tom Goddard | 3.52 | 2.43 | 4.55 | 2.56 | 4.34 | 19.00 |
| Dave March | 4.06 | 3.06 | 5.00 | 3.19 | 4.22 | 19.53 |
| Ollie McDonald | 4.01 | 3.05 | 5.02 | 3.20 | 4.26 | 19.54 |
| Tom Gray | 4.08 | 3.25 | 4.52 | 3.47 | 4.32 | 20.44 |
| Anthony Towers | 4.54 | 3.15 | 5.16 | 3.15 | 4.49 | 21.29 |
| Huw Williams | 4.47 | 4.32 | 5.22 | 4.13 | 4.50 | 23.44 |
| Murray Hodge | 5.01 | 3.59 | 5.37 | 4.15 | 5.02 | 23.54 |
| Dom Amey | 5.10 | 4.21 | 5.28 | 4.00 | 4.58 | 23.57 |
| Jason Rae | 4.45 | 4.29 | 5.36 | 4.30 | 4.55 | 24.15 |
| Catharine Western | 5.04 | 4.22 | 5.35 | 4.26 | 4.49 | 24.16 |
| Katie Goddard | 5.15 | 4.20 | 5.39 | 4.00 | 5.33 | 24.47 |
| Susan Douglas | 6.01 | 3.44 | 6.46 | 3.45 | 6.12 | 26.28 |
| Nicole Ewer | 5.57 | 4.20 | 6.51 | 4.14 | 6.03 | 27.25 |
| Daphne Belt | 8.01 | 4.31 | 8.03 | 4.35 | 7.17 | 32.27 |
| Steve Belt | 7.42 | 4.35 | 8.23 | 4.39 | 7.08 | 32.27 |
