Tuff Fitty Summer Lido Race 2
The second of our Club summer series races, although you could be forgiven for thinking that summer was at an end with dark overcast skies and persistent drizzle and rain. Whilst there were quite a few no shows, others who had not stated their intention arrived, so a high turnout; many to race, others just to join in the barbecue and the Tuff camaraderie.
The evening got off to a great start with two signing up as club members, both who have been attending club training sessions for a while. Drew Gowland has been a regular at track sessions and would have an immediate impact in the results. Secondly Antony Oliver joined following the example of wife Cathy Connor who has been a Tuff for a couple of years. A warm welcome to them both.
The format for the event was our ever popular July Jumble. This involved a 1k run out of the car park and over the town bridge; down Mill Road as far as the Bowls Club before returning to the Lido. Then it was straight into the pool for a 200m snake swim across the lanes. Back out for a second 1km run before jumping back into the pool for another 200m swim. Heaving yourself out for the final time would see a third run before crossing the line and receiving the obligatory Tuff medal.
A ‘no pressure’ race but on the gun a dramatic surge across the start with Tom Gray ahead as the above banner photo shows. Technique was to the fore here with many of the runners wearing their goggles round their necks ready for a rapid transition. Anthony Towers deployed his secret technique which he often adopts. He had his shoes on for the start but on exiting the pool, trainers…..why? to save time he ran barefoot for the next two run legs! The format is fast and furious leaving competitors with little time to settle between disciplines.
Some members shared race duties to enable more to race with one person doing each swim leg with the other undertaking the runs. There were five relay teams racing.
Stu, Tim, Ian, Shaz & Simon await their swim buddy to finish
First home was Tom Goddard with Ollie McDonald and then Drew Gowland on the podium for the first time as a Tuff in third position. Becky Lintott-Clarke was first female with Tiff Orton second and Debbie Boxall third. First relay was Simon Thistlethwaite & Katie Goddard with Ian Moore & Trevor Harvey runners up
Ollie McDonald, Tom Goddard & Drew Gowland
Meanwhile our Tuff masterchefs were hard at work cooking over 200 burgers/sausages; several returned to the pool to have a further swim, particularly as it took them away from the rain. The spread was excellent once again with the superb salad prepared by Catharine Western and party nibbles provided by Wendy Frost as it was her birthday. She received a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.
The previous day there had been a milestone birthday for Clive & Trevor Harvey and a presentation was made. Clive wants to express his thanks to the membership. It was completely unexpected to receive his Dryrobe and on behalf of Trevor as well thank you. True the Chairman’s role does take up a large amount of time including the arrangements for these Lido races. However to arrive in the rain and to see another bumper turnout of almost 70 was fantastic. Seeing so many Tuff friends with all the accompanying banter and laughter during the evening makes everything very worthwhile.
Back to the real hardworkers of the night. Thanks once again to Claire Moyle was acted as Duty Manager to ensure the evening proceeded smoothly. Glenn Parisi, Jon Roper and Leigh Moore who were wielding the tongs on the Barbie, Catherine Western for the salad and birthday cake and Debbie Gatland for the timing – thanks all. Results below:-
| 1 | Tom Goddard | 18:16 |
| 2 | Ollie McDonald | 19:04 |
| 3 | Drew Gowland | 19:31 |
| 4 | Katie Goddard/Simon Thistlethwaite | 20:00 |
| 5 | Tom Gray | 21:05 |
| 6 | Tom Frith | 21:06 |
| 7 | Andy Crawford | 21:20 |
| 8 | Matt Whittaker | 21:21 |
| 9 | Anthony Towers | 21:39 |
| 10 | Pete Littleboy | 21:50 |
| 11 | Trev Harvey/ Ian Moore | 21:56 |
| 12 | Matthieu Cauchy-Duval | 22:00 |
| 13 | Wendy Frost/Tim McGrath | 22:09 |
| 14 | Becky Lintott-Clarke | 22:28 |
| 15 | Steve Custance | 23:04 |
| 16 | Ellie Crawford/Stuart Harvey | 23:29 |
| 17 | Elle Williams/Sharon Tidmarsh | 23:42 |
| 18 | Mark Day | 23:55 |
| 19 | Tiff Orton | 24:00 |
| 20 | Ben Abbott | 24:01 |
| 21 | Chris Levitt | 24:22 |
| 22 | Debbie Boxall | 24:32 |
| 23 | Paul Martin | 24:42 |
| 24 | Bec Day | 24:55 |
| 25 | Jason Rae | 25:07 |
| 26 | Debra Cauchy-Duval | 25:19 |
| 27 | Antony Oliver | 26:09 |
| 28 | Nicole Ewer | 27:23 |
| 29 | Susan Douglas | 27:52 |
| 30 | Verity-Jane Lacey | 28:11 |
| 31 | Chris Evans | 28:13 |
| 32 | Sophie Cullen | Run only |
Don’t forget the third of our Lido series isn’t far away – Friday August 11th. Provisionally this is likely to be a team competition with teams allocated on the night, but for this to work smoothly it would be useful to know who is planning to attend in advance.
