Weekend Round Up 24th 25th July

Not so many events on this weekend, but tstill 25 Tuff in action. Also having waited for some middle distance races, this was the third consecutive weekend of 70.3 Tuff action:-

DAWN ON THE DOWNS

It was a Terrific Tuff Turnout for Dawn on the Downs this year with 15 club members participating. It addition there was a further 9 on the race support team

With straw bales arranged on a large field and the free teas and coffee tent set up on a warm Saturday, conditions looked good for Sunday with rain not scheduled until later that day. Unfortunately the rain clouds had already formed in the channel which moved in as the competitors arrived and became torrential as the morning wore on. This did make for some very slippery conditions with the sodden ground but it didn’t deter the Tuff squad from some great results.

The first race off at 8am was the 10 miler with thirteen Tuffs racing:-

First Tuff home in a time of 1:17:51 was Pete Littleboy securing 10th overall and 3rd in aged group. Jon Babbage would come home as 15th overall in 1:21:02 and then Dom Amey who has been having a terrific run of form 1:21:56 20th overall. Three in the top twenty – a great performance. Next home was Iris Bennett who was 10th female overall and 4th in her age group.

Ian Moore 6th in (age group), and Adrian Oliver were next as Tuffs continued to romp home with Clare Worgan and Joanne Meaney following. Kev Pearson, Olly Sampson, Katie Goddard, Graham Liddell & Shelley Babbage ensured that the squad all made it safely around.

The 10k run was next off and whilst we only had two participants it was a case of quality over quantity. Kate Cooper was second in her age group and 8th lady overall & Catharine Western just 28 second behind as 10th lady overall

Once again Debbie Boxall was Raw Energy’s event manager and she was supported by Jon Roper who cycled 40 miles over the weekend, signing, leading and sweeping the course. Tiff Orton, Trevor Harvey, Dan Fitzgerald, Glenn Parisi, Andy Ward, Marc Rice and Clive Harvey completed the Tuffs on duty.

Thanks to Sharon Tidmarsh for some photos which have been added to ensuring there is at least one shot of the competing Tuffs; click on the photo below to open the album.

CASTLE HOWARD MIDDLE DISTANCE TRIATHLON

Part of the popular Castle Race series, of which Hever Castle in September is our closest location, Simon Thistlethwaite was our Tuff in action in the Middle distance event held around the Howardian Hills in Yorkshire.

Simon has had a very difficult period of late balancing his business to being around to help Amy and the rest of his family, all the while waiting for his new arrival Phoebe who was so many weeks overdue, oh and squeeze in a bit of training. As many would have read in last weeks Round Up, everything went to plan once induced, with both mother and daughter doing well so that meant Simon wouldn’t arrive stressed on the start line.

Unfortunately Simon’s stress levels continued after deciding to take his TT bike for the cycle leg. Upon checking the bike having gone up to his sister’s he realised the tyres weren’t exactly in race condition. A dramatic search for replacements ensued, found and now the bike was ready for action; well almost! That left just one snag, the tyres were tubular and he was told he needed to give several hours for the glue to set properly. Working out the timings that meant the bike would be safe to ride at 6am with Simon’s scheduled start at 8am! With food and a finishers T-shirt to look forward to, Simon could now relax.

Amazing what a good sleep can do was Simon’s summary as he stated he had a ‘cracking race’, including a good swim. The bike, which didn’t let him down went around a technically demanding course in rural Yorkshire. He prefers trail running, which the undulating run course was, although he did have to go back a way after his timing chip came off. But overall a very good morning’s work – Congratulations Simon

PARKRUN

It’s back – the parkrun circuit is once again operational and of no surprise is that Tuffs were out and about at 4 known locations. Whilst local parkruns will be monitored for the round up, do please report any ‘Away day’ parkruns that you visit. Well done to all 9 club members running.

At LITTLEHAMPTON parkrun Bob Thomas and Alastair Evans were in attendance, and a further shout out to Alastair who was also on the organising team with brother Chris Evans.

Across at WORTHING parkrun, Edward Lay had a good run, with Les Pearce just 17 seconds behind. It was great to see Jo Baldwin flying the Tuff name achieving a new PB by knocking 7 seconds off in 24:07. Amanda de Ridder & Elaine Rousseau completed the five running there.

MAIDENHEAD parkrun saw Trevor Harvey run completing his 28th parkrun. Credit goes to Ian Moore who ran HORSHAM parkrun the morning before Dawn on the Downs.