Weekend Round Up 25th 26th May
SWYD SPRINT TRI – BARRY ISLAND SPRINT TRIATHLON
Barry Island was the location for both the BTF European qualifier and Welsh Triathlon’s National Sprint Championship – so a quality field gathered. Within this field were the equally quality Niki Treacy, Katie Young, Maisie Johnston and Will King. Scheduled to cover a 750m sea swim. 20 km cycling. & 5 km of road running. We are grateful to Niki for collating the thoughts of the Tuff quartet, as she explains below:-
“4 Tuffs, Katie, Maisie, Will, & Niki, headed off to the exotic locale of Barry Island for a GB team qualifying Sprint Tri. Here’s their team report about the weekend”.
“After an epic journey, most of which done at 0 to 20 mph in a mother of all traffic jams, we eventually arrived.
Pre race, the weather forecast had been showing rain and 12 degrees, and a sea temp of 14. Race morning arrived with mixed blessing. No rain, yes, result ! The sea temp however, 11.5 – yuck. Sensibly the swim was to be shortened to 350m.
The 3 ladies had a plan A of qualifying for the GB team for the Euro champs 2025, and all 4 had a plan B of, don’t be shit.
The race kicked off with Plans A and B in full swing. The sea conditions were calm but cold. (various Garmin wearers show we actually swam 600 chilly meters) The bike was a 3 lap out and back route. The run was 2 laps. Both were mostly flat but with a few short uphill sections and drags.
So cut to the chase, we all kicked arse. The BT qualification process isn’t the easiest to navigate, but it looks like all 3 ladies achieved plan A and qualified (subject to BT ratification). And all 4 achieved plan B, with Will turning out a strong performance despite a leg injury.
Niki and Maisie both finished 2nd in their current age groups, and Katie 4th in hers. The ladies were pretty pleased with their overall standings too. In a very strong field they finished 14th, 15th and 23rd. Not a bad showing against the younger guns.
Katie’s take away-
“The swim was bracing for the first 50m and I struggled to get a smooth breathing patten. Coming up to the first buoy it ‘was packed’ with body’s scuttling around a large moving yellow triangle, but after that I settled in.
I was a little disappointed they cut the swim short as that is the best bit of any Triathlon.
From beach to transition my feet were not happy running on tarmac (they were burning with pain, but I just said shut up feet and work harder.
At least it was not hilly on the bike, but improvement is needed in this section for me!!
A lovely run when my feet warmed up. It was like running on sticks until I could feel my toes!
It was a good Triathlon, and I would definitely do it again”
Maisie’s take away-
“Great flying visit to Barry Island for the Euro Sprint Tri Qualifier.
Objective achieved and couldn’t be happier. Finished 2nd in the age group and qualified Q1.
Despite a chilly, and not so shortened swim, the sun was shining. Bike course was a rolling out and back x 3 laps with plenty of opportunity to stay in the tt position. Followed by a terrifying run as I knew I was being chased by the later wave of ladies. And a belly full of gurgling carb drink. (Very confusing when you are going up an age group, not really sure who you’re racing against!).
So happy that this race went without any ‘hitches’. Now time to park the bike as all attention turns to Aquathlon Euros Portugal 25 June. Will miss my speedy steed…..”
Niki’s take away-
“I was less than confident having had another “gap year” in 2023 due to some peskily persistent health problems. But I was really excited to be back racing again and I 110% enjoyed the whole weekend; the racing, the road trip with training buddy Maisie, and sharing the fun with Katie and Will. The icing on the cake was to finish first Qualifier in my 2025 age group for the Euro champs in Istanbul, Get in !!! (ps. nice event, would def do it again)”
Will’s take away-
“Race was great, fab weekend. My extra blubber was useful for swim but paid for it on the run. 🙂 Love to return!”
FORD RIDE LONDON
Phil & Isis
Ford Ride London is the centrepiece of London’s cycling Festival. Starting and finishing in London the 104 mile route takes in 4,190ft of ascent along some of London’s iconic streets on closed roads, before heading into Essex and back. Our intrepid cyclists were Phil Scales and Isis Solato and we are grateful to them for sharing their thoughts. If you are wondering about mention of “The London Classics” this challenge is to complete each of London Marathon, Ride London 100 and Swim Serpentine 2 miles (no time restrictions and you get a snazzy medal). First Phil’s thoughts and then Isis.
“I booked this event to make myself get back on the bike having fallen off it breaking my collarbone last year. And turbo bike was all I could do to exercise whilst recovering. I’d done one long ride similar distance with Tuff Mallorca- which we would stop for rest and refreshment frequently. My aim was to see if I could manage the distance and learn about fuelling up on long rides”.
“Forecast was showers on and off for the day. First hour was relatively busy so just kept a steady pace. It was a buzzing atmosphere and first time I’d ridden on closed roads. Pace after the first hour picked up and cartoon riding to mile 50 where there was an opportunity to stop and timer was stopped”.
“Back on road again and a couple bursts of hard rain popped out. 80 miles was probably my limit so the last 20 miles were tough- could I hold the pace I was doing”.
“Eventually got to finish line and managed to keep a respectable pace overall so very pleased with myself. – 1st of the London classics so next personal challenge will be swim serpentine in September. (I’m sure I’ll book onto a couple of triathlons in-between too )”
Phil
“The event was great, having the 100mile ride with closed roads was lush!”
“The forecast kept changing hourly on the previous day but in the end we were lucky! Only a heavy rain while I was at the 53mile welfare, which lasted ~15 min.”
“There was plenty of stops along the way with water, toilet and nutrition available. The finish line cycling across Tower Bridge is also a glowing moment after hours of effort, especially with the strong wind during the last 15miles”.
“I highly recommend this ride to everyone.” 🙂
Isis
PARKRUN ROUND UP
We start this week at Bognor parkrun where there was a celebration to be had. Ten years ago Jason Rae was one of the founders and having completed 431 runs within Hotham Park, this week saw Jason back as Race Director with one of their largest attendances. There was an optional ‘beach theme’ fancy dress which one of the Tuffs joined in. First Tuff home was Marc Flinders 11th overall in a swift 19:54, a great time around the twisting course. Colin Simpson was next achieving a 70% age grading. Clive Harvey and Sue Simpson completed the Tuff quartet
Littlehampton parkrun was the place to welcome Emma Hinton back to parkrun who was our first runner home. Next a fantastic result from Bob Rogers getting closer to his parkrun milestone, now on his 96th and doing so in some style with a 75% age grading. Alistair Evans was next on his 177th run, and then Chris Evans completed our second quartet at a parkrun.
Worthing parkrun saw eight Tuffs run, led home by Alex Webb who is having a great season crossing the line in just 18:37. Usually running long Danny Cunnett was going well along the 5k course to finish with a 71.17% age grade. Edward Lay was next to complete his 170th parkrun. Paul Fielder was our next Tuff home and he shaved 19 seconds off his previous record here to return a new PB. Dave March was mixing his training using this a a lower threshold run, Les Pearce was present for the second time this month as he steadily builds his recovery and is now at 198 runs just in Worthing (208 in total). Finishing alongside Les was Phil Turner, another Worthing regular who has run the course 108 times. Sue Pinky completed the Tuff eight.
Steve Fryer ran at Killerton parkrun which is held on National Trust property near Exeter. Whilst technically parkrun tourism, Steve has now run here ten times.
Trevor Harvey added to his parkrun tourism by running at Edenbrook Country parkrun, two laps along gravel paths to finish outside the leisure centre in Fleet.
Well done to all eighteen.
LITTLEHAMPTON PARK RUN 1st JUNE
Don’t forget, this coming Saturday Morning Tuff Fitty are targeting Littlehampton parkrun, 9am, as the opening fixture in this year’s Summer Tuff RUN series – don’t forget your barcode. The series of five runs where age grading levels the playing field for age and gender to see who is our quickest runner, taking your best three scores out of the series. Often parkrun is undertaken incognito, but as this will be a massive Tuff Turnout, please wear Tuff colours (Do please attend, no Tuff colours won’t exclude you, but preferred.)
TUFF’S CHICHESTER LAKE SWIM – 8th JUNE
Still open for booking – Tuff Fitty have once again hired Chichester Lake for an open water swim on Saturday June 8th. This is a fantastic way of undertaking an open water swim. All abilities welcome, especially as there will be a chaperone service for those looking to build confidence around two marked courses. Full details previously released on our Spond app.
TUFF FITTY’S SUMMER AQUATHLON BARBECUE
Friday 21st June is our first Tuff Aquathlon and barbecue of the summer at Arundel Lido – 7pm will see the whistle blow for the first wave of our Aquathlon comprising a 400m swim before a 5k run out along Mill Road. Meanwhile the barbecue is fired up for a feast awaiting the returning hungry Tuffs. Many signed up already, full details and acceptances required on our app.
TUFF TRAINING PHOTO OF THE WEEK
With so many races and club events continually being reported, there is little space left to report on Tuff Fitty’s regular training programme. Saturday trail run, Thursday and Saturday swims. Wednesday’s Strength & Conditioning and Track session and Monday Run. Also open water swimming and cycles organised between members. The above photo was snapped at this week’s Monday trail run from The Fox Pub (6:30pm start)
