Mounts Bay Harriers

This event has filled up fast this year even though I managed to get extra racking to take numbers up to 120.

Sorry to anyone who hasn’t got in.

The fifth Penzance Triathlon is taking place on Sunday, 3 April 2011 at Penzance Leisure Centre.  Entry form HERE

Distances are 400 metre pool swim, 15.5 mile scenic bike ride and a 4 mile run (approx).

The bike and run routes can be found HERE.

This event filled up very quickly last year so please get your entries in early as numbers are restricted to 100 by transition area space.  There will be no entries on the day.

MARSHALS - I’m going to be asking all club members whether they can help out on the day.  If you wish to take part then please try and get someone to cover for you.  I’m going to need 80 marshals to make this a safe event - nearly one for every competitor!!

1st St.Mawes Triathlon 2010

Nearwater St Mawes Triathlon

It was a perfect day for any event being held outside today - it wasn’t too hot, nice clear skies and very little wind… and the sea was flat!

About 3 weeks ago I talked Zoe in to doing this tri. She’s never been on a road bike up until now, so hats off to her as it was a hard cycle, (which I didn’t tell her) along with it being her first open water swim!

6 of us in total from MBH were here taking part, and the pre-race banter was mainly aimed at me. Everyone who I knew was asking me was I going to wear my timing chip or not and it was actually the first thing I put on.

750m Swim

As we walked to the beach, myself and Zoe had a good old chat to our newest member Jonno Gibbins, about eating I think. Anyway he finished 17th over all…..well done… Dude!

After a quick splash to warm up, 119 people all lined up at the start on a shingly beach. I took up position behind the fast lot, and before I knew it we were all off. I had a good start, loving it in all the bubbles but couldn’t see a thing for the first 50m, and the water was really warm for a change. I did try drafting but couldn’t keep up the bloke in front, then I was sandwiched and accidentally smacked one of them in the back of the head. He soon moved off as we rounded the only buoy and then it was into shore. My arms were flipping aching but on I went. I was glad to get out as my arms had given up at this point.

A quick dash across the road, and no I didn’t wobble my way to transition, for a change.

There was lots of cheering from the crowd as we ran into transition, which was very well organised. We ran in the bottom, got kitted out for the cycle, and ran out the top of transition before jumping on the bike.

14.8 Mile Cycle Route

I faffed up getting on my bike. I seemed to have forgotten how to get on the flipping thing but once on, I was off! Out of St. Mawes up the hill to the castle and that was how the route seemed to be - hill after hill. Zoe had had a good swim and I didn’t manage to catch her up untill the 3k point - as I went past she told me how much she hated me! Keep going, I told her! On I pushed. By 6 miles my legs were aching feeling really fatigued, but still managed to take a few places although I was overtaken by several others, which I didn’t like!

At the 18k point I was shocked to see Mr Brooks walking with his bike, again. I shouted “are you alright Nick?” “ yea, keep going - don’t stop for me” he shouted back. Huh! Like I was going to! Ha ha ha! Yep he had a puncture and the git managed to get a lift back! But he did do the run and gave himself a self disqualification, but he did seem quite happy at the prize giving! With a pint!

As I came back into St.Mawes down hill I shot past Kyle (now running) cheering him on as I rounded a corner, just a short flat stretch to transition left. I flew through transition racked my bike helmet off shoes on and I was off.

Shay somehow managed to take out one of the crowd control barriers in transition, landing on the floor spread out like a swastika with his bike and crash barrier on top of him! Good effort lad!

2.65 Mile Run

Basically this was running up the first hill we cycled up for a good half mile then undulating for a mile and half before a long down and the short flat stretch back to the finish/transition. I managed to take back the several places I lost and a further 8 or 9 before finishing.

Talking to Kyle afterwards I asked him how he manages to go so fast during transition 2. I did it in 40 seconds he some how managed 18 seconds - all he said was that he struggled to put his shoes on. Oh My God!

The bike racking was a bit crammed, but that was out of the organisers hands - other than that it was great race, hard, but a really enjoyable course and I loved it! As did the others from MBH, Great fun! Lots of laughs!

Lots of people had come out to support around the transition/finish area as well as sporadically around the cycle and run route so thank you to them and the marshalling was good. The only down side…… no blinking medal!

A big well done to Kyle who won the triathlon!

1 Kyle Kearey 1.13.18

10 Shay Bowen 1.20.28

17 Jonno Gibbins 1.23.06

54 Moi 1.31.51

83 Zoe Mason 1.39.58

Mr Nick Brooks 1.51.26

Sam Perkin

Roseland Triathlon 2010

750m Swim, 25k Cycle, 7k Off Road Run

Laughing off those pre-event nerves

Driving to the start of this tri wasn’t very nice as it was flipping raining! But it did clear up as I arrived at Portscatho! This was the first time this tri had ever been held, so it seemed like we were going to be guinea pigs for the organisers who had capped the number of competitors at 100.

From MBH there was myself Mr Brooks and Mr Hooper. No one knew what to expect of this new Tri although we had heard it was rather hilly!

Now it was a bit different to other tri’s i’ve done before - as we registered, we handed in our running shoes as they were then taken to the second transition point, and before you ask I have no idea where that was!

Once we had done that we had to rack our bikes at the end of the swim which was down a hill in a field just off the beach, then we had to trek back up the hill to registration only to find out we had to walk into Portscatho for the race brief which was 30mins late.

Now as I got there I was thinking I would have time to get ready after the brief…Oh No. Not Blinking Likely! At this point I was the only person not in my wet suit so back I trotted, and when I got back, now ready, i’d missed the brief!

Thought I told you to meet me

...so I walked down to the beach

So down to the start and in the sea for a warm up - more like a cool down - there were a few familiar faces there who I had a chat to. The sea was nice and clear.

Myself, Paul and Nick swam out a fair bit and chatted before being called back for the start by some people in goat boats!

I must say at this point that I hate swimming! But as I positioned myself behind the fast lot the gun went off and it was too late - in I dove. The first hundred feet was bit of a scramble - I was kicked in the head, bumped, someone cut me up in the wrong direction, but I huffed and puffed my way through the other competitors ending up coming out of the water nearly on rocks. In my dazed, and dizzy, wobbly state I made it up to my bike there were lots of supporters all cheering us on which was good, mind you I was more concerned about that tart Gary from St. Austell running club in his lilacy all-in-one girly pyjama tri suit! Who, if you recall, nearly ended up in a hedge with his bike stuck up his *** when I ran the Duchy Marathon this year. Well I’d beaten him in the swim ……..yea baby! Go me!

Just had to get on my bike on a hill, managed to get one cleat in but ended up running up the hill after a bird decided to stop in front of me, then oh my goodness it was 25k of hills. As soon as you went up you went down up, down, up, down. On one hill a car was stuck behind a couple of cyclists with a small group behind them who’d all lost momentum! Myself and Gary fast approaching them just as the car managed to over take them, as did we about 10 of them……I was pleased! Except Mr lilac pyjama man had also made some ground on me.

The road in places was only wide enough for a single car to get through….Hmmmm and a bike, especially in St.Mawes where I took a sharp left and nearly ended up in the back of a lorry who’d stopped to unload. Mr Hooper told me at the end of the race he’d done the same thing, but I squeezed by the lorry and managed to take a few more on the hill up to the Castle and i’d clawed that Gary back, but again he pulled away….the git!

All the way round the cycle route there were loads of marshals and supporters all cheering us on and clapping if only they could feel the pain in my legs they’d all clap a bit flipping harder!

There was one very dangerous downhill left hand bend where I think someone did lose control and came off. I stuck behind one of the more mature and elderly car drivers within our community! The old git was intent on going slowly I couldn’t even over take due to the narrowness of the road! I was starting to get tired now as the last couple of miles came into sight. I couldn’t see Gary, and someone had managed to overtake me just before transition. As I pulled in and hopped off my legs were feeling good even after beasting it round that hilly cycle route.

Tell me how do I feel

I saw two people start on the run as I pulled my shoes on and I quickly ran out of transition at good pace. The chap who’d over taken me was behind me somewhere nowhere to be seen ,and I quickly pulled in the two I had seen at transition …..Oh?… what’s this in the distance …going over hill….no its not a monster its a lilac pair of pyjama’s Ha, Ha…..ha! That was it. I thought “i’m going to have you!”, mind you we were now running on a coast path back to Portscatho on which the first couple of miles were also hilly but I managed to pass old Gary! I didn’t notice until running up the hills that the sun had come out which was making me very hot and I was glad to hit a drink station. I could see a few more people in front of me and I kept chasing them down everything seemed to be going right today! The last big hill 3 or 4 people were walking. “Ha - got you as well”, I thought and as I over took them one of them was Mr Brooks who been suffering with stomach cramps, he told me to carry on so I did, like I was going to stop! Huh!

The last few miles were undulating and the last mile was a bit muddy in places but the finish wasn’t too far and as I approached it was as if the entire town had turned out to cheer everyone in which was awesome!

The only bad things we could comment on was a few dangerous places on the cycle route and they didn’t put the 1st ever Roseland Triathlon on the back of the flipping Medal and as you all know I only do it for the blinking medal - i’ve 10 so far this year and its not enough I tell you!

Tell me now how should I feel

Quite pleased, actually!

I really, really enjoyed this tri even though I was kicked in the head and it was very, very flipping hard! There was a really good, friendly atmosphere and when prize giving came they put all our numbered swim caps into a box and turned it into a raffle , that’s just awesome, a chance to win something, but my number never came up, although Paul Hooper did win something and there were lots and lots of prizes given out!

Will I do next year? I think so!

Sam Perkin

I really wasn’t feeling like it this morn after more than a week of doing nothing (apart from catching a stomach bug while on holiday in Bonny Scotland). However, like any good Scot I was determined to get my money’s worth, so I signed on last night and gave the St Levan 10K a miss in case it interfered with my new approach to Tri training. I did go for a swim with Brooksy and co, but that doesn’t count as my swimming is chronic anyway.

I cycled over to the start with all my kit packed inside the big yellow duffel bag, and said hello to some of the familiar faces from the local Tri scene. The MBH massiv was there in force including big Dan Lugg, fresh from the London Tri and doubtless looking for a PB today. Charlotte Hurst, age group winner in the same event was also present and correct - could she pull another win out of the bag after her Capital effort…time would tell. Jason Walker had that hunted, haunted look that usually means only one thing - another PB! Sam Perkin was his usual irrepressibly cheery self, so I had to make myself scarce in order to get into a more introspective frame of mind.

The tide was high, but we were holding on. “50 seconds to go” said Cooter, the man with the hooter. I hadn’t been saying “1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi..” to myself and nor had anyone else judging by the perceptible satellite delay between the hooter sounding and the familiar water-borne stramash commencing. After only just avoiding a bad case of (someone else’s) foot in mouth, I slowed the pace and took the long way around the two buoys that marked out the 750m swim. It’s more fun hunting them down on the bike and run anyway…

This time, the concept of “neutralised” time betwen the swim and T1 had been abandoned, so everyone would know just where they stood as they closed in on the finish line. Exiting the water, I was near the back of the pack with the usual assortment of remedial swimmers, breast strokers, aquaphobes and those who flinch at the thought of a plantar sandwich. Hey ho. I managed to get back to transition and out again without stepping on anything sharp or unpleasant, and was soon cranking my way uphill out of Marazion. Before reaching Rosudgeon, i’d managed to overhaul a goodly number of those pesky people who can swim either fast or in a straight line! All of a sudden a familiar figure shot past on my right, hunched over his Tri Bars with a “hello Don” - ’twas Hixxo! Over the next few miles we switched positions several times as I struggled to find a rhythm, finding my legs disappointingly stale and free of fast twitch firepower. The fast section down to the Newtown roundabout was spoiled by a slow moving farm vehicle heading a queue of traffic. A few daredevil riders, including myself, sprinted up the outside while Cooter sensibly stayed in the gutter and undertook the obstacle.

I left T2 on the heels of Hixxo, and overtook him before the beginning of the Green Lane cycle path. It’s a far more civilised way to start a run, than the steep approach favoured by Cris and Co on their May and July events. The first few K were easy enough, but I could feel a stitch unravelling somewhere inside. Phil Sanger was on hand with his camera and some words of encouragement at the bottom of the hill up to the turn. “You’re going faster than you think” he shouted. “F**k, I hope so” said the guy next to me. On the final drag up Virgin Hill, Hixxo overtook me again as the needle teetered close to the big E, but the difference in our inside leg measurements made all the difference on the ridiculously steep drop back down to the field and the finish, and I came in a few yards sooner. It was yet another good day for the Bay after Pete Le Grice’s all-conquering performance at yesterday’s St Levan 10K. Overall, Kyle Kearey finished hot on the heels of MBH part-timer Neil Eddy and Alice Nicholas was third lady, just edging out Charlotte H.

Full Results and split times here:

http://www.racetimingsystems.com/public/results.aspx?raceid=1087

Yet again, I managed to miss the pasty/beer at the end, but I mustn’t grumble… ah the hell with it: where’s my pasty? Where’s my beer? Gripe, moan, grizzle, rant, rave….

;-)

Don “AikenDrum” H