Mark Edmonds writes:-
"Race was over a course of 4k swim/120k ride and 30k run... all flat!
A Total of 300 Age group athletes took part plus a further 50 in the Elite races starting 10-15 mins earlier than the Age Groupers.
I had a really good race and finished in 4th place overall in the 35-39 age cat (14th overall in ag wave) in a time of 6.19.13 and
Jim Miller placed mid 20s in the 40-44 age cat in time of 7.31.22 (142nd overall)
I managed to finish as 2nd GB age grouper overall out of 90 racing and was only 2 mins behind winning a bronze medal in my age group.
Only 1 other GB male age grouper won a medal as standard was very high.
Race day was perfect with light winds only, bright sunshine but only high of early 20s Centigrade.
Split times:
Mark: swim 58.06, Bike 3.12.06 (inc transition) and run 2.05.21.
Jim: swim 1.09.43, Bike 3.55.40 and run 2.21.06.
Biggest scare of the day was having a goose run full pelt into my bike at 10m into the ride.... luckily it didnt stick its head out
and so just bounced off my front wheel rather than losing its head! Didnt stop it getting really p****d with me though and chasing
after me for the next 50 metres! I was left shaken not stirred!"
Paul Martin, Graham Smith and Ian Morgan all rode rode La Marmotte cyclo sportive which finishes up the famous Alp D'Huez climb. Ian was 125th out of 7,000 entries but Paul suffered in the heat and as a consequence was 7 minutes slower than last year in a still excellent 8:09. Graham finished with 8.55. Full report to follow.
Mark Edmonds and Jim Miller both competed in the Roth Ironman in Germany but with varying degrees of success.
Mark finished an excellent 136th overall out of approx 2500 starters. His splits were: Swim - 54.24, Bike - 5.11.43 and Run - 3.32.39
for an overall time of 9.45.18. He was fairly happy with the result considering that injuries have severekly curtailed his running and
had only 6 weeks running before the race to prepare. The temperature was 30C on race day and he was running at midday!.
Ironically his bike time was the worst bit of his race and he positioned higher on both the swim and running splits and was only 210th
on the bike - with the fastest rider doing 4.21 and fastest female biker was 4.54.
He was hoping to dip under 5 hours for the
ride but it didnt happen this time around even though he was trying his hardest for an evenly paced ride.
The overall winner did 8.00.45.
Jim's splits were: Swim - 1.08, Bike - 5.40 inc 5 mins for front tyre puncture. In the Run he pulled out at 24kms when struggling in
teh heat with an upset stomach and the prospect of another 18kms of pain ahead. Still a 15 mins improvement on best bike time he has
done from Austria 04.
Paul and Jim rode the Circuit of the Cotswolds cyclo sportif on Sunday. This was a well organised 100 mile ride with 10 listed climbs including 1 with a long section of more than 25% up Cleeve Hill(?). There were 300 finishers on the long route and Jim managed a very good time of 6:22 for the 100 miles which put him in 70th place. Paul thinks that next Jim will be waiting for him!
Paul Martin and Ian Morgan rode the 3 day Tour of Wessex.
Full report coming soon.
Andy Ellis rode the new i-Team Gran Fondo Cymru cycle-sportive which consisted of 108 miles through the Snowdonia National Park in
North Wales.
"It was incredibly hilly and I was a little over-geared in a 39-25, especially over the final climb near Lake Bala, but I made it to
the finish in 7-54-35 (including stoppage time at the feed stations), which put me in 188th place out of 395 finishers. "
Full results