220Triathlon Edição 334

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FEBRUARY 2017 I I 113
MEET THE
WINNER
SANTA DASH
RACESHORTS
ii Wombourne, Staffs ii 4 Dec 2016
BCT SPLASH AND DASH
BUCS DUATHLON CHAMPS STATS
STARTERS 644 FINISHERS630 MEN’S WINNER RICHARD HORTON 41:40
WOMEN’S WINNER PHILIPPA WOOLVEN 47:15
BCT SPLASH AND DASH AQUATHLON STATS STARTERS 151 FINISHERS 151
In temperatures close to freezing, competitorswere forced to dash even
faster to fend off the chill at the annual Splash andDashAquathlon…
Richard digging in on the
10-mile bike course in an
attempt to secure victory
T he Splash and Dash
Aquathlon is a winter
institution in the calendar
of midlands multisporters, with ITU
star Jodie Stimpson having raced the
event numerous times, winning it
outright in 2012. This year
participants woke to temperatures
as low as -4C°, and by the time the
first wave entered the pool at 8am
the thermometer was still barely
above freezing. The race consisted of
a 400m pool swim and flat 5km
off-road run, and attracted some
strong youth talent from the GB
age-group ranks.
Numerous participants got into
the festive spirit, donning various
Christmassy numbers as they
emerged from T1 after the swim –
and no one was looking more festive
than Megan Withers, who managed
to win the women’s race in a time
of 26:17 while sporting an elf
costume. Thirty-eight secs behind
Withers was Hannah Dodwell, while
the third-place female was Naomi
Elliot in 27:46.
In the men’s race, Phil Wolfe of
Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team was
arguably the favourite to win, having
raced in ITU events alongside the
Brownlees in previous years. Wolfe
put in the fastest swim split of the
day, but lightening fast runs from
youngsters Steven Hanly and James
Hodgson denied him the top spot.
Hanly’s winning time was 22:20, with
Hodgson 7secs back in 22:28 and
Wolfe finishing in 22:37.
23-year-old Richard Horton is
a Loughborough University
human biology student, and
puts his expertise to good use
judging from his impressive
multisport results of late…
Coming into this race I was far
more nervous than I expected.
I’m generally relaxed but after a
bit of an anti-climax to my
summer season I wanted to end
the year with a bang. I’m also
now part of an online coaching
team,
and wanted to do them proud!
You can never tell what level of
fitness others will be at in
November, but as the BUCS
Duathlon Champs is one of the
UK’s biggest duathlons I knew the
competition would be strong.
As I set off I tried to assume the
lead early on, not wanting to get
boxed in. Although I’d only done
a handful of turbo sessions in the
lead-up I managed to hold off
everyone but the fast-biking Luke
Grenfell-Shaw of Durham Uni on
the 10-mile bike course. The gap
was 35secs going into the second
run, and with everything to play
for I simply stuck my head down
and went for it. Even if it ended
me I was determined to get level,
but I passed him with 200m to
go to take the win!
I was very proud to represent
Loughborough for a final time
as a BUCS competitor in a
well organised and competitive
race. I’ll definitely be back to
race the open event at the Chilly
Duathlon in the future. My plans
going forward include a full
cross-country season, some
British Super Series races and a
couple of 70.3s – and continuing
to work with Team Triumph to
help others achieve their
multisport goals.
RICHARDHORTON
BUCS Duathlon Champs, 20 Nov 2016
IMAGE
CHARLES WHITTON PHOTOGRAPHY
IMAGE
BLACK COUNTRY TRIATHLETES
ROUND-UP
Multisport races are always few
and far between as the festive
season approaches, with many
triathletes opting to go cross-country
or focus on their weaknesses indoors.
But there were still a healthy number
of brave souls up and down the UK
taking part in duathlon and aquathlon
events as temps dropped considerably
with December approaching. One of
these events on 4 December was the
first race in the Bowhill Winter
Duathlon Series, held on the Scottish
Borders. Almost 200 turned out for
the off-road run/bike format race,
withGreigWalker of Velo Moulin
Cycling Club taking the win in
38:50mins. The first woman over
the line was Cat Hirstof Durham
Tri Club, in a time of 49:10mins. At
the opposite end of the country on
the same morning, nearly 100
duathletes also turned out for the
Rempstone Roast Mountain Bike
Duathlon in Dorset, withStuart
Bowers taking a narrow victory
over Gerald Tudor in the men’s
race with a time of 1:04:52. Tudor
crossed the line less than 28secs
later in 1:05:17. The women’s race
was more clear cut, asVicki Dibdin’s
time of 1:16:26 gave her a 2min
margin of victory. At the Krazy
Kristmas Kaper Aquathlon, also on 4
December,IainHindes and Lydia
Rosling took the wins in times of
27:49 and 30:30mins, respectively.
Black Country Triathletes will
host two triathlons in April and
September, also at Wombourne
Leisure Centre. The September race
will be the 25th anniversary edition.
Athletes test themselves
over the 5K and against
the low temps
RESULTS
400m swim | 5km run
MEN
1 Steven Hanly 22:20
2 James Hodgson 22:28
3 Phil Wolfe 22:37
WOMEN
1 Megan Withers 26:17
2 Hannah Dodwell 26:55
3 Naomi Elliot 27:46