There’ll be plenty of British interest at this weekend’s Challenge Philippines, with Olympic medal-winning cyclist Emma Pooley and top age-grouper Parys Edwards among those shooting for the €5,000 prize for first place.
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Pooley placed third at last year’s middle distance race behind Aussie duo Melissa Hauschildt and Annabel Luxford, neither of whom are expected to race this year. Her main rivals this year will include local favourite Monica Torres and American athlete Kelly Williamson, who won Ironman Texas last year.
— Kelly H Williamson (@khwilliamson) February 16, 2015
The men’s race is likely to be dominated by two-time Ironman World Champion Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack, Italian former pro cyclist Domenico Passuello, Challenge Atlantic City winner Fredrik Croneborg of Sweden and inaugural Challenge Philippines second placer Michael Murphy of Australia.
This will be the second year that Challenge Philippines has run, and nearly 700 athletes are expected to take part in what is touted as one of the toughest half distance races in Asia. For more info head to www.challengephilippines.com.ph.
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Who do you think will win Challenge Philippines? Let us know in the comments!
For their first Elite Sprint Triathlon Championships, the ETU has picked an absolute beaut of a location – the ‘Belle Isle’ in the city of Châteauroux, central France.
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Located only two hours by train from the centre of Paris, the city of Châteauroux has been a venue over the years for French Championship events and is well-known and much loved by French athletes. The area is surrounded by forests and situated on the Indre River – with plentiful lakes and fitness trails.
The location for the race is known as ‘Belle Isle’. The beautiful lake, covering some eight hectares and surrounded by a further 12 hectares of protected green areas, has its own safe beach for the start and exit from the 750m lake swim.
The four-lap 20km bike course is technical and will test the athletes, say the organisers. Each lap passes through transition and so crowds who stay by the lake will get a chance to see the athletes as they chase over the blue carpet. The run course uses part of the bike course and will be a fast and furious 5km.
“I am very pleased to see that the French Triathlon Federation has agreed to host the 2016 Elite Sprint Triathlon Championships in Châteauroux,” said ETU President Renato Bertrandi. “The test event in July is the weekend after Geneva and I hope that many athletes will take the opportunity to make the short journey to support Châteauroux.”
For more info on all the ETU’s triathlon championships head to etu.triathlon.org.
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Have you raced in Châteauroux before? Let us know in the comments below!
When Rita Jeptoo successfully defended her Boston and Chicago titles last year, she secured a $500,000 jackpot as the top-ranked female marathon runner in the world.
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The 33-year-old was heralded for reaping the rewards for hard work over a long career, until an A sample from a drugs test taken a fortnight before Chicago proved positive. An inspiring story of athletic achievement was dwarfed by one of doping.
With every convicted offender, the spectacle of elite competition diminishes. Until Jeptoo’s positive test, African athletics had been comparatively untainted. Now rumours abound and belief is shaken.
Triathlon boasts just a handful of high-profile drug busts: Nina Kraft’s hastily aborted Kona win in 2004; the farcical Lisa Hütthaler, who doped then tried bribery in 2009; Virginia Berasategui’s tearful mea culpa in 2013; and Brigitte McMahon, triathlon’s first Olympic female champion, testing positive for erythropoietin five years later. Despite improved science, elite testing pools and biological passports, is triathlon really that much cleaner, or is it ‘there by the grace of god’?
The premise ‘innocent until proven guilty’ means that dirty athletes race until they’re caught, but by then medals are often awarded and national anthems sung. So what if we flipped our thinking so only those who ‘proved’ they were clean could start? It sounds far-fetched, medieval, an affront to human rights, but is it the logical end-game for the fledgling Clean Protocol (www.cleanprotocol.org), started by the not-for-profit World Clean Sports Organisation?
The complex certification process sees the athletes sit a series of psychometric and cognitive tests and involves analysing ocular motor deception or, crudely, subconscious eye twitches, akin to a lie detector – although it’s not an analogy founder Teague Czislowski is fond of.
He admits the test is not foolproof. To date it’s thought to be about 85% accurate, so has a far higher chance of returning a ‘false positive’ than recognised clinical environments (World Anti-Doping Agency claims its errors are one in 10,000). But what if governments, governing bodies and WADA embraced its potential?
At the Ironman World Championships in October, Clean Protocol certified a handful of professionals, including Britain’s Dan Halksworth, Harry Wiltshire and Jodie Swallow. Others were understandably reticent, but Andrew Johns, two-time British Olympian and Clean Protocol’s athlete liaison, believes attitudes have shifted such that, if the programme was repeated now, at least 50% of professionals would participate.
Those rumblings sound promising, but Clean Protocol may not last the course. It’s reliant on private funding, which is not sustainable long term, and Czislowski is disillusioned by the status quo. “Unfortunately I’ve found those in charge of anti-doping programmes the most unhelpful,” he says. “They barely engage with us or, when they do, recite their mantra of support for the current system.”
Last year, former WADA president Dick Pound wrote a damning report outlining how anti-doping programmes are failing, blaming a lack of will among sports organisations, governments and athletes. Czislowski agrees. “Kona gave us the ability to look through a small window into the potential future of clean sport. Few others share the vision,” he says. “I’m hopeful the way to make sport cleaner is to improve behavioural change mechanisms. However, we are too early and lack resources. I give triathlon a 20% chance of becoming cleaner. Most athletes want it clean but do not speak out and the race organisers have no will. Clean Protocol is not perfect. It is just a start.”
It’s easy to write off Clean Protocol as unworkable, both practically and financially, but solutions to great problems often require visionaries. If the utopia is a gateway to clean sport, maybe it’s worth a try.
(Illustration: Daniel Seex)
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What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
From humble beginnings that could be charitably described as ‘experimental’, the East Grinstead Triathlon will be celebrating its thirtieth instalment this May. EGTC member David Pawsey describes its long and colourful history…
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With the explosion in triathlon in the last decade it could be hard for some competitors to imagine a time when the sport was just finding its feet. The latest British Triathlon figures show that in 2013 there were 993 events held around the UK.
From huge 10,000+ competitor events like the London Triathlon to small, local club events with less than 100 entrants over a range of distances, triathletes are spoilt for choice nowadays. In the main, regardless of size, these races are extremely well organised with efficient transition areas and bike racking.
But it wasn’t always quite like this. Back in 1986 a group of sporting enthusiasts in East Grinstead, West Sussex decided to put on a triathlon. Little did they know the challenges they would face and the impact the race would have for years to come.
The class of ‘86
According to Martin Darlison, now head coach of East Grinstead Triathlon Club, the race was originally the brainchild of Dirk van der Starre, who was manager of the King’s Leisure Centre (which has served as EGTC HQ for the past 30 years) at the time.
Dirk served as the race director while local swim teacher Eve Savage was responsible for the pool-based swim. Experienced road racer Bill Wates took responsibility for the bike section while Martin himself arranged the run.
“There was no standardisation of distances in triathlon at the time, so we thought we would go with some round figures; a mile (1.6km) swim in the Kings Centre pool (64 lengths) seemed like a good idea, an oft-used 40km bike circuit around some brutal local countryside would keep everyone happy, and finish with a 10km run as two laps around a residential part of East Grinstead.
“Little did we know that this would later become (almost exactly) the standard distance triathlon we know today,” Martin says.
Challenges
However there were still several challenges to come. To start with the enthusiasts needed to form a club in order to register British Triathlon Association to get the race sanctioned. However, East Grinstead Triathlon Club was slightly short of members.
“As the minimum membership was seven we had to make up a name for the seventh person as there were too few of us to form a club,” Martin admits.
Despite a slightly unorthodox start to the event, the race managed to attract 80 entrants from sports clubs and some of the other very few triathlon clubs in the south east of England. The race itself could be described as near unrecognisable by today’s standards.
Martin recalls: “We did not know how to arrange the transition area as none of us had done a triathlon before, so we set up chairs in the main sports hall and competitors leaned their bikes on the chairs. “As only a few competitors had tri-suits, nudity was all too prevalent as competitors changed clothes between swim, bike and run.”
Race novices
Event management has greatly improved since then, particularly for the well oiled machine that is the modern East Grinstead Triathlon, and so has racing equipment.
On display back in ’86 were steel frame bikes, toe clips and leather straps with leather ‘hairnet’ crash hats and no proper crash helmets. Race day nutrition consisted of water, bananas, dried fruit and walnut cake.
Such was the general lack of racing experience one competitor did not even realise he could take off his goggles after finishing the swim section, due to the general lack of racing experience.
“His goggles were pretty steamed up by the finish as he was so warm. It was mid June,” says Martin. “The real fun of the first East Grinsted Triathlon was that almost all competitors were novices and we all shared a terrific experience together and were all hooked by the end of the day.
“We had become part of a very small group in a particularly minority sport. A lot of us went out for a meal together that evening, and we formed a strong bond that has held us as close friends, still 30 years on.”
Podium finish
These days membership of East Grinstead Triathlon club is well in excess of 120 and constantly growing. Therefore it is no surprise that it is an extremely well organised and marshalled event – only a small number of members are allowed to enter the event each year.
However that was not the case in 1986, with founder member Roger Sheridan who worked alongside Dirk at the Kings Centre winning the event, and Martin himself taking third place.
The following year the race attracted double the number of competitors, and the race and club have gone from strength to strength ever since.
“We never believed that what we staged 30 years ago would last so long,” says Martin. “Triathlon has grown massively over those three decades and has moved from a ‘random fad’ to mainstream recognition of an honest and challenging test of endurance, where the top triathletes are respected as amongst the best in the world of sport.”
To celebrate the 30th birthday of the East Grinstead Triathlon, which takes place on 10th May 2015, there will be a special wave for those that took part in the inaugural race. While the club is still in touch with some competitors from the Class of ‘86 there are a number which are yet to be tracked down.
So if you took place in that first event then please contact the race director at [email protected]. The club would really love to see you there on the day, even if are you are currently resting or tapering and don’t wish to take part! For more info head to www.egtri.com.
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Did you race one of the first East Grinstead Triathlons? Let us know in the comments!
If you like sea swims and rolling hills on the bike then this one’s for you – the Eirias Triathlon will return to north Wales on 26 September, with a top field expected once again.
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Both race begin with a sea swim at Porth Eirias, with the middle distance+ race involving a 1,900m swim (two laps), 106km cycle and 20km run. The standard distance+ race takes place on the same course and includes a 1,500m swim, 53km cycle and 10km run.
Last year’s race saw Welsh Commonwealth Games athlete Carol Bridge take the overall title in the middle distance+ race, beating the male winner Christof Knoeri by over 3mins with a time of 5:23:48.
The King of the Mountains special stage will be repeated again this year with the aim of finding the best climber in each race: the KoM climb will be included at the beginning of each lap, details here.
Registration to The Eirias Triathlon is open now with individual entry fees of £90 for the middle distance and £65 for the standard distance race. Team relay entries are available for £125 or £75 respectively.
Entries close on 16th September 2015 or when sold out – register here.
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Will you be racing this year’s Eirias Triathlon? Let us know in the comments below!
Just one week to go until this year’s 220 Triathlon Show! The always-popular 220 Theatre will return with a series of seminars from world-class experts such as record-breaking long distance swimmer Adam Walker and Ironman coach Joe Beer.
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Talks start at 13:00 Friday and run all weekend. For the best experience, you can reserve you seat for £2.
Mark Kleanthous has completed over 460 triathlons and he opens the show with his top tips on how avoid digestive and mental disaster on your long distance triathlon. Next up is Adam Walker to guide you through his Oceans 7 challenge. Joe Beer keeps the afternoon on track as he summarises twelve years of triathlon shows to discover what we’ve actually learned during a Q&A session.
Endurance adventurer and 220 Show first time presenter, Luke Tyburski, will be persuading you to up your game to take on long-distance and Ironman events. If you want to know what it’s like to compete in the Sahara and Nepal, he’s got you covered.
Saturday starts at 10:15 with Joe Beer on bike optimisation. With several Ironman challenges under his feet, Joe’s advice is not to be missed. 220 Triathlon’s contributing chef, Kate Percy, steps up next with a demonstration on how to make your own energy balls and recovery drinks.
Adam Walker returns for those who missed his Oceans 7 talk the first time round and Swim Smooth founder, Paul Newsome helps you make the most of your swim training with interval training based on critical swim speed (CSS). Paul has coached over 5,000 swimmers, so whatever your skill level, he’ll be able to help.
Mark Kleanthous returns, ready to snap you from your mid-afternoon lethargy, with his seminar on how to conquer Ironman challenges. It’s aimed at first time competitors and veterans alike so there’ll definitely be something for you.
Triathlon trainer, Steve Trew, rounds off the day with his take on mental attitude. He’s been a coach at the last six Olympics and Commonwealth games so if you want to know how the professionals think, Steve’s your man.
You’ll have one last chance on Sunday to catch Paul Newsome, Joe Beer and Adam Walker before the show ends when 220 columnist, Martyn Brunt, wraps up the weekend with an entertaining quiz on triathlon trivia and what really happens during races.
If you can’t make your mind up or are concerned about conflicting events, the theatre schedule is HERE, ready to assist you plan your day.
Need a top seat for your favourite speaker? Book your seat HERE.
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Don’t miss out on great savings, quote code 2W16 when ordering to get two adult tickets for only £16 (usual on-the-door ticket price £12. £2.25 transaction fee applies. Offer ends 24th February 2015). For more info, and to buy your ticket, head HERE.
Perfectly warm and still conditions greeted athletes at Challenge Wanaka last weekend, with New Zealand athletes Dylan McNeice and Gina Crawford picking up their third and sixth victories respectively in the beautiful Southern Alps.
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The men’s race was much closer than 2014 however, with local athlete Dougal Allen pushing hard all the way. McNeice completed the 3.8km swim in a new course record 45:33mins, but Allen rode a sensational bike leg of 4:30:50, smashing Richard Ussher’s 2010 record by almost 12mins to claw back a lot of the ground he lost in the swim. It wasn’t enough however to catch McNeice, who won in 8:37:14.
“It was a lot harder than last year,” said McNeice afterwards. “Dougal rode so well and I honestly thought he was going to catch me. He pushed me and I ran that first lap [on the run] too hard. I really felt it in the last 15km but I think that got me the title so it was worth the risk.”
Silver for Siddall
In the women’s race, Crawford was totally dominant despite facing a record number of pro athletes. Exiting the swim in 50:55mins among a group of pro men, she maintained a lead of between five and seven minutes during the 180km bike leg and completed the marathon run 11:55mins ahead of Laura Siddall (GBR) and 20:25mins ahead of Michelle Bremer (NZL).
Siddall made her mark in only her second long distance triathlon after turning pro last year. Wanaka’s German pro, Simone Maier has been a consistent performer in recent years and finished today’s race just off the podium in fourth.
“It’s always a tough race here but the crowds are fantastic,” said Crawford afterwards. “I find it difficult leading, I really love chasing when it’s easier to keep focused and motivated. When you’re out front you don’t know what’s happening behind you.”
For complete results head here.
(Images: Getty)
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Did you race Challenge Wanaka? Let us know in the comments below!
Not content with moving location up to Derby to fit more people in, the Jenson Button Trust Triathlon will be offering a £7,000 prize purse this year, with a grand each on the table for the male and female winner.
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The remaining £9,000 will be shared out down to 10th place, split evenly between the male and female athletes. This makes it one of the biggest prizes in UK sprint triathlon, and again gives athletes the chance to race against 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson.
The prize money will be distributed to male and female athletes as follows:
The race will be held at Markeaton Park in Derby on Sunday 12 July, with the preliminary heat involving a 200m lake swim in Markeaton Park, followed by an 11km cycle around the surrounding roads, then back to Markeaton for the 2.5km run.
The top performers will then go on to the final, 400m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run, with the runners up entering the wooden spoon race.
Entries are still open at www.jensonbuttontri.com.
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Will you be racing at this year’s event? Let us know in the comments below!
South Africa’s Stuart Marais and Bermuda’s Flora Duffy won the 12th annual Xterra South Africa Champs last weekend, grinding out convincing wins in cold and blustery conditions that sent athletes scrambling for the neoprene early on Sunday.
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There was drama before the race got underway with news that four-time Xterra world champion Conrad Stoltz had pulled out of proceedings with a severe cold. With the 2014 champion Dan Hugo retiring recently, this left the men’s race wide open.
An unseasonable cold front and blustery winds rolled in the night before race day and dropped the water temps in the small lake by more than two degrees, turning a non-wetsuit swim into a wetsuit optional affair and sending unprepared elites scrambling to find some rubber to swim in.
After borrowing a wetsuit from a friend racing in the age-group waves earlier in the day, Marais covered the 1.5km swim strongly enough to leave the water just 30secs behind the lead group of Bradley Weiss, Roger Serrano, and Theo Blignaut.
He then biked hard to overtake all three in the first 5km and create an unbeatable lead over the remainder of the 27km bike and 12.5km trail run, crossing the line in 2:32:47. Weiss and Serrano came in second and third respectively.
“I spent a lot of time out here on this course getting to know every little rock and turn and bit of sand and I suppose that makes the difference between winning and losing,” said Marais afterwards. “I did my homework and the plan worked out pretty good.”
Duffy dominates
In the women’s race, Duffy led everyone – men included – out of the water, then rode and ran impeccably to take the tape in 10th place overall with nearly 20 minutes to spare over her nearest rival Mari Rabie, crossing the line in 2:45:27.
“Everything seemed to work out today. It’s a very technical, challenging bike course so my biggest fear was flatting or having a mechanical so I was concentrating on keeping it smooth in the single track,” said Duffy, who has won nine of the 10 Xterra Championships she has raced since capturing the SA title last February.
Runner-up Mari Rabie, Olympian and Xterra SA Champion in 2005 and 2010, also had a very special day but for much different reasons – having been diagnosed with myocarditis chronic heart disease last year, and only receiving the all-clear to race three weeks ago.
“[I’m] just happy to be back racing and I haven’t ridden technical in more than a year so my main aim was just to stay on the bike,” said Rabie. “It was a tough couple months, you know, when a doctor tells you that you can’t do what you want to do because you might die. I think you appreciate this so much more when it’s taken away from you.”
Rabie said she now plans to chase the Rio Olympics dream before getting back into the dirt. “If I don’t get it I’ll swap over to Xterra to race. I’m naturally better suited to this type of racing, and definitely after Rio I’ll be racing Xterra.”
Top 10 men
1. Stuart Marais, 2:32:47 2. Bradley Weiss, 2:35:42 3. Roger Serrano, 2:37:20 4. Theo Blignaut, 2:37:35 5. Antoine Van Heerden, 2:38:34 6. Michael Szymoniuk, 2:41:13 7. Nico Sterk, 2:42:35 8. Jan Pyott, 2:43:55 9. Aidan Nugent, 2:44:51 10. Raoulde Jongh, 2:46:48
Top 10 women
1. Flora Duffy, 2:45:27 2. Mari Rabie, 3:04:06 3. Carina Wasle, 3:06:38 4. Nicolette Griffioen, 3:08:22 5. Sandra Koblmueller, 3:08:43 6. Ladina Buss, 3:12:25 7. Susan Sloan, 3:19:26 8. Louise Fox, 3:19:30 9. Adrienne Moolman, 3:21:08 10. Natia Van Heerden, 3:21:47
For complete results head here.
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With just days to go until this year’s 220 Triathlon Show at Sandown Park in Surrey, we take a look at one of the event’s key area – the Zoggs Swim Zone…
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The Zoggs Swim Zone will provide everything you need to improve your swimming from goggles to wetsuits, pool buoys to the latest training equipment. It will also feature, for the first time, a dual endless pool where you can sign up for training sessions with top coaches including record-breaking long-distance swimmer Adam Walker and Swim Smooth founder Paul Newsome.
At the show, Zoggs will be launching their new range of wetsuits and goggles. In addition, they’ll provide a full range of enthusiast and family gear from high quality photo chromatic goggles to swimming nappies for your little ones.
Plus major brands including: 2XU, Blue Seventy, Huub, Orca, Zone 3, Aropec and Snugg, will be showcasing their latest 2015 suits. Don’t miss the chance to win a 220 Triathlon branded Dry Robe and check out other brands including: Swimovate, Robie Robes, Endless Pools and many others exhibitors.
If you need help with your swim technique, then get advice from top coaching companies including Swim Smooth, and Tri Training Spain.
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Don’t miss out on great savings, quote code 2W16 when ordering to get two adult tickets for only £16 (usual on the door ticket price £12. £2.25 transaction fee applies. Offer ends 24th February 2015). For more info, and to buy your ticket, head HERE.