Chirk 2006

I was quite nervous going into the water as I wasn’t familiar with the course. The swim was fine but as I ran outside I realized how cold it was with the wind blowing.

The sun came out as I started my ride but the wind seemed to be against us all the way out but then seemed to be helping us on the way back. The roads were quite bumpy but I actually quite enjoyed myself!!

The run was quite pleasant apart from the 2 killer hills that I wasn’t told about but I managed to keep going, even if at some points I was barely moving. Overall it was a good triathlon which I look forward to doing again and beating my time next year.

Jess Knott

Harlech 2006

This was the second time I'd done this event, last year the bike course seemed difficult due to the wind. This year the weather was great (even got a tan!). Swim was a bit mad as is with three in a pool lane swimming at different speeds. I thought the bike was great, St Davids hill is a bit cruel to start off. Once that was done with the course seemed quite fast though there was still a few hills. It was also good to see most of the SCARAB team on parts of the course.

The run was the bit i found most difficult. Once on the beach the run is fine, however, once you get into your stride, you are back on the soft sand. Again get going on the road back towards the pool, then get to the bottom of the hill. Couldn't run all the way up the hill. It was great to see Ralph and Graham near the top, managed to start running again.

 Overall i thought the event was great. Thought the freebies were good value compared with other events i have done. The time i got was spot on to my watch. However, the split time i got for the climb to the castle must have been wrong as no way did i climb that 22nd overall.(maybe 21st!)

Duncan Riley

I was quite anxious about this, especially the bike. But actually really enjoyed it. Well run, great local volunteers and relaxed appraoch. The run was tough off the dunes, but a guy who was starting later ran with me off the sand, when he complained that I was doing a "walkathon"!

Jane Hughes

Stratford 2006

5th time now doing this massive event, well organised, opportunities for fun and relay too. Knocked off some time this year mostly from the bike - I actually passed some people!! Harlech and the Saturday bikes have paid off, as does pumping up your tyres properly. The run can get a bit congested, with pedestrians and two way traffic, some of the elite women definitely didn't like this.
 

Jane Hughes

Tri UK Shropshire

A small but select band of Scarabs ventured off to Ellesmere for what is probably the toughest field of competitors in a non- professional race that you will find. It is a qualifier for the Age Group World Champs.

Ralph, Graham, Vikki and I were all looking forward to our first Olympic race of the season, one of us our first ever ! The transition area was packed with very serious looking bikes and even more serious looking athletes, but as usual everybody was upbeat and friendly,

A cloudless blue sky started to cloud over about 10:45, unusually everybody  saw this as a good thing, however 20 minutes later the clouds were gone and the blue was back.

The race proper began with Vikki and the womens wave. I have been around swimmers for about 12yrs as a coach but even I was shocked when the first ladies exited the water in a staggering 17 minutes, a time which would be good for a 1500m pool swim let alone the start of a 2 hr triathlon.

Ralph and I started the swim together, with Graham starting 20 mins later. The swim as usual was kind of uneventful for me, slow and steady but I did manage to swim pretty straight for once. I exited just behind Ralph and prepared for the bike.

Everybody agrees that the first hour on the bike at Ellesmere is awesome, for some reason it all feels slightly downhill, you feel really good and a little bit smug until you turn for home with about 8 km to go. For some reason the last 15minutes is really hard, it doesn’t look hard, but it is.

Then off onto my “favourite” part; the run. Last year I had my best run of the season at Ellesmere, I actually nearly enjoyed it. So the Triathlon Gods looked down and thought “We’ll put a stop to that “. The gods in collusion with the organisers decided to change the course by adding 6 or so nice little hills and the gods alone decided to make the temperature about 30 C. So suffice to say I didn’t enjoy the run this year especially when Graham made up his 20 minute deficit and came “flying “ past me with about 2k to go.

With the conditions I don’t think anybody said on the day that they loved it, but I think looking back we will all remember a great, well run race and be proud of ourselves.

       Simon Clapham

Milton Keynes Olympic Triathlon

It was a bit of a trek, but I decided to have a go at this event, as it was one of the National Series events for this year.

I stayed overnight at a (relatively) close Travelodge; seemed a good idea, until the Beach Boys tribute band, playing with much more enthusiasm than talent, launched into their repertoire in the pub opposite the hotel. Suffice to say, I didn’t get the planned early night…

Still I got to the race venue nice and early next morning; fear not, the race isn’t staged up and down the famous new-town streets, but around a country park (Olney Park) some distance from the conurbation. On arrival I realised that I could have camped at the park, which was what many entrants seemed to do

The venue was great; the swim involved a “slalom” course zig-zagging around the largest lake at the park (I’m still not sure how they managed to shoe-horn 1500m into that lake). The water was nice and warm, clear and very flat, though patches of floating pond weed took a bit of getting used to. The bike was a pretty flat (Ellesmere-like) single loop around local country roads  (probably just under 40km) and the run involved three (dead flat) circuits around the park.

My race was a personal disaster, due to my chain parting about 10km from the end of the bike split. This was a shame as I had done a PB on the swim and was feeling good on the bike; but the 25 minutes I took to botch a repair, and hobbling back to transition in one gear wrecked my time. Still I was determined to get back under my own steam and finish the race, which I did with a fair run time.

The event was really well run; the competitors (some 800plus), marshals and organisers were exceptionally friendly (as usual) and the weather was pretty good too; warm, still, dry.

To conclude, I would strongly recommend this race to anyone considering entering next year; great venue, well run/marshalled and a potentially very-fast course. If you want to beat your PB, you would have a great chance at Milton Keynes. Or if you fancy a race somewhere new “down south” you won’t be disappointed.     

Ralph Sibley

Bala Olympic Triathlon

As with Milton Keynes, I was the only Scarab member who entered Bala this year. But, once in transition racking my bike, I didn’t stay “billy-no-mates” for long, and was soon sharing the (typical) banter, humour and friendliness that seem to be the hallmark of fellow triathletes racking around me.

Like last year, the race morning was cold and overcast with low cloud/mist (my car temperature gauge dropped from about 16 degrees, near Stockport, to 7 degrees, by the time I reached Bala). But unlike last year, there was no wind; the lake surface was like a mill pond and stayed that way until after finishing the swim split. So seasickness tablets wouldn’t have been needed this year… The water temperature was reportedly 16 degrees; felt more like 6 degrees. I’m sure I spotted an iceberg, further out.

The wind kicked in a bit during the bike split, but wasn’t particularly strong so was no real issue, and didn’t seem to slow down too much. A bit of mist or light drizzle/low cloud was evident at the highest part of the bike course, but otherwise it stayed dry throughout the race. All in all, pretty good weather conditions for the race, particularly for September.

I had a really unusual race; I ended up racing the same guy (Ian, from Wrexham Tri) on all three splits. We kept overtaking each other, but never getting more than 10-15 seconds away from the other. I ended up beating him by 2 seconds. It was great motivation for both of us during the race, as soon as one of us flagged a bit, the other went past, causing the first to dig deeper to keep up. As a result, I think we both went faster than we may otherwise have done: I got a new PB in the process. I have raced previously against others of similar speed to me in one or maybe two disciplines, but never all three before.

As with last year, the Bala Olympic Tri was a brilliant race, well organised, beautiful location, great fellow competitors and a superb way to end the season.

Ralph Sibley