Welcome to New Member Nik Bestow. Nik lives in Martlesham Heath near Ipswich. He has started running (he did the Scenic 7 in Stowmarket in November) and has entered the London Sprint Triathlon as his first attempt at triathlons. I am sure we shall see him around this year.

Eastern Area Races I hope to include an up to date list of all Eastern Area BTA races as soon as I have them.

The website & e-mail list. Charlie Stannett writes I've been rebuilding the club website at a new address - www.ipswich-tri.org - in readiness for when the current address expires later this year. As soon as I am happy with the new site, I'll ask for the current address to be pointed to it (so the old address will carry on working) but in the meantime if you want to contact me about the new website, please e-mail me at charlie@ipswich-tri.org.
Also, Simon has given me a list of known e-mail addresses so that I can send out occasional race-reminders etc. I don't want to over-use this (I suffer from e-mail overload myself) but if you want to be taken OFF the list please me know and, conversely, if you didn't receive a recent e-mail about Nick's training sessions and the Stowmarket cross-country but would have liked to, then send me an e-mail address to put ON to the list. I know there used to be a mail group but I think this has died.

Adrian Green is working very hard to get new cycling / tri kit together. I have included his questionnaire. Also see kit section.

London Marathon An appeal from Charlie and Kate Stannett. We have taken "Gold bond" places and need to raise an awful lot of money for the Spinal Injuries Association. Kate's idea - she was inspired after meeting Paula Craig at London Tri last year. Please sponsor us on line at www.justgiving.com/stannett for as much as you can - the tax man will add some money as well. Many thanks.
Charlie Stannett

It's not long to go to the new season and I guess we're all poring over the race calendars to see which events to enter.
I know triathlon is an individual sport but, with just a little co-ordination, we could begin to chase for some of the team prizes. If you see any races with a team category - especially a ladies team category - could you let me know.
As a pre-season kick-off, how about Feb 22^nd. For mud lovers, it's the final event in the cross-country league, up at Bungay: three ladies needed, ring Steve Robinson for details. If, like me, you need to build up your road miles, there's the Gt. Bentley 10 mile: four ladies needed, first three to score. Give me a ring on 01206 298888, or e-mail me via charlie@ipswich-tri.org.
Meanwhile, good training.

Kate Stannett

Hi, I'm Nick Collinson, the new ITC Men's Captain. I thought I'd do a weekend training schedule, for the 1st four months of 2004 for ITC club members to join in with if you want. The idea is long and steady, which is great winter training for all triathletes.

Bike routes are all on quiet roads. If 4hrs+ on the bike seems like too long, then why not start by joining us on every other Saturday for the 2hr rides and build up from there. Cycling speed will generally be between 16-17 mph average, although I will add in some speed and strength work from mid March, so average speeds will probably increase a bit from then.

Run routes are usually off road, in Rendlesham Forest (a great place to run and highlight of my dog's week). Speed is harder to estimate, but I'll make sure everyone has a map of the forest run route, so if you run slower you won't get lost. Meet at my house in Bredfield 15 minutes before each start time. This will give us time to get out to the forest for an 8.00 am start.

We do tend to go out in most weathers (it could be raining when you race so you need to be used to it!), but if its really horrible, we might do a turbo session or a mountain bike ride. Ring first. There'll be plenty of tea and biscuits after each session.

Please ring me on the Friday before each weekend to check for any last minute changes of plan. Phone 01394 380337 or 01394 387403 (day)

Meet 15 minutes before start of session at Meadowhayes, 2 The Shingles, Bredfield, Nr Woodbridge. Grid Ref. TM 266524

If I get decent take up, I'll carry this on throughout the year.

I do hope some of you will come along to the sessions, as one thing I often hear about ITC is that we don't have somewhere for people to meet up to train together. Well this is a start, and if it proves worthwhile I am very happy to put effort into finding a venue that we can book on a weekly basis and go on training sessions from.

A year ago I organised a training day with Heather Williams, which proved a success and 17 club members came along. I am very happy

to organise another similar day, perhaps focussing on another aspect of the sport, we did mostly running and biking last time. I would be

keen to hear what sort of training days you would be interested in- swim coaching, bike maintenance, transitions. If you let me know I will sort something out, but I don't want to spend time doing this if people aren't keen. If you could feed back ideas to Simon or me, I'll happily put something together.
Best wishes for the new year and I hope to see some of you on the weekend sessions between now and the end of April.

By Steve Robinson

My impressions of the day were as follows- Absolutely outstanding performances from TOM WOOD, u13 and RICHARD TATESON everybody else just normally outstanding!! The others in three squad were - KATE STANNETT, LOU TANNOUS, JULIA GREEN AND SUSANNAH ROSENBERG for the ladies and FRASER HALES, BILL MATHEWS CHARLIE STANNETT AND STEVE ROBINSON for the gentlemen. I feel the Stannetts had a Saul on the road to Damascus conversion to the rough stuff! from all that sissy tarmac running and are eagerly anticipating the next event as much the rest of us!! --

JUNIORS- TOM WOOD 12TH 5TH(U13) 23.04
SENIORS

RICHARD TATESON 26TH 37.15
STEVE ROBINSON 82ND 43.45
FRASER HALE 120TH 47.58
LOUISE TANNOUS 130TH (32ND) 48.58
KATE STANNETT 137TH (36TH F) 50.10
CHARLIE STANNETT 144TH 51.21
SUSANNAH ROSENBERG 147TH (44TH F) 52.24
JULIA GREEN 159TH ( 52ND F) 56.13

Well this turned out to be a really great cross-country day. The icy weather forecast failed to materialise and the baking skills of the Pacers were on show with some great homemade cakes. However very few runners seemed keen to take advantage of this- Club members

excepted. There were quite a few moans about aches and pains and general poor health. The saga of Charlie's rib has now eclipsed Beckham's foot and Lineker's big toe in contemporary sporting history!
Richard Tateson was again our leading scorer -by quite along way! and Tom Wood to the fore in the juniors, getting his picture in the Bury Free Press. But overall it was an excellent performance from the squad with improved positions from everybody. Most notable were Fraser (17places) , Kate ( 16 places ) and Susannah (12places).

STOP PRESS!! Our best performance so far this season. Nathan Miller storms around the park for an incredible 9th spot . He was mixing with it David Miller but eased up because of a cyclo-cross fixture in the afternoon!! Richard Tateson hits highest place so far in 24^th - not bad considering this race was fitted in between a 70 mile bike session !! Simon Bourne, in his 1st outing, scored in the top 50. There was also great supporting performances from Lou, Kate , Susannah, Nic, Fraser, Charlie , Mark(my bruv) and I'm sure Tom had another good one. SEE YOU ALL AT THE FINAL ONE AT BROOME HEATH ,BUNGAY 22ND FEB---BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

Charlie Stannett adds

Only 2 representatives from the club with TOM WOOD finishing 17^th in the U13 category and STEVE ROBINSON , not so highly placed in 46^t position. It was such a lovely day and a great course I felt so enthusiastic about running I even picked up an entry form for the Bury 20......I haven't set it in yet , of course

Unfortunately I was under doctor's orders to miss this one - which meant I would miss out on my finisher's Christmas pud as well as a sunny if bracing day (open race prize winners would get a turkey). The temperature was okay at around 7 degs C but the run was a bleak out and back into a northerly wind. Which did nothing to deter Graham: he missed out on a turkey but won the Suffolk county championship for his category. Unfortunately he was being a Bounder for the day but never mind - congratulations! Kate narrowly missed getting third in her category - she claims she didn't realise the "older woman" she was shadowing was actually the same age otherwise she wouldn't have been so polite.
Graham White 64:21
Kate Stannett 88:43

The biggest surprise this year wasn't the evidence of SNOW up there in Norfolk - it was that Grayhame & Anne had been up partying later than Charlie & Kate, who had been real party-poopers. The weather was as chilly as you would expect but (from memory) sunny. And we had a mobile cheerleader: Dave Copland kept appearing on his bike, moving from one road junction to another as if by magic - thanks, Dave; the encouragement was well received. Tea & cakes afterwards were equally well-received, especially when they started throwing in free mince-pies! Definitely the way to start the year - with times quicker than last year - and they were still dishing out their funky-chunky 25^th anniversary medals.
1^st Joy, Rob 00:31:32 North Norfolk Beach Runners
21^st Clarke, Jane 00:38:55 Norfolk Gazelles
119^th Fish, Anne 00:49:42 Stowmarket Striders
120^th Fish, Grayhame 00:50:04 Stowmarket Striders

153^rd Stannett, Kate 00:53:43 Ipswich Triathlon Club
159^th Stannett, Charlie 00:54:25 Ipswich Triathlon Club
162^nd Rosenberg, Susannah 00:54:35 Ipswich Triathlon Club

We are in the process of getting another supplier of club clothing particularly cycling tops and tri suits now that Alexa have stopped producing club kit. One of the most promising companies so far is SUGIO a Canadian company. There kit seems a comparable price to Alexa. We usually heavily subsidise club kit to give you a quality garment at almost half price in some cases.

Old Kit

T shirts (red) £5 Sweatshirts (red) £10

Training (Drill) tops (black) £15 Crop triathlon vests (Lycra)- £15

Short sleeved cycling tops £20 Long Sleeved Cycling Tops £25

Short sleeved cycling skin suits - £30

Long Sleeved ‘Lombardia’ cycling tops full zip 3 rear pockets £35

Running vests (ladies and gents styles) - £15

Half decent mountain bike. Must have front suspension. Must be light. Condition unimportant. Simon Palmer 01449 711906

Peugeot Boys Blue / Yellow Racing Bike 12 gears. Suit 10 – 12 year old. £90. Phone Janet Henderson 01728 830101

Universal Mountain Bike 14" Frame 20" Wheels 12 Gears £25 ono

Phone Steve Hicks on 01473 624761

Sun 15^th St. Peter’s Brewery 20k and 10k 10.30 am

Sun 22^nd Cross Country League Bungay

Sun 7^th Wymondham 20 mile race

Sun 14^th Bildeston 10k and half marathon 10.00 am

Chair - Ron Bareham (01787) 282189

Secretary - Simon Palmer (01449) 711906
e-mail: simon.palmer@talk21.com

Treasurer - Paul Bones (01986) 872402

Mens Captain - Nick Collinson (01394) 380337

Junior Co-ordinator - Dennis Spashett (01473) 270573