...our new ladies' captain is Kate Stannett.

Our ladies' captain is Kate Stannett.

Some like it hot - our ladies turn up the heat across Europe

After the great performances from our juniors last month, our old girls had some great performances over the weekend of the 4^th August:

Julia Yellolly coming a magnificent 8^th in her age group at the Ironman 70.3 in windy Antwerp
Lucy Bowditch showed her true colours by completing the scorching London tri despite having back problems. Lucy wasn’t going to do the run - and actually stopped in T2 for five minutes - but was persuaded to carry on and still came 5^thin her age group
a pat on the back for myself, coming 3^rd in my age group at London
and a special mention for Susannah Rosenburg who preferred to stay in the freezer department and had a go at a sister event to the ridiculously daft Norseman in icy Norway - a "fun", "flat" duathlon.

Well done to everyone out racing this month, especially everybody competing at Framlingham - if I've recovered I hope to be there to cheer!

Kate can be contacted on 01206 298888 or kate@ipswich-tri.org

The 3rd World Bog Snorkelling Triathlon - Sunday 3rd July

Congratulations to Dave Copland on becoming world champion bog-snorkelling triathlete - and in a new world record time!

Dave bog-snorkelling...

Dave becomes world champion!

Edited from the official website:

Sponsored by Young's Bitter, the first ever World Bog Snorkelling Triathlon took place in Waen Rhydd Bog on the outskirts of Llanwrtyd Wells on Sunday 10th July 2005.
Now in its third year, the event comprises a fell run of approximately 12 miles, a bog snorkel of approximately 120 yards through the world famous Bog Trench and a 19 mile mountain bike ride.

Next month in the continuing adventures of Dave doing daft things ... the Norseman?
("Because the water is too cold they have had to move it 20k south nearer the Atlantic. The temp is 15 degrees and we have to start by aiming for a bonfire on land where we get out for hot soup before getting back in the water for the rest of the swim (full distance). Of course this means the bike is 20k longer making 200k...")

Antony Birt

...enjoying a beer at London...

Gosfield "olympic" triathlon - Sunday 15th July

The day started very similar to Norwich with an absolute downpour just before the start. The swim was in the Gosfield lake which is used for Open Water swim practice throughout the year -- check out previous ITCHs (& see picture later). My target for the day was to finish without a puncture after my puncture at Norwich (and then on the Monday on the way to work).

The swim was technical with lots of turn buoys and at one point you are swimming towards the water jump with people swimming in the opposite direction both sides which makes you think. At this point I was glad Isabel who’s been coaching me had made me practise head up front crawl as constant direction checking was required. The swim for me was good I stayed at the back at the start away from the melee and then gradually overtook the people who had suffered from the frantic start getting into a good rhythm.

T1 and boy was I glad I had chosen to ignore the Mount sign and run up the small hill before mounting, as I was running up the hill a guy in front who had decided to mount his bike was busy dismounting after his gears had given an almighty sounds of clunk-clunk and stopped him dead, and felt good when I heard someone in the crowd shout ‘good decision to run number 46’. Bike was still wet and missed the first left turn completely - combination of me missing two keep left signs and the marshal ordering his bacon sandwich on the phone (but we both laughed on the 2^nd lap). Bike course was good mix of hill, flats and undulations and the two lap format worked well.

T2 was Ok but got held up on a narrow exit. The farm field was interesting; freshly cut corn field made it heavy going and then a mixture of Tarmac roads and grass on the old airfield but I forged on trying to keep to target lap time set by Isabel to push me on the run as I like to take it easy. Took me the entire first lap to shake off the bike legs but the 2^nd lap I was flying because retaking a few positions and also getting showered in water from Hayley - Thanks I did appreciate it. The end was near and I crossed the finish line with a sprint (for the adoring crowd, was that me they were shouting for or someone else).

For you goody bag hunters the a nice robust swim kit bag, water bottle, Free Massage Token (used ASAP), sweat towel and a few bits of food. Again very well marshalled with the local police helping out and good post-race atmosphere with most people staying on the grassy knoll to clap people in and enjoy the sun and lake view. Some good photos as well from their web site and surprised more people hadn’t chosen such a local event but the entry fee was quite high @£45. For 2008 I have heard that this even will replace the Braintree Sprint distance but not confirmed. Also recommend this for Open Water as it possible to practice on Tuesdays and other days through the spring/Summer.

Place	Name	Cat	Time	Club
1	Billy Parker-Brown	M1718	02:06:26	TSE
25	William Newland	M5054	02:31:02
36	Sarah Benjamin	F2024	02:34:33	TETC
43	Antony Birt	M3034	02:36:24
84	Helen Farrow	F4044	03:00:50

Bar end Penalties?

William Catchpole

Dunwich Dynamo 28/29 July

I had read several blogs about this event and it sounded like a bit of a challenge which appealed to my sense of adventure. It is an overnight ride from Hackney to Dunwich covering about 120 miles taking a scenic (if it was daytime) route through Essex and North Suffolk. There is no marshalling or starters (that I could see) and in fact there is nothing official - it's just a pitch up and go when you finish your pint or in my case the largest best value kebab I have ever had. Just £4 with enough salad and chilli sauce to feed a hungry family. An Ipswich rider Peter Ling who I suspect is a well known hardcore veteran spotted the Ipswich Triclub jacket and I invited myself to join his group. He has done John O'Groats to Lands End twice and cycled the coast of the UK and his holiday was cycling in Norway - not exactly a flat country.

William Catchpole shows that characteristic swaying angle so typical of late night pub visits... Anyway he said he was going as the weather was likely to change. He got that 100% right. The first bit is a bit tedious but after about one hour you're out through Epping forest and it's pretty much country roads. After two hours the group of riders I was with stopped to get the rain kit on - me I had nothing so just got soaked and stayed that way for the next seven hours. Some place called Finchingfield looks absolutely gorgeous and if I get a chance I shall re-visit and enjoy a nice pub lunch. Its behind me in the photo [in which William shows that characteristic swaying angle so typical of late night pub visits...]

There was a soup kitchen at 65 miles in Great Waldingfield and I have to say those people who ran it are stars. Without it I may have thrown in the towel. The mythical tandem with fairy lights materialised along with a TV crew who interviewed several of us. (It's on ITV in January with Selina Scott at 7.30pm called Country file.) Fortified we pressed on but two of our group bailed out saying they were not enjoying it. Disaster struck and I got a puncture at 2.45am which was the lowest point of the ride. Lucky for me Peter had a miners helmet lamp and we got it sorted in about 15 minutes.

We passed through Framlingham at about 4.00am and arrived at the Café in Dunwich at 5.00am where I had three pots of tea and huge full English plus a jumbo doughnut. The café doesn't normally open at 4.00am just in case your tempted.

No medals, no badges, no T shirts and some people including Peter Ling then cycled home in his case another 35 miles. The TV crew was hoping for some us to go swimming but I was so wet all I wanted was a shower and bed. If the weather had been good it may have been an experience I would wish to repeat - but it was truly ghastly and I seriously doubted my sanity at several points.

There is a very full report by a previous rider which if the ride takes your fancy is worth a read. http://www.nuttycyclist.co.uk/rides/dun-run-1.htm

Culford - Sunday 29th July

Strangely I don't appear to have any pictures or normal race reports for Culford - I guess everybody was busy competing or crewing! A special mention then in the results for

Richard Woodward who took time out from training for his first Ironman to be our first person home - proves you don't have to sacrifice speed for distance!

Will Meadows (now second claim with us) who came second in the youths event.

Amanda Mallett and Laura Hicks who got third & second respectively in their age groups.

Sarah Miller & Liz McGoldrick who won their categories - in Liz's case this was her first event since joining the club.

Race director Dave Copland (shown left with his bog-snorkling bling) writes:

Dave Copland - bog-snorkling-triathlon world champion! Thanks to all the marshals and other volunteers who helped make the Culford Triathlon 2007 a great success. Without these people we wouldn't have a race at all. So thanks again to:

Annette White, Brian McGeeney, Charlie Stannett, Charlie Tovell, Charlie Tweed, Chris Gabriel, Clive Quantrill, Denis Spashett, Elizabeth McGoldrick, Frances Slemmings, Gemma Moore, Graham White, Hayley Butcher, Heather Collinson, Helen Farrow, Iain Downie, Isabel Smith, Jackie Chubb, Joan Hunt, John Gabriel, John Wankowski, Julia Yelloly, Kat Milkovich, Kate Stannett, Maria Reynolds, Mark Ramsey, Mervyn Wake, Mike Stollery, Nick Collinson, Peter Kerry, Richard Balaam, Robert Hunt, Ross Welton, Sarah Maltarp, Sarah Millington, Stephen Constable, Steve DeBoltz, Susannah Rosenberg, Tony Birt, Wendy Quantrill, Will Newland.

I think that's everyone. Apologies if I missed anyone out.

I've received a large amount of feedback, all positive, so we must be doing something right. Here's a few examples:

"This was my first triathlon and I enjoyed it so much, it was brilliantly organised and superbly marshalled throughout, I can't wait to do another one and hope to return to Culford next year."

"Second time I have done the race, and it continues to be a favourite :-) Marshals were all friendly, great atmosphere."

"This was only my third tri, I did not find the event intimidating and all marshals were both friendly and helpfully. A great event and thank you again for allowing people such as I to participate in grass root triathlons.Without you the sport would not be what it is today."

Commiserations to Chris Slemmings, who had a nasty fall on the bike, as a consequence of a mechanical failure. Chris suffered a broken shoulder and punctured lung.

So, thanks again to all the helpers. Let's do the same again and make the Junior Tri and the Ipswich Duathlon as successful.

Youths
Pos.	Name	Cat	Time	Club
1	Joe Giggins	MA	53:30	East Essex Tri
2	William Meadows	MA	57:46	(2nd claim ITC)
4	Venita Dabhi	FA	1:00:13	Tri Sport Epping

Sprint
Pos.	Name	Cat	Time	Club
1	Oliver Milk	ME	51:06	Tri-Anglia
6	Richard Woodward	MF	54:27	(Cat 2nd)
24	Simon Lockwood	MG	1:00:30
28	Daniel Clifford	MH	1:00:43
29	Annabel Gates	FE	1:00:55	BRAT
33	David Husband	MF	1:01:40
48	Brian McGeeney	MG	1:03:07
82	Amanda Mallett	FH	1:08:05	(Cat 3rd)
83	Laura Hicks	FE	1:08:10	(Cat 2nd)
85	Sarah Miller	FI	1:08:39	(Cat 1st)
89	Jason Baillie	MF	1:09:19
97	Jacqueline Chubb	FH	1:09:52
117	Michelle Constable	FH	1:13:35
127	Elizabeth McGoldrick	FJ	1:15:49	(Cat 1st)
133	Emily Carter	FE	1:17:39
DNF	Chris Slemmings	ML

Chris Slemmings writes:

May I, through the Newsletter, thank all members for their good wishes and support following my mishap at the Culford event.

Marshalls and St John's were very prompt and got me to Bury hospital in short order. The hospital itself was very efficient and sorted me out immediately on arrival. Sent home on Wednesday, I won't trouble you with the details. Suffice to say, I did a pretty comprehensive job and will take some time to recover. Having done a good swim time, I was going well in the bike section and was looking forward to a good overall time. Now need to get some physio and back into training. Perhaps I will have better luck next time.

One thing is for certain - I am now a great fan of cycle helmets. Things would have been a lot worse without one.

Chris Slemmings

Nick Collinson

Nick doing Nice nicely...

Antwerp Ironman70.3 - Sunday 5th August

I'd hoped this would be a big club trip in 2007, but London got in the way and many decided on that instead. I traveled over with a couple of mates, Marc Delea (ITC-living near Brentwood) and Antony Bell-Scott (Isle of Man mate from Etape du Tour 2005 and IM France 2006). Iain Downie and Julia Yelloly were also doing the race. An uneventful ferry trip across and drive to Antwerp, arriving Friday early evening. Lovely café with outside seating opposite the hotel - it is great racing in Europe. On Saturday we hired Belgian pedal-backwards-to-brake bikes and did some sight-seeing. Also registered and handed in run kit on Saturday afternoon. Registration and handing in kit was a bit of a nightmare at this race to be honest. The race office location was different on Saturday and Sunday and T1 & T2 were in different locations. Added to that the finish was in a different location still, so by the end of the race there was a bit of wandering around the city to collect all our stuff.

The race itself was superb. A late and very civilised start (11a.m.) although it was the hottest weekend of the year- reportedly 36-38 degrees on the run. The wind was up too, so the hopefully fast, flat bike course was more of a fast, flat energy sapper.

The 1.9km swim was pretty crowded and the water visability appalling and I didn't find clear water until about half way round. At this point I was able to extend my stroke and relax - even passed four pros in white swim hats. Exited in 30 minutes, which was a few minutes slower than I had hoped.

The bike was a typical Belgian bike course!! Someone once told me that if you do a race in France and it’s near a mountain, the Frenchies will certainly take you up and over the top of it (I can vouch that this is true). Well, the same goes for Belgians and their notorious cobbled roads, or pavé. Several sections of teeth-shattering and by all accounts bottle-dropping, wheel-breaking, tyre-bursting and triathlete-crashing pavé greeted us on the 90km bike course. Belgium also has a lot of trams tracks!!! Typical 70.3 style bike though - out of the city, twice around a loop, and then back. Done in approx. 2:38

The 21km run was an out and back 5km loop to be done 4 times, plus a bit. Very hot and people were suffering in the mid afternoon sun (half the Tri-Sport Epping team DNF’d). As I said at the top - it was 36-38 on the run and so for those of us who hadn’t got in any warm weather training, due to our miserable summer, it was a real shock to the system. A bit of pavé on the run course too and home with a run split of 1:47 and a total of 4:59. Somewhat slower than I had hoped, but given the heat, the wind and the Belgian pavé, I left Antwerp Monday morning, tired but very happy.

This is actually our “local” 70.3 geographically speaking. I’d happily recommend the race itself, and Antwerp is a pleasant enough city, but the logistics of registration and kit handover were a bit tortuous.

1st Marino Vanhoenacker 3:50:06
2nd Andrew Johns 3:57:29

Antony Bell-Scott 4:56:02
Nick Collinson 4:59:10
Iain Downie 5:44:29
Julia Yelloly 6:08:15 (Julia came 8th in her category)
Marc Delea DNF

The date for next year's Antwerp IM70.3 won't be known until next month. The Wimbleball IM70.3 UK and London are both accepting entries already.

The Michelob ULTRA London triathlon - Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th August

New member Adam Ramsey writes:

Two things that you shouldn’t go near when you are drunk (other than more alcohol, kebabs and women with deep voices and a large Adam’s apple) are your mobile phone and the internet.

Most people are aware of the horrors that can befall you if you ‘drink and dial’- that is get drunk and text/call people you shouldn’t. I however have a tendency to sit at home, drink too much wine, surf the net and buy stuff – stupid stuff.

A week after this latest incident in May I found myself inside Greshams proclaiming ‘I’ve done something stupid and signed up for the London Olympic Triathlon in 10 weeks time – If I join your club of crazy fitness people can you help me not die during it?’

Lucky for me the friendly bunch at the club that night were more than willing to help me out so 06:30 in the morning August 5th at London Excel I found myself limbering up – dockside - for my first Olympic triathlon.

The water wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be, and perhaps more importantly it wasn’t too vomit inducing - think salty water mixed with diesel with a smidgen of fish!

Adam Ramsey flays...

As the horn sounded It was like a bomb had gone off in the dock. Arms and legs were flaying everywhere, the guy who’d just been chatting to me now seemed hell-bent on drowning me as he swam over the top of me into the melee. Soon after I settled into my unique hybrid form of crawl/breaststroke (breastcrawl?!) and spluttered my way down and back the dock to finish in a pleasing 30 minutes.

Before the event I had had discussions with my partner Nicki about how I should practise my transitions in order to become super slick – her verdict on Sunday was that whilst I stood next to my bike I looked more like I was getting ready for a night on the town rather than in a race, as I casually changed in to my bike gear, and nonchalantly breezed off to the bike course.

The bike course was probably the most enjoyable part of the race. It was flat(ish), and the closed, quiet roads and excitement of the Linkhouse tunnel made me feel like I was inside some high octane Playstation game – albeit in slow motion to the watching public!

The rest of the course past by without event. I thought stewards were excellent (those who missed the bike turning half way round the Westminster course may disagree) and it wasn’t too long before I was back in transition ready for the run.

The run is the part of Triathlon that I just don’t like – it’s like sprouts at Christmas dinner – part of the overall experience that you just cannot avoid.

The crowd were great and summed up how fantastic and well organised the whole event/experience was. The support really helped me along as my knee screamed at me to stop, but I eventually crossed the line in 2h49mins – well under my goal of 3 hours.

On the line Steve DB and Dave Husband were there to represent the club and greet me. Perhaps both were a little jealous that they still had to start their race and the temperature was due to hit the high 20’s that afternoon!

Overall it was a truly great experience, very well organised, and it was nice to see so many people from the club there competing and supporting.

It is little wonder then that I have already signed up for next years race.

Ipswich triathlon club members give their support to the sponsors of the Michelob ULTRA London triathlon...

Some members lend their support to the event sponsors while waiting for Ross to finish...

Brian McGeeney (race number 4962 above) writes:

After temporarily losing its title of Worlds Biggest Triathlon to Chicago, London reclaimed it again for 2007 with approximately 9700 finishers. And ITC played a part in this record.

Conditions were hot for both of the days, with excitement on Saturday coming from team Ipswich XRT taking 3rd place in the Olympic Relay event – well we have to claim some credit as the team contained a “family member”.

Sunday saw Ipswich racing almost continuously, with temperatures soaring throughout the day. The fastest time of the day was recorded by Mark Bowditch who came 6th in his age group. Lucy Bowditch managed to better that ranking, despite having told the rest of us that she was only going to do the swim and bike, and stories of spending excessive time nursing cramp in T2, before being told by one of the marshals to get out there and run it off. Lucy came home in 5th position with a time many of us would have loved to have matched.

Highest age group position went to Kate Stannett – who was supposed to be taking it easy prior to Ironman UK, but came home 3rd. Having watched the run there was no way Kate’s pace could have been described as easy.

Steve once again demonstrated his selfless captains judgement by withholding his finishing time from Ross – presumably on the ground that it was not a challenging enough target ;-) and sure enough it pushed Ross into achieving an even more significant improvement on his PB. I’ve mentioned just a few of our athletes, but strong performances were seen across the board.

London once again turned out to be a great event – spectacular open water swim, fast bike course on closed roads and a very fast run course, in a location encouraging large numbers of spectators who get an unrivalled view of large portions of the race. The elite race attracts a significant number of world class athletes (with GB athletes Tim Don and Michelle Dillon winning both senior events) making this a weekend to be part of.

Once again the volume of club colours seen on the course raised the profile of the club, and will undoubtedly lead to new members in the area. Discussions during and after the event indicate that there will be a large number of our athletes joining or returning to London new year.

Brian has found these names in the masses of discrete London results lists - please let us know if we've missed you.

Pos	Cat	Cat pos	Name	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total
206	MO40-44	6	Mark Bowditch	0:26:31	0:02:51	1:01:07	0:01:12	0:42:20	2:14:00
450	MOOpen	52	Ross Welton	0:25:54	0:03:53	1:03:50	0:01:05	0:45:05	2:19:46
580	MO40-44	36	Stephen de Boltz	0:26:35	0:03:21	0:59:58	0:01:41	0:50:20	2:21:53
799	MO35-39	76	Simon Lockwood	0:30:13	0:03:37	1:02:38	0:01:58	0:46:21	2:24:46
843	MO30-34	114	Antony Birt	0:31:12	0:02:51	1:04:50	0:02:07	0:44:23	2:25:21
893	FO40-44	5	Lucy Bowditch	0:27:25	0:03:16	1:03:20	0:05:00	0:46:57	2:25:56
1326	MOOpen	226	David Husband	0:26:05	0:03:37	1:07:39	0:01:29

Welcome to ITCH - the Ipswich triathlon club hand-out - for August 2007...

Contributors this month include: Antony Birt, Steve dB, William Catchpole, Nick Collinson, Dave Copland, John Gabriel, Brian McGeeney, Adam Ramsey, Chris Slemmings, Kate Stannett,...

Captains' corner...

Our men's captain Steve de Boltz reflects on Norwich & our club championship