A combination of work, DIY, training, coaching, and dog-walking has meant my blog entries have been largely on hold for a while. Keen to try and get back on track with it I wanted to write a little report on a race I did just over a week ago.
I raced in the Honiton Sprint Triathlon organised by Pure Endurance Triathlon Team; a small team in the East Devon region that started, according to Facebook, about a year and half ago.
I was, as is so often the case, convinced to enter this by regular training mate Rupert Warren who is having a stellar season (though admittedly not much convincing was needed!) A reasonably-priced race on your doorstep is not to be sniffed at and, with Freak Events no longer in existence, nearby events are even more scarce.
Bike:
The run course was pretty challenging with a fairly short, sharp downhill followed by a steady climb up through some woods on trails. A lovely place to run but a bit tricky with all the tree roots and twists. Brief respite was had on the road and a welcome water station (onto the head) was immediately followed by a short but very steep climb that nobody really enjoyed. After this a steady downhill that took in a number of fields (and stiles, as well as a herd of cows seemingly guarding the exit to one) brought you back to join the bike course with a final climb of about 500m in length.
Pros:
I raced in the Honiton Sprint Triathlon organised by Pure Endurance Triathlon Team; a small team in the East Devon region that started, according to Facebook, about a year and half ago.
I was, as is so often the case, convinced to enter this by regular training mate Rupert Warren who is having a stellar season (though admittedly not much convincing was needed!) A reasonably-priced race on your doorstep is not to be sniffed at and, with Freak Events no longer in existence, nearby events are even more scarce.
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| A (partial) ETC team photo with some happy athletes |
After a disappointing London Marathon my running had been largely curtailed by a persistent Achilles strain, but it had started to settle over the previous few weeks. However, one of the great things about triathlon is you can usually train for something, so my cycling and swimming both benefitted from my break from pounding the streets.
Registration and racking:
I had the unusually civilised start time of 11:45, so didn't register until about 11am. When I did arrive there was adequate parking nearby and the registration team were based in the rugby team's clubhouse. They were helpful and pleasant, and registration was straight forward.
I then needed to rack my bike, so proceeded to the transition area. As the race had already been going for a few hours I had to be careful not to get in any other competitors' way.
Now, I think this bit is really important: I wasn't allowed to enter transition at the first opening as this was for people coming into T1 and I was politely redirected further up the side where there were two adult marshals and a young helper.
First of all, the young girl asked me to put on and do up my helmet. Then the adults checked my helmet number, my bike number, and my wrist band to ensure they all matched, and the girl then offered to show me where my transition place was, which was a really nice touch and much appreciated. After the race the number checks were properly reversed.
I was really pleased to see this as so often at races check-in and -out is really blasé and it wouldn't be difficult to nick off with someone's bike if you were so inclined.
Swim:
The swim consisted of 400m (16 lengths) in an indoor 25m pool. The briefing took place in the foyer of the sports centre where the swim, as well as the course in general, was explained. Some of these instructions were then repeated once we were pool-side, in the interests of safety and clarity.
Each lane had up to four swimmers who were set off at 10 second intervals and we were advised to let people past if caught by someone quicker.
A two-lengths-to-go signal was given by way of a float in the water, but I made sure to keep count as I've missed this signal at a previous event and ended up doing an extra 100m (don't ask!!!) Anyway, it's ultimately the athlete's responsibility to ensure he/she does the correct number of lengths.
The shallow end of the pool was really very shallow, so I decided against tumble-turning at that end- I felt the couple of seconds it might save me overall weren't worth the risk of smacking my head on the floor of the pool!
Upon exiting the pool athletes had to walk up the side of the pool before exiting the building and going up a flight of concrete steps before crossing the timing mat. This of course increased swim time but I think was a safety and convenience measure. It was then about a hundred metres run up the grass to T1.
Transition was well organised with adequate space on a grass playing field. Leaving T1 was a bit tight though, with a fairly narrow path to exit, and then seemingly an expectation to be on your bike after the mount line and before the road- this amounted to about 2m. This made a flying mount more challenging but doable. However, anyone doing a static mount could potentially cause a bit of a log jam.
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| Nigel Selfie |
However, out onto the bike course and, as described in the race briefing, there were four right-hand turns to be made on the out and back route. I was unfortunate enough to get caught at three of them, but not to the point of having to unclip or to lose me any places in the overall standings.
The course was a little undulating with a slightly slower, more technical part through some country lanes where extra care had to be taken; particularly at one tight corner over a narrow bridge. I'd previously recced the course whilst out on a training ride with Rupert, which really helped.
Aside from this and the junctions, it was a fairly quick course that allowed me to stay largely on the aero-bars.
The final turn in before bike dismount had a very sharp left-right combination, and also crossed over with runners, so this was a little hairy as it caught me a little unawares. Dismount was again made slightly harder by being encouraged to stay on the bike right to path, but I successfully negotiated this too.
Into T2 and back to my bike I made a small error by going round the wrong way to my rack, adding a couple of unnecessary seconds, but nothing significant. I had an otherwise smooth transition and made sure to put on my running cap as by this time the sun was shining bright high in the sky.
Run:
Out onto the run there were two other competitors who had entered T2 about 200m ahead, but who I made up ground on with a quick changeover. I felt confident of catching them and within the first 500m I drew level and overtook.
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| The only KoM I'll get! |
One partial lap of the playing field between transition and race HQ had you finishing down a stretch between barriers where the MC was commentating on people coming in. Marshals provided water and other soft drinks, energy bars, and bananas at the end. Live race times were immediately available courtesy of DB Max.
There was a very good turnout from Exeter Tri Club, and I was pleased with my own performance. It was a thoroughly enjoyable race that, with a few minor tweaks, would be that little bit better.
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| Team Broderick! |
- well-organised and friendly: ran like a big race, with the nice, relaxed atmosphere of a small event
- clear, concise briefing
- nice course
- helpful marshals/organisers
- good refreshments
- nice prizes for winners
- randomly drawn spot prizes were a nice touch (I got a KoM polka dot cycling cap!)
Areas to improve:
- clearer marshalling and more warning at final turn before cyclists and runner cross
- a "slow down" sign at the point for cyclists
- prizes were good but because of the "one prize per competitor" policy (which I like), it meant that the winner (Don Brookes, V40) and 3rd place (Rupert Warren, V50) didn't get their category prizes too. The V50 was then rolled down, but was a slightly better prize than the 3rd overall (clear?). Again, I think this is a good policy, but maybe a little tweaking would make it a bit fairer
Overall I really rate this event and will definitely recommend it to people for next year, particularly within my club. A race organised and run by triathletes, it was apparent they wanted to do a very good job; and they succeeded in achieving this.
Name
|
Time
|
Overall
Position
|
Cat
Position
|
Rupert
Warren
|
58.13
|
3
|
1
|
Wai Ming
Loh
|
1.01.36
|
6
|
4
|
Neil
Grimwood
|
1.03.32
|
12
|
4
|
Simon
Chant
|
1.10.31
|
37
|
11
|
Elliott
Snow
|
1.11.01
|
40
|
8
|
Jennifer
McGeever
|
1.11.03
|
41
|
5
|
Mark
Tweedie
|
1.14.34
|
64
|
19
|
Rob Moore
|
1.17.18
|
82
|
12
|
Nikki
Denton
|
1.18.54
|
96
|
14
|
Leah
Rogers
|
1.19.18
|
100
|
4
|
Andrew
Broderick
|
1.19.20
|
102
|
32
|
Gary
Rogers
|
1.20.23
|
114
|
35
|
Tim
Wadsworth
|
1.24.00
|
131
|
18
|
Juliette
Dean
|
1.24.05
|
132
|
9
|
Jo
Broderick
|
1.42.02
|
183
|
19
|
Nigel Dart
|
1.42.49
|
185
|
26
|
Race Details:
Entry fee- £36 (BTF affiliated), £39 (non-affiliated), £55 Relay Team
Race HQ- Honiton Rugby Club, EX14 1QW
No of participants- approx. 200
Categories: both male and female in each of; Senior, Vet 40, Vet 50, Vet 60+
