Over the weekend of 4 and 5 September, 4 members of Tri-Anglia completed in the Clacton Off Road and Olympic Distance Tri. Weather conditions on both days were perfect, with bright sunshine throughout the weekend. John Burton and Jo Sagrott competed in the off-road tri. This included a 750m sea swim, a very arduous 40k off-road bike, and a 5k run. The bike was 5 laps of a very tricky course, with lots of lumps, bumps, mud and narrow bits which required a lot careful navigation and concentration. John Burton finished 6th overall with a time of 1hr 26 min 37 sec and Jo was 44th with a time of 1 hr 56 min 48 sec. Both agreed it was a very hard race, especially the 5 laps on the bike course, but despite feeling rather sore in a few places, had enjoyed the event.
On the Sunday, Mark Newnham and Richard Tomsett set off on the Olympic Distance event. The weather conditions were perfect and the sea looked ideal for a quick mile along the Clacton coast. Mark was first to go at 8.00 and the sun was already starting to get very warm. Mark came out of the water in a good time and set off on the two-lap bike course. The run however proved to be the most arduous of the disciplines. A straight 3 miles out to Clacton Pier and a straight 3 miles back with no cooling breeze made it very difficult. Richard set off 40 mins after Mark, and although he had a good swim and bike, he also found the run hard and struggled with the heat. However both did good times with Mark finishing 21st in a time of 2hrs 15 min 16 sec and Richard finishing in 100th place in a time of 2 hrs 34 mins and 22 sec.
The quote of the weekend came from Mark when he said ‘oh that was a lovely piece of tarmac on the bike course’. Mmmmm – whatever floats your boat I suppose …