2007 Cambridge Triathlon

Cambridge Olympic Triathlon Sun 5th August 2007

1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km Run

Tri-Anglia out in force.

In contrast to last year’s monsoon, it was a baking hot day. All the more mocking was the woolly hat race pack gift. Tri-Anglia fielded a 16-strong team covering an array of categories and being the most represented club among the 223 athletes in total.

The race started in 4 waves in a clear lake at 19°C making wetsuits optional, a choice taken by a handful of competitors. I was in the last wave so was able to cheer out most of the Tri-Anglia crew as they exited the water and onto the bike. I had a good swim and a clock-work transition where I gained about 6 places as I saw people sitting down struggling with wetsuits and generally “faffing” around. There was little wind early on, but into the morning it increased as I noticed the initially static wind farm to be happily spinning away by the time I was on the bike. The wind was not a problem though as I probably had the best bike stage I have ever raced averaging over 21 mph. However, this appeared to apply to everyone as I only had a net gain of 2 places over the entire ride. Coming off of the bike, I again gained a few places in transition and headed into the run where it was now really getting warm. I normally take just one bottle on the bike for Olympic distance, but took 2 today because of the heat. The extra hydration allowed me to press on into the run where I gained place after place. The runners were really suffering now and many resorting to a walk. An extra water station was eventually hastily put up which helped.

After the race I joined many of the other finishers by having a dip in the lake which felt great. Maybe I will go without the wetsuit one day then?

Taking a look at the results and didn’t we do well!

No less than four category firsts from Oliver Milk, Penny Edwards, Rose Waterman and Melvin Wilkie. And good performances throughout with a couple of PBs from Dave Clarke and myself and an excellent first Olympic for Pete Aldred.

Article by Mark Philo

If anyone suggests running a 10K race without socks, just say no!

Cambridge Triathlon is held at the Mepal Outdoor Centre about eight miles west of Ely and the best thing about it has to be the lake! It was like swimming in a calm pool with clear water and an uninterupted view of the fish below. At least twice I found myself being distracted from the thrash and shove of the 1500m swim event by watching the sticklebacks darting through the weeds. The massed start still panics me slightly as 80 odd burly blokes (plus me) jostle for position in the first couple of hundred metres but once we were off and running it settled down and there weren't too many bumps as we navigated our way round the odd M-shaped course. Sunday was a hot day you may remember and it didn't take too long out on the bike to start feeling a little on the warm side but the geography of Cambridgeshire being such that it is there weren't too many places to hide from the beating sun and rising wind. The cycle course was a good mix of flat-out sprint, tucking into the wind and a couple of minor climbs, which meant big blokes on expensive bikes whizzing past me on the flat bits and me catching them on the twisty turny bits. All in I think I managed a net gain of four places after the cycle ride.

Now, for the socks. An experienced triathlete friend of mine had suggested I consider the time benefits of not wearing socks - 'it could gain you a coule of places as people faff around'. Well I'd managed the cycle sans chausettes and at T2 I just dumped my bike stuff, looked at the socks and quickly stuffed my feet into my running shoes. I must have saved a whole 20 seconds (at most)! By the time of the run it was getting very hot and steamy out on the course which was causing problems for a number of the larger framed competitors, which gave me the opportunity to skip past quite a few people who had overtaken me on the bike. Unfortunately, by the 5K marker my left foot was beginning to 'smart' a bit and by 7K my heel was stinging a lot but, as my old rowing coach used to say, 'pain is temporary, pride is everything' so I hobbled down the home straight and finished in 2:36. Given the heat I wasn't too disappointed being two minutes slower than at Norwich the month before but then I saw that I'd lost four minutes on the run. At least I saved 20 seconds in transition hey?

If there are any young aspiring athletes out there reading this: always make sure you are wearing a clean, dry pair of socks before you start!

Article by Phil Smith

Results

Pos	#	Name	Cat	Cat Pos	Club	Swim	Bike	Run	Total Time
2	240	Oliver Milk	E	1	Tri-Anglia	22:42	1:02:05	42:24	2:07:11
18	146	Graham Pigg	H	5	Tri-Anglia	27:46	1:03:14	46:17	2:17:17
28	17	Simon Edye	K	2	Tri-Anglia	26:06	1:06:09	47:46	2:20:01
55	337	Mark Philo	G	11	Tri-Anglia	29:08	1:10:55	46:40	2:26:43
74	143	Mark Nowell	H	11	Tri-Anglia	24:16	1:08:19	58:50	2:31:25
79	202	Peter Aldred	F	15	Tri-Anglia	33:20	1:08:31	50:43	2:32:34
81	16	Penny Edwards	J	1	Tri-Anglia	34:01	1:13:43	45:22	2:33:06
84	65	Rose Waterman	E	1	Tri-Anglia	29:31	1:17:31	47:09	2:34:11
90	345	Phil Smith	G	25	Tri-Anglia	30:46	1:14:59	50:45	2:36:30
125	66	Melvin Wilkie	L	1	Tri-Anglia	33:48	1:14:34	54:53	2:43:15
127	114	David Clark	H	18	Tri-Anglia	29:03	1:18:59	56:37	2:44:39
135	111	Colin Browning	H	21	Tri-Anglia	33:31	1:14:14	58:28	2:46:13
139	133	John Kingsmill	J	5	Tri-Anglia	35:20	1:19:13	52:42	2:47:15
151	55	Kate Scotter	D	3	Tri-Anglia	36:06	1:17:33	55:58	2:49:37
166	104	Graham Bainger	J	8	Tri-Anglia	34:44	1:23:10	56:04	2:53:58
174	166	Andrew Verney	H	26	Tri-Anglia	31:52	1:21:45	1:02:38	2:56:15