TUFF FITTY TRIATHLON CLUB

 

NEWSLETTER

 

JULY/AUGUST 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome

Ø      A good Tuff Fitty welcome to Adrian Willard and Sarah from East Preston. Ade undertook his first ever Triathlon at East Grinstead and then heard about TF & has since already completed his first Tri in Tuff Fitty colours with a strong performance at Ardingly. They have both swum & run with us already & not to be left behind Sarah is in training for Seaford as her first race, They both seem very worthy members and manage to both get time to train around running a family. We wish them every success with the club.

 

Ø      The Secretary is on the Littlehampton Sports Council and they held inaugural awards in 2005 to encourage sport and participation in the area. With several awards from overall sports person of the year, through to administrators and coaches there was a gala presentation in the council chambers. Our committee unanimously decided to put Davina forward for coach of the year. It was wonderful news to learn she had won but the hard part was getting her there without her knowledge. She agreed to come along with Ade & Clive and the suspense was worth it when her name was called and she now has her name on a trophy and received an award to keep.  This is a fabulous testament to her coaching work but along with Ade, Terri & Becky the Watson family are long serving Tuff Fitties from the very early days and with hard work on the committee they have done & continue to do a lot for the club. Congratulations Davina & thanks from all of us.

 

Arundel Aquathlon

Ø      Wednesday 20th July sees your club stage a low key Aquathlon at Arundel Lido. This pool is heated so the event will continue regardless of the prevailing weather. Meet at 7.30pm we will then start the Aquathlon. 400m in the 25 metre pool and then out for a run down and back along Mill Road down to just past the Black Rabbit. We are charging a competitive £2 for each Tuff Fitty wishing to take part. You can treat as a general training session or push for a serious time; it is entirely up to you. Importantly though once all the competitors are out of the pool we have hired the pool for a total of 2 hours so all accompanying family are invited in for a swim. So this way you can get a bit of training in and your family can have a good evening out as well in the picturesque surroundings of Arundel Lido. Again to make inclusive for all we are charging £2 per family & hope you will invite them to attend. We have the main pool hired not the paddling pool so young children should have some adult supervision even though lifeguards will be present.

The committee think this will be a different event and a bit of fun, particularly if instead of just walking out the door for training your family/partners can come as well. Please come and make the evening a success – entry form attached

 

Ø      Some people have been put off coming on Sunday cycles stating they do not want to hold everyone up. They wouldn’t but some people were not convinced so a Coffee ride was organised specifically targeting such people. In the event the training was a resounding success with no less than 19 cyclists travelling to Felpham for the coffee before returning home. A poem is included in this newsletter from Alice on the occasion.

 

 

 

 

Swimarathon

Ø      Well done to those Tuff Fitties who helped Margaret with her Lions Swimarathon. Despite it being the night before a Club Championship race at Burgess Hill there were three TF teams.

Juniors and Geriatrics   - Ann  Ian  Alice and David

Hopefuls                       - Hope and family

Nemos Challenge        - Alison and Family

      Margaret was pleased that everything came together and they raised over

      £428 so far for the visually impaired. If fact it went so well that she earnt herself a

      ducking at the end of the evening & it was such a success that there is every

      chance it will be repeated next year (and if possible not next to a championship

      race

 

Velodrome

Ø      Oh no, it is still summer but we need to start thinking about our traditional trip to the Velodrome at Calshot. Further details nearer the time but with the size of our club now it is likely to be fully subscribed so start to express interest it you wish to go. Anthony has kindly booked this for us and the date will be Sunday November 20th from 9am until 12 noon. He has also booked the same coaches as last time & we will have the usual mix of sprints & peletons; a different experience; one we can recommend.

 

Guildford Summer Aquathlons.

Ø      There is a series of Friday night Aquathlons in the Guildford Lido a nice 50m pool. Two races down & the following great results from the Tuff Fitty crew

Surrey Summer Aquathlon 1

Position      Competitor           Swim Split    Run Split   Total

8               Thomas Leonard    00:07:03      00:18:53   00:25:56

12             Anthony Gritton    00:09:12       00:18:23   00:27:35

45             Jane Leonard        00:10:32        00:21:54   00:32:26

72             Margaret Gritton    00:13:00      00:31:11   00:44:11

 

Surrey Summer Aquathlon 2

Position      Competitor           Swim Split    Run Split   Total

7               Anthony Gritton    00:08:56     00:17:33   00:26:29

76             Margaret Gritton    00:13:19     00:31:57   00:45:16

     Just race 3 to go & Ant & Margaret are away for this one, any other TF’s up for it?

 

Ø      The club need to offer best wishes to David Craddock. He was a bit surprised to find his pre-registered slot for the Half Ironman has been accepted for September recently so he is increasing his training accordingly. We are sure he will do well; best of luck David.

 

Ø      There has been much comment about Littlehampton Pool moving to a charitable trust. This has now been approved and they will celebrate the launch of this in October. It should not affect Tuff Fitty and on the contrary may lead to greater stability and investment longer term so something we can encourage.

 

 

 

 

Ø      Club Cycle Kit

The club cycle training rides have been going better this year; particularly with our record 19 out recently. To complete the look David Craddock has found a good cycle kit supplier, very competitively priced. Once again we are indebted to Stew for using his design skills to come up with the approved design. Whilst the design is attached this does not do it justice as it is not replicated in colour. The colour will be black, navy blue & white with light blue inserts together with light blue & white piping. This description does not do it justice, but it is reckoned people will start to come along on the cycle ride just to ‘pose’ even if not interested in the training the garments look that good.

As usual we need to put the caveat in that Triathlon is an expensive sport anyway & accept some people may not want to invest in this. Rest assured it is not an obligatory piece of club kit. Riders will still be more than welcome in any clothing. As the price is competitive we are sure many will want some items, which range from short sleeve/ long sleeve/ bibs and many more variants. If interested please let David Craddock know so we can start collating a first order

 

Ø      Blenheim Triathlon

Something new in the Blenheim tri organised by the same people as the London Tri so in it’s first year there were a lot of participants. The stately surroundings of Blenheim Palace welcome David Craddock & Rhona Copp the two Tuff Fitty entrants. They were impressed with these surrounds. However they did wonder what tourists thought coming to see the house and be greeted by hundreds of scantily clad, sweaty bods huffing and puffing their way around the grounds.

David & Rhona were woken from these scenic surrounds by having to jump into a freezing cold lake, which was pretty disgusting to put their heads into. Out onto the bike, which was 3 laps around the grounds. The course twisted and weaved a lot preventing any good build up of speed. Then off for a run around another part of the grounds for two laps. The wind was strong here and conspired against them up the final hill just as the finish came into sight.   They did well, have a very impressive medal to show for it & recorded good times.

 

Worthing Aquathlon

Ø      Tuesday 31st May saw a nice summers evening for an Aquathlon off Worthing. However the nice conditions didn’t apply to the sea, although not rough there were some choppy seas to negotiate but at least with the current once competitors had swum out to the first buoy. Not a huge field with 43 entrants so it was pleasing to report 12% of the finishers were from Tuff Fitty. Kev did not have a good day at the office by his standards but was still 8th overall. Clive suffered from his wetsuit coming open early in the swim and played Michelin man with water billowing out the suit. Good performance from Jon who has done well this year but the tightest race was between Anthony just overtaken on the line by Guy with a good run.

                                                                                                                                                            800m swim       8k run                                                                                                                                           total

Kevin                                                                                                                           7:05                 31:37                                                                                                                                 38:42

Guy                                                                                                                              7:29                 34:10                                                                                                                                 41:39

Anthony T                                                                                                              7:11                       34:33                                                                                                                                 41:44

Jon                                                                                                                               8:24                 37:46                                                                                                                                 46:10

Clive                                                                                                                            8:14                 38:46                                                                                                                                 47:00

      Inspired?  There is another one “Worthing Aquathlon 2 on Tuesday 16th August

      Again run by Raw Energy, this time a 1000m swim 10k run, still places available.

 

 

Ø       Debbie Gatland deserves a mention for her performances recently. Firstly at Seaford half marathon at the beginning of June. It was very cold and off road with lots of climbs. That it was windy along lots of parts bearing notices that read ‘beware of cliff edge’ didn’t put her off and romped home in a good time. To build on this at the beginning of July she successfully completed the Bewl Water 15 miles which was apparently a good setting for a run

 

Ø      Countless 10k races have been clocked up, not all listed here (let us know what you have undertaken). But some of the ones we have heard include:-  Jon Anthony & Glenn undertook the Worthing 10k, with Jon achieving a PB for the distance. Trevor has clocked up Bracknell & two Yateley 10ks. Jon & Marcella undertook Selsey & Clive took part in Portsmouth & Yateley

 

Ø      If you are inspired by these 10k’s and not doing the Arundel Festival Tri’s Sunday 28th August is the Arundel castle 10k. The route takes in part of our Wednesday run route so is familiar to us & recommended.

 

Ø      Another recommendation is the Highdown Hike on the 3rd August. A 4.5-mile run around Highdown Hill we have programmed this in instead of the usual Wednesday night run. 7.30 start, quite cheap, entry forms are now out if interested

 

Ø      The Worthing Aquathlon team won a bronze medal at the Youth Games at Eastbourne. The organisation was a bit confused with some of the instructions unclear which is a shame as Worthing were close to snatching silver. The reason why this is reported here is that one of the Worthing team was our very own Nicola Gatland; Congratulation Nicki

 

Ø      During the hottest weekend of the year 5 TF’s jumped into the Thames for the Windsor Olympic Tri. Even at 5am in the morning people were walking around without shirts & for a change it was actually pleasurable to jump into the Thames to cool down a bit. With the sunlight seriously reflecting off the river it was into transition, which this year was bigger than ever to accommodate over 2,500 competitors. It is getting very difficult not to draft in such conditions particularly as Clive & Trevor exited the swim together and kept passing each other on the bike. By the time the run included the assault up the hill in the high street three times the heat was oppressive with many indicators touching 35 degrees. Stops at all water stations were required. Unfortunately 9 people didn’t find it so easy collapsing with heat exhaustion. What was distressing were the three air ambulances that had to come in to whisk 3 seriously ill people away. Under such conditions therefore all the TF’s came through well (pleasing to note all the casualties are reported to have recovered)

                               1,500m swim                 26m bike                  hot 10k run                                                   total

Kev Pearson                                                                                                                 24:38                     1:13:54                                                                                                                                    41:44                     2:20:17

Trevor Harvey                                                                                                              27:25                     1:18:35                                                                                                                                    51:40                     2:37:41

Clive Harvey                                                                                                                 28:00                     1:17:53                                                                                                                                    51:57                     2:37:50

Dave Craddock                                                                                                            30:30                     1:19:58         1:01:29                                                                                                                               2:51:59

Mike Scott                                                                                                                         28:19               1:15:21         1:12:10                                                                                                                               2:55:52

 

 

 

Ø      Since the last newsletter Kev entered the National Sprint championships. He did well & hope to have a report in the next newsletter.

 

Ø      Over the season some TF’s have undertaken the Thursday night 10-mile time trails from Washington. These continue only through July with the last Washington one on the 28th July. So if anyone else is interested not many weeks to go.

 

A ten-mile time trial seem insignificant when compared to the following……….

 

 

The Etape Du Tour 2005

 

We take our hats off, or should that be cycle helmets, off to Simon Palmer & Simon Woodhams, two Tuff Fitties who are currently off on an epic cycling adventure along a section of the route that the main Tour de France follows.

 

 

The route goes from Pau which stands on a ridge looking towards the snow capped peaks of the western Pyrenees, the daunting mountain barrier between France & Spain. The route to Pau starts from Morenx a route has that been included on the Tour de France no less than 55 times.  It is worth noting that Pau is situated at 112m and Morenx at 210m as in between they have to climb such peaks as Col du Soulor at 1,475m,  & the magnificent Col D’Aubisque at 1,677m. There are a total of five peaks over 500m and the two Simons are faced with a total distance of 179kilometres to achieve their goal.

 

If we needed anymore convincing that this is a tough challenge this route is affectionately known as the ‘Circle of Death’.

 

Having gained all the height they will have to lose a lot of it down the other side in readiness for the next peak ahead. Not only are there the gradients, but the roads are often covered in dust and stone. The average gradient is 6-7% but with maximum gradients of 10% categorised as extreme, difficult & very difficult!

 

We wish them both every success with this adventure & look forward to hearing how they got on.

 

 

 

Southwater Relays

………….stop press, it looks as though we will have 12 or 13 teams for the last championship decider race on the 4th September. Well done to those who have agreed to be part of what promises to be a good occasion.

 

 

 

 

WWW.TUFF FITTY.CO.UK

 

We are pleased to announce the recently relaunched Tuff Fitty website. The old website proved successful in attracting new members but was limited in the amount of information that we could share amongst the membership. Anthony Gritton took up the request for someone to redesign this. He was looking for a project and the committee had plenty of ideas we wanted included. The first aspect was to incorporate our new logo & at the beginning of June most of the pages had been rolled out.

 

Newsletters are now shown and importantly there is a diary list of forthcoming dates, which we will try and keep up to date. Some people kept the dates from the newsletter on their fridge; others had to phone the swimming centre when it was a late swim. Now hopefully the information will just be a click away.

 

There is a links page full of icons of popular sites you may want to look at. One that is worthy of note is Wiggle. This on-line retailer has won awards from 220 magazine & importantly if you order from them each order gains 10% towards Tuff Fitty funds. It is important to go into Wiggle via this link to earn your club funds. It is worth a look as there are some very competitive prices, the link has already been used and even selecting the free delivery option the goods arrived the next day. Whilst predominantly a Cycle retailer there are also swim & run sections.

 

Have a look around the website and see what is there, it is getting comprehensive already. Ant has agreed to be Webmaster initially and has been kept busy with Clive passing lots of info to load.  If you have any suggestions for extra features, useful links etc, please let either the Secretary or Webmaster know and we will try and accommodate.

 

You will see that there is still a link to the E-Group but increasingly we are promoting the web forum for members to use as replies to individual topics can be made. To log onto this you will need to type the password, which is tufffitty

 

A personal note from the Secretary.

I was surprised last year when someone asked me for permission to post something on the E-group. Tuff Fitty is not the secretary’s club or the committees, it is everyones club. Your committee try to work hard to push the club forward but like everyone else have constraints on their time. Therefore if people would like to promote a training session, or share some news, remember this is your club, the web forum is there to be used. There are no rules but just one piece of etiquette that I would like to ask people follow. What really pleases me about Tuff Fitty is that it comprises a great friendly bunch of people. Therefore please try not to post negative information about people. If anyone has a concern it would be better directed through the committee. If your concern is directed at one of the committee speak to one of the other committee members.

So please use the password and help develop this communication medium.   Clive

 

The size of Tuff Fitty now is getting to the point where it is very time consuming to produce paper newsletters. Would those with Internet access be happy to receive an electronic copy?

 

A huge thank you to Ant Gritton, we have very professional website with a good quality feel incorporating our latest look.

 

 

 

Club Championship Races

 

Ardingly

A very expensive race at £33 for a sprint understandably put a lot of people off entering the third Club championship race. However it turned out to be very well organised, a goody bag that offset some of the concern as to cost & the horrendous weather predicted did not materialise, leaving good racing conditions.

 

Not a good start for Tuff Fitty with Matt C unable to take up his place; Ant Gritton refused entry as there was an 18plus age range & Jacqui preparing for an exam. Jacqui felt the tri would be good relief from swotting but the organisers flatly refused to allow her a start before about 10:30am so she had to forfeit her entry. In the event Richard Clive & Trevor who had got there early walked down to the pool to be told get in line we’ll set you off now – considerably sooner than anticipated. Alison CJ also could not enter, breaking a very long run of consecutive championship races

 

Meanwhile out on the course Adrian was looking strong racing under the TF banner for the first time & looks to have a good triathlon future. Here was Ian again, so for a man stating we would train up for Southwater had now completed 3 tri’s in quick succession. Also welcome news to see Paul Dives back on the campaign trail even though he was in the middle of moving house. Alan finished in a good time before Richard Clive &Trevor all came into transition together in a row of three & it looked a fine sight to see three TF tri-suited figures all exit together.  Anthony would be the first male TF home repeating what he did last year with his Zola Budd impression. As the run is around college playing fields he felt he could save time by dispensing with shoes and running barefoot.

 

In the ladies race Debbie Lord normally has a strong swim but got seriously held up in traffic pushing her time out unnecessarily. Debbie Kolios always completes the course with a smile & Marcella romped home as the first TF lady to earn her a well deserved 10,000 points.

 

                                                                                                                                                                        500m                                                                                                                                            20k                        5k                                                                                                                                          total

Anthony Towers                                                                                                                    8.43                46.40                                                                                                                                            21.06        1.16.29

Richard Craven                                                                                                                 10.57                   46.32                                                                                                                                            25.00        1.22.29

Trevor Harvey                                                                                                                        9.57                48.34                                                                                                                                            25.05        1.23.36

Clive Harvey                                                                                                                                      10.01                                                                                                                                            48.48                    26.04                                                                                                                                          1.24.53

Adrian Willard                                                                                                                       11.50              51.14                                                                                                                                            25.33        1.28.37

Marcella Craven                                                                                                                    11.57              54.53                                                                                                                                            30.02        1.36.49

Ian Moore                                                                                                                                          15.11                                                                                                                                            56.16                    26.17                                                                                                                                          1.37.45

Alan Wilson                                                                                                                                       12.25.                                                                                                                                           59.59                    26.14                                                                                                                                          1.38.37

Paul Dives                                                                                                                                          12.52                                                                                                                                            59.12                    27.49                                                                                                                                          1.39.53

Debbie Kolios                                                                                                                       15.51              1.00.12                                                                                                                                          36.15        1.52.18

Debbie Lord                                                                                                                                       15.39                                                                                                                                            1.12.28     37.56  2.06.03

 

 

 

 

Burgess Hill Triathlon                                                 12th June 05

 

 

The swim is organised by Paul Hedger the person who ran the swim at Ardingly so as the long line of Tuff Fitties queued down the side of the pool it looked certain we would get away on time.

 

The swim is unusual to take full advantage of an 8 lane pool; swim up and back one lane, duck under the rope to the next lane, repeat and traverse across the pool – no need to lane count & with competitors off at 10 second intervals the pool was full fulfilling the boast that they aim to have all the competitors out on the course at the same time.

 

With so many TF’s there it is difficult to mention all of them. Pleasing to see: Debbie G, Lee & Les getting their first points of the year on the board.  Lee came home in a fabulous 8th place. Ant Gritton was first TF home in 6th place overall & won 1st Junior overall to underline just how well he has performed in 2005. Injury prevented Guy from taking up his slot  & unfortunately all Mats’ work came undone through a disqualification out on the run course. The quality of the race organisation was reflected in the registration and marshalling work provided by our own Jacqui. Rhona was the first TF lady home to bag the 10,000 points.

 

The bike course is quite scenic and is not too taxing to be followed by a two lap run course around the local housing estate. Come 2006 when people are looking at what races to undertake this is a very well organised local-ish race that is within the capabilities of all Tuff Fitties – recommended.

 

 

Pos                                                                                                                                    name                                                                                                                                                               400m swim            20k Bike                                                                                                                                          6k run                   Total

6th                                                                                                                                      Anthony Gritton      6:37                                                                                                                                               46.12                     21.59                                                                                                                                             1.14.49

8th                                                                                                                                      Lee Cullen              5.59                                                                                                                                               45.34                     23.39                                                                                                                                             1.15.12

24                                                                                                                                      Anthony Towers     6.14                                                                                                                                               46.36                     25.09                                                                                                                                             1.17.59

44                                                                                                                                      Trevor Harvey                    6.44                                                                                                                                                48.01               27.36                                                                                                                                             1.22.20

47                                                                                                                                      Jon Roper              7.55                                                                                                                                               48.23                     26.37                                                                                                                                             1.22.54

55                                                                                                                                      Clive Harvey                      7.05                                                                                                                                                49.26               27.28                                                                                                                                             1.23.59

77                                                                                                                                      Les Cullen              7.26                                                                                                                                               50.18                     29.43                                                                                                                                             1.27.27

80                                                                                                                                      Rhona Copp                       8.16                                                                                                                                                50.05               29.41                                                                                                                                             1.28.02

95                                                                                                                                      Debbie Gatland      7.11                                                                                                                                               56.40                     26.15                                                                                                                                             1.30.06

99                                                                                                                                      Glenn Parisi                        6.38                                                                                                                                                56.13               28.20                                                                                                                                             1.31.12

142                                                                                                                                    Alan Wilson                                                                                                                                                      10.58                     59.19                                                                                                                                             28.01                     1.38.18

147                                                                                                                                    David Mound                                                                                                                                                   10.47                     59.50                                                                                                                                             28.32                     1.39.09

149                                                                                                                                    Rod McKenzie       7.27                                                                                                                                               57.59                     36.05                                                                                                                                             1.41.31

151                                                                                                                                    Alison Clark-Jeavons          8.52                                                                                                                                                1.02.03            31.48                                                                                                                                             1.42.44

-                                                                                                                                         Mat Chapman                    8.24                                                                                                                                                49.24               -                                                                                                                                                     -

 

 

 

A Coffee Ride

 

Some skinny, some heavy,

Some fast, some steady;

a huge variety were present.

 

At an hour on Sunday morning unheard of to most

A group of wheel nutters skipped their scrambled eggs on toast,

Instead they set off and aimed for their goal,

Meeting others on the way who joined the fold.

 

First it was Jon & then Dave took the lead,

Torturing some ‘til they struggled to breathe!

But the target was hit, all NINETEEN arrived

At the café in Felpham to which they had strived.

 

After much-needed coffee…..

And tea…

And milkshake…..

Cookies and cake….

And flapjack…

Everyone realised they had to get back!

 

Into the wind they plodded on,

But the exertion was clearly too much for some.

The ones who before rode with speed and grace

Had to drop out at LA, - couldn’t stand the pace!

 

The rest dragged themselves back into Worthing

With aching legs and stomachs churning (to many bakewell tarts).

They had picked up a few extras by their return;

Anthony’s salad bowls and dazzling sun-burn.

 

A very good time was had by everyone

And our thanks go to those who made it fun (and led us in the right direction)

 

Alice

 

 

 

Bournemouth Triathlon

 

Sunday 3 July 2005

By Anthony

 

For some reason, my race details seemed to have gone astray in the post, so it was only after I managed to contact the race organiser on Thursday evening that I was able to confirm I was entered. Fortunately, instructions were also provided on the web site.

For this event, registration was the day before. You had to produce your race licence and helmet between midday and 6pm. I decided to come home after registering on Saturday, rather than stay down in Bournemouth. (I’m not sure that Bournemouth Council would approve because I think that they give the race permission to go ahead on the condition that competitors bring their business to the town.)

 

I was a bit concerned about getting my bike racked and kit set out in transition before 7am on Sunday morning, as transition would be closed while the event was underway. Well, I arrived at the pier approach at about 6.20am, in good time. It was unusual not to see lots of Tuff Fitty members. In fact, there were very few faces I recognised. Les and Lee were there. I also saw Diana Trafford and Jane King, so it was good to see some familiar faces.

 

Our race numbers were written on both our arms and legs. While mine were being done, I noticed that the lady was writing 299, after I had told her I was 502! I was amazed, and asked her what she was doing. Luckily, she had written the correct numbers on my arms but for some reason, she changed her mind when she got to my legs! Luckily I noticed and she corrected her mistake.

 

The competitors started the swim in waves about a quarter of an hour apart. The first wave started at 7am and included Lee. Wave two was for the Army. Wave three was the ladies. Wave four included Les. My wave started at 8am

 

Having left Sussex in the sunshine, I was worried about getting too warm standing around in my wetsuit before the start. As it was, the weather in Bournemouth was overcast and windy and was looking very bleak out towards Studland and the Purbecks, and I was getting cold waiting for my swim start even with my wetsuit done up to keep me warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.

Once we started, that was soon forgotten about. The sea was quite choppy and the swim seemed to go on forever. Whenever I looked up for a buoy, it never seemed to be getting any closer. After the eventual turnaround, the swim was back towards the pier and there were large yellow banners hanging from it to help sighting.

 

Out of the sea, into transition, off with the wetsuit, on with cycling helmet and shoes and off on the bike. It was a very unfriendly steep climb up Westcliff to start the course before getting down onto the main Wessex Way dual carriageway running through the centre of Bournemouth.

 

The bike course was a 25 mile ride to Ringwood and back. Some cyclists went past me very fast. The standard was very high. I managed to overtake a handful of people towards the end who were the last of the wave ahead of me. The return to the pier was through the centre of town. The route went down Richmond Hill, which was busy with coaches. At the bottom you had to cycle across a polished pedestrian area, up onto the pavement and down a winding disused road covered in debris and gravel. The dismount was at the top of a tarmac path, which you had to run down in cycling shoes, which was very awkward and precarious.

The run course was a 10k run out towards Southbourne and back along the promenade. By now I was starting to feel tired but pressed on. By the 5k turnaround my I started to slow quite a lot. It was a very long run back. The pier was in the far distance and never looked to be getting any closer. Some people on the run looked as though they were quite fresh and seemed to be practically sprinting along.

After Boscombe pier, I knew it was about 2k. (There were kilometre markers along the route). It was a wonderful sight to see the finish line ahead. There were quite a few spectators also who were giving encouragement. The timing chip bleeped as I crossed the mat, then it was all over.

Lee had already finished and Les was not far behind.

Our times were: Lee 2.18.01, Anthony 2.25.24, Les 2.54.42. There were 644 competitors including two disqualifications. The winning time was 1.57.38, and was shared by two competitors, one from Army Triathlon and the other from Team Windsor. There were five competitors who finished in less than two hours.

It was such a different type of race to a pool based sprint event and with many more people. I think it raises the profile of the sport when an event takes place in such a public place. There were quite a few members of the public, who were obviously quite curious about what was going on.

I remember feeling a sense of achievement afterwards when I was packing my gear away. It was a good event. It would be better if you could register on the day though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Design for Tuff Fitty Cycle Kit

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuff Fitty Club Championship 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Men's Competition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steyning

E.Grinstead

Ardingly

Burgess Hill

Worthing Olymp

Southwater

Total

Anthony Towers

10,000

8,881

10,000

9,594

 

 

29,594

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anthony Gritton

9,997

8,909

 

10,000

 

 

28,906

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trevor Harvey

9,266

8,228

9,149

9,087