No less than three St Neots Cycling Club members, Richard Hancock, Chris Ritchie and Tom Stead represented GB in the recent European Sprint Triathlon championships. If that's not someting to celebrate, I don't know what is. Read Richard's lively report about the weekend:

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Introduction

I know that I haven't posted a race report or been at the TT for a while now but, yes, I am still racing and breathing!.

The build up to Turkey was very intense for all of us (fellow club members Chris Ritchie and Tom Stead were also in the GB Team) - we were training 6 days a week doing at least 9 sessions a week so time was limited and with a family and full time job to hold down it meant I didn't get to the TT as much as I would have liked.

bike box

Pre-race

We arrived in Antalya airport with our bike boxes and in our GB kit which was very nice and the first thing that struck me was the heat - it was warm! This was to be my first ever sea swim and there had been much talk beforehand about whether it would be a wetsuit swim (22.5 degrees is the cut off point for suits).  Clearly we would not be allowed them as the sea temp was 26 degrees,  and this was not good news for me because as a relativley new swimmer the suit gives me a lot of bouyancy (read faster) so I knew I'd be up against it with some very good swimmers there.

The race setup in Turkey was nothing short of professional with a pontoon start and proper finish gantry, and with the elites racing there too you really felt like you were part of something big and special and the pre-race nerves began to niggle away big time - after all, this was a final and every person there was a quality athlete and  not a place to have a bad day.

After a good run with Tom Stead on Tuesday the whole GB team got together for a group sea swim on Wednesday which was lovely in temps over 30 degrees and some people reported swimming over sea turtles which was really nice. The water was very bouyant and salty so that gave me good confidence if not a good taste. Tom and I rode the bike course, but unlike race day which would be barriered closed roads, we had the local suicidal Turkish rush hour to contend with and a road surface that was very rough on the kerb edge, mostly it was smooth cobbled and felt quick so good news for the St Neots Boys.

Race Day

The Swim

I think it's fair to say I didn't need an alarm clock and with my race start being at 7.50 I was up and down at the very busy transition area to set everything up just right. The heat was already building and I knew pacing would be critical. I laid everything out neatly and after checking it a 100 times, I got ready for the swim. No wetsuit felt odd: just my GB suit, goggles and hat and soon enough my wave was called and with one last very tight and slightly tearful hug (on her part, of course, ahem) we made our way down to the pontoon to booming intro music , this was Pro stuff.

I had a very tall German to one side and a Turkish guy to the other, I wished them good luck and we entered the water, this was it: no more messing, game on!

The horn went and boom away we went. I settled into my own pace and felt good getting a good rhythm - sure enough the first buoy came up and as I turned in very deep water I had the fright of my life as I saw what I thought was a huge bloody shark below me. Jeez! This turned out to be the safety diver, and once I regained control of my 200+ heart rate I pressed on towards the finish. I led the third group in and was soon running up the beach to transition to my waiting bike.

swimstare

The Bike

I immediately put the hammer down on the bike and began to move up the field very quickly but how much damage had been done on the swim? - after a hot but trouble free ride I began the process of unclipping my shoes for the run into transition.


The Run

As I racked the bike it was helmet off and trainers on and whilst my left foot had slid into my adiddas shoe fine my right would just not go in. After repeated attempts, I pulled my foot out to find a very hot dented Mars Bar that I had put in the shoe to eat in the morning! Bloody hell, what a time to do that! After much cussing I made my way onto the, by now, very hot run course. At every water station I drenched myself to keep cool and started to pass more runners.

run

I got passed once by a guy who I later repassed and with a huge amount of support and shouts of "go GB" by (SANE) British holidaymakers I pushed onto the shoulder of a fellow Brit with half a km to go. He responded and I matched him and as we entered the finish chute (cue Chariots of Fire music ) I gave it everything I had. Sadly he had more, and held me off, but hey, well done to him. The emotions and stress of the last 10 weeks came out (not to mention breakfast) and I felt fantastic. What an experience! I will always treasure it, the posistion at that point not important truthfully, a big hug from Judith who has stuck by me and sacrificed a lot to get me to this spot. Worth it ?? You bet.

Results

So the results - 12th place for me out of 31 finalists (23rd on the swim, 1st on the bike (!) and 11th on the run.

SWIM 800 MTRS  = 14.48
BIKE   12.5 MILES = 28.34
RUN   3.12 MILES  = 19.56

TOTAL TIME 1.03.51

Tom Stead came 5th in the 16-19 bracket, only 1.39 off Gold Medal place, and Chris Ritchie came 6th, 2.43 off Gold so very good going. Tom was 1st on the bike and Chris 2nd so great cycling. Anyway that's it. Thank you for your support throughout the year and hope to see you all soon. Stay safe - Richard H

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