Club Newsletter

Mid Summer July 2024

This newsletter is going to be full of events, activities, and what club members have been  busy with so far.   

We will start with Dean on 15th June racing for GB in a duathlon at Coimbra, Portugal.  Well done Dean for a brilliant race and coming in 8th against some stiff competition.  

16th June was the Mid Sussex triathlon.  This has the reputation of a good, well run and friendly race.  Diana, Christine and Kevin took part and by all accounts enjoyed themselves.  Christine has written a few words about their day out.  

Kevin, Diana and myself did the sprint distance. We liked the pool swim which was  eight lanes of zig zag. Considering it was mid June it felt chilly when I set off on the bike. I really enjoyed the 25k cycle route which took us through some lovely country lanes with sign posts to Twineham and Wineham and finished with a straight stretch back to transition. The run route took us out and down a quiet lane where the pub was the turnaround (not stopping) point! That was hard coming back!! Leading up to the finish was long grass, uphill so not a fast finish for me but we did it. 
This was a lovely friendly event which attracted all abilities and there was a super sprint also for first timers. I would recommend it.

It was about this time Andrew Joad learnt that he had secured a roll down place to race for GB in the standard distance in Vichy France in September.  He had raced in Eastbourne last year, and did extremely well in a tough field.  Congratulations Andrew. 

Dean was in action again on 23rd June, taking part in the insanely tough and challenging Dragon Race in Wales.  Even Dean said that the 295 km cycle up and down the Welsh mountains was almost a step too far.   Congratulations on doing so well and indeed for surviving.  

John Easton and Grant took on a different type of event in and around the Jurassic Coast, the Dorset 'Race the Sun' event in aid of Action Medical Research.  They mountain biked, trekked and kayaked.  It sounded a long day but as the photos showed they accomplished the event in style and apparent ease.  In Grant's words …

On the 29th of June, John and I took part in an event called Race the Sun - Jurassic Coast. The event could be best described as a Triathlon with a difference. Starting and finishing at Corfe Castle in Dorset we headed west on Mountain Bikes to Kimmeridge Bay. We then put on our trekking shoes and went on a 9-mile hike with the route taking in the glorious Jurassic Coast. Back on the Mountain Bikes, the route took us along the Purbeck ridge before dropping into Studland Bay. We then had a refreshing paddle around the bay on a 2 -person kayak. The final leg was a relatively flat route back to Corfe Castle on the bikes.  I say relatively flat, the whole route seemed more up than down!!

We completed the course in 8hours 29mins finishing in 33rd place out of 68 teams that started. Had we known it was a race we probably wouldn’t have stopped halfway round for a Rum and Coke!! 

It was John's Birthday on the day which drew the attention of the event organisers, and we were cheered the whole way round which was great.

The event was a fundraiser for Action Medical Research which raised £190,000 in total for the charity. Many thanks to the club members that donated towards John and my contribution to the total, it was very much appreciated. 

It was great to receive the help and encouragement from the club, you’re all awesome!

John and Grant – aka the Birthday Team.

On 13th July Dean, Heather, Sarah and Annie went to Eton Dorney to race in the Euro Sprint qualifier.  The first hurdle was the M25 which was closed again that weekend for another bridge installation.  It was a damp drizzly sort of morning.  Dean had a good race, although he said he messed up his swim.  Cycle was super fast, but pulled his calf muscle during the run.  Hugh saw him limping into the finish, but still smiling. Heather said she enjoyed her first race at Eton, and has been inspired to get back to racing.  Sarah pulled all her courage together and after a few very stern words with herself got going and achieved the swim, bike and run. Well done Sarah.  I (Annie) had a good swim, and managed 3/4 of the cycle before a puncture stopped my race.  

The next day Andrew Joad also raced in the sprint event at Eton Dorney, coming a very creditable 5th in age group in a time of 1hr 13mins.  

Also on 14th July our stalwart coach Iain, and Ben took on a full ironman aquathon at the Ironbourne Events in Eastbourne.  Having jumped off the pier (a challenge in itself), Iain completed the course in 8hrs 03 min, and Ben, hot on his heels in 8hrs 50 min.  Such a demanding event with the last 10 miles of the cycle being brutal hills.  Iain reported that he had taken on a bit too much sea water on the swim, and didn’t feel his best on the cycle.  Ben completed the swim without a wet suit.  Hard core stuff!  Huge congratulations to both of you.  

Nearly there with the events!!

'Swim the Lake' was an event at Ardingly reservoir on 17th July, run by Paul Hedger of Hedgehog Tri who organised what might be his last event before retiring.  A goodly gang of us turned up to take part in what was a great evening's entertainment, comprising an aquathon and a 750m, 1500m and a 3000m swim.

Christine did the aquathon - a 750m swim followed by a very hilly 5k run.  Very well done Christine on a sunny and hot evening. 

Botts and Kevin accomplished the 3000m swim.  Heather, JoJo, Rosie, Theo and  I swam the 1500m.  I was overtaken by JoJo on the last few hundred yards who had 'found her legs' and shot past me, and Sharon swam the 750.  I am sure she enjoyed herself but I don’t think she was sure.  It was the most wonderful sunny, warm evening, with so many people entering.  It seemed that the Reservoir was only just big enough for so many swimmers. 

The last event before finishing this letter is from Heather.  Wow Heather, what a race!  She went back to Eton Dorney for a half ironman 'Castle to Coast'.  Swimming at Eton, then cycling down to Brighton, then ran a half marathon.  What a wonderful achievement after a couple of years with a back problem.  She was due to take part with her sister Bex for company, but she was also suffering with a back problem so could not take part. Congratulations Heather for completing a very challenging event.  I gather that you had company on part of the run when JoJo popped up to join you  for a little while.  That's what friends are for!

This is, so far, a busy summer schedule, and not finished yet.  I am always in danger of missing events which come fast and furiously during the summer with club members always finding unusual challenges to take on, so please keep me informed. If you want to, that is! 

Our committee is working on some social events for your delectation later on in the season. Watch this space.

What incredible members we have, taking on all these events, and reaching such heights.  I am convinced that our relaxed atmosphere and inclusivity and friendship goes a long way to making our club so successful in so many ways.  

Keep training, racing and achieving.  

Good luck all

Annie - Communications

 

Newsletter June 2024  -  Part 2    (Addendum)

You probably spotted my error - but how on earth did I forget two of the more important triathlons of the season so far?   Oh well … 

Tonbridge triathlon on early May Bank Holiday Monday was one of the wettest events I have ever been to.  But it didn’t stop an intrepid team of Theo, Kevin and Me from doing it.  Theo plucked up courage to complete her first triathlon for a long time (she had done Bewl a few years ago).  This was a test of endurance with stair-rod rain all day, and after a small mishap in the run she finished what was certainly a baptism of rain.  Well done to Kevin who completed the whole event without any problems.  I just remember being soaked, and noticing I had puddles in my cycle shoes whilst out on the ride.  It was very cold.  My run was a mission and not very well executed.  But we all finished, and survive to race another day.  

East Grinstead Tri in mid May is part of the Triathlon England South East (TESE) Region Club Senior Series for 2024.

It was a beautiful, sunny and warm start.  A great enthusiastic team from the club consisted of  JoJo, Diana, Christine, and Botts.  Sarah took on the swim/bike event.  There were some great times, great racing and great smiles all round.  

Sarah's swim/bike race went well, and apart from some deer and rabbits sharing the bike route and causing some alarm, everything was good.  

Leanne (Dean's wife) and her friend Hannah also did their first race in the Tri-a-Tri. They did so well, and seemed to  really enjoy it.  Maybe we will see more of these two next year.    

Annie

Communications

Club Newsletter

June 2024

It seems a while since I last put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and so much has happened.  Our wonderful club has so many active, talented, able and busy members.  It is hard to keep up at times.  This newsletter (blog) will have to start way back in March, when Wes and Botts took part in an event at Brands Hatch.  In his own words:

Wes and I rode the Kentish Killer the weekend after the Hell of the Ashdown - it was another 100km route with 1855m of elevation. We enjoyed this much more than the Ashdown due to 3 things - firstly the temperature was up to about 6 degrees rather than the 1C the weekend before!! The route also had more “flow” and took us though some local haunts with a feed in Groombridge. But the best part was starting and finishing on the smooth fast tarmac of the Brand Hatch race track. Great event that I would whole heartedly recommend. Big thanks to Wes for waiting for me on a couple of climbs - he really is an animal!!

In March Wes was well into his 40/40 events, and nearing the end of his mammoth challenge.  He raced the Lydd half marathon on 10th March.  Then his last challenge, the London marathon on 21st April.  He finished in a hugely impressive 4hrs 13.  

Geoff also ran the London marathon and again sped to the finish in an incredible 3hrs 20.  What speed.  

Dean was in action again racing a qualifier duathlon, at Mallory Park in Leicestershire. 

In his own words: 

 

It was a 5k run (18 minutes 20 seconds) 21k bike (34 minutes) and finally a  2.5k run in (9 minutes 20 seconds). I was happy with the run, but a bit off on the bike and finished 4th at 102%. 

Congratulations on a fantastic result.

On 26th May, Becci raced at Bewl Water.  This was her first full triathlon (doesn't last year at Southwater count?).  She must have had a great time, judging by the big smiles in the photos.  Well done Becci, and congratulations.  What next?

Also on 26th May I raced at Barry Island.  It was a sprint qualifier for Euro champs 2025.  As in previous years the conditions were tough, with weather (and sea temperature) turning very cold overnight.  There was a strong current, and the start was delayed to reduce the swim from 750m to 350m.  In fact the swim ended up at 600m.  Hey ho, it was a good race, with some tough opposition.  I managed to secure 3rd place in 115%, and so qualified for Istanbul 2025.  

Now!  The big club event of the year. The Round the Isle of Wight bike ride.  Unlike last year's dreadful conditions we were blessed with great weather.  Sunshine and just a light breeze along the Military Road.  We split into two groups - The Fasties (74 miles) and Annie's - renamed by Malcolm "the Specials" - (56 miles).  

All fourteen of us stayed together, mostly, for the first two stops, then the  Fasties (Iain's group) set off on a longer route back to the Ferry Port.  We all managed to get back in time for the evening ferry, even if the Specials got there first!

Hugh did an incredible job of driving the support car, with all the bags, spares, tools, food, water and some emotional support.  What a great day out; easier for some, harder for others, but smiles all round on the ferry back.  You will no doubt have seen some of the many photos posted on the club WhatsApp group. 

The participants in this adventure were Malcolm, Iain, Andrew, Dean, Botts, Grant, Ben, Chris, Wes, Diana, Christine, JoJo, Heather and Annie.  

Where to next year? 

I must end this newsletter by congratulating Wes on his amazing achievements of 40 challenging events in this his 40th year, raising funds for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.  He has a JustGiving page which I believe is still active.  

And finally congratulations to all those who have raced so far this year, and all those who swim, bike and run for pleasure, all with great results.  Let's keep it going.

SPRING NEWSLETTER APRIL 2024

Hello Everyone. 

I hope you are all well, although I know a few of us have succumbed to the cough and colds.  However, I am assured that good weather, possibly a heatwave, will soon be with us.  Failing that I will start planting rice in my very wet garden.  

Club Annual General Meeting

As you know we had the club AGM after swimming on March 25th.  It was great to see everyone who could make it.  

A couple of immediate items of note are that Heather, our stalwart Club Secretary is stepping down. She has done so well and so professionally over the last few years, keeping everything running smoothly.  Thank you Heather for all your hard work.  JoJo has now agreed to take over the role, having already taken on the mammoth job of the website.  

On that subject, we have a young techie couple who are helping to get our club website more user friendly, particularly for those who are browsing and looking for a club.  Hopefully, it will look more professional, and be easier to use.  So bear with us/them while this is in progress, there may be a few glitches while it is perfected!  Jo has also relaunched the club Facebook page.  Please have a look, and "like" it, thereby raising our profile.  

As a result of the AGM your committee remains very similar, and we now give a big welcome to Rosie who has agreed to step up.  Thank you.

Chairmen (Joint)         Malcolm and Dean

Club Secretary             JoJo

Treasurer                    Geoff

Coach                          Iain

Social Secretary          Rosie

Communications         Annie

I will post the minutes of the AGM for all to see when it has been approved.

Achievements

Wes continues his valiant effort to complete 40 events in his 40th year.  He's almost there.  His latest achievement is Brighton Marathon in an excellent time of 3:57.  One more challenge which I believe is the London Marathon, which is where he started a year ago.  

George also ran the Brighton marathon in an impressive time of 3:48.  Congratulations both of you, particularly as the weather wasn’t kind and high winds made the going very tough.  

Forthcoming Events

The Triathlon world is waking up and events are appearing in the diary.  The TESE (Triathlon England South East) events are:

28th April        Sevenoaks Sprint

12th May         East Grinstead Sprint

9th June          Dartford and White Oak Sprint

16th June        Eastbourne Standard (an Age Group qualifier)

1st Sept           Brighton & Hove Sprint

8th Sept          Southwater Mixed Team Relays

These are great events, and earn points for the club!

Please let me or Heather know If you are at all interested in the Southwater Relays, as we need to register our teams very soon.  

Other local races to look at are Tonbridge on 6th May, and Mid Sussex (Burgess Hill) on 16th June. 

Cycling Event

Isle of Wight on 1st June. 

It is a club day out! A fun, quote Iain, "Bimble" around the isle of Wight.  The more the merrier.  Further details nearer the time.

Swimming

Monday night swimming sessions continue throughout the year.  Open water swim are now beginning to appear, with Pell's Pool in Lewes open on Sat 13th.  Weir Wood Reservoir has started on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.  Haysden near Tonbridge is another lovely place to swim on Friday evenings. 

I leave you with these choices and hope that you will be inspired to come along to some of them!  Good luck to all.

Annie

Club Newsletter

SAVE THE DATE !

Monday 25th March 7.30 At the Boars Head Pub. 

Our Club AGM.

This is not a stiff and starchy meeting, more of a social gathering over a drink and something to eat, and to hear what we have achieved in the past year, and how we hope to continue.  There will be, of course, the AGM structure.   It is also an opportunity for meeting club members who you may not otherwise get a chance to see.  

It would be wonderful to see as many of you as can make it. 

SAVE THE DATE #2 !

1st June.  Cycle the Isle of Wight.  

It's a great day out.  Although the weather last year was appalling, this year is going to be wonderful (isn't it!).  Another great opportunity to take part in a club event, and bond with your club mates.  More information nearer the time. 

Club members have already been in action with races, running and cycling.  

I mention below some of the achievements already obtained, and this is only the start. 

I apologise for not keeping up with the times and details - all been too quick for me this year. Anyway, here we go.

George started us off with the Tunbridge Wells half marathon with a great time. 

Botts, Wes, Will, and Dean attacked the 'Hell of Ashdown' on 25th Jan.  It is a cycle over 100km with 10 very challenging hills. This, in anyone's world, is a serious ride.   

If that wasn’t enough Botts and Wes cycled the 'Kentish Killer' -   another tough sportive of 100km starting and finishing at Brands Hatch. 

I think the clue is in the title!

Jo and Heather competed in the Brighton Half Marathon, with speedy times.  Looking very fresh in the post-race photos. 

Geoff ran the Paddock Wood half marathon, a fantastic race, and came 2nd (silver) in his age group. 

Theo ran the 'Steyning Stinger' half marathon.  Again the title says it all. Well done Theo. 

Fantastic results all round, and well done everyone for just getting out there in what has been a very wet  and miserable couple of months.  

I hope  I haven’t missed any events.

Best Wishes

Annie

Newsletter No. 6

Winter News

This is  the most challenging time of year to be training. It is difficult to even imagine what it will be like swimming, running and cycling outside and enjoying the warmer weather. 

Despite that, I have no doubt that you are all battling with the weather and succeeding.  

Not long until spring !

First, here is a message from our esteemed coach Iain, about the aims and training focus in the swim. 

Swim Focus 2024    January to March   Welcome to the start of another year of coached swim sessions, now we have set some benchmark times for 400m and 200m this has given some of you a guide CSS time. Don’t worry if you haven’t set these times yet we can catch up in the next week or two.    Our focus for the next few months will be to make you more efficient with each stroke, which should help to improve your performance…… less strokes per length, move further with each stroke eventually reducing the time per 100m.    The following weeks will be a mixture of drills and swim sets designed to help with the overall stroke performance. There will be opportunities to put the revised technique into some conditioning practice too. Then in a few months' time we will be repeating the timed swims.    Any questions please feel free to ask!    Iain  Head Coach

In the meantime the Committee have met and come up with some great ideas for the club for this coming year. 

March 25th - AGM

Meet at the Boar's Head Pub at 7.30 after swimming.

Please do come and join in.  It is  a very relaxed meeting and it would be lovely to see as many of you as possible.  Your club.  Your ideas.  

Other dates for your diaries.  

April  -   Date: tba.  A possible wine tasting evening at Alteus in Crowborough.  

 

June   -   Sat 1st.   Cycle round the Isle of Wight!  The weather has got to be better than last year, and it will be huge fun.  There will be a support car for gear/food/clothes and for any cyclist who just wants a rest for a few miles! The date gives us plenty of time to train and get our mileage up.  

June  -  Thurs 13th. There is to be a memorial ride for Tom.  The ride will start and end at the Six Bells Pub in Chiddlingly.

September  -  Sun 8th.  Southwater Relay.  A riotous event.  Last year we had seven teams.  More information later in the year, but do keep the date free.  Not to be missed. 

During the summer there is a Triathlon England South East Senior Series  (TESESS)

which consist of the events below.  East race undertaken by club members scores points for the club.  

            28th April        Seven Oaks

            12th May         East Grinstead

            9th June          Dartford and White Oak 

            1st Sept           Brighton and Hove

            8th Sept          Southwater

In the meantime we keep on with the Monday evening swims, and the Thursday evening turbo sessions. Good to see so many people again. 

The park runs are always good to do all the year round.  The venues are listed on the club calendar for the first Saturday of each month.  

Best Wishes

Annie

Communications

Click the link below to see the great feature we had in the Crowborough Magazine.

https://crowborough-magazine.co.uk/crowborough-tri-club/

Thanks Jo 

By: Rob Lawrence

I always feel a pinch of excitement receiving emails from event organisers in the week running up to an event; ‘this is your start time’, ‘be here for the race briefing’, ‘nuances of transitions we need to let you know about’. And so it was, an innocuous email from Trail X late on Friday was followed by a flutter of excitement for the next day’s event.

Fresh from scouting the course, which was wild, true the event’s advertised nature, I was struggling with a footwear dilemma. Twice on the swim, transitioning between lakes, still clad in wet suits we would climb from one lake, dash across the forest floor and jump into the next lake before exiting the third lake and climbing 300m uphill crossing more heather, rocks and forest into T1. What to wear on my feet? Sacrificial neoprene socks, trainers that would feel like dragging a parachute while swimming or simply tough it out with bare feet. I had chosen to go with option three.

Swim Cancelled. The email’s subject turned my flutter into a swirl of thoughts. E-Coli had been discovered in the lake, so the swim leg was to be replaced with a 2km run, turning the event into a classic duathlon format. The swim footwear dilemma was solved, but with a touch of disappointment.

The MOD has used Pippingford Park, troops frequently dipping into the murky, lily pad covered lakes in the name of training, for years. With this came frequent water testing, but never the discovery of E-Coli. Sharing the news must have been a nervous moment for the race organisers, but speaking on behalf of those I chatted to, our initial disappointment was soon replaced by thankfulness that someone was overseeing our welfare. The testing laboratory believed the warm weather earlier in the year followed by recent heavy rain caused something containing E-Coli to be washed into the river that feeds the lakes. Something else to blame on Global warming? I’ll try harder with my carbon footprint.

The relaxation of social distancing rules allowed us to start in waves of ten, separated by 30 seconds. I adopted the start line stance, index finger posed on the start button, chip timing ankle well back from the start line, perfectly copied by nine others that would soon join me gasping for air on the opening uphill, long meadow grass, 100 metre field dash. We hit the top of the field, turned left onto a bridle way, gently downhill, gently back up then into the woods for what became the most enjoyable part of the whole race. Not fatigued enough to be in any pain the tightly packed wood presented a single, windy, root-infested downhill track that I flowed down, gliding from bump to root, the sense of speed augmented by the nearby trees whizzing past me. To an observer I’m sure I looked more pedestrian than racehorse, but to me, for a few moments, I felt gazelle-like. Then it was over, and the reality of the task ahead started to sink in. Heading back into for T1 lungs gasping and thighs burning a little more than sensible pacing would suggest they should be, I was a little nervous I’d overcooked things.

52 seconds later I’m out on the bike, shoes still undone, but peddling. 500 meters go by; the shoes are still undone. 1km in, no change with the shoes. I’ve made an error. Attempting to save time in T1 I thought I’d tighten my shoes on the bike. But MTBing is not like road biking where smooth tarmac allows you to reach down and tighten your shoes. My legs were working overtime to hold my feet in the loose shoes, lactic was building, others were passing me. Opportunities to reach down and tighten my shoes weren’t presenting themselves, then I slipped and ended up in a muddy heap. An inglorious start to the MTB leg, but an opportunity to sort my shoes and try to put things right. I’d lost a lot of time and for the remaining 20km it didn’t get much better. I fell off a further five times from a mixture of bad overtaking decisions and poor MTB handling. This was hard work. There were points where I felt dejected with the whole event. The towel, however, was not about to be thrown into the ring.

Flustered from exhaustion T2 felt like it took a long time to come round but come round it did and with equal measures of fluster I transitioned into running gear. Not a lot could go wrong now, it was just man and trainer versus a cross country route. Leg drive gone, glutes packed up for the day, it wasn’t the most elegant run, but it too came to an end at the finishing banner. There was a little pleasure, but I was too consumed by all the things I’d done wrong in the transitions, on the MTB leg and how I should turn them into lessons to enjoy the moment.

As the lessons crystallised, I became happier with my performance. I’d learnt a lot, about my kit and myself, and most of it would be transferable to ‘normal’ road races. The search for the perfect MTB tri shoe has started – it needs loops on the heels and Velcro fasteners, not Boa dials. I’ll be back next year, more skilful on the bike, fitter and calmer and wiser in transition.

Thank you Trail X Triathlon, a wonderful day!

By: Annie Sidgewick –

A beautiful still gentle sunny morning. 

Having registered the day before I go straight onto transition on Western Lawns to rack my bike and set up my race gear. I spend some time working out the swim in, bike out etc.  I met up with Will who was looking very calm, organised and was enjoying the surroundings!

Organisers had worked hard to make social distancing possible, and for transition to work smoothly.

Everyone started gathering down by the beach, with an air of anticipation, and trying to abide by the rules wearing face masks!!  The start was delayed by 15 mins due to thick fog/mist on top of Beachy Head.  Then we were off; running down the beach and across the timing mat into the sea.  No time to worry about ice cream head, just ploughed straight in!  Sighting was a bit tricky due to full sun shining straight at us. We had been given detailed instructions for the swim directions with the  strong current. At last I rounded the final buoy  and headed for the finish arch. 

Out onto the beach and ran up, up, up to transition on Western Lawns. 

Out on the bike and headed up and up around the zig zag bends to Beachy Heads.  Legs screaming!  Out of the sunshine and onto the misty cool roads and fast down to Birling Gap.  Dead turn and back up the long drag to Beachy Head  and fast down into Eastbourne. 

Out on the run.  Out and back twice along the promenades.  Sun now getting quite hot but lots of people shouting encouragement; some beach goers looking rather bemused at to what was going on.  Passed the big cafe and round the corner and up (of course) to the finish.  The final 50m up the blue carpet is always thrilling with the commentator shouting your name and the crowd cheering. 

V hot and dehydrated.  Hugh, Will and Diana there to meet me. 

Will had had a good race and still looked very calm and collected.  Well done Will.  A tough race, but satisfying after the event!

Editors Note: Congratulations to Annie who came 2nd in her age group & subsequently discovered her efforts were sufficient to qualify her for the GB Age Group (70-74) Team at the World Championships 2022, truly inspirational!

We are all looking forward to getting together for coached swim sessions in the pool every Monday at 18:20 from 17th May 21. Join us for a taster session before you sign up for membership.