Club Christmas Ride

We managed to get around ten hardy souls out to brave the snow, and we had a great ride to Betws Y Coed and back with plenty of chatting in between. Out on the ride were, Rocky, Rhian, Pete, Martin, Justin, Rachel, Vince, Ronnie, Big Em, Saul (from Rhos) and a few names I've forgotten....sorry! Too much excess!!
Merry Christmas to everyone, and hopefully see a few of you at Llyn Gerionydd, New Years Day, 12:30.

Llandudno Sea Triathlon

Loads of members of Carneddau Triathlon Club took part in the Llandudno Tri with a large number featuring at the front end of the results. First out of the 1500m sea swim across Llandudno bay was Carneddau’s Rhian Roxburgh, exiting the water with the eventual winner of the men’s race James Ratcliffe. The 39km bike course, four laps of the Great Orme, saw the women’s race stay unchanged whilst Ratcliffe using his biking prowess, opened up an unassailable lead .Unfortunately it wasn’t to be a home win for Rhos on Sea based Rhian , being overtaken 5km into the 10km run on Llandudno’s promenade by fellow Elite Triathlete and winner of the women’s race, Jacqui Slack of www.netcentral.co.uk.
Simon Roxburgh was first local athlete home finishing in 8th place in a time of 2:18:16, joined by club mates Adrian Leonard 10th in 2:20:01 and Russell Godwin 11th in 2:21:40 to claim the team prize, based on the aggregate time of the first three finishers from any club.
Russell Godwin and Rhian Roxburgh both won there age groups as did Florida based triathlete and Carneddau member Rosemary Gay. Other club member’s times as follows Vince Edwards 12th, 2:22:49, Chris Lord joint 38th 2:38:50, Ian Taylor joint 38th 2:38:50, Gareth White 51st, 2:42:27, Tim Harding 52nd, 2:42:28, Martin Jones 67th, 2:49:25, Vicky Ronald 7th lady 2:58:19, Martin G Williams 94th 2:59:07, Neil Brampton 122nd 3:17:30, Richard Lawrence 123rd 3:20:30, Rosemary gay 16th lady 3:29:19, Guy Mair 135th 3:29:20, Rachel James Owens 24th lady 3:51:28. A special mention should go to Barry Craven who piloted blind triathlete Maggie Bowes around the course to finish in just outside four hours. Colin Davies & Stephen Wellington...sorry guys I don't have your results! Well done everyone.

Ironman Nice in Roys own words......

I'm back and I made it!!!!!!! And what a return to find donations have been coming in whilst I've been away, so thank you all once again and remember for those of you who have not yet had a chance to donate it's not too late, you can still send me Cheques (payable to charity dance ironman) or you can go to my just giving page at www.justgiving.com/ironmanroyden .
I've attached a copy of my finishing line photo with my new best friend Laurent Canu from Champigny 51 (the champagne region of France strangely enough).

What a day it was! It started at 03:50 in the morning followed by numerous visits to the loo, final bike checks at 05:00 to 06:00 then we headed down to the beach for the start at 06:30, and what a start! It was like being in a washing machine (not that I've ever been in a washing machine, but you get my drift? Stay with me here people). Now at this stage I didn't realise I also had to be trained as an under water kick boxer, fortunately with a bit of luck and a few shrewd moves I managed to come out unscathed which is more than some people could say (broken jaws, dislocated shoulders, black eyes etc etc). Transition went well and away we went for a 112mile jaunt! Now I read the profile in detail before I went and whilst I was there and I quote 'flat - descent'???? since when has a flat piece of road risen for 20km at an average gradient of 3%??? and since when did a 9km descent turn to just 2km?? I was going to have words with the course organisers however I thought I'd better save my energy for the run . Anyhow the only words I can convey for the bike course is BRUTAL, I have never seen hills like it, I thought Lance Armstrong and co only rode hills like this and being one of the larger male species (I'm more like Jan Ulrich, at least that's what I kept saying to myself as I was trying to push the big gears going up the hills) I really had to dig in on the Bike and what a relief it was when I did hit those flats and descents as I breezed gracefully past most of those sub 11 stoners as my additional weight, technical ability and fearless attitude to descending kicked in and if I say so myself I absolutely mullered the down hills with only 1 iffy moment where I nearly overcooked a corner with a little drop of a few hundred feet, So then it came to the run and what a run it was, now a couple of the lads at Carneddau who have done Nice told me to save some energy for the run (easier said than done lads). My strategy at this stage was to run the first 13miles or so without stopping!!! After about 2km I decided this strategy was flawed and I would therefore resort to plan B! Plan B was my run walk strategy which was going quite well, however I made a couple of errors! If any of you out there ever decide to run a marathon never, I repeat never run through the cooling showers. On the second 10.6km leg I started to get an uncomfortable feeling on the sole of my right foot, yes you guessed it, I got the mother of all blisters right down the middle of the foot which restricted my running to more of a shuffle and then came the bombshell! I got the father of all blisters on the heel of my left foot (pictures available for the less squeamish), now I still had 21km to go and my shuffle was more like watching your drunk uncle trying to moonwalk the wrong way so I had to think of a Plan C? Now being an ex squaddie a couple of blisters weren't going to stop me so I reverted to 'Tabbing' in other words power walking and strangely enough my splits were almost the same as my Plan A run strategy. During my final 6km I met up with my new bessie mate Laurent (in the picture) who was ready to stop as he was in so much agony with back spasms (Laurent had to pull out in 2008 due to stomach problems on the Bike). Now I was having non of it and together we managed to encourage each other through those last few kilometres with both of us running the last couple of kilometres like it was the start of a training run and what a finish it was with thousands of spectators all the way along the course screaming you name and offering words of encouragement (felt a little bit like a pop star) with the final 200metre being the most awesome I have ever experienced, the noise was thunderous the people were hysterical and the volunteers were forming a guard of honour for the finishers. what a day, one I'll never forget and most importantly I did this, yes for some personal satisfaction and some perverse reason of enjoying putting my body and mind through pain but mostly for the Arthritis Research Campaign which will receive over £1500 to help them find a cure for this dreadfully debilitating condition.
Thank you for all your support and your donations?

A win at the Welsh Championships

Rhian Roxburgh won the women’s race at the Welsh Olympic Distance Championships on Saturday. Rhian Roxburgh, defending the title she has held for the previous three years was first woman out of the water in 20:38, close on the heels of the two leaders of the men’s race. From there on in she opened a further lead , winning the women’s race in a time of 2:13:30 and more remarkably claiming 6th place overall.
The race, held at Parc Bryn Bach Country Parc in Tredegar, covered a 1500m open water swim, 40km bike on a ten lap closed circuit and a 10km run .The first male was Julian Hatcher of Team AVS in 2:01:42. Simon Roxburgh finished 7th in 2:13:56, winning Bronze in the Welsh Championships, closely followed home by club mate Matt Ashton in 8th place in a time of 2:14:26 posting one of the quickest run splits of the day.

Chester Deva Triathlon

Four members competed in the Deva Triathlon, in Chester. The Olympic distance race, with a 1500m swim in the River Dee, 40km bike and 10km run was won by Martin Cain in 2:00:11.

Vicky Ronald who's been nursing a stiff back all week, didn't let it hold her back and posted a PB taking third place in her age group in 2:40:06, Russell Godwin, first home for the club, finished 35th in 2:16:56, Richie Lee 46th in 2:19:17 and Julian Browne 119th in 2:30:52.

Liverpool Triathlon

Four members of Carneddau Triathlon Club travelled to Liverpool to race in a number of events hosted at the Albert Dock.
Phil Porter competing in his first open water event won the Liverpool Super Sprint Triathlon! Phil, competing in his first year of triathlon flew round the 400m swim, 10km bike and 2.5km run in a time of 46minutes 22 seconds, taking the win by 26 seconds. Unfortunately for Phil, he had his wetsuit lifted from transition!! The highs and the lows of racing.......
With further success , Martin “Jogger” Williams posted a vintage performance in the Sprint Triathlon, 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run, winning the 60 to 64 age group in a PB time of 1:25:40. Y A H O O ! !
Graham Jones and Tim Harding completed the Olympic Distance race, 1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run which was won by Michael Murray in a time of 2:10:28. Graham finished 72nd (11th in age group) in a time of 2:27:32 and Tim finished 80th (12th in age group) in a time of 2:29:37.

Foolish Thief!!

This story is quality!! A rather dimwitted would be thief attempted to steal Vince Edwards' van today, once spotted he jumped out and tried to run...............
Boy o' boy he picked the wrong person to run from (if anyone's in doubt check out Vince's run split for the Splash & Dash), needless to say he didn't get away!!

Bala Middle Distance 2009

Bala played host to the British & Welsh Middle Distance Championships this Sunday.
Over 500 competitors from all over the UK competed in the event where athletes swim 2000m, cycle 81km and run 20km, looking to complete a race listed in the top 10 toughest races in the UK.
The day was hot and sunny with a strong breeze whipping up the surface of Llyn Tegid, and causing a significant headwind on the outward leg of the bike course.
In the women’s race Rhian was first out of the water, immediately opening a 2 minute lead on the other leading women, including Louise Collins the winner of the 2008 race. Following a strong bike leg, a run injury she has been carrying this season started causing major problems 2 miles into the run, forcing her to near standstill. Deciding not to pull out, Rhian managed 5th place, collapsing at the finish prompting medical attention. Although disappointed with the result, it was enough to take Gold in the Welsh Championship’s, and Silver in the 30-39 age group in the National Championship. Louise Collins of TFN won the women’s race in 4:26:51.
Simon Roxburgh won Bronze in the Welsh Championship’s taking 41st place overall in a time of 4:33:36 slipping back from 12th place during a hard run, Vince Edwards nailed a storming run coming 55th in 4:38:29, Adrian Leonard 74th in 4:44:07 and Gerwyn Jones 173rd in 5:05:43. The overall winner was Mark Stenning of Wildside Zoot in 3:58:17.

Famous Five Travel to Zurich......

Five Carneddau Tri’ members travelled to Lake Zurich, Switzerland to compete in the Ironman 70.3, hoping that months of hard training would come to fruition. The format, known previously as Half Ironman, saw over 3000 competitors compete over a 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run and was won by Ronnie Schildknecht in 3:54:30 and the first woman was Sarah Schütz in 4:28:26. The Carneddau times were; Paul O’Sullivan 5:28:53, Christina McKay 5:48:50, Geraint Rowlands 5:51:29, Al Read 6:09:47 and Rachel James-Owen 7:25:35.

Blenheim Triathlon

Rhian Roxburgh missed out on a podium spot in the womens Elite race at the Blenheim Sprint Triathlon, finishing 4th. her best Elite placing to date. Exiting the 750m lake swim in 5th place , she lost ground with a poor transition, going out onto the bike back in 17th. Coming in off the 15km circuit at the head of the chase pack, 30seconds behind eventual winner, GB athlete Jodie Stimpson and 2nd placed Non Stanford, Rhian was overtaken on the 5km run by Sophie Coleman before opening a gap to secure 4th.

Northants Ultra Marathon - a winner!

New club member and Endurance triathlete Sara Nason won the women’s race at the Northants Ultra Marathon on Sunday, as part of her preparations for the Ultraman Triathlon Championships to be held in Canada at the start of August. She completed the 34mile race in a time of 6:34:51. By competing in Canada, racing over a 10km swim, 418.3km bike and 84.3km run, Sarah, sponsored by Bangor University, will be raising money for Dolen Cymru, a charity that fosters links between Wales and Lesotho. Anyone wishing to sponsor can do so by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/sarahultra4lesotho

Coniston Triathlon

James Atherton and Tim Harding competed in the very hilly and tough Olympic Distance Coniston Triathlon on Sunday. The winner, Roger Wilkins of Tri Clan completed the 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run in 2:17:49. James finished in 13th position in 2:34:43 and Tim in 29th place in a time of 2:45:39

Northwich Sprint Triathlon

Ian Ganderton competed in the Northwich Sprint Triathlon, covering a 400m swim, 18km bike and 5km run in 1:04:17, achieving a top twenty placing, despie a set of temporary traffic lights on the course causing havoc! The race, organised by the hosts of the Llandudno Triathlon, Xtra Mile Events, was won by Martin Cain in 52:30.

Cheshire Sprint Triathlon

Graham Jones, Peter Selley, Ruth Evans and Cerys Alonso competed in the Cheshire Sprint Triathlon which attracted nearly one thousand competitors. Their times for the 500m open water swim, 20km bike and 5.4km run were 1:13:19, 1:17:38, 1:34:36 and 1:40:35 respectively. A good time for Graham particularly as his bike shoes went missing in transition (was it a ferret?)! Read more with Graham's race report on the forum.......

Narrow Loss To Olympic Gold Medallist!

Gerwyn Jones, travelled to Keswick in the Lake District to compete in the Mountain Triathlon, achieving a top twenty five finish, and only three minutes behind Olympic Gold Medallist, James Cracknell. Held as part of the Keswick Mountain Festival the race attracts nearly three hundred competitors and was won by Marc Laithwaite of The Endurance Coach.com in a time of 2:02:42. Gerwyn completed the 750m swim, 35km bike and 10km run in 2:17:30, finishing 23rd overall and 11th in his age group.

Little Beaver Triathlon

Vince Edwards competed in the Little Beaver Triathlon, a World Age Group Championship Qualifier, held in the grounds of Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire at the weekend. The winner, Tristan Shipsides of Ful on Tri completed the Olympic Distance 1500m swim, 38km bike and 10km run in 1:56:35. Vince finished in 2:13:53, 70th place overall and 12th in his age group.

New Forest Triathlon

Paul O’Sullivan & Chritina McKay competed in the New Forest Triathlon, in Ringwood, Hampshire on Sunday. Over 300 competitors tackled the 1.1km
lake swim, 36km bike and 10km run. James Gilfillan of Primera Tri’ won the event, which is based in the National Park, in a time of 1:45:55, Paul finished 64th male and 12th in his age group in a time of 2:13:45, Christina McKay finished in 2:31:00, 26th female.

Chirk Sprint Triathlon

Twenty members of Carneddau Triathlon Club entered into the Chirk Sprint Triathlon on Sunday. Nearly 400 competitors competed over the 400m pool swim, 24km bike and 5km run and the men’s winner was Paul Hawkins of Torq Fitness in 00:58:30, whilst the women’s winner was Carneddau Triathlon’s Rhian Roxburgh in 1:04:15. Following on from last weeks win in Harlech, Rhian won the race for the fourth year running.
The club had a strong showing with six club members in the top twenty, results as follows; Simon Roxburgh 9th, 1:04:11, Matty Ashton 14th, 1:05:42, Adrian Leonard 15th, 1:05:47, Vince Edwards 16th, 1:05:51, Russell Godwin 19th, 1:06:16, Gerwyn Jones 23rd, 1:07:04, Richie Lee 35th, 1:09:11, Graham Jones 49th, 1:10:40, Ian Taylor 66th, 1:11:30, Ian Ganderton 100th, 1:14:48, Graham Davies 103rd, 1:14:56, Roy Healy 132nd, 1:16:18, John Clayton 133rd, 1:16:19, Vicky Ronald 137th, 1:16:55, Martin Williams 172nd, 1:19:31, Neil Brampton 231st, 1:24:16, Sharon Edwards 233rd, 1:24:21, Hilary Baker 322nd, 1:35:14, Wyn Morris 335th, 1:39:24, Ruth Evans 351st, 1:43:32 and Jaime Ashton 359th, 1:48:11.

Skipton Triathlon 2009

Christina McKay competed in the Skipton Sprint Triathlon on Sunday and finished 20th out of 129 female competitors, in a time of 1:26:19. The winner, Abey Lawrence of White Rose Triathletes completed the 400m pool swim, 21km bike and 5km run in 1:16:12.

Harlech Triathlon 2009

Rhian Roxburgh won the Harlech Sprint Triathlon for the fifth year running as, twenty seven members of Carneddau Tri’ competed at the race on Sunday. Carneddau took a sweep of awards, including Age group prize winners, Adrian Leonard winner of male 20 – 29, Valerie Edwards winner of female 50 – 59, Vicky Ronald 3rd in the women’s 40 – 49, Vince Edwards, Simon Roxburgh and Matt Ashton 4th, 5th and 6th respectively in male 30 – 39, group and Russell Godwin 6th in the 40 – 49 age group.
The race attracted over 350 entrants, the male winner was Chris Clarke of F2K Health and Fitness in a time of 1:14:52, and the female winner was Carneddau Triathlon’s Rhian Roxburgh who is sponsored by Tri Central and Elagen Sport. The Sprint Distance race covers a 400m pool swim, 30km bike leg and a 6km beach run which finishes with an infamous 1:4 ascent to the castle.
Carneddau Triathlon Club members full times and overall placings; Vince Edwards 4th, 1:20:14, Simon Roxburgh 5th, 1:20:44, Matt Ashton 7th, 1:21:41, Rhian Roxburgh 10th, 1:22:25, Russell Godwin 16th, 1:23:56, Adrian Leonard 23rd 1:26:21, Richie Lee 24th, 1:26:33, Ian Taylor 46th, 1:30:09, Graham Jones 53rd, 1:31:28, Julian Browne 62nd, 1:32:14, Graham Davies 79th, 1:34:15, Gareth White 82nd, 1:34:30, John Clayton 111th, 1:37:45, Vicky Ronald 127th, 1:39:05, Roy Healy 156th, 1:41:28, Martin Williams 157th, 1:41:29, Chris Lord 164th, 1:42:20,Valerie Edwards 205th, 1:47:36, Russ Murray 226th, 1:48:49, Phil Jones 237th, 1:50:41, Sharon Edwards 247th, 1:52:31, Stephen Wellington 270th, 2:01:14, Rachel James Owens 280th, 2:05:09, Hilary Baker 283rd, 2:08:59, Wyn Morris 287th, 2:15:33, Iorwerth Roberts 293rd, 2:20:30, and Jaime Ashton 298th, 2:27:53.

Epic Events Winter Duathlon

Emyr Evans and Adrian Leonard of Carneddau Triathlon Club competed in the Epic Events Winter Duathlon on Sunday, held in Rainford near St Helens. The race consists of a 3 mile run, 10 mile bike, 3 mile run and was won by GB elite duathlete Matt Moorehouse, in a time of 55:02 (15:51/23:40/15:31). Adrian finished in 13th place in a time of 1:04:40 (17:37/27:53/19:10) whilst Emyr finished in 28th position in 1:09:48 (19:16/30:08/20:24).

New Years Day Swim

Brrrrrrr.........it's cold, it's New Years Day, and you'd have to be crazy to leave the house for a walk, let alone a swim.

Carneddau Tri' members though are made of sterner stuff. Bank Holiday? Obviously an excellent opportunity to get in some open water practice. Geirionydd here we come!

10 people made it into the water, and more came to marvel at the act of stupidity!