Chester Triathlon Club

Howling gales, huge hills (some of them in the swim section), technical challenges and tough competition all faced Chester Tri members this week as the triathlon season draws to a close. A number of Chester triathletes contested the first ever Ironman Wales, held over a hilly, windy course in Tenby. In the company of 1500 other athletes from all over the world, the hardy group of 8 took on the 3.8 km sea swim, 112 mile bike, which offered no respite from climbing, and an equally undulating marathon to follow. First Chester Tri finisher was experienced Ironman Nick Rose in 10 hours 28 min, 63rd overall and 9th in his age group. Another top performance by Jill Wilkinson saw her finish next in 11h 55, third in her highly competitive age group. Just ahead of her was Martin Wilcock, in 11h 42min, himself preceding first-time Ironmen Steve Walker (12h 07min), Daniel Astbury (14h 21min) and Susie Coughlan (14h 51min), with Gary Watts (12h 23 min), Steve Eastwood (12h 43 min), Dom Miller (13h 30 min) and Adrian O’Brian (15h 07).

Over a shorter course, but in no more kindly conditions, a large contingent travelled to Bala, with many hopeful that a good performance would gain them a slot at next year’s European Age Group Championships, to be held in Israel. With the challenging conditions in the lake too much for some competitors, the thirty Chester Tri finishers put in solid performances to come away with both male and female team prizes. Dan Craigen emerged first from the water, with a time of 20:32 for the 1500m swim, whilst perennial top performer Peter Brook finished in 8th place overall in just a shade over 2 hours (2h 32 min). Iain Murray was second in V40 in 2.08:58 and Ruth Isaacs 2nd in FV50 in 2.31:39, whilst Ray O’Grady (2.50:01) and Chris Binks (3.07:41) put in top performances in the V60 category. Many will now be waiting for team selection news in the hope of emulating the acheivements of another Chester Tri member, Dominique Searle, who this  weekend finished 5th in her race at the World Age Group Triathlon Championships, held in Beijing.