Kentish Express Ashford & District
National honours fought for
Owler Triathlon
National honours were up for grabs at the Owler Triathlon.
Staged by Tri Spirit Events, this year’s race doubled as the England middle distance championships.
It went ahead after the swimming venue had to be switched to Jury’s Gap at Lydd, with Conningbrook Lake at Julie Rose Stadium declared unusable due to water quality issues, following the return of a blue-green algae.
Event director Liz King. “It was hard work after the logistical changes needed to ensure competitors could do the swim at all but we had some brilliant feedback.
“Signage on the course was stolen and bike directions had to be replaced three times on parts of the course at Hinx Hill and Brabourne but only a small number of competitors were affected.
“We do not intend to operate a split transition next year.”
Age group winners were crowned male and female national champions in the event – a 1,900m swim, followed by a 87k bike ride to Julie Rose and a 21k run around Conningbrook Lake and Naccolt.
Tom Foster, of Team Cranc, clinched top spot finishing in an impressive time of 4:22.10.
He finished ahead of Peter Hogben (Deal Tri, 4:27.57), with Gary Laybourne (South London Harriers) third in 4:33.37.
Chantel Cummings, of Team N+1 Endurance, won the ladies’ race and was third overall (4:30.55).
She finished well clear of Laura Fiddler (ETE Trisutto, 4:53.05) and Laura Addie (Tri Force, 4:55.55).
Carlo Nebuloni won the standard distance – 1,500m swim, 45k bike and 10k run – (2:32.09), ahead of Kieran Green (Brighton Tri Club) (2:44.33), and Elliot Green (Windrush Tri Club) third in (2:47.28).
Cathy Strickland was first lady home (2:58.28), followed by Dana Sweeney (Clapham Chaser, 3:00.47) and third-placed Erica Martin (Brighton Phoenix Triathlon Club, 3:06.43).
Nick Isaacson (3:90.15) and Maria Powell (Bike ScienceBoardman Elite, 3:12.31) were half aquabike winners, while Sean Hagell (2.02.41), and Katherine Rowney (Serpentine Running Club, 2:29.37) claimed the standard prizes.
Tri Spirit Team produced a strong showing in the middle distance event.
Nick Whitfield led the team home (5:19.07), followed by Neil Strange (5:48.08), Tom Stanley (5:48.36), Debbie Milton (5:57.50) Alex Ford (6:37.06) and Jacqui Maxted (6:57.54).
Julie Bradford was first home in the standard tri (3:18.31), while Amber King and Jo Coshell worked as a team.
Coshell completed the swim (38.10), while King took over on the bike and the run, as they finished in 3:32.20.
The pair finished runnersup behind team winners Try 4 Tri (3:29.58).