09/06/2010 - QE2 Sprint Triathlon - Race Report & Results
Tri Northumberland once again proved they know how to put on an event hosting the North East Regional Triathlon Championships for the first time at the fantastic QE2 Country Park.
This is a fantastic venue that almost seems purpose built for triathlon; 17°C temperature clear water with lots of space for mass starts, endless bank sides enabling spectators to view the whole swim, transition within 20m of exiting the water and to top it off closed roads straight outside transition providing a fast, safe and again perfect opportunity for supporters to cheer on everyone and whoever they came to support.
Also on show yesterday were the northeast’s up and coming Alistair Brownlee’s and Chrissie Wellington’s of the future with TriStar Start’s, 1, 2 and 3 covering ages 8 to 14 following the senior race.
The forecasted rain held off till the afternoon and the swim got underway on time in the senior’s race with a single clockwise 750m loop of half the lake and it was young Calum Johnson upstaging the top senior swimmers first into transition with a time of 10:28. He was closely followed by Tony Weed, Douglass Roberts, and Alan Copland, all of Blackhawk Bikes.
Quickly through transition and out onto the closed roads it was Tony Weed who took control of the bike leg and circumnavigated the 4 laps of the 20km course that provided a mix of conditions with a couple of short hills, fast sections, dead turns and a small but testing headwind when heading westward. Alan Copland closed the gap from transition to gain a slight advantage over teammate Roberts and into 2nd place. Fellow teammate and strong cyclist Nicky Mcgee raced himself into contention and up to 4th place with Tri Northumberland’s David Barker biking hard to round up the top 5 into T2.
Onto the 5km 2 lap run of the lake and it was Weed still holding 1st place only to have to retire due to an old calf injury. This allowed Alan Copeland to take the lead which didn’t last long as Douglass Roberts swept him aside with a blistering 19:06 run to become the Northeast Regional Sprint Champion followed by Copland and Mcgee to make it another Blackhawk Bikes 1-2-3.
There was another Roberts on show today, Douglass’s younger brother Fergus appeared from nowhere to overtake Barker on the run to take 4th place in his first ever triathlon. We hear that triathlon is not his first love but there is definitely a bright future ahead for this young fellow if this race is anything to go by!
In the senior women’s race it was Helen Waugh of Tyne Tri dominating the proceedings in all three disciplines to take the Sprint Championship in a time of 1:13:10. The race for 2nd and 3rd was a closely fought battle between Natalie Batey, Marie Stansmoor and Stephanie Dann with less than a minute and a half separating them. Batey held on to take 2nd with Stansmoor in 3rd.
The Tri Stars entered the water in 2 waves shortly after the end of the main race and they put on a show for the many spectators on the banks of the lake with many a senior wishing they had a stroke like some of these kids - amazing technique on show in the water.
Tri Star Start category was won by Matthew Egglestone followed by Tom Murphy in 2nd and Bethan Nitsch in 3rd place.
Tri Star 1 category was an extremely close fought race with Harry Staines taking 1st place by only 4 seconds from Rhianna Nitsch in 2nd and Elena Bluck only a further 3 seconds back in 3rd place, what a finish!
Tri Star 2 category was won by Anna Barnes followed by Fergus Robinson in 2nd and Finlay Robertson in 3rd place.
Tri Star 3 category was won by Greg Chambers followed by Jack Willis in 2nd and Jordan Hull in 3rd place.
The future is certainly bright in Northeast Triathlon.
Results (Abbreviated) Overall Men
1) Douglass Roberts - Blackhawkbikes.com - 01.06.28
2) Alan Copland - Blackhawkbikes.com - 01.07.35
3) Nicky Mcgee - Blackhawkbikes.com - 01.08.04
Overall Women
1) Helen Waugh - Tyne Tri - 01.13.10
2) Natalie Batey - Ryton Tri - 01.19.09
3) Melanie Stansmore - 01.19.16
Full results available at - http://trinorthumberland.sweat365.com/qe2-sprint-triathlon/
and here http://www.sportstimingsolutions.co.uk/results.php