Long Course 2015 World Championships in Hannover

It was great to see several of our BQA Members take a trip over to Hannover for the Long Course Quadrathlon World Championships which took place on 7th June. It consisted of 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 20km kayak and 21km run. In the Men’s event Thoralf Berg (GER) won in 6.55 with Leos Rousavy (CZE) in 2nd 7.00, and Lisa Hirschfelder took the Women’s title in 8.33.

A Big Congratulations must go to all our BQA members that raced and finished in this ‘very fine race’ in really hot conditions! Well done to those that came home with medals – John Kavanagh took Vet 60 Gold (8.52) and Ned Price took Silver in Vet 50 (8.53). Roland Maclarg came home in 8th Vet 40 (10.02). We also had a two man relay team racing –

Russel Breyer and Steve de Boltz from Ipswich Tri Club. They finished 6th (7.51) Russel’s words were ‘It was tough enough doing just half of this event, so I absolutely take my hat off to John, Ned and Roly doing the whole thing…and to Mary White for her category win in the sprint event on the Saturday. I really hope WQF run this event again, it was cracking fun!’.

Congratulations to Mary 4th overall in the Sprint and 1st in her age group Vet 60 (1.56)

 

If anyone has an photos of the GB athletes please send a few to me … Thanks! (Jean)

Full Report, photographs and vidios, plus the results can be found hear link http://www.quadrathlon4you.com/profiles/blogs/2015-world-long-distance-quadrathlon-world-championships-hannover

More Photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/132789053@N06/sets/72157654240604182/

Thanks to John Kavanagh for his report

Wasserstadt Quadrathlons
While making plans for the forthcoming season before Christmas, going to Hannover in June for a world championship quad seemed like a good idea. So Ned Price, Mary White and I got our entries in early, before the price went up. There were lots of race options over two days, different triathlon distances and a sprint quad on the Saturday, more triathlons and a long distance quad on the Sunday (each with a relay team option). Mary entered the sprint and Ned and I opted for the long event. As we drove the 400 miles or so across Europe on the Friday we were a bit concerned about the temperature, 35°C – thank goodness for air conditioning.
The weekend was a little cooler, but at 25°plus it was still a lot hotter than we had been used to. On the Saturday morning we had time to look around and check out the bike course before Mary’s race. This involved a 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run and 4.2km paddle (and a final 300m sprint back to the finish). She was very pleased to finish under 2hrs (1hr:56min), being the 1st lady in the 60-69 year group and beating quite a few (younger men).

Ned and I had a 7:15 start for the 3.8km swim in a deep, wide and seemingly clean canal. An Ironman distance triathlon set off 15mins before us so it was encouraging that we were able to overtake some of the tail enders from this before we were out of the water. There was a 500m run to the bike transition but the organisers had provided matting for us to run over, then it was out onto 3 x 30km laps (mostly flat) for the bike course. The roads were closed in the direction of travel and police were at all the junctions and lights to ensure we had a clear ride. The kayak transition was another 300m from the bike transition so we had to put on running shoes to get there for 5 x 4km laps. Each lap had 4 turns but as the canal was wide these could be paddled around easily (unlike the Macclesfield Canal we use for training!). The run continued from the kayak get out for 2 x 10km laps of flat running but then there was final sharp uphill bit to take us to the finish.
Ned and I had a good race, I was well ahead after the swim but he overtook me on the 2nd lap of the bike. I just managed to catch and pass him on the kayak and had about a 1min lead going into the run. He caught me after about 5km and we were together then for a long time before I managed to get a slight lead. We were both very pleased to finish under 9hrs (John 8:52, Ned 8:53) and to find that I was 1st 60-69years and Ned was 2nd 50-59years. Also over from GB was Roland Maclarg (10:02) and, in the relay race, Russel Brewer and Stephen de Boltz from Ipswich Tri Club who did two disciplines each in 7:51….. John Kavanagh

And also thanks to Roly Maclarg for his report too

This was the first time I have done a long distance quadrathlon.
The brief at the start was in german and english by Peter the organiser, so we all understood the course.
It was a good swim in canal, two laps, with a slight current on outward leg, I should have gone for swim day before to find this out, as I would of stayed closer to bank on first and third leg and in middle of current for second and fourth leg.
The Bike consisted of 3 laps 30km each, one little hill, on closed roads in direction of racing, well marshaled through out. Excellent tarmac, one 100m section had just been resurfaced had to be a little careful. Police were out in force waving competitors through red lights and holding back traffic at traffic junctions.
I struggled on the kayak, 5 laps. My boat is a little wobbly and as fatigue started to set in and I found there was quite a lot of wash from the other kayakers to contend with.
The Run was 2 laps, a good course, though I would have preferred a bit more shade in places, it was getting very hot by this point in the day. It had been hot all day, and I had forgot sun cream ‘big mistake’. My second lap was slow, the heat had got to me, suddenly started feeling hot and then cold, I had drunk plenty through out the race, there were plenty of feed stations on bike, kayak and run, and lots of supporters cheering us on!
Overall this was a good event, Peter the organiser did a superb job running the Quadrathlon, along side half and long distance triathlon gave sufficient competitors to justify putting on a Closed road event …. Roly Maclarg

This certainly sounds like one for the diary in the future!