Awesome Foursome National Championships 2016

The Awesome Foursome certainly lived up to its name this year, after several years of kind weather for the race this year it decided to throw it an extra spanner in the works …. A big swell, surf and winds gusting to 40mph! At least it was warm and we had sunshine between the scurrying clouds, and there was a big field of quadrathletes, individuals, pairs and teams all looking forward to the challenge, some a little bit nervous!

Organizer ‘Simon’ was as cool as ever, giving us a good comprehensive race briefing, but leaving the swim course decision until the last moment just in case the wind changed with the turn of the tide. The swim was slightly shorter with the turn buoy within the breakwater to save us from the huge waves, but knowing the Cornish Surf Lifeguards were bobbing about out there too … we just knew we would be safe!

There were some fantastic swim times, the surfers certainly know how to handle swimming in a rough sea, the fastest swimmers were mainly in teams/pairs with the overall Team winners ‘ Gully Blue Fins’ putting in extremely fast swim in 13.24. James Marshall was the fastest individual 16.16, with Simon (organizer) and his brother, plus BQA’s Nigel Crowe all around the 18.30 mark.

Going onto the bike there was plenty of tough competition, and some excellent bike splits … it was all down to who could handle the head wind and the 3 very steep climbs! Again ‘Gully Blue Fins’ had the fastest split 50.18. Last year’s BQA Trophy winner Nigel Unwin was having a strong bike leg 53.41 and went into the lead, but only just in front of Chris, Simon, Mike Rudd and Matt Rayment. Despite the strong head winds up the hills everyone flew back into Bude … great down hills and a tail wind certainly felt good for us all!

The Canal had never been so hard, really windy and choppy, there were plenty of capsizes and lots of concentrated looks as paddlers tried to stay focused on what was a tough paddle. Team ‘Dept26’ had the fastest split 45.30 with Simon fastest individual 52.11. Nigel however was looking strong and also paddled well 53.41 … so he went onto the run in the lead and maintained that to take the Honours! (also 1^st Vet 50). The brothers were still neck and neck, but Chris’s being the faster runner took 2^nd place. (1^st Vet 40) Tommy Mathews running very well moved into 3^rd, whilst Simon came 4^th (2^nd Vet 50).

In the Ladies race Lucy Obolensky had the fastest swim 20.11, with Jacqueline Davies seconds behind 20.15. Jean Ashley was out in 3^rd place. They remained in this order throughout the bike leg, Jacq and Jean both more experienced paddlers overtook Lucy, and Jacq remained in the lead, despite having a capsize at the turn buoy. Jean didn’t quite catch her on the kayak leg but had eaten into her lead just 30 seconds behind as they went onto the run. Jacq was running well but Jean had caught her up by the end of the canal and went on to enjoy the wild and windy run route to take the win! BQA members Mary White (amazing lady Vet 60) came in strong in 3^rd place and Vicky Price having the bravest race of her life so far came just behind in 4^th, we hope this is going to be her start of what’s going to be a ‘Quadrathlete in the Making’.

 

Every single person that finished deserves a mention, and many will have a story to tell, it was certainly one Bude we shall all remember, I think this is why this race is so special, it’s always challenging, you never quite know what the Cornish Coast will throw at you, and it always lives up to its Name …. AWESOME!

A Huge Big Thank-you To Simon and his Wonderful Team for Hosting The National Championships.  A massive thank-you to all the marshals, the Bude Surf lifeguards for looking after us and showing us the way! It was great to see plenty BQA members racing, plus all the other athletes and first-timers! Plus all the Teams and Pairs Entries … an excellent turnout. I hope you all enjoyed it and will be back to support Shoreline Extreme Sports for more fun next Year!

Congratulations to our BQA National Quadrathlon 2016 Champions

MEN

1^st Nigel Unwin (1^st Vet 50) – 2.51.20 (BQA)

2^nd Chris Hammond (1^st Vet 40) – 2.55.06

3^rd Tommy Mathews (1^st Senior) – 3.03.07

9^th Sam Norton (1^st Youth) – 3.18.08

11^th John Kavanagh (1^st Vet 60) – 3.21.02 (BQA)

WOMEN

1^st Jean Ashley (1^st Vet 50) – 3.30.07 (BQA)

2^nd Jacqueline Davies (1^st Vet 40) – 3.32.34 (BQA)

3^rd Mary White (1^st Vet 60) – 3.48.16 (BQA)

4^th Victoria Price (1^st Senior) – 3.49.41 (BQA)

Plus a special mention to all our other BQA Members … Well Done Everyone!

4^th Simon Hammond (2^nd Vet 50) – 3.03.13 (BQA Race Affiliation Organizer)

10^th Nigel Crowe (3^rd Vet 50) – 3.20.20

15^th Cliff Odgers -3.32.14

18^th Peter Chappill  – 3.38.34

20^th Lance Ball – 3.47.41

22^nd John Redmond – 4.02.45

Full Bude Results Quadrathlon Results 2016