Jean Ashley

Deva Divas Quadrathlon 2024

August 1, 2024 Jean Ashley

It was our 7th Deva Divas Quadrathlon, and once again the weather was kind despite a few clouds …. but whatever the weather there was always going to be sunshine in everyone’s heart and as always plenty of very happy ladies!

I’m very proud to be part of Chester Triathlon Club, and Sailing & Canoeing Chester Chester Canoeing and the ‘Special Team’ who gave up so much time to make this event ‘just one of the best!’ Big Thanks to John Hatton and Carol Hatton who played a huge part in coaching the Deva kayakers, and helped out all weekend to! Along with Dave Ashley, Lance Ball and David Jones. As always there are a long list of volunteers, and a Key Team who give so much to make the Deva Divas so special, especially Sally Napthen … your Legacy will live on and on!

18 years on and 7 years of Quadrathlon it’s been yet another memorable Race Day! Thank you to all you Deva Quad Girls for giving it your all, you pushed hard, smiled all the way and inspired many onlookers with your enthusiasm to take on 4 disciplines, it’s been a great pleasure to be part of your journey … and I’ll say it again, I’m so proud of you all … wear your T-Shirt & your medal – Bask in Your Glory … You did it!!

Don’t Cry because its over, Smile because it Happened!

There was some great competitive racing in the top half of the field, most have their own goals, agendas and ambitions, many race for charities but one thing is fore sure …. there are smiles all the way and every single one of those Devas are Winners! But Congratulations also must go to our Winner Adele Samuel, with Pauline Percy in 2nd Place, and Liz Dawson in 3rd place.

1st Adele Samuel Vet 50 – 2.01.35
2nd Pauline Percy Vet 60 – 2.04.28
3rd Liz Dawson – Vet 50 2.08.14

Special Mention to our BQA Members that flew the flag for the BQA, a Big thanks for supporting and inspiring many of our Deva Divas along the way! Also special thanks to our Male BQA Members that helped out in Kayak transition and on the water … Dave Ashley, David Jones, and Lance Ball you help was much appreciated!

BQA Members

4th Helen Adams – 2.08.59
5th Tora Oetgen – 2.11.45
24th Geraldine Richards – 2.36.51
25th Caz Jones 2.40.09
34th Elaine Oliver 3.02.24

Full Results Deva-Divas-2024 Quadrathlon

Take a look at our amazing Film of the Race Day Deva Divas Film 2024

Also an amazing amount of SMILEY PHOTOS mickhallphotos – deva-divas-2024

Fantastic News from Awesome Foursome in Bude

July 7, 2024 Jean Ashley

Our next British Quadrathlon Trophy Race is ‘The Awesome Foursome’ on Saturday 7th September. Every September since 2002 Simon Hammond and his Team have run the ‘Awesome Foursome Quadrathlon’, an extreme multi-sport race for individuals, pairs and relay teams to enter. This is an established event in the British and European Quadrathlon calendar regularly being a World Cup ranking event or the European Short Course Championships. This Year it is part of the World Cup Series!

The race makes the very most of Bude’s geography and features. The open water swim takes place within the shelter of Bude’s breakwater. The cycle ride includes some amazing coastal hills (including the 1 in 3 climb at Millook). The kayak leg takes place on the tranquil Bude canal. And the final run follows the canal towpath onto the coastal path and back to Bude. The fastest athletes will take around 3 hours to complete the course with most finished within 4 hours.

Route Description on YouTube

BUT THE EXCITING NEWS for 2024 is the New Shorter Course:

‘The Wallaby’

“A little smaller but just as Awesome”

Organizer ‘Simon Hammond’ has had a demand for a smaller quadrathlon to be run within the existing Awesome Foursome Quadrathlon. So ‘The Wallaby’ race will be run at the same time as the main event and we have just an Open Men’s and Open Women’s class. Prizes for 1st 2nd 3rd Mens and Ladies only, both events will be priced at the same £52. Details are:-

This shorter-course quadrathlon will be run at the same time as the full Awesome Foursome but will be roughly half the distance. It will start with the main event and be based at the Canal Wharf but will follow similar routes for the swim, cycle, and run as the Shoreline Triathlon, therefore eliminating the severe cycling hills around Millook. The kayak leg will still be the canal but half the distance of the full quadrathlon.

The swim will be one lap of the Bay, the cycle ride will only go as far as the Widemouth Manor before returning to Bude on the A39, the Kayaking will be one lap of the canal and the Run will only go as far as Rodds Bridge before returning to Bude via Lynstone Road.

Huge Thanks to Organizer ‘Simon Hammond’ for instigating this shorter event for our Quadrathlon Community, we really do appreciate your extra work! Entries for either event must be received in advance and you can register using this link .The-awesome-foursome-quadrathlon

IMPORTANT INFORMATION. For the WORLD CUP SERIES you will only get allocated World Cup Points for the Full Distance Event. (No points for ‘The Wallaby’).

For the BRITISH QUADRATHLON TROPHY SERIES for the Full Distance Event you will be rewarded with FULL points – and we will also be giving ‘The Wallaby’ National Trophy Points. These will be reduced by 20 points for the shorter distance, we feel this is the FAIR option, but this will allow all the BQA Quadrathletes to claim those valid points! We hope this may encourage many more athletes to take part as ‘Shrewsbury Quad’ has been cancelled, this is a fantastic opportunity as it enables athletes to still get 3 Races in for the BQA National Trophy Series!

Norfolk Superhero 2024

July 6, 2024 Jean Ashley

The Norfolk Superhero is a charity quadrathlon for those who relish an endurance challenge. Participants take part in teams of two and together cover a course that includes a 1 mile swim, a 4 mile kayak through the creeks, a 45 mile circular cycle route and an 8 mile run across the beach finishing with the last mile over the marsh. Teams must stick together and help each other out although there is a good mix of competition on show as well.

This is a charity quadrathlon event held annually in June when the tides are right, at Burnham Overy Staithe on the beautiful North Norfolk coast. Over the years the Norfolk Superhero has grown from a small band of friends taking on a fun, annual challenge to more than 200 competitors coming together to put themselves to the test. While the challenge is undoubtedly a serious one, nobody takes themselves too seriously. Everyone has their own reasons for taking part, whether that be for fitness, fun, or friendship. What’s more, every year all the participants pledge to raise money to support Norfolk based charities, raising over £600k to date.

The BQA support this event each year, we are so proud of ‘The Team’ that make this event happen and the amazing amount they raise for their chosen charities each year. These are some kind words from their Race Director …..Thank You Carlotta!

Participants have raised over £165k for our two charities so far, which we are delighted about. This is our second highest raise and we are expecting a little more to come in still. It gives us particular pleasure this year to be raising substantial amounts of funds for two charities which are so close to the Superhero, the Burnham Overy Harbour Trust and Norfolk Lowland Search & Rescue, who are also part of our safety team. We’ve received so many amazing emails and letters, as we always do. Many participants this year have said how we make a lot of people happy by doing what we do. We wanted to share this with you because you are an important part of that. The Superhero simply wouldn’t happen without your wonderful support from the BQA and we cannot thank you enough. Attached is our Report which is a gallop through the event trying to pick out a handful of moments that help make the Superhero what it is!.

2024 Norfolk superhero Challenge Report

For more details visit the website https://www.norfolksuperhero.co.uk/

2024 FILM

Many of you have been asking when the film is coming out. The wait is officially over – click here to view the 2024 film. This year, we had a team of MA Film Production students from the University of East Anglia, out and about filming away, all under the watchful gaze of their tutor, Christabelle Dilks. Christabelle and her students have poured countless hours into this project and we are delighted with the outcome. The gloomy weather didn’t help the cinematography but we hope you’ll agree that the UEA students have done a great job.

RECORD CHARITY RAISE

We are still waiting on a few final promised additions to the pot, mostly from those who raise via their companies in matched donations. But, we are now confident where the charity total will end up. For the third year running, we have hit a new record with £226k raised, split £176k to BOHT (£120k target) and £50k to NORLSAR (£35k target). We know it is a pain when we hassle you but we hope you will agree that, with news like that, the hassling is worth every second.

Norfolk Lowland Search & Rescue have already been able to buy the equipment they were looking for, and more: two new boats and specialist equipment for flood and emergency response. We love that the new boats will be called the Pink Lady and the Norfolk Superhero 💖 Burnham Overy Harbour Trust maintains and cares for the Overy creek and salt marshes and your incredible generosity will fast track the much needed creek restoration project which will preserve its unique biodiversity and beauty for generations to come. Thank you all so very much.

One last positive thought as you head into the Summer. With this year’s record £226k raise, the Norfolk Superhero has passed the £1million mark in total funds raised, with a staggering £564k raised in the three years since Covid alone. The generous Superhero spirit is alive and well. So, as you step on to the next endurance challenge or crack open the next bottle of Summer rose, and whether you’re drowning your sorrows or celebrating the election result, remember how much you have done and sleep easy knowing that more than £1million has been put to amazing use with some incredible charities in our beautiful county of Norfolk.

National Championships at Manvers 2024

July 1, 2024 Jean Ashley

The BQA were so pleased that Dearne Valley and the Team at Manvers Lake took on the task, of hosting the BQA National Championships, and what a fabulous event it turned out to be! They upped the event this year and made it even better, less laps on the swim course and on the kayak course made it much easy for the athletes, and with the use of chip timing for the first time it was so much better for the marshals and organizers! We were also blessed with gorgeous weather for the 2nd Race in the BQA Series, congratulations to everyone who raced and to everyone who gave up their time to help this event run extremely smoothly!

Special thanks to Mark Benton, David Jones and there Manvers Team for organising this great quad, you are a wonderful ‘Team’ of people thank you for your enthusiasm and for inspiring so many to take to the water and embrace the challenge, you have put so many smiles on peoples faces at Manvers. Without a doubt it’s such a fabulous feel good event, enjoyed by everyone, from seasoned athletes to first timers it was so good to see everyone just loving the day

Also huge thanks to ‘David and Caz Jones’ who have been organizing Quad Training Days throughout the year and encouraging newcomers to our sport, they do a fantastic job to introducing people into our sport!

We started the morning at 8.30 with the QuadKidz Tri and Quad race a huge well done to them, they were all amazing all finished their races in fantastic style , most certainly our stars of the future!

Boys 9-11
1st Sam Docherty 23.40
2nd Guy Hebdon 26.59
Boys 16-18 (full distance)
Joseph Dsilva 2.248
Girls 12-15
1st Charlotte Docherty 36.15
2nd Isabelle Moorhouse 44.36

The main race started at 9.30. It was 1 800m lap in the swim, followed by an out and back 15km gravel bike ride on the Trans Pennine Route. Then back to the lake for the 4km kayak, 4 laps (approx. 1 km per lap), and finally a 5 km off road run around the whole lake. A great course and inclusive to all standards of athletes. We had our strongest quadrathletes competing at the front end of the race for the National Overall and Age Group Titles, but as always its so good to see our year in year out athletes and the first timers who always give it their all! The BQA want to thank every single one of you for taking part and supporting our small but wonderful sport, we do really apricate your commitment …. Thank -You!

OUR 2024 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS including Age Groups, plus a special mention to all our BQA members taking part!

MENS
BQA NATIONAL CHAMPION – 1st Vet 60 Jules Taylor 1.37.16
BQA 2nd overall – 1st Senior Oli Fairbairn 1.38.33
BQA 3rd overall – Nicholas Farnell 1.45.32
BQA 4th overall – Phillipe Jumeau 1:49:25
BQA 5th overall – 1st Vet 50 Jeff Chappill 1.51.34
BQA 6th overall – John McAdam 1:53:39
BQA 8th overall – 1st U23 Blake Mawson-Burren 1.57.23
11th overall – 1st Vet 40 Adam Draup 2.03.20
BQA 12th overall – Andrew Lawson 2.26.25

LADIES
BQA National Champion – 1st Vet 40 Helen Russell 1.48.24
BQA 2nd overall – Tora Oetgen 2.08.12
3rd overall – Clare Addy 2.14.15
BQA 4th overall – 1st Vet 60 Helen Recchia 2.15.06
BQA 5th overall – Janet Green 2.20.26
BQA 6th overall – 1st Vet 50 Caz Jones 2.29.49
BQA 7th overall – Geraldine Richards 2.31.59
BQA 16th overall – Amanda Lord 3.06.48

Helen Russell National Champion & Vet 40

FULL MANVERS RESULTS

NATIONAL TROPHY STANDINGS after 2 RACES BQA trophy Series after 2 Races

WORLD CUP STANDINGS WQF and BQA Race 5

The BQA love to hear about your Race experiences, so we can share them and inspire others to have a go at our sport, so please dont hesitate to send me your story … we’d love to share it! SEND malpasashleys@btinternet.com

Big Thanks to ‘Jules Taylor’ ‘Our Men’s National Champion for writing us his Race Report

Plans are made to be changed I think someone once said !
Brigg was going to be my only Quadrathlon originally this year , but having enjoyed it so much now have a full season of racing .
National Championships here at Dearne Valley
World Long Course Quad in Hungary
Awesome Foursome at Bude
Brigg Sprint distance

I hadn’t raced at Manvers home ground before, but on arrival I was blown away by the lake and the whole setting . The lake looked really inviting, and was a great for the swim and kayak. With Amelia (13 yr old daughter) as my support crew we pitched up Saturday evening and had a good night’s sleep .

Sunday morning was lovely, warm, just a little breeze, perfect. Kit sorted, gravel bike racked, and straight into the swim . It was such a relief to have the space to swim in, not getting kicked, grabbed, or swim over, it felt like it went ok , with no issues at all .

Into T1, and Helen (Women’s Champion ) was already getting her bike kit sorted so she must have had a storming swim, it was a rapid transition and of on the bike. Within a short while a few of us found ourselves on the golf course having followed the wrong path, quickly we got back on the right one and I put the effort in and was pulling away. Before the turnaround , the eventual winner of the Triathlon event passed me , but I managed to keep him in sight to the finish of the bike. Having seen where the other Quad competitors were after the turnaround I knew I couldn’t let up!

This was always going to be a hard race between Oli and myself, having never beaten him yet, I was vaguely pleased to be ahead at this stage , but knew he would be putting in maximum effort .

First onto the kayak, and this I felt should be my ace card, confident with some solid training the past couple of weeks. It was a great feeling to have the lake to myself and got stuck in to a strong smooth rhythm. First lap rounding the islands , and then I could see others now on the water , but not till the start of the second lap could I figure out where the other competitors actually were. At the start of each lap after, I saw I was making time on Oli which as it ended up , I badly needed.

Onto the run, and realised I really had been pushing it on the kayak as I struggled to bring my breathing down. I had around 3 minutes I reckoned on Oli, but knew his running was stronger so just had to zone out and work as hard as I could. I had a few of the Triathletes to use as targets to run down, using this to keep my pace up as much as I could, eventually I could see the finish line on the other side of the lake , so with about 1.5 km left I started to empty the tank! I kept looking back but no sign of anyone, so it ended up a really satisfying victory for me. As it turned out Oli had pulled back a couple of minutes and was only a minute behind me …. it was a great race !

On paper, it looked a really nice fun race and it was , but also one of the hardest I’d done. A very deceptive course …underestimate it at your peril! Many thanks to all involved it was brilliantly organised, awesome atmosphere, once again another fabulous Quadrathlon hear in Great Britain!

For me …. Next stop World Long Course Championship in Hungary!

Thanks Jules, and we wish him Luck at the Long Course World Championships flying the GB Flag!

Once again a Big Thanks to Everyone, and a special mention to the Manvers Team for there non stoppable enthusiasm and to the BQA who keep our sport going for us all to enjoy! I look forwards to seeing many of you girls at the Deva Divas Quad (and your Team Coach David too) … you will have an absolute Blast!!

The BQA Team keeping our sport alive! Any help is always appreciated!

Brigg Bomber World Championships 2024

June 16, 2024 Jean Ashley

A great day was had by all in Brigg at the World Championships, we were blessed with warm sunshine and blue skies! The numbers were on the low side but it was good too see Quadrathletes coming over from Hungary, CZ Republic and France!

Lincsquad organized the race in great style, and huge thanks must go to Jeff and Donna Chappill who worked so hard to get together a Team of Marshalls and Helpers to get this race on the circuit for yet another year! Considering they are a small Club these days they really did us Proud so a big thanks must go to them for hosting the Championships, and giving our Quadrathletes a fabulous day out!

Congratulations to all the competitors and to the Overall and Age Group Winners, and to our BQA Members for Flying the Flag!

RESULTS

LADIES

1st Susanne Walter GER 03:01:55 Masters 50 Female

2nd Natalie Abbott GBR 03:27:29 Masters 60 Female BQA

3rd Helen Recchia GBR 04:09:51 Masters 60 Female BQA

4th Caz Jones GBR 04:29:02 Masters 50 Female BQA

MENS

1st Ferenc Csima HUN 02:30:56 Masters 50

2nd Leoš Roušavý CZE 02:41:07 Masters 40

3rd Laurent Martinou FRA 02:43:08 Masters 40

4th Oliver Fairbairn GBR 02:47:25 Elite BQA

5th Jules Taylor GBR 02:51:33 Masters 60 BQA

6th Jason Frary GBR 02:58:16 Masters 50

7th Nigel Unwin GBR 03:04:51 Masters 60

8th Philippe Jumeau GBR 03:09:03 Masters 60 BQA

9th Lance Ball GBR 03:14:55 Masters 50 Open BQA

10th Jeff Chappill GBR 03:20:30 Masters 50 BQA

11th Mark Chryssanthou GBR 03:21:36 Masters 40

12th John MacAdam GBR 03:23:49 Masters 60 BQA

13th Richard Wakeford GBR 03:23:54 Elite

14th Paul Belcher GBR 03:26:50 Masters 70 BQA

15th Petr Mejzlik CZE 03:30:12 Masters 60

16th Jason Scatcherd GBR 03:30:27 Masters 40

FULL BRIGG RESULTS

BQA Trophy after 1st race

WQF Standings after Race 2

WQF National Trophy 2 of 9 Races

Big Thanks to Jules Taylor Winner Vet 60 for his Race Report below:

Having entered the Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon last year , it was an awesome surprise to hear to was going to be the World Middle Distance Championships this year .

The weather was so grim for the early part of this year , that I spent most of the winter and spring just running…I couldn’t get motivated to go kayaking or cycling outside. So with about 7 weeks to go finally got things into gear. Kayak training went well , and my cycling training has consisted of 10 hard turbo trainer sessions, having not ridden outside since the Bomber last year!

Quick look through the start list and plenty of familiar names, Nigel, Oli, Phillipe, John and quite a few from Europe including the dominant Ferenc.

Last year Nigel , Oli and myself were separated by only 50 seconds so I knew it could be a hard race, and Petr Majzlik from the Czech Republic who is up there on the European race circuit was also racing

I parked up at Brigg Leisure centre Saturday night , and a decent sleep in the van. Usual race breakfast of cocoa pops , registration done , and minimal faffing and suddenly the river was full of athletes and we were off.

I hate open water swim starts, they dont suit me, so it wasn’t until the half way turn around I felt vaguely comfortable and was able to settle down and swim strong to the get out.

Run to the bike, Nigel was also in T1 ,and checking whose bike was or wasn’t there , had a quick idea of where I was and it looked good , after a decent swim in the end.

Out on the bike, nearly a year since I had ridden on the road I settled down and was feeling ok. A lot warmer than last year and not so windy so pretty pleasant really.

Nigel was just ahead of me , and we were soon joined by a few of the triathletes , and it was proving difficult to stay away from each other, but its fair to say we all raced pretty fairly I reckon. A decent pace throughout, with about 4km to go Oli came storming past me not to be seen until the end, and back into transition . A swift T2, noting that Petr’s bike was not on the rack , and onto the kayak .

I had been lent a new K1 from Carbonology sport , and it was awesome. Seven kilos my kayak last year was 14kilos it is super comfortable, the Ultra K1 ticked all the boxes. Settled down into a good pace, with no dramas at all. I was unable to make any ground on Oli, but had managed to gain a few minutes on Nigel.

Into T3 , shoes on and my favorite discipline, the run. It took a few minutes to wake the legs up but was soon moving ok , and it was HOT! I ran well to the turnaround , losing some time to Oli , the run back was a constant look out for others in my age group. Once I had seen all the ones I’d been concerned about, I eased back a bit as I was really suffering from the heat now. A few times in the last kilometre I walked for a couple of seconds as was a bit lightheaded it was a relief to finally run into the finish straight and across the line first in my age group. Very Happy!

Coming to Brigg for their races is like coming home. So well organised, such a friendly club Lincsquad , and an amazing group of volunteers all come together to produce slick enjoyable events time and again, thank you to all of you!

Such strong efforts from everyone on the day the cloudless skies and heat made it a tough one, for those out there longer than others it must have really been hard going, well done to all.

Back home , and browsing through the Quadrathlon 4 You website , came across the World Long Distance Quadrathlon Championships in Hungary on August 10^thjust so happens we are on a bit of a road trip for 3 weeks , guess where we are going to head to for August 9^thYep…all entered!! Anyone else going to join us ..?

A Big Shout out must go to ‘TEAM MANVERS’ who had a fantastic team of athletes racing. Huge credit to David and Caz Jones who motivate, organize training sessions and do so much to keep our small sport Alive! Your are an amazing Team Thank You!

Their Quadrathlon is the next race in the BQA Series, it is also the British Championships, please support them, you’ll enjoy a fantastic day out! Enter Here Manvers Quad

If anyone wishes to do Race Reports or contribute to the BQA please do not hesitate to contact me, we are a small sport and it does get more and more difficult trying to recruit members, and enthusiasts, so please keep spreading your love for our sport! Thanks Jean

A Sad Day for Shrewsbury Quadrathlon

May 30, 2024 Jean Ashley

Phil Holden organizer (along with SYTri) of the Shrewsbury Quadrathlon sent us this sad news today –

It is with much regret that I pass on the news that the Shrewsbury Quadrathlon has been cancelled. For the second year running, this is due to low numbers of entries and insufficient volunteer helpers, mostly in the triathlon to which the quad is attached, and on which the quad is completely dependent.

This is part of a wider trend of contraction in triathlon clubs and non commercial events, which many of you may have seen elsewhere. SYTri continues as a club and with some other smaller events, but there are unfortunately no plans to try to organize a further Shrewsbury tri or quad event. So this brings to a rather sad end the 12 year history of this popular and enjoyable race. For me, and I know some others, discovering quadrathlon through this race was life changing. I’d like to thank all those who helped over the years, and all those who raced and who supported across all those races and made them such memorable and great occasions. The club committee is gearing up to do the admin of refunds etc. I’m not involved in this. As with marshals’ on race day, they are all volunteers, so please be nice to them! I hope to see some or many of you at other races and good luck with your events. All the best, Phil.

On behalf of the BQA I would like to Thank Phil for his heartfelt words, we all have so many wonderful memories of this great event. It was so inclusive to all standards of quadrathletes and sold out year in year out for its first 9 years! It was organized brilliantly by SYTri and its volunteer team. It was instigated by Gill Otto who put in an enormous amount of ground work to set it up 12 years ago, Phil was her deputy for many years, before he took it over around 6 years ago. He continued to put so much effort in to keep the Quad going, we held the British Championships there, and it had World Cup Status many times! Once again a Huge Thanks to these 2 BQA members Gill and Phil, who have give us such a great event and put smiles on peoples faces for so many years … THANK -YOU

Sadly Shrewsbury has come to an end, but like all our BQA Quad events they are organized by a few volunteers who work tirelessly with very little support and finance. This isn’t the only BQA event that is struggling, we have very few volunteers and no younger members coming into our sport, it is getting more and more difficult to keep momentum going in a world of so many other commercial events. So if you can help in any way, please get in touch with our event Organizers, help is always appreciated so much.

Thank You Jean Ashley

Entries Open for WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Keyo Brigg Bomber Middle Distance Quad 2024!

February 14, 2024 Jean Ashley

Keyo Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon –2nd June 2024

The BQA and WQF are very PROUD to announce that the Brigg Bomber Middle Distance is crowned The WQF WORLD Quadrathlon Championships for 2024!

A superb race to start the season, extremely well organized by our Top Quadrathlon Club ‘Lincsquad’ a fast flat safe course, which consists of a 1500m river swim, 30k bike, 7k kayak & 9.3k run. It has ‘WORLD Championship Status’ and is part of the ‘WQF World Cup Race Series for 2024 so certainly not one to be missed! Lincsquad will certainly pull out all the stops to make this a brilliant day! BRIGG BOMBER DETAILS and ENTRY

The MIDDLE DISTANCE RACE is part of the BQA National Trophy Series and part of the World Quadrathlon Federation World Cup Series WQF Rules will apply. http://wqf.quadrathlon.com/rules.

Your Solo result only will score points towards the BQA National Trophy Series and WQF Race Series – (overall trophies male or female and age group). Your best three results will be totaled to decide the trophy winners. Full details can be found at http://wqf.quadrathlon.com/world-cup. To receive an award, you need to complete three races. Updated results will appear as soon as possible after the race. BQA Membership is required to be entitled to Win trophies/prizes for the BQA National Trophy Series … please support your Governing Body and Fly the GB Quadrathlon Flag!

Previously the Brigg Bomber has hosted the British Quadrathlon Championships, the European Quadrathlon Championships, World Cup rounds and the 2014 & 2019 World Championships.

Entries are available as;
a Solo competitor, or as a Team (2, 3 or 4 team members),
Minimum age for this event is 17 years as of the 31 Dec 2024, parental consent is required for under 18 years.
For further detailed event information see here: brigg-bomber Information

June- Keyo Brigg Bomber Middle Distance Quad 2024

Happy Christmas and Here’s to a Fabulous 2024 Season!

December 19, 2023 Jean Ashley

I’m sure most of you will have time to wear your lycra, and get out for a swim, kayak, bike or run over the festive holidays! Like all the athletes I know, we like to get out in the fresh air for some fun on the trails, or a blast on the river ….. leaving room for more mince pies and mulled wine! It’s what makes most of us tick ….. and besides, I bet we will all want to test out our new kit and maybe new toys! So have a Wonderful Christmas Time and a Healthy Happy New Year too.

I am so pleased to announce the ‘The Brigg Bomber’ will be hosting the World Middle Distance Championships, and that ‘Manvers Dearne Valley Sprint Quad’ will be our NATIONAL Championships, and Bude will be part of the WQF Series.

So get these dates in your diary’s and entries in, then have a reason kick start your training right now, having a goal does wonders for your motivation

BQA National Trophy Events for 2024

RACE 1 – 2nd June – Brigg Bomber Quad – World Championships 1500km river swim/40km road bike/8km river kayak/10km road run.

A superb race to start the season, extremely well organized by our Top Quadrathlon Club ‘Lincsquad’ a fast flat and safe course, its the World Championships so certainly not to be missed, Lincsquad will certainly pull out all the stops to make this a brilliant day!

Entries OPEN Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon

RACE 2 – 23th June – Dearne Valley Sprint Quad and QuadKidz – 800km lake swim/4.4km lake kayak/13.2km X/MT bike/5km trail run.

This race takes place around the Manvers Waterpark and its surrounding area, all the racing takes place within this lovely venue, this race gets better each year! We are so pleased this race will host the National Championships, its organized by a great team of enthuiastic Quadrathletes, who offer training sessions all year round! The Junior Quadrathlon will run along side the sprint event, with various distances for the 3 age groups … it will be time for our Quadkidz to Shine!

Entries OPEN Dearne Valley Quadrathlon

RACE 3 – 1st September – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad – 550km river swim/5km river kayak/23 road bike/5km run.

We are so pleased to have this race back in our calender this season. An excellent fast, flat sprint race, running on the back of a very popular Triathlon. A great day out with a superb race atmosphere, with lots of support especially on the 3 lap run course around the Showground! A real ‘feel good friendly race’ instigated and organized by one of our very passionate quadrathletes along with SYTri … one not to be missed!

Entries OPEN Shrewsbury Quadrathlon

RACE 4 – 7th September – Awesome Foursome Quad World Cup Series Race – 800km sea swim/30km road bike/10km canal kayak/10km mixed terrain run.

This is one of our longest running established Quadrathlons, in beautiful Cornwall in the surfing town of Bude. It never ceases to amaze me, I have raced it in all weathers …. it is always a brilliant exciting and challenging race and a great end the race season! Swimming in the sea, there’s plenty of hills on the bike, a historic canal for the kayak and amazing coastal views on the run! It’s one of those addictive races that keeps drawing you back. The race is on a Saturday so plenty of time for sun, sand and surf too!

Entries OPEN Awesome Foursome Quadrathlon

RACE 5 – 29th September – Brigg Sprint – 750km river swim/18km road bike/4km river kayak/5km road run.

This is a great event to finish the season, organized by the dedicated Lincsquad Team. The course is flat, fast and ideal for both experienced quadrathletes and those wanting to race the shorter distance. Its our final Championship Race of the season, so great racing is always guaranteed!

Entries (Not open yet) Keyo Brigg Sprint Quad

All links to these races are on our ‘events’ page. I hope I have tempted you …. keep you eye on the events page as some race organizers may offer early bird race discounts!

You must be a BQA member to race for the ‘GB TEAM’ at the World Championships or in a World Cup race, and also to qualify for all BQA prizes in the National Trophy Series. We do need your memberships to help fund our sport. Money goes towards various areas within the organization, one being our website, where we keep you updated with the latest news and events. Our biggest annual outlay is insurance, which we use to cover the races on the British Quad Calendar, without this insurance many of our races wouldn’t take place. We also affiliate to the World Quadrathlon Association ‘WQF’ so our athletes can race at World Cup Races the World and European Championships. The future of British Quadrathlon is in our hands, so please support the BQA and you will be helping to keep our small sport alive!

BQA 2024 Membership

BQA 2024 Trophy Series
2nd June – Brigg Bomber
23rdJune – Dearne Valley Sprint & QuadKidz
1st Sept – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad
7th Sept – Bude Awesome Foursome Quad
29th Sept – Keyo Brigg Sprint

Races supported by BQA (not Trophy Races)
18th May – Montgomery Canal Triathlon (Charity Event)
8th June – Norfolk SuperHeroes Quad Norfolksuperheros
14th July – Deva Divas Quad Deva Divas Quad

Wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas … Safe Training over the winter months, look after those bodies and train well! We look forward to a very exciting 2024 Quad Season!

Jean and the BQA Team

BQA 2023 Annual Report

November 18, 2023 Jean Ashley

To our 2023 Quadrathletes, BQA Members and Race Organizers, this year on the whole, has been an improvement on the last few years, even though our numbers are not back to ‘Pre Covid’ we are seeing many athletes getting into ‘race mode again! We had 4 Quads in our calendar, with sadly Shrewsbury having to be cancelled due to organization issues. The numbers racing across the board were were reasonable, but hopefully we can continue to build on getting more athletes into our sport next season.

‘The BQA’. would like to say a Big Thank – our wonderful Race Organizers, without you our sport would simply not exist, you have very successfully done us proud yet again, and also to every single one of you that made it to the start line this year, be proud of what you have achieved and we look forward to seeing you again next season!

If you’d like to read our Annual Report 2023 and Onwards & Upwards 2024 please see the link below. As always we are welcome to ideas, and suggestions for future events, so if you have any thoughts or contacts please get in touch.

BQA- ANNUAL REPORT & AGM 2023

Thanks Jean BQA Secretary – malpasashleys@btinternet.com

Final Round-Up National Trophy Champions 2023

October 9, 2023 Jean Ashley

It was great to get back to an almost full National Trophy Series this year. Sadly Shrewsbury had to be cancelled, but we still had 4 excellent races in our calender, The Brigg Bomber (World Cup Event also) Dearne Valley Sprint, Bude Awesome Foursome, and The Brigg Sprint. On behalf of the BQA I’d like to say a Huge THANK YOU to all our Race organizers and volunteers, who work so hard each year to put on these events for us, it is a big commitment and we really do appreciate your time! Thanks also to all the Sponsors who support them, and to you the BQA Members for you annual fees, which are vital so we can run the BQA Governing Body and more important provide the ever important Insurance fees to be able to support the Race Organizers…. Big Thanks!

This year we had we had 41 male athletes and 15 female athletes racing in the series, but only 1 athlete managed to do all 4 races ….. a huge well done to Phillippe Jumeau! It has been a difficult season for many of us, with injuries and other life issues, but lets hope 2024 will bring a fresh start, plenty of motivation and lots more of Quadrathletes back in ACTION!!

Well done and a big thank-you to all Quadrathletes that raced in the series, there have been some excellent performances and big improvements for may athletes this season, its been great to see some old faces back into our sport and as always so good to be welcoming newcomers, we hope to see you all again next year!

(L to R) Champions Philippe, Donna, Gill, Nick and Lance

BQA NATIONAL TROPHY CHAMPIONS 2023

Male Overall
1st Nicholas Farnell 322 points (Vet 60)
2nd Lance Ball 295 points (Vet 50)
3rd Phillippe Jumeau 294 points(Vet 60)

Female Overall
1st Gillian Melia 360 points (Vet 50)
2nd Donna Chappill 325 points (Vet 50)
3rd Caroline Jones 315 points(Vet 50)

Age Group Winners
Vet 50 Male Lance Ball
Vet 50 Female Donna Chappill
Vet 60 Male Philippe Jumeau

Congratulations also to our Age Group Winners who have all produced some fabulous results this season! We have great depth in strength and experience in our age groupers, they are all great ambassadors of our sport and we are very proud to have them in our BQA Quadrathlon Family! Well Done to you all!

Full Trophy Results BQA British Trophy 2023.5

The Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy ‘For Endeavor’ 2023 Congratulations ‘David and Caroline Jones’ They have both shown Enthusiasm & Commitment and have been consistently Sharing your Passion for our Sport
Showing True Dedication!

They are members of ‘Manvers Lake’ along with organizing and coaching training sessions. they have encouraged many Athletes into our sport, and even have time to race themselves! They are all great supporters of The BQA and spread the word of Quadrathlon far and wide! On behalf of the BQA we wish to say A BIG THANK-YOU for your Time and Effort it is very much appreciated by us all!

Have a Safe Winter and Come Back Stronger #2024 …. Jean Ashley

WORLD CUP TROPHY & WQF NATIONAL TROPHY

Also across the World the WQF have a Series of Events which make up the World Cup Results, these are the Best 5 Results to Count. Congratulations to The winner of men’s overall World Cup is Ferenc Csima (HUN) The second place is going to Leoš Roušavý (CZE), the third place is going to Laurent Martinou (FRA).

The winner of woman’s overall Word Cup in 2023 is Susanne Walter (GER). The second place is going to Ellen Mielke (GER), the third place is going to Antje Fiebig (GER). World Cup 2023.12

World National Trophy – The Country that has scored the most World Cup Points. 1st place is Germany, 2nd Poland, 3rd CZE and 4th GB WQF National Trophy 2023.9.2

Author: Jean Ashley