Brigg Bomber World Championships 2024
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!
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 10th just so happens we are on a bit of a road trip for 3 weeks , guess where we are going to head to for August 9th Yep…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
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