News – Page 14 – British Quadrathlon Association

2019 Membership Open

November 8, 2019 Admin

Membership is open now for 2019 and is £20.00 per person. As a member you are entitled to discount at some BQA races (discretion of the race organizer). You will receive news updates via our monthly email-newsletter (subscribe to this on our website). You must be a 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. Your membership money goes towards various areas within the organization of our sport, one being our website, where we hope to keep you updated with the latest news! But our biggest annual outlay is insurance, which we use to cover the races on the British Quad Calendar. 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, please support the BQA and you will be helping to keep our small sport alive!

A Google Document Membership Form has been set up so you can Join the BQA online, follow the link fill Google Membership Form Fees can be paid by Bank Transfer or Cheque (if preferred).

Membership Price Structure Membership Form 2019

Type of Membership	Members Fees
Senior/Masters	£20.00
Family – 2 Adults	£35.00
Junior – Under 23	£7.00
Family – 1 Adult 1 Child	£25.00 + £5 Additional Child
Family – 2 Adults 2 Children	£40.00

Race Affiliation

Affiliating your race will only cost £20 for the year, the BQA will promote your race, on our website, email news bulletins, and at our other BQA events. You are permitted to use the name and logo of the British Quadrathlon Association, and also have the opportunity to take advantage of the BQA Race Insurance and become part of the National Trophy Series. For further information contact Jean Ashley email malpasashleys@btinternet.com

To register your race then please complete the Race Affiliation Membership Form 2019

QuadKidz

All our Juniors (under 18) that join the BQA will be automatically be members of Quadkidz and will be eligible for prizes in our QuadKidz Race Series. We set up QuadKidz in 2017 this a great step forwards for our sport, we hope to build on its success each year. We had 3 races in 2018 – Dearne Valley and Boxend and Lincsquad organized a race & a training day, we to continue to support ‘Our QuadStars’ of the future and have 3 races again in 2019. Each Age group races over different distances, with the 16-18 year age group, building up so they are able to take on a Sprint Distance Race, which is – 750m swim, 5km kayak, 15-20 km cycle, 5km run.
QuadKidz Age Groups
• QuadKidz 9-11 years
• QuadKidz 12-15 years
• QuadKidz 16-18 years

A parent/guardian must be with the competitor at the race venue at all times (to avoid child protection issues).

The BQA want to comply with GDPR consent requirements and by completing this form we assume that you are happy for us to keep the data on your membership and affiliation forms whilst you are a member. Personal data, information and any exchange we have with you is therefore very close, and we treat it with utmost care and respect, investing all necessary resources to make sure it remains secure with the BQA only.

Email addresses of those on the BQA mailing list are held by the Secretary. We won’t share email addresses with any other organisation. Photographs of BQA activities may be used to publicise our sport. You can opt out at any time by contacting the Secretary Parental consent will be sought before taking or using any photographs of children.

2019 Middle Distance World Champs in Brigg!

November 22, 2018 Jean Ashley

Lincsquad and the BQA are so pleased to announce that the ‘Lincsquad Keyo Brigg Bomber 2019’ will be the Quadrathlon Middle Distance World Championships …. This is just fantastic News for British Quadrathlon, and a Big Thanks to Lincsquad for taking on this event, I have no doubt they will do us proud!

The Keyo Brigg Bomber has always been part of the BQA National series and a WQF points race many times, but in 2019 BQA members can be part of ‘TEAM GB’ racing on British soil at the World Championships at one of the biggest Quadrathon races on the calendar!

I can confirm that all 2019 BQA members will be eligible to race for ‘TEAM GB’ so join the BQA, wear a GB Tri Suit, support your Governing Body … and Race in a World Championships! Lets help Lincsquad, give them the support they deserve and make this a World Championships to Remember. It would be fantastic to field a large team of GB quadrathletes to chase down those medals in all the age categories, but just as important to embrace this opportunity, to fly the flag and be part of this brilliant event!

Lincsquad are proud to be hosting this event and I know the club will pull together to put on an event to be proud of, they will put on a ‘big show’ for the worlds best quadrathletes and for every single athlete racing on the same stage!

Entries are now open and we encourage you to enter as soon as possible. (Early bird entry prior to Feb 1st 2019). Brigg-Bomber Entry

More details about ‘Team GB’ to follow …. Be there see you on the start line!

BQA 2018 Annual Report

October 24, 2018 Jean Ashley

Hi Quadrathletes,

Thank you for supporting our sport of Quadrathlon this year, we hope you have had a great Season, enjoyed your racing and will come back for more next year. I hope you are enjoying a Recovery and Rest Period, and will soon be motivated to get back into training, and looking at next years race plans! Once again we’ve have some great races organized by extremely hard working volunteers so lets keep supporting them! Enter their races (early) and spread the word amongst your fellow athletes.

The BQA have had our AGM, and BQA members have had all the news and plans for moving forwards in 2019, our BQA events have been finalized, and we are working on the last few WQF Races. There have been a couple of changes … so take a look at our BQA AGM Report and our Annual Report for all the latest details

BQA-AGM 2018 Final Report

BQA-Annual-Report Final 2018

Hears looking forward to another Great Year for Quadrathlon!

BQA Races 2019

October 13, 2018 Jean Ashley

Whilst you are all enjoying some rest and recovery time, (hopefully) The BQA Team and Race organizers have been clarifying next years races. This week all currant BQA members will have received our BQA AGM report, Annual report and Finance report … these will be added to the website when all have been discussed and approved by our members.

I have had athletes asking for next years race dates so here is a quick preview … so get them in your diaries!

BQA 2019 Trophy Series
CONFIRMED 26th May – Brigg Bomber
CONFIRMED 16th June – Dearne Valley Sprint & QuadKidz
CONFIRMED 30th June – Box End Sprint Quad & Quadkidz
CONFIRMED 1st Sept – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad
NO RACE until 2020 Sept – Fabian 4 Conwy Mountain Tri (Biannual)
CONFIRMED 21st Sept Awesome Foursome Quad

QuadKidz Series
CONFIRMED 16th June Dearne Valley QuadKidz
To be Confirmed ? Lincs QuadKidz Event
CONFIRMED 30th June BoxEnd QuadKidz

Races supported by BQA (not Trophy Races)
CONFIRMED 18th May – Montgomery Canal Triathlon (Charity Event)
CONFIRMED 22nd June – Norfolk SuperHeroes Quad
CONFIRMED 6th July – Artemis Great Kindrochit Quad
CONFIRMED 14th July – Deva Divas Quad

2018 National Trophy Champions

September 18, 2021 Jean Ashley

The BQA started a National Trophy Series in 2005 this is a series of events which are generally spread throughout the country. Each event contributes points towards finding a National Champion, with the best three results for each individual to count.

This is our Hall of Fame, since the Series started in 2005 BQA-Hall-of-Fame-2018

Trophies are awarded each year, provided each winner has done 3 races in the series, and must be a current BQA Member. (In the event of a tie the 4th race points will count to decide the winner).

Overall Winners Perpetual Trophy for Male and Female. BQA Kit vouchers for winners Male and Female in each age category, Juniors (u23), Seniors, V40+ V50+ V60+ Vet 70+

Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy awarded each year ‘For Endeavor’ given to an athlete showing his enthusiasm and commitment to the sport of Quadrathlon.

2018 National Trophy Full Results 2018-BQA-trophy

2018 National Trophy: The Mens Trophy was still in contention up to the last race of the season, and with the age Group slots still up for grabs Bude was going to be the decider! Michael Mason took 3 wins in the series, but as the rules state the winner must be a currant BQA Member that takes the Trophy. So the Trophy rolled down to Alan Cole after he finished 3rd in Bude. Alan won the Vet 40 event, so there was then another roll down to 2nd place. Despite Bryce Dyer coming 3rd in the overall positions, in the Vet 40 category he had joint points with Peter Tindall, so the rules quote ‘we then take the points from the 4th race into account’. Peter having done 5 events had the extra points, so took the title. Peter has had a great first season in Quadrathlon, apart from one race sadly he got lost on the Conwy Mountain Tri, so missed the cut off time on the run. Vet 50 went to Nigel Unwin and Vet 60 to Nicholas Farnell. For the first time ever we had had a Vet 70 winner, we are proud to have the veteran Canoe Slalom Olympian supporting us … Congratulations John Macleod!

The Ladies Trophy, had been decided before Bude, with Helen Russell winning all her 4 races. Newcomer to our sport Elizabeth Angood in her first year of Quadrathlon took the Senior prize. The very supportive seasoned quadrathlete Jacqueline Davies took the Vet 50, in what is proving to be our most competitive age group. Jean Ashley won the Vet 60 catagory, quite a mile stone 20 years in the sport, she did her first Quad when she was a young 40 year old!

Congratulations to John Kavanagh (Vet 60) and Lance Ball (Vet 50) for showing ‘true commitment’ competing in all 6 of our Trophy Races!

Finally ‘The Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy’ was presented to Nigel Unwin he has shown enthusiasm and commitment to our sport, and has raced at a very competitive level for many years, showing true dedication to Quadrathlon, long may he continue to compete and enjoy!

A big thank you to everyone who has competed in our National Series, and all our BQA members we really appreciate your support, we need you to keep our small sport Alive and Kicking … so see you all in 2019! Next Years dates and Races are in the making …. watch this space ……

National Championships Bude Awesome Foursome 2018

September 25, 2018 Jean Ashley

The Final Race of the season and our National Championships for 2018, as ever Bude lived up to its reputation, and we were in for some great racing! A strong turnout of athletes, the regular BQA members, all fighting for those extra ‘BQA Trophy Points’ and age group placings, plus a couple of strong newcomers, and locals from the local surf-lifesaving scene, some compete as individuals but there are also lots of teams or pairs competing too.

It had been wet and windy the day before, and their was plenty of heavy swell in the sea. It was a little chilly at 7.00 am on race day, but we had sunshine and light winds, and as the day went on it got warmer and proved to be good race conditions, even though most of us found the sea challenging!

After the race briefing we all headed down to the sea lock, the swim consists of two 400m loops split by a 200m run across the sands of the beach, the tide was higher than expected and the beach was completely flooded. so the beach run was a wade through knee deep water instead. In the individual event Alan Cole was out first (20.28) with newcomer Billy Butler in 2nd place (22.10) with Nigel Unwin (23.30) and Andy Parrritt (23.30) close behind, there were a lot of locals in the team and pairs event amongst the top swimmers, all looking strong in the choppy swell.

The Bike is a course of two halves, a very hilly 1st half, along the coast road to Widemouth and then up those 30% climbs out of Millook, the 2nd half is very fast down the A39 into Bude. Alan managed to hold onto his lead for a while but his legs were still suffering from the Conwy Mountain Tri the week before. Nigel loves this bike course and put in the fastest bike split of the day (54.49) which took him into the lead. Alan stayed in 2nd (58.58), there were some good splits from Peter Tindall (56.00), Nigel Leeson (57.01) all looking for those Trophy points!

The 10km kayak section consists of two loops of the canal, with tight turns at either end, it was nice and calm and had started to warm up. Nigel pulled away and opened up a gap between him and Alan, but then paddler Billy Butler started to make huge gains on everyone, he produced the fastest kayak split by far (44.52) leaving everyone in his wake! Nigel was still 2nd fastest (51.29) Andy Parritt (53.05) with Alan (53.41) and Nigel (53.54). Race organizer Simon Hammond also produced a strong kayak split (54.36) … so all the age groups were still in contention!

The first couple of miles of the run are along the flat tarmac of the canal towpath, then up hill across fields and down to the coast road into Widemouth Bay, where you climb up the coastal path towards Bude, before a final descent to the Canal Warf. Billy had built up a strong lead, and maintained his position with a good run split (43.47). Nigel running the fastest time of the day (42.02) couldn’t quite catch Billy so held 2nd place, with Alan in 3rd (45.17) . There were some excellent age group performances, but the National Championship Title was well deserved by Billy Butler producing a fine win in his first ever Quadrathlon!

In the Ladies race Helen Russell came out of the swim in first place (22.51) with Jacq Davies 2nd (24.59), Natalie Abbott 3rd (26.23) followed by Alison Parritt, Bethany Goodlad, and Jean Ashley. Helen increased her lead on the bike (1.01.00), Natalie also having a strong bike moved into 2nd place (1.05.44) with Alison close behind (1.06.25).

Going into the kayak Helen maintained her lead (57.19), and the positions were to change again. Natalie was some what disadvantaged paddling a heavy sea kayak, so Alison moved in to 2nd (58.45) and Jacq into 3rd (1.00.03). Jean in her favorite discipline started to make up time and had the fastest kayak (56.48) which moved her into 4th place.

Helen maintained her lead and went on to take the National Championship Title for the 2nd year on the run, Alison stayed in 2nd place with Jean running into 3rd place. Some excellent racing from the ladies with a good quality of field, great to see newcomers to our sport performing well and strong performances from our BQA members too.

A special congratulations must go to our 2 BQA members who have done all 6 races in our BQA Calender, John Kavanagh and Lance Ball … a superb effort! Lance also deserves another mention, he was just at the start of the famous Millook climb when his chain broke, he quickly got his ‘chain tool out’ and proceeded to mend it … he then noticed a fellow ‘athlete in distress’ just ahead of him, who also had a broken chain …. so he mended hers so they both could continue to finish the race. Genuinely a top guy, showing us what a true advocate he is to our sport!

Everyone that completes this awesome course finishes it with a huge sense of achievement, its a true testament to the standard all our Quadrathletes, some out at the front, and some behind … equally your all just as important… Strong motivated and giving 100%, that’s what makes you all special!

A big thank-you to Simon Hammond and his Team for putting on another brilliant race, as always very friendly plenty of support, great commentating and lots of happy smiling faces!

National Champions 2018

1st Billy Butler Elite winner 2:51:00
2nd Nigel Unwin Vet 50 winner 2:51:42
3rd Alan Cole Vet 40 winner 2:58:24
4th Nigel Leeson Vet 50 3:02:50
5th Des Gosling Vet 50 50 3:09:31
6th Peter Tindall Vet 40 3:12:03
7th AndyParritt Vet 60 winner 3:12:49
8th Simon Hammond Vet 50 3:13:43

1st Helen Russell Vet 40 Winner 3.07.33
2nd Alison Parritt Vet 50 Winner 3:24:50
3rd Jean Ashley Vet 60 Winner 0 3:28:42
4th Natalie Abbott Vet 50 3:29:18
5th Bethany Goodlad Elite Winner 3:33:42
6th Jacqueline Davies Vet 50 3:36:02
Emma Whitehouse Elite 3:50:46

BQA Members
Peter Chappill Vet 50 3:32.57
John Kavanagh Vet 60 3:34:44
Lance Ball Vet 50 3:39:52

Full Results Bude 2018 results

This was also the last race of the Quadrathlon Trophy Series for 2018. This trophy is awarded to BQA members only and is based on your best 3 finishes out of the 6 trophy series races. Alan Cole took the overall Men’s trophy series win this year, whilst Helen Russell defended her Female British Trophy Series Champion status with the overall in the women’s series.

Fabian4 Conwy Mountain Triathlon

October 3, 2018 Jean Ashley

Well, what a fantastic day it proved to be for the 5th race in the BQA Trophy. Amazing performances from some amazing athletes, & very professional work by marshals/radio-controllers/time-keepers/photographers/safety-boat drivers/course-checkers/sweepers/first-aiders…..The feedback has been amazing – it seems that our courses were challenging, our post-event food was great, the atmosphere buzzed & that the overwhelming feeling was one of fulfilment & enjoyment. Congratulations to #TeamFabian4 as ever they produced a superbly organized race for all the athletes!

Congratulations to the winner Michael Mason, having a strong solid race from the start winning by 18 mins (3.30.37) to Alex Pilkington, (3.48.39) with BQA members Alan Cole ,(3.55.54) in 3rd Place, followed by Nigel Leeson winning the Vet 50 category (4.01.55). First female was Sarah Barnwell 9th overall (4.15.47)

Well done to our other BQA members who took part
15th Chris Carter 4.39.50
23rd Lance ball 5.16.05
24th John Kavanagh 5.41.24
Sadly David Finch and Peter Tindall DNF

The results are here:complete_results

Gallery and Results

Full Race report Fabian4 RaceReport2018.pdf

Alan Cole has written a race report 2018/conwy-mountain-challenge-race-report

Updated BQA Trophy Results after 5 races 18-b-trophy

BQA Trophy Series 4 down-2 to go!

September 5, 2018 Jean Ashley

This weekend saw the 4th race in our BQA Trophy Series, its hotting up at the top of the table in the men’s event, with Alan Cole in the lead, Bryce Dyer 2nd and Nigel Unwin 3rd. These 3 are all Age Groupers so there could be a role down too! With 2 races left things could still change, Conwy Mountain Triathlon is on 9th September and Bude Awesome Foursome on the 15th. It is also our National Championships, the Trophies and Age group prizes will be presented there, and as always its a great end to our season!

We have just 2 of the categories finalized – Congratulations to John MacLeod our first ever winner in the Vet 70 category, and to Helen Russell has won the overall Ladies Trophy again this year.

Check out your latest points updated after the Shrewsbury Quad Race 18-BQA-trophy results

Just to remind everyone – OVERALL Male & Female Trophies are awarded each year, provided each winner has done 3 races in the series, and must be a current BQA Member. (In the event of a tie the 4th race points will count to decide the winner).

Overall Winners Perpetual Trophy for Male and Female. BQA Kit vouchers for winners Male and Female in each age category, Juniors (u23), Seniors, V40+ V50+ V60+ Vet 70+

Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy awarded each year ‘For Endeavor’ given to an athlete showing his enthusiasm and commitment to the sport of Quadrathlon.

Shrewsbury Quadrathlon 2018

September 6, 2018 Jean Ashley

A lovely warm sunshine day with slightly cloudy and no wind, what could be better! A excellent day’s racing at the 7th Shrewsbury Quadrathon, the Event just gets better each year and has always sold out …. a true testament to the Event organizers SYTri and Phil Holden who took over from Gill Otto as SYTri Quad leader!

The start list was looking strong, with top quadrathletes and plenty of very good age groupers, as ever there were plenty of newcomers and the familiar faces we see in Shrewsbury every year, so without a doubt there was going to be some great racing ahead! We had been told that the water temperature was a chilly 14ºC, which was quite a shock after the warm weather and the non wet suit swim at Box End Quad!

The Men’s race: Alan Cole (6.17) and Steve King (6.08) soon broke away, with Steve moving ahead in the final 100m to exit first, James Block came in 3rd (6.54), followed by strong swims from Nigel Unwin, Bryce Dyer and Cliff Odgers.

James Block posted the fastest kayak time of 20:36 with Steve King posting the 2nd fastest time just 12 seconds slower at 20:48, by this time they were 3 minutes ahead of everyone else in the kayak leg. Nigel Unwin was 3rd in 23:35 and Iain Wood newcomer, produced an excellent split 23.52 in a barge of a kayak compared to the sleek K1’s up front! Alan, and Bryce both had strong kayak legs and were still in touch for a podium place.

Steve was holding 1st place, with James, Nigel and Alan chasing him, then Bryce pushing his huge 62-tooth chain ring was flying and posted the fastest bike split by far with a time of 34:46 for the 14 mile course – very fast in anyone’s books! So onto the run they went in the position they came off the bikes, Steve, James, Bryce, Nigel and Alan, they were all running well and no one managed to break up this order so that is how they finished!

Steve King posted the fastest run split of 19:16. His fast swim, super-fast kayak and then fast bike and run meant he easily took the overall win for the 7th time in a row! There were some excellent Age group performances with 3 Vet 60 athletes in the top 10! Iain Wood winning his first Vet 60 Quadrathlon. Nigel Unwin took Vet 50 (role down from James Block in 2nd) and Alan Cole took Vet 40 (role down from Bryce Dyer in 3rd). Good to see so many other BQA members flying the flag, racing well, and producing some excellent times. (see below)

Special mention must go to John MacLeod who won the Vet 70 category, he has raced at 3 Quadrathlons this year and is our first ever Vet 70 British Quadrathlon Trophy Winner … Well Done John!

The Ladies race: was equally exciting, a good field of 15 women. Jacqueline Davies went into the lead after a very fast swim (7.36)and was out of the water ahead of Timea Harris (8.01) crossly followed by Natalie Abbott (8.21) and Jean Ashley (8.24).

Jacq was in her kayak first, with Jean and Timea close behind. Jean moved into 2nd place, as Timea was having trouble getting in her kayak. Jean started to close the gap, but was joined by Timea, after the turn buoy they paddled together chasing down Jacq. Timea (25.48) moved ahead slightly, Jacq (26.14) stayed in 2nd place, with Jean just behind producing the fastest kayak split (25.36).

Jacq and Timea went into transition together, followed by Jean. Jacq was on the bike and away she had a brilliant bike producing the fastest split (44:46). Other great rides were from Mary White (45.00) and Natalie Abbott (45.01). Jean maintained her 2nd place, meanwhile Natalie was chasing them both down.

Jacq was first on the run, a good 2 mins ahead of Jean, each lap Jean having to work hard started to get closer … then on the 2nd lap running very fast Natalie shot past Jean and then Jacq, Natalie had the fastest run split (20.41) to take her first ever Quadrathlon Win, a fantastic performance! Meanwhile Jean with only about 800m to go over took Jacq and moved into 2nd place, Jacq was 3rd with Mary White Vet 60 putting in another fantastic performance coming 4th. Timea came 5th with Margaret Huyton also Vet 60 in 6th place! Like the men’s event 3 vet 60’s in the top 10 … looks like we are all ripening as we get older!! Again other great performances from BQA members Mandy Greenaway 7th, Anne Collins 8th and Donna Chappill 9th and Liz Angood 11th.

A superb day, everyone enjoying the lovely weather and friendly atmosphere, as always its a real good feel good factor event, superbly organized and its always great to chat and catch up with everyone’s race stories afterwards! Phil Holden certainly did the BQA Proud and gave a lovely presentation, with great recognition to our Age Groupers too …. everyone finished with a smile and I heard so many positive compliments I’m sure the race will be full again next season!

Big Thanks Phil & SYTri its been a GRAND DAY OUT!

Overall Winners 1st Steve King, 2nd James Block 3rd Bryce Dyer

Men Winners
1st Steve King Vet 40- I:25:22
2nd James Block Vet 50- I:28:17
3rd Bryce Dyer Vet 40- I:28:38
4th Nigel Unwin (role down) Prize winner Vet 50– I:30:48
5th Alan Cole (role down) Prize winner Vet 40– I:31:28
6th Iain Wood Prize winner Vet 60– I:36:02
21st John MacLeod Prize Winner Vet 70– 2:11:17

Congratulations to our BQA Members
7th Nicholas Farnell- I:38:07
9th Michael Toomey- I:42:03
10th David Finch- I:43:45
12th Cliff Odgers- I:46:46
13th Peter Chappill- I:46:49
15th John Kavanagh- I:48:01
16th Lance Ball- I:50:21
17th Jeff Chappill- I:53:46
18th Kev Lovett- I:56:08
22nd Alistair Bates- 2:27:14
DNF Wayne Smith … hope your calf gets better soon!

Overall Winners 1st Natalie Abbott, 2nd Jean Ashley, 3rd Jacq Davies

Ladies Prize Winners & BQA Members
1st Natalie Abbott Vet 50- I:25:22
2nd Jean Ashley Vet 60- I:25:22
3rd Jacqueline Davies Vet 50- I:25:22
4th Mary White (role down) Prize winner Vet 60
5th Timea Harris Prize Winner Senior 6th Margaret Huyton- 2:01:05
7th Mandy Greenaway (role down)Prize winner Vet 50–2:01:45
8th Anne Collins- 2:03:07
9th Donna Chappill- 2:03:47 10th Julie Dean First Local Female- 2:06:09
11th Liz Angood- 2:06:16
12 Charlotte Martindale Prize winner Vet 40– 2:08:03

Complete Results Shrewsbury Quadrathlon Results 2018

Great video of Shrewsbury Sprint Tri & Quadrathlon, not a lot of Kayaks in there but plenty of Happy Smiling Quadrathletes!

Charlotte Martindale, Alan Cole Vet 40 Winners

Mandy Greenaway Vet 50 Winner (and Male Nigel Unwin)

Bergsee Ratscher Sprint European Championships 2018

September 3, 2018 Jean Ashley

A big thanks to Russel Breyer for his detailed race report and his shorter version below! 🙂 Short version:
Helen R: world class.
Helen D: awesome.
Russel B: held his own with the other old boys.
All: did British Quadrathlon proud!

This is the 7 hours on the Harwich ferry version
A seven hour drive from Calais or Harwich might seem like a long way to go for a sprint quadrathlon. But if you want the World Cup points, you’ll do it. And if you love this small, friendly sport, well, why not?
Bergsee Ratscher is a small lake, about 1500 metres across both ways, and more or less surrounded by the forested hills of the vast Thuringa Wald. (Germany constantly surprises with it’s delightful, unheralded landscapes).

Along one side of the lake runs a large campsite, with spacious grassy slopes giving every camper a view of the lake. The race was based here. The nearest town, Schleusingen, a couple of kilometres away, is an appealing place with a large castle and pretty houses. The international quadrathlon crowd was out in force, with over 60 racing, plus relay teams. So nice to see the familiar faces.

The swim was a one lap triangle, then off on the bike (briefly, does anyone know why German races tend to be bike, paddle, whilst ours are more often paddle, bike?).
The bike route started by going along the dam wall, then two laps of a tight loop, and back along the wall. The roads are perfectly smooth and the whole course is undulating, so you are either working hard to go up, or enjoying the fast downs. I had overcooked the hill training during the week, being unable to resist the temptations of the High Tatras in Slovakia, so had a shocker on the bike. The wind was getting up too, at this point.

The kayak leg was 4 laps of a triangular course, one turn being round a cute little island in the middle of the lake. Fine, but this meant a turn roughly every 400 metres and with 60 plus boats on the course, plus a stiffening breeze, some caution was required. Helen D and myself both found ourselves going wide to keep out of trouble. As our Ipswich CC race coach is fond of saying, ‘you can’t paddle fast if you are upside down’. But I made up some time anyway, so no complaints.

Then the run…a slightly odd course, twice round a V shaped loop, each lap taking us out and back along the dam wall, then out and back on a parallel path below the wall (on the side without the water in, obvs). Nearly all flat, mercifully, and it made the run seem strangely short, so I got a move on and made up a few more places.
And that was it. The presentations, which included World Cup prizes, were almost longer than the race, and seemed mostly to involve Helen R smiling gamely from a podium whilst various people showered her with more trophies and prizes than she could reasonably be expected to hold on her own. Her second world class performance of the day!

Russel Breyer

Category: News