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Sunshine at Shrewsbury Quad 2015!

Admin

Shrewsbury once again gave us a great day’s racing, blue skies, a calm fast river, if a ‘tad’ cold, with a strong current down stream but hard work up! A slight wind on the undulating bike course, and a fast flat run with the occasional muddy patch … all in all fantastic conditions for racing! We had good strong field of Quadrathletes, our top athletes and age groupers, plus 12 newcomers who all gave it their best and finished with happy faces!

Congratulations to Winner Steve King who took the lead from the start, with Adam Norfolk hot on his heels just 10 seconds behind after the swim/kayak. Steve put in the ‘joint fastest bike split of the day’ (shared with the overall winner of the Triathlon), he was a good 2 minutes ahead, however Adam put in the fastest run of the Quadrathlon but was still not able to catch him.  Steve’s time -1.22.09, Adam 1.23.57. Meanwhile there was a battle for 3rd place with Stuart West coming in 3rd after the kayak, Nigel Unwin overtook him on the bike and ran well to hold his 3rd place 1.29.05. Stuart finished in 4th 1.32.49. BQA members Andy Childs and Phil Holden were battling on the run to finish 5th. Andy just held Phil off 1.36.34 with Phil in 6th 1.36.45.

Exiting her Kayak winner Jean Ashley

In the Ladies event Jean Ashley finally took first place. After taking the lead on the kayak, she was overtaken on the last mile of the bike, Jean had a speedy transition and the two leaders went out on the run together. Jean pushed hard and went into the lead finishing in – 1.45.14 with Jacqueline Davis, a strong Triathlete, (competing in her first Quadrathlon) in 2nd, just a minute behind 1.46.11. Another great performance in her first Quadrathlon was Heather Streetly she finished 3rd in 1.53.55. A great effort from all the other females who for many of them it was their first Quad …. and judging by their smiles ‘not their last’!

There was a great turnout of BQA Members, all getting valuable National Trophy Points, with 2 more races left their are no clear winners yet!I Thank-you to BQA athletes flying the flag this weekend, good to see you all. Duncan Pearson in 8th back in fine form after an injury 1.37.21. John Kavanagh 13th (1st vet 60) 1.41.27, and just behind his training buddy Ned Price 14th 1.42.08. Peter Chappill 18th also back from injury 1.44.38 looking strong again. John Redmond finish well 20th in 1.53.43 and great to see Alistair Bates Vet 60 back again, enjoying his race and finishing well in 25th … but 2nd Vet 60! Our other BQA member Margaret Huyton also Vet 60 came 5th lady overall putting in her best Quadrathlon performance to date …. Great Results Everyone.

The More Mature Quadrathletes – but super fit 🙂 … Peter, John, Ned and Jean

The Trophy Standings are still open with 3 races to count (must be a BQA Member to claim the Trophy/Prize). Nigel Unwin is in the overall lead at the moment having done 3 races, along with Phil Holden, John Kavanagh and Ned Price. Adam Norfolk is 5th but has another race to do, which could change the positions after the Fabian 4 this weekend. Jean Ashley is winning the ladies trophy but once again there are still 2 races left! So Good Luck to everyone racing at the Fabian 4 and the following weekend at Bude …. lets hope we get Sunshine like Shrewsbury!

 

I would like to say a huge thank-you to Gill Otto and SYtri for letting us, once again be part of there triathlon, British Quadrathlon really appreciate this ….. superbly organized, very friendly and great value for money, you left no stone unturned! The marshals were brilliant …. along with their ‘cow bells’ they made us feel very welcome. It was so good to see plenty of onlookers enjoying the Quadrathlon, and I have had so much positive feedback from the Quadrathletes, and from Triathletes all wanting to add another discipline next year! We hope SYTri will have us back next year for another great race….. thank -you.

 

World Cup Series 2015

Admin

The last major championships in the Quadrathlon World Cup Series took place in Lake Balaton in Hungary at the end of August 2015. The temperature soared into the 40°C mark giving organizer Adam Schmuck and his team lots of work to keep the competitors cool and the race as hot as is ever required for a sprint distance race. We certainly haven’t had any conditions as warm as that at any of our races this year ….. but you never know we still have 2 races left in our British Trophy Series!

We’ve had 2 World Cup Races as part of the WQF Series, The Brigg Bomber, and Box End a Big Thank You to ‘Lincsquad’, Dave Hinch and his Club and to ‘Quadrac Racing’ Mark Pryor and his Team for putting on these races for us. The BQA affiliate to the WQF, but in addition to that these clubs pay an ‘extra fee’ to enable them to add their races to the World Cup Circuit, we are very grateful to them as it gives our British Athletes a chance to get WQF points on the World Circuit.

The WQF Series has now been finalized and we have some British Winners. 1st wins a Crystal Globe and a  Gold Medal and 2nd and 3rds Silver and Bronze medals.

Congratulations to
Mary White 1st F60
Margaret Huyton 3rd F60
John Kavanagh 1st M60
Julie Dimaline 2nd F50
Jean Ashley 3rd F50
Phil Holden 2nd M40
Isabella Jenkins 3rd FU23

Full Results – Full 2015 WQF Results

More information about the World Cup Series from the following sites –

quadrathlon4you.com

World Quadrathlon Federation

 

Final 3 BQA Trophy Races of the Season 2015!

Admin

September is certainly going to be a busy month for British Quadrathlon, hopefully you’ve had a great summer and you’re ready to finish of the season with our great races, and some excellent results, whether it be a win, a PB, or simply just to finish with a smile!

 

6th September – Shrewsbury Sprint Triathlon will be our 3rd BQA Trophy Race of the season, entries are now closed. This race just keeps getting stronger and stronger, 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 quadrathlete’s ‘Gill Otto’ Sprint distance – 500m downstream swim, 4.5km kayak (from the showground to the Pengwern rowing club pontoon and back), 23k road ride out towards Baschurch and a few laps of honor around the showground provide the 5k run to finish, such a good fast and very safe course.

13th September – Fabian4 Dyffryn Conwy Mountain Challenge – Race 4 – If you fancy something a bit different to round off the season this is a kayak-trail run-mountain bike event which is brilliant fun. This race promises to be back with vengeance and it will certainly challenge that inner self! Superb scenery, tracks and trails brilliantly organized by very friendly like minded athletes, it will certainly boost your adrenalin and you’ll have an amazing sense of achievement when you cross that finish line ….. exit your comfort zone and enjoy!

Distances – Kayak 13km, Fell Run 12km, MTBike 19km

If you don’t feel up to doing the whole event you can enter as a team of 3 (with at least 1 woman in the team) and do one leg each.
Check it out at http://www.map17events.org.uk to see a video preview and full details.

 

19th September – Awesome Foursome Quad – Race 5 -This is one of our longest running etablished Quadrathlons, this race in Bude never ceases to amaze me, I have raced it in all weathers …. it is always a brilliant exciting and challenging race to end the season! Starting in the sea, there’s plenty of hills, a historic canal and amazing coastal views … it’s one of those addictive races that keeps drawing you back.

Distances – The event starts with an 800 m sea swim, a double loop within Summerleaze bay, protected by the breakwater. Next a 30 km cycle following the coast road to Widemouth, Wanson Mouth and Millook before meeting the A39 at Wainhouse Corner and returning to Bude. Then a 10 km Kayak paddle, which is a double loop of the Bude canal. And finally a 10 km run along the canal towpath to Helebridge, following the marked footpath across the fields to Widemouth and returning to Bude via the coastal path. The race is on a Saturday so plenty of time for sun, sand and surf too!

Shoreline Extreme Sports have got all the details on their website, its well worth a visit! It has a page for the ‘Awesome Foursome’ which includes an online entry system, which is open for Bude entries! It also has lots of other exciting activities you can try whilst visiting Bude in September for the Quad! PLEASE get your entry in ….. you will love it!
http://www.shorelineactivities.co.uk/foursome.quadrathlon.event

THE BQA will be also presenting the 2015 Trophy Series Prizes, so its the last race to get those vital points!    Im sure all these races will be well worth a trip, I hope too see you at all 3 or at least one of our September Quadrathlons!

Happy Training Jean!

 

World Sprint Championship Samorín 2015

Admin

On 1st August Phil Holden and Robert Jefferies raced in Samorín, at the World Sprint Quadrathlon Championships  – 0,75 km swim – 20 km bike – 4 km kayak – 5 km run.

Conditions were very hot, approaching 30’C by the end of the race. Water temperatures high resulting in a non wet suit swim! Rob finished 4th in the Mens U23 category just missing out on a medal, finishing in 1.37.26. Whilst Phil also having a great race came 5th in the Vet 40 category in 1.34.57. There were some top class athletes racing and the standard of competition was extremely high, so a huge well done to Rob and Phil for flying the flag for GB Quadrathlon.

Here is Phil’s Story – Months of planning and the four full days of driving to get here are finally over. 80 smart looking bikes and kayaks are lined up ready, and a mass of bodies gather in the small lagoon beside the Danube.

The water’s surprisingly cold as we hang around waiting for the gun. The sun is hot but there’s a keen south-easterly breeze.Eventually they give up trying to get everyone five metres back to the line, and just set us off with no countdown. Missing the familiar buoyancy of the wetsuit, I try to settle into a rhythm. Swimmers are on a broad front, my one potential draft is zig-zagging everywhere so I go into a big space… looks like a large pack up there at the front. After the turn it’s more of a line, 2 or 3 wide, and a push for the jetty.

It’s the bike next, and we run up the steep grass embankment to the tarmac path along the Danube and mount up. I set to and go chasing, on the only leg where I have any real chance of gaining places. After a short section we turn back into the wind. Fortunately the torsos of these strong Czechs and Slovaks offer more windage than mine, so I creep up a dozen or so places. I count the people ahead as they go back the other way, I’ve got up to 34th. We turn again tightly by the ferry over to Hungary, and fly back with the following wind. Watch for the odd nasty hole and lumps in the tarmac, and overtaking cyclists coming the other way. I can’t catch any more.

Scuttle down the bank and round to the lagoon to my Kayak .. Gingerly paddle away, this felt so much harder after the biking …… With four laps it’s impossible to tell who is on which. Stylish paddlers (lots of them, including Rob) speed by, and there are a few sea kayaks to get past, I’m not comfortable in the waves. But as well as fatigue, confidence gradually builds with laps survived, and the lake is quieter now, I even manage to win a little personal sprint battle down the last back straight before reaching the jetty with relief. Great cheering as I land, but they are looking the other way – a Spaniard has just run across the line to win the race!

Excited commentary on the PA momentarily exceeds the flow of pumping dance music. A young Hungarian woman seems to have a short time penalty in the box and then races up the bank and off, as I start to plod behind with legs feeling like lead. The run is an unforgiving out and back on the tarmac, it must be around 30 degrees now. Some cool water feels good on my head, but this is hard and I haven’t much left to give. A man flies past looking fresh, then we catch the Slovak second placed woman and make the turn, I stretch my longer legs and overtake the petite Hungarian, trying to nail the move with a sustained push. The next guys are quite far ahead. I gain on them as one overtakes the other but we’ve run out of road, it’s gasping down the bank, onto the mat and there’s the line!

Now where, oh where is that cold shower?

Great Report Phil, thank you for sharing it with us all … and Congratulations, a very tough top class competition no medals this time, but it certainly sounds like a great experience and brilliant trip! (Jean BQA)

British Quadrathletes take on the World 2015!

Admin

The BQA have got a few athletes  flying the GB Flag and heading to Europe over the next few weeks. I just want to wish them on behalf of all our members safe journeys and great racing in the 2015 World Championships, and lets hope they bring back some medals!

Phil Holden

Phil Holden will be travelling to šamorín, Slovakia to take part in the World Sprint Quadrathlon Championships on 1st August – 0,75 km swim – 20 km bike – 4 km kayak – 5 km run. Phil is in his 3rd year at Quadrathlon and has improved so much over the last year he is in great form having finished 3rd overall, 1st V40 at the Brigg Bomber and 5th overall at Box End 2nd V40, all the best Phil have a great race in Šamorín!

Rob Jefferies

Robert Jefferies is also going to šamorín, he has just got back from racing in Europe for the GB Wild Water Race Team in the World Cup. He has come back very motivated and is looking forward to the World Sprint Race!  He was our U23 Quadrathlon Champion last season, we wish him a great race and we hope Phil and Robert have a successful trip and good too see them flying the GB Flag!

Mike Mason, John Kavanagh and Mary White will be travelling to Wolsztyn, Poland where the World Middle Distance Championships are taking place on 22nd August – 1,5km swim – 40 km bike – 8 km kayak – 10 run. Once again all 3 athletes have been training and racing very well this year.

Michael Mason

Mike Mason had a very strong Overall Win at the Brigg Bomber this year, he is a top class paddler, as well as being very nifty at the other 3 disciplines too! He was looking in top form at Box End having a head to head race with Adam Norfolk when his rear mech broke, a great shame but Mike will have put this behind him by now, and will be very focused and will be strong going into the World Championships.

John Kavanagh

John Kavanagh has gone from strength to strength since he took up Quadrathlon 2 years ago, a very good swimmer, a very keen paddler his biking and running have just got even stronger and he’s been winning the Vet 60 categories everywhere! He came 5th overall at the Brigg Bomber, he went to Hannover to race in the World Long Distance Quadrathlon winning Gold V60. At Box End he had a very strong race came 9th overall behind some top class athletes and winning Vet 60. Just before he goes off to the Worlds he’s doing another tough race The ‘Bolton Ironman’ with his training buddie ‘Ned Price’ we wish them both a great Ironman and all the very best to John on his trip to Wolsztyn!

Mary White

Mary White took up Quadrathlon last year, she has had some amazing results since she began, Mary a good all round athlete with a ‘true grit’ attitude has improved so much over the past 2 years. In the V60 category she is up there with the all the other younger Ladies … she trains with her brother John (above) and her twin sister Margaret …. True Inspiration to us all! She is in fine form coming 5th overall and 1st V60 at the Bomber, she was 3rd overall at Box End and 1st V60 … but showed her bike strengths by flying around the course on her cross bike with a time faster than alot of the men! Good Luck Mary I know she’ll love flying the GB Flag!

International Quad-Camp 2016

Admin

Elite German Quadrathletes, Lisa Hirschfelder and Stefan Teichert are planning a Multisport-Training-Camp for February/March 2016. It takes place on the Island Terceira, Azoren, away from the rainy and snowy weather. In April there will probably be a Quadrathlon race, too. The infrastructure for Training is good, and compared to Fuerteventura it is not that expensive.

Stefan and Lisa

More Information: Swimming in the sea with wetsuits (19C) or pool (2Euro/Session. Bike riding is hilly, nice landscape, and good Asphalt roads., It will be possible to rent bikes and kayaks. Running is off-road and in a Stadium.

The Focus of the training weeks: Bike with fun & low intensity + all other disciplines + athletic and strength-sessions. The temperature is around 15-19 degrees outside. Sleeping in a house if we get 8 Persons to come, cooking & food-shopping together.

At the moment we are looking at dates 20.2.2016 until beginning of March. You can stay one or two weeks, ten days, whatever you like. As soon as we have 8 persons to participate, we will book the flights and let you know the date and arriving time, so that you can book your flights, too, some countries have a direct flight, others have to fly to Lisbon first and wait for a connecting flight (can be between 2 and 10 hours).

Calculation of costs:
Flight to & back: ca. 300-400€ per Person
Accommodation + Camp ca. 400-500€ for 2 weeks but it depends numbers of participants.
Overall costs will be less than 1000€. More details as soon as we know how many of you will come. There are Hotels, too, but they are more expensive .

PLEASE, let us know by 26th July if you want to participate, so that we can plan the Details and reserve the accommodation.
We’re looking forward to a great international Quad-Camp 2016
Lisa & Stefan

You can email Lisa direct- lisa.hirschfelder@gmail.com or email me Jean Ashley- malpasashleys@btinternet.com and I will let her know you are interested.

Box End 2015 World Cup Race

Admin
Mark Pryor

A Huge Thank-you to Mark Pryor and his great Quadrac Racing Crew that put on a superb World Cup Race this weekend 12th July! Excellent organization, a superb course, great marshalls and goodie bags … loved my WQF Gym Towel, it certainly lived up to  World Cup Status, Mark and his Team of helpers were extremely thorough in every aspect of their organization, a huge thanks to them for giving us a great race in the BQA callender!

It was wonderful to see some excellent racing and some top class competition, plus some drama on the MTBike course due to overnight rain on very hard ground, several athletes had some impromptu falls on slippy corners, no injuries but sadly a broken rear mech for top Quadrathlete Mike Mason. We had some great newcomers which is always great to see and as ever plenty of BQA Members all enjoying a great days racing at Box End!

A cloudy morning start, the rain had stopped but the wind was going to be fairly strong. It was a little choppy in the swim and a cross wind for the kayak, the wind stayed with us the whole race and was quite strong on the home word straight, but I don’t think it slowed any of us down too much!

Steve Rust was 1st out of the water (12.12) closely followed by one of our top Quadrathletes Mike Mason (12.14) a 2nd bunch of swimmers followed 30 secs later containing excellent kayakers Adam Norfolk, Stuart West and Nigel Unwin. Adam putting in the fastest kayak split of the day (22.03) caught up with Mike, they stayed together and went out on the bike at the same time. Stuart West ( top marathon paddler) in his first Quadrathlon moved into 3rd place, followed by a group of very strong athletes including Nigel, Steve Rust, Oliver Main and John Kavanagh.

Adam and Mike were flying on their bikes, nothing between them it was looking like an extremely close race …. Until on the 2nd lap Mike’s rear mech snapped as it hit the ground too close on a sharp corner, so sadly he had to pull out. Adam increased his lead and produced the fastest bike split of the day (37.15) Cross Bikes were certainly proving to be the fastest and most favourable, though hard bumpy ground with a few slippy patches did cause a few spills!

The race for the next  5 places was hoting up, Nigel and Stuart both had good bike splits, whilst Dil Wetherill, (his first Quadrathlon) Mark Pryor and Phil Holden had even faster splits which moved them up the field.

Overall Winner Adam Norfolk

Adam produced the fastest run also (20.07) and went on to win comfortably in 1.33.37. Nigel had a great run and moved into 2nd place 1.45.04, whilst Stuart managed to hold onto 3rd 1.46.26 with Mark chasing him down to take 4th 1.47.42. The closest finish of the day was fight to the bitter end with Phil Holden just pipping first time Quadrathlete Dil Wetherill just a second between them 1.49.14 and 1.49.15.

In the ladies race, newcomer Elaine Palmer was first out of the swim (14.06) with Octavia Chambers just behind and Jean Ashley 30 seconds later. Experienced quadrathlete Jean had a very swift transition and went into the kayak first place, her best discipline where she moved 4 mins ahead of Octavia. Meanwhile on the bike Octavia and Mary White started to eat into Jeans lead. Mary White riding her cross bike had a superb ride producing the fastest split of all the ‘girls’ (45.27). Jean was only 2 mins ahead after the bike but held onto her lead coming home in 1st place 2.02.44 with Octavia 2nd 2.06.12 and Mary 3rd in 2.09.00.

1st Overall Women Jean Ashley (V50)

There were plenty of good results and big smiles from all the athletes, it was good to see some of the old BQA members back in action after a layoff  – Tony Runnegar 1.54.36, and Phil Nye 1.59.56, Roland Maclarg 2.08.05. Plus our regular BQA members Ned Price 1.58.41, Julian Brewer 2.01.08, Lance Ball 2.06.12, Peter Chappill 2.08.14 and another good performance from Margaret Huyton 2.27.02. I must also mention our one and only international competitor Peter Apelt, it was good to see him back in action after he’d suffered a bike accident early on in the year … well done Peter and thank -you for flying the flag for Germany!

Special mentions must go to our new BQA members and first time Quadrathletes Ian Webster 1.58.41 and Jeff Barns 2.15.11, excellent results from them both and I hope they really enjoyed their races and will be back for more!

 

2nd Overall Nigel Unwin (V50)
3rd Overall Stuart West 1st Vet 40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RESULTS MALE

1st Male – Adam Norfolk – 1.33.37

2nd Male – Nigel Unwin – 1.45.04

3rd 1st Vet 40 – Stuart West – 1.46.26

4th 1st Vet 50 Mark Pryor – 1.47.42

5th 2nd Vet 40 Phil Holden – 1.49.14

6th 2nd Vet 50 Dil Wetherill – 1.49.15

9th 1st Vet 60 John Kavanagh – 1.53.26

 

LADIES

1st Female Jean Ashley – 2.02.44

2nd Female Octavia Chambers – 2.06.12

3rd Vet 60 Mary White – 2.09.00

4th Vet 40 Elaine Palmer -2.23.18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Race Results Box End 2015 Quadrathlon – Times

National Trophy Standings 2015 Trophy after 2 races Results

More photos on our BQA facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/172950012716629/

A Very Long, Long Distance Quad Bonkers Bash 2015!

Admin

1 man, 4410 KM, 1 heck of a Challenge!

Some of you may of heard the interview with Richard Brash last Friday on Radio 2’s Simon Mayo’s show, well this is the Quadrathlete enthusiast Richard Brash who is currently attempting to circumnavigate the UK in 28 days, he will be running, cycling, swimming and kayaking everyday with just three rest days.

Richard left Bournemouth Pier on Saturday 4th July and is presently on day 4th where he will finish in Burnham. Any local or social media support you can give along the route for the next 25 days would be greatly appreciated.

Please find the links to Richards FB page, if you would like any further information please do not hesitate to contact me on 01442 507311. We’re really happy to be joined by RNLI man, Alex Wade who will be doing the cycling with Richard and Dave. It’s really good to have people along to join the riding etc, so please if you live along the route and you’re a looney – or if you know one – please connect us up!
Richard B
www.facebook.com/bonkersbrash
https://twitter.com/bonkers_brash
https://.bonkersbrash.blogspot.co.uk

Pepper Foundation
www.facebook.com/pepperfoundation
https://twitter.com/pepper_org_uk

Richard H
https://twitter.com/richsublime

Best wishes
Diane Butler

Channel Swim Relay 2015

Admin

BQA Member Tim Down is due to take part in a Channel swim relay this coming September, unfortunately he has had a couple of late withdrawals from his team and they are now down to two which isn’t enough given our capabilities. This means that we are now urgently looking for 2-3 more swimmers to join us at late notice.

The details…

Our booked window is from 19th-26th September, we are free to go at any time during this period although as it is very much a weather dependent event we should take advantage of the earliest opportunity. This is a week of neap tides which present the most favourable conditions.

The form of the swim is – no thermal protection apart from a single swim cap plus standard traditional swim togs. Definitely no wetsuits or anything remotely resembling one. Each swimmer swims for an hour at a time in rotation so if there is a team of four it is one hour swimming, three hours off. With a team of mixed ability, able to average between them 1.7 – 1.8 mph the swim might take between 13 – 15 hours depending on conditions so each swimmer in a team of four might expect 3 or 4 stints, in a team of 5 that is likely to reduce to 3.

The cost of the swim is a total of £2,600 for the pilot boat, plus registration fees and incidentals. Approximately £1,500 of the cost of the boat has already been raised so any new swimmer joining would be expected to pay or raise money for their share of the remaining cost of the pilot boat – this is likely to be in the region of £200-300.

We are raising money for the international disability charity Motivation www.motivation.org.ukWith a September slot the sea is likely to be at its warmest and so represents a wonderful opportunity to take part in a very big adventure!

All the best Thanks … Tim Down

It there are any BQA members that want to join him message me ‘Jean Ashley’ and I will let you have his phone number. There aren’t many opportunities to swim the Channel and someone out there might just be interested!

Long Course 2015 World Championships in Hannover

Admin

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.

Ned Price

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

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!