Eastern Region Club Relay Champoinships

11th July 2010

One hundred and fifteen teams from triathlon clubs across the Eastern region gathered together at Gosfield Lake for the annual Eastern Region Club Relay Championships. The event requires a team of three athletes (1, 2 and 3) and all three athletes swim (S), bike (B) and run (R) in the order 1S, 2S, 3S, 1B, 2B, 3B, 1R, 2R, 3R. The swim was 750m in the warm, shallow waters of Gosfield Lake, the bike was a 12.5 mile loop around the country lanes surrounding the lake and the run was a flat 5km around the local fields and lanes. An audible gasp was heard across venue when it was announced that the water was so warm that wetsuits were banned. Whilst this is unheard of in the UK and is testament to the hot weather we have recently enjoyed, the worried look on many athletes faces suggested they were very uncomfortable at the prospect of swimming without neoprene protection.

Hadleigh Hares entered two teams "Hadleigh Hares" (John Chisnall, Nick Rush and Tim Bowman), "Hadleigh Hares 'B' Team (Richard Hanley, Neil Crisp and Doug Grimwade) whilst local rivals Peake Fitness entered one "Peake Fitness II" (Andrew Hovell, Neil Packer and Tom Bloomfield). The rivalry between the three teams was best described as 'strong'. 'Peake Fitness II' set the early pace in the swim - this being their strongest discipline - and emerged with what appeared to be an unassailable 5 minute lead over 'Hadleigh Hares B Team' and 9 minutes over 'Hadleigh Hares'. Both Hares' teams rose to the challenge and used the bike leg to claw back the deficit. The 'Hadleigh Hares' had a 2 minute advantage over 'Peake Fitness II' at the start of the run whilst, thanks to an excellent bike leg by Richard Hanley, the 'Hadleigh Hares B team' had an 8 minute lead. Despite magnificent runs by Tim Bowman and Neil Packer the 'Hadleigh Hares B Team' extended their lead and finished in 36th place in an overall time of 3:44:19. Eight minutes behind were 'Hadleigh Hares' who finished in a 52nd place in an overall time of 3:53:02, just two minutes ahead of 'Peake Fitness II' who finished in 58th place in an overall time of 3:55:49.

This was a very enjoyable event for athletes and spectators alike and our three local teams performed exceptionally against some of the strongest triathletes in the Eastern region.

Club times:

Team                      Pos  Time
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Hadleigh Hares 'B' Team   36   03:44:19
Hadleigh Hares            52   03:53:02
Peake Fitness II          58   03:55:49
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Individual times:

Athlete           Total   Swim   Bike    Run
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Richard Hanley  1:11:58  14:30  35:33  21:55
Tim Bowman      1:13:00  15:02  36:43  21:15
Neil Packer     1:13:40  13:36  42:40  17:24
Doug Grimwade   1:14:22  13:39  38:40  22:03
John Chisnall   1:16:40  15:39  37:36  23:25
Neil Crisp      1:17:56  16:20  38:54  22:42
Tom Bloomfield  1:17:58  12:24  40:41  24:53
Nick Rush       1:23:18  17:41  41:19  24:18
Andrew Hovell   1:24:06  13:29  42:54  27:43
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