<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Off Road & Adventure - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest off road & adventure articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Snow no obstacle: The Quadmire]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9610.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The weekend&#039;s snow brought on an extra challenge to the already challenging Quadmire at Wadenhoe on Sunday morning, a Quadrac Racing event. The last race of a series of four was held on Sunday and those that braved the snow enjoyed either an off-road duathlon (run, bike, run) or a quadrathlon (run, kayak, bike, run) the &amp;lsquo;quad&amp;rsquo; involved an extra two mile kayak in freezing conditions.

A great head-to-head was to be had with the eventual Quad series winner 15-year old Tom Stead (the youngest  member of the St Neots tri club, NiceTri) first in the run with Steve Giles, and then in the kayak with Keith Read. Tom managed to get to the boats just in front of Steve Giles and they set off together. Keith arrived just 30 seconds behind, and set off after the other two.  After a great race with Keith, Tom put in a final sprint paddle and managed to stay ahead.  He then increased his lead on the snowy ups and downs of the six mile off road cycle course. By the start of the final run, Tom&#039;s win was secure and he finished the course in a creditable 1:32:45.

The duathlon was won by Rob Hammond in a time of 1:18:42, the duathlon series overall winner was Steve Giles.

Despite the snow (and the added danger this bought) the hardy competitors all seemed to enjoy themselves (if that&#039;s the right word!), and the event was finished off in the traditional Quadmire way with hot soup and cake! 

The next Quadrac Racing quadrathlon (swim, kayak, bike, run) event will be held on the 5th August 2012 at Boxend. &quot;The Boxend quad last August was the first summer one I&#039;d done,&quot; says Tom, &quot;although I mainly do sprint triathlons, this year I hope to take part  in more quads, one of which will be the World Championships in the Czech Republic in August.&quot;

Roz Giles, to her credit, managed to get the required fastest two times in both events and won both the quad series and the duathlon series. ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Two reports from the TuffMan]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9606.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Back from his overseas duties, Jim McConnel made the trip down to East Grinstead to race the TuffMan in conditions that were brutally cold for the duathletes and positively outrageous for the sole triathlete... Also lining up to protect her position at the head of the leaderboard was Kate Robson and her report forms the second half of this bumper edition.



Jim McConnel&#039;s report
What a great day to be out and living life!

On possibly the coldest day of the year so far (my car thermometer said -5&amp;deg;C at 8am), a healthy herd of post-Christmas off-road duathletes gathered at Pippingford Park in East Sussex for the penultimate round of Human Race&#039;s Asics Off-road Series.

Aptly named TuffMan, one of the hardest jobs was getting changed at the back of the car and deciding on just how many layers to wear. Scolded for rocking up at the line by my friends with bare knees showing above my long socks, I was keen to get racing and get warmed up properly.

We headed off on the first 8km run loop at a frantic pace - and still warm from a training camp in Lanzarote, Paul Davies showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels and dragged out a small gap. The run continued and every person was delicately making their way over the hard rutted ground, trying to avoid twisted ankles and get the blood flowing everywhere including fingers and toes.

By the end of the undulating 8km, the positions had mixed up with strong favourite Richard Stannard languishing nearly a minute off the pace. Getting into his stride on his 29er race bike though, he soon cleaved through to the top five and started to pull away. The race lead swapped hands on the icy course several times, with poor line choices, traffic and tricky sections putting riders under pressure. Fortunately I was strong enough to put on a bit off pressure later in lap two, but ultimately the big Stannard lungs shone through and he led into T2.

Following on in the men&#039;s race, the jostle for third to sixth was tight with several regular faces battling it out and some new blood mixing it up. Meanwhile in the women&#039;s race, Kate Robson was smashing the field to pieces and threatening an impressive top 20 overall performance in the field of around 190.

After another 4km undulating dash down into the valley Stannard led home to secure victory in the race and take the series overall. No one can catch him now with three wins and one second on the scoreboard. I was pleased to put a marker down in second showing me that the winter training is on track and the bigger summer challenges I have planned with XTERRA France and the Inferno will be a good chance to really deliver.

Regular podium-maker Colin Dixon pulled out a great second run to claim third place although he cited the course as &#039;too technical&#039; for his biking skills. Got to be grateful for small mercies as the way he runs downhill is akin to a real fell runner.

Kate Robson piled home in first place and the only other word I heard  from the women&#039;s race was from poor Fay Cripps who was forced to retire after taking an unscheduled full body dip in the freezing lake whilst on the bike leg.


Kate Robson&#039;s report
After swearing last year that I&rsquo;d never do Tuffman again after coming off my bike three times and practically crying all the way around the gruelling bike course, I found myself getting up bright and early, travelling down on the icy motorway towards Pippingford. I was dreading it. But to retain my leading position in the series, I had to do it.

However, the conditions were completely different this year and rather than the very boggy, sticky mud of last year we were faced with freezing temperatures. So, after layering up to the max, my main concern actually turned out to be the frozen solid ground and trying not to sprain my ankle like I did at Mudman. So, with three base layers on, hat gloves, long socks and three quarter length leggings, I had definitely overdressed and was wishing I wasn&rsquo;t such a wimp.

The first run set off and as usual everyone goes for an all out 200m sprint to start. I steadily started overtaking the men, hoping to get a fast first run in, knowing that I would struggle on the technical bike section. All of the old faces had turned up for the men&rsquo;s race which was great to see, making for a fast race for them and Aileen Morrison had also turned up, keeping me in check. The first 8km run was all about keeping upright on the twisty and bumpy paths. It was a great recce of the bike course to come. I felt good and even had some of the top men in sight for much of the way. Nonetheless, the two long steep hills showed us who&rsquo;d been putting in some hill training (not me) and who was still carrying a bit of Christmas weight.

Coming into T1 in about 16th place overall, I was quite well up and then began the mountain bike journey around the 13 km bike course. There were lots of fast descents, technical single tracks and two long, energy sapping climbs. I would like to apologise for anyone who was stuck behind me on any section of the course! As with the previous races, I kept expecting Aileen to come past me on the bike, especially being the most technical of the courses so far, but I must have been going better than expected. To be honest, I was just happy to get round relatively unscathed and only fell off twice!

Going into the final run, I felt really good but it was pretty difficult to get going, running on the bumpy frozen grass and running sideways up hills but I did manage to catch a couple of men back up. Thankfully, it was a nice short final 4km run although the final kilometre took you up the last long hill of the day. Luckily I wasn&rsquo;t in a sprint finish for the end so I could steadily climb the hill although upsetting a lot of the people still cycling by passing them! In the end, I came in 21st overall, first woman and five minutes ahead of Aileen. Farah Azirar did really well to finish third, helping her to climb up the leader board in the overall standings. My thoughts go out to Fay Cripps who had to retire early after falling in the frozen lake on the bike leg. Hope you are recovering well.

In the men&rsquo;s race way ahead, Richard Stannard cited that he had a steady start saying that he didn&rsquo;t really like the twisty turny running conditions but he played to his strengths and soon caught up with the front men on the bike leg. It sounds like he had a pretty epic battle with second placed Jim McConnel but Richard pulled away on the long climb back up to transition. With a very fast second run, Richard won comfortably in the end. Colin Dixon had a very strong final run to finish third. Richard appears to have the race series in the bag but the other positions are all still to play for which will make an exciting race at Trailman!

I&#039;d like to say a massive thank you to all the marshals for braving the freezing temperatures, doing such a fantastic job and for cheering us on.

Full results are online HERE, the top places were:


	
		Pos
		Men
		Women
	
	
		1
		Richard Stannard 1:27:46
		Kate Robson 1:42:24
	
	
		2
		Jim McConnel 1:28:24
		Aileen Anderson 1:47:36
	
	
		3
		Colin Dixon 1:28:54
		Farah Azirar 1:56:43
	
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[2012 and 2013 Cross Triathlon World Champs announced]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9594.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The  International Triathlon Union (ITU) is pleased to  announce the 2012 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships will be held in Pelham, Alabama, on May 19 in a partnership with the XTERRA Southeast  Championship. The event will feature $20,000 USD in prize money for elite  athletes, who will compete over a 1.5km swim, 30km mountain bike and 10km trail  run. Under23, junior, age-group and paratriathlon races will also be  contested in Pelham.

Marisol  Casado, ITU President &amp;amp; IOC Member said, &amp;quot;The triathlon and multisport family is extensive and far reaching and ITU is delighted to form a partnership with XTERRA for our 2012 Cross Triathlon World Championships. We are confident the strong race organization and dynamic course  will continue to push Cross Triathlon to a new level.&amp;quot;

Dave  Nicholas, Race Director, XTERRA Southeast Championships added, &amp;quot;TEAM  unlimited is excited about bringing the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship  to the USA.  By combining the XTERRA series with ITU we are reaching new  heights in cooperation between directors and the federations. Oak Mountain  and Shelby County are the perfect place to host this event.&amp;quot;

The  course at Oak Mountain State Park in Shelby County, located in the southernmost  part of the Appalachian Chain, is praised by competitors as being one of the  most fun, fast, scenic and difficult on the XTERRA schedule. Pelham will mark the second ITU Cross Triathlon World  Championships, following last year&#039;s successful event in Extremadura, Spain won  by Canadian Melanie McQuaid and South Africa&#039;s Conrad Stoltz. Both McQuaid and Stoltz are also the defending champions in Pelham. Click  here for more details

2013 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships
ITU has also  awarded the 2013 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships to Den Haag (The  Hague), Netherlands. The event is slated for July 13, 2013 and will offer  35,000 EUR in prize money for elite athletes and will also hold under23, junior  age-group and paratriathlon categories. In preparation for the event, the  city will host the European Cross Triathlon Championships this year. Click here for more details]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Race Report: Wildman]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9558.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Despite pre-race concerns over her lack of training and a nagging back strain, Asics Off-Road Series leader Kate Robson made it to the start line at Hankley Common and maintained her unbroken run of wins. Here&#039;s her report:



After the festivities of Christmas and New Year, WildMan was set to be a real test of who had been putting in a little extra training over the holidays and who had been eating too many mince pies. Not to mention the inevitable colds and bugs going round at this time of year (I&#039;m speaking from personal experience on all of the above!). So turning up at Hankley Common, it was a relief to find some near perfect weather: mild and dry (if a little windy for some). The course had the usual Asics Off-road Series mixture of lots of very steep hills and waterways which seemed to be made more grueling by the sandy and rocky terrain.

In hot pursuit of a crocodile (yes, really...) the runners set off first. An impressive turnout in both the 10km and the 15km distances saw a field of over 300 runners soon strung out up the first ascent away from the start area. In the 10km run, David Hellard (a series regular) had a comfortable lead finishing in a quick 42:54, nearly two minutes clear of second place Stephen Winter.

An equally impressive winning margin decided the 15km race with Michael Hiscott taking the win in 59:47. The battle for second and third was settled with a sprint finish with Guy Bowles just getting the better of Sam Baxter on the line.

In the duathlon, it was a return to the format of race one in the series with a 10km run followed by 18km on the bike and a final 5km run. The course proved to be deceptive, although seemingly &lsquo;flat&rsquo; (in comparison to round one and two) the combination of steep inclines, rocky descents and long sandy stretches proved to be a test for even the best. It wasn&#039;t long before the first long steady climb of the day stretched the field of nearly 200 duathletes out and as usual the top men soon pulled out a clear lead over the large pack behind. We didn&rsquo;t see much of them for the rest of the race!



In the women&#039;s race all the series leaders were competing and there was everything to play for. Having had a very disrupted December and January through illness and then managing to sprain my back on Wednesday, I was deliberating whether to race at all and finally made my decision to race after having a tentative warm up before the start of the race. All I wanted to do was get round and finish so that I could contend in the series points leader board. So I set off steadily and didn&#039;t push myself. Whether it was the sandy terrain or just how I was feeling, I never really got going and was sure Aileen or Fay would catch up eventually. The hills were as steep as ever and there was a nice freezing cold pond to wade through up to the thighs for about 10 metres, which I have to say, was a welcome relief on the third lap when the cramp started to kick in.

In first place after the first 10 km run, I felt the burn in my legs on the first stretch of the bike. I personally found the sandy stretches pretty tricky but somehow managed to stay on my bike. I kept looking over my shoulder for Aileen as she is usually a couple of minutes quicker on the bike but she didn&#039;t materialise so I knew I had it in the bag once I got onto the last run and just had to get round. It&#039;ll be interesting to see whether the next two duathlons have a more technical bike course, because then I think I might have a bit more to worry about! So in the end, Aileen came in a strong second and Fay Cripps came in third, an excellent result considering she had a nasty bike crash in November resulting in cracked ribs and nerve damage.

In the men&#039;s race, it was all change at the front with Cedric Lassonde (Tri UK) giving Richard Stannard a run for his money. Cedric led from the word go and had a phenomenally quick first run that saw him enter the bike section over two minutes ahead of second place. A strong bike leg and final run meant he finished 2:48 minutes ahead of Richard in a time of 1:52:01. Paul Davis had his best race of the series, finishing in third in 2:01:48.

With the TuffMan in less than two weeks there is little time to cram in any last minute training; with long climbs, some technical bike sections and the inevitable dollop of mud the TuffMan at Pippingford promises to be an equally exciting and close-fought race. See you on the start line!]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Venue change for TriFerris]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9466.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Due to the recent death of Earl Bathurst, TriFerris have been informed that no events will be allowed in Cirencester Park until further notice, so they have switched to another venue for their Off Road Duathlon on 12th February: Charlton Park.

Charlton Park is located on the edge of the Cotswolds, near Malmesbury in Wiltshire, with the entrance situated on the A429 Cirencester/Malmesbury Road, SN16 9DG located between Junction 17 of the M4 and Cirencester. This private Estate is the home of The Earl and Countess of Suffolk and Berkshire and extends to 4500 acres which is made up of grassland, woods and gardens.

The off-road course will be very similar to the Cirencester course with a mix of wooded trails, grass and tracks, with a flattish run and undulating bike course over the same distances and same number of laps as previous events and with beautiful views, free parking, chip timing, secure transition, toilets, food vendor, mementos, prizes and ideal for both experienced and novice competitors. 

Please note this park is not open to the public at any other time.

Further details will be available on the TriFerris website.
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mud & Mayhem returns to Thetford Forest]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9404.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[18th March 2012 sees the Mud &amp;amp; Mayhem series return to its original venue of Thetford Forest for the fourth Mud &amp;amp; Mayhem Thetford Duathlon. 2011 saw over 200 athletes race with strong performances by Jez Cox and Eunice Alexander in the duathlon. Both following up their opening wins with strong finishes at later events to also claim the Mud &amp;amp; Mayhem series trophies for 2011.

The event combines some rewarding single track through the trees with some wide, fast sections allowing plenty of overtaking opportunity. The duathlon will once again be accompanied by a 10K trail run in March. The run course provides a beautiful mix of riverside running and forest trails with just a single hill on each lap to negotiate. Fast times are anticipated with last year&#039;s winner, Mazeyar Firouzi, recording 33:08.

With great courses, free refreshments, enthusiastic support and free race mementos what more could you ask for from an early season challenge? Visit the GoBeyond Ultra website for more information and to register.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grim Challenge report]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9399.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The generally dry conditions leading up to this year&rsquo;s Grim Challenge meant that it looked like it could be a fairly dry occasion and not at all Grim. Thankfully there was plenty of rain in the days leading up the event not to mention the added advantage that a number of Army vehicles were out doing driver training on the course to make sure the mud was sufficiently boggy.  On the Saturday after overnight and early morning rain it turned out to be sunny and mild, one competitor said that instead of the usual Grimness it was more of an &ldquo;Unpleasant challenge&rdquo;.

The organisers wanted to eliminate some of the less interesting sections of the course and made a number of route changes. These meant that two thirds of the Fast Driving Circuit were eliminated while some additional obstacles were introduced and the course adjusted to include some moguls before the going into the alpine section. The course ran through the usual obstacles and water features which included the BOG, camo net, and a large puddle before ending up in the crater on the run in to the finish.

Saturday was a fairly competitive affair with Darren Pilgrim, the men&rsquo;s winner, pulling away in the last third of the race. Darren said &ldquo;That was a fairly tough race but I enjoyed it. There was always something to think about and never an opportunity to relax&rdquo;. The women&rsquo;s race winner Danielle Murphy dominated the event and won by two minutes.

Sunday&rsquo;s weather conditions were dry but much colder with a change of wind direction. This did not put off the competitors turning in their droves to take on the Grim in all its glory.  The course normally gets churned up after the Saturday race but this year it seemed to be even more so.  A particular area of stickiness was the BOG area and the camo net with a number of people getting stuck and finding it a challenge to make it through.

This did not deter the leading three runners who all represented Westminster School, who seemed to float over the tricky conditions and all finished within 30 seconds of each other.  Simon Wurr who has previously won the Sunday Grim Challenge said. &ldquo;The changes to the course worked well and made it more interesting and I am glad to have won&rdquo;. The Sunday&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s winner, Ellie Barnes, won by over two minutes and steadily made her way through the field.

Report provided by the Grim Challenge organisers.

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Asics MudMan report]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9392.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Jim McConnel reports from the second of the Asics Off-Road Series, the MudMan. Unlike last year&#039;s snow-covered winter wonderland, this year the event really lived up to its name. Pictures courtesy of Katie Voutt.



Yikes. What a shock to the system the Asics Mudman off-road duathlon was this weekend. A shortish set of leg distances were on the menu: 8km run, 16km three-lap MTB and a further 8km run to finish. Easy huh?

With some course tweaks explained by designer Jeremy on the start line, I wasn&#039;t alone as it dawned on me that this course was going to be more extreme than ever before. The first 8km run included the usual repeated ascents of Heartbreak Ridge which is a test of every competitor to keep driving up and down. But whilst the all new 50 metre-long water splash pit may have made for good photo options, it certainly meant freezing stiff feet for all competitors just five minutes into the race! And then toward the end of the 8km run, athletes are somewhat teased by a glimpse of transition before the course dives away again down steep sandy slopes on a final kilometre loop before heading back into transition.

A 12km trail run race kicked off at 0930 and the first athletes from that were seen streaming back through the trees muddy and fighting hard as the duathlon lined up for the 1015 start. Richard Lazell led over 150 runners home in an impressive 47:49 with Pauline Dalton in the 45-49 age group taking the women&#039;s first place in 58:39. In the CaniCross race - dog and handler attached starting five minutes behind the main field - Mark Dunbar finished fifth overall and headed up that category in a great time of 53:19.

1015. Cue hooter. Serpentine running gazelle Hugh Torry belted off into the distance as the rest of the front pack picked their way gingerly through the water obstacle (there was a dry-footed long route as an alternative!). Once into the relentless hills the gaps widened quickly with a flu-ridden Richard Stannard managing to push hard, with Mark Chapman and Philip Westoby (Army Tri) hot on his heels.

I measured my effort through the first run along with Dafydd Hollis and we entered T1 together already a minute down on the leaders. The bike leg is short in this race. Not very technical at all, the majority is fireroad and the three laps seemed to fly by in no time. I was chewing on the bars hard and after Dafydd punctured behind me I was happy to overhaul Hugh, then Torq Fitness rider Chris Panayiotou, and finally split the fastest riding pair of Chapman and Westoby on the third lap.

That meant that as I climbed off my bright orange Genesis Fortitude 29er I was pumped to have made it back to second place. Just 90 seconds behind Stannard I headed out to do battle with the testing run course knowing I was in a for a tough time, having given a lot on the short but fast bike leg.

Sadly, it was a tough day for me and I struggled with the pace in the final leg, crossing the line after 1hr 54 04 in fifth place. I treat the day and result mentally as a success as I had to dig quite deep to keep some good form to the finish. Fortunately admist the incoming mince pies and Christmas cheer, I will be balancing it up with a constant search for hills to make my legs stronger!

Even though I didn&#039;t see it, from the splits the women&#039;s race looked tightly fought with IceMan winner, Kate Robson (BRAT) finally bringing home the victory, just two minutes ahead of Aileen Anderson (Bath Amphibians Tri Club) in a position repeating second. The girls placed way up in 17th and 22nd overall amongst a field of over 170 athletes.

Oh yes, nearly forgot, I wore a GoPro chest cam for this race. Some high or, more likely, lowlights will make their way to my website and the Human Race site in due course so if you&#039;re interested in getting involved in offroad duathlon you can get to see a flavour of what&#039;s in store!]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[IceMan: the female side of the story]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9380.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Following up on our IceMan report from Jim McConnel we have two from the women&#039;s field. First up is one from women&#039;s winner, Kate Robson, and a second one from fifth-placed Mel Brand.



Kate Robson:

After competing in the Asics Off-Road Series last year, two as runs and two as duathlons, I knew what to expect of the challenging courses but, somehow, you seem to forget the pain and torture after a long summer. And so I happily entered the IceMan race, recalling slightly that it was the least technical of the races and not too hilly.

So, you can imagine it came as a bit of a shock when after the first flat mile on the run came the relentless and incredibly steep hills that we had to climb. And, of course, I just kept thinking, &ldquo;there&#039;s another two laps of these&rdquo;! Despite this, I set off cautiously so as not to blow my lights and came in from the first run feeling confident.

Setting off on the bike, I was secretly pleased that it wasn&#039;t too technical although it took a long time for my legs to recover from the run. Three laps later and I&#039;d been overtaken by several men, but no women so I knew the last run was just about getting round. By this time I was pretty much just putting one foot in front of the other and slowly climbing the hills with my hands on my knees!

Luckily there was still a bit left in the tank for a glory-filled final sprint. Needless to say I could hardly sit down for the rest of the day as my glutes and hammies were so sore. However, now the pain has subsided I&#039;ll definitely be entering the MudMan, the next race in the series, for more of the same fun and pain! I hear that the MudMan&#039;s bike section is very technical which will suit second placed Aileen Anderson, so I&#039;d better get practising!

Mel Brand:

&lsquo;IceMan&rsquo;, notable for the distinct lack of ice, made for some very fast racing last Saturday. This is the first time I have raced one of Human Race&rsquo;s off-road duathlons and it&rsquo;s safe to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Having read Jim McConnel&rsquo;s excellent report on the men&rsquo;s race, I thought it would be good to have a review of the girl&rsquo;s race too.

The series is clearly very popular with around 300 competitors there for the duathlon, alongside a trail race and a Canicross run. The women&rsquo;s field was not as large as the men&rsquo;s but that didn&rsquo;t mean that there wasn&rsquo;t some fierce racing. The great thing about having a mixed mass start is that the women can race with the men, this probably allowed for some faster splits, with plenty of people to chase throughout the morning.

Kate Robson of BRAT led from the start with a strong run, giving her almost three minutes lead into T1, hot on her heels were five other women all running pretty similar times for the first 10 km, myself included. The first 10km was a challenging run, not least because we knew that we still had the bike and second run to come. There were four (seemed like more) notable hills per 5 km lap of the run. These reduced many strong athletes to a walk! I kept looking out for a passing cani-crosser, to see if I couldn&rsquo;t get a pull up the hills from a husky, but none seemed to avail.

In and out of T1, Kate held her lead, but with Aileen Anderson of Bath Amphibians putting three minutes into Kate on the bike, they must have been pretty close come T2. The bike course was relatively flat and fast, thanks to the absence of the aforementioned ice! It was open enough to allow for overtaking but there were always people around to chase.

The second run was the time to &lsquo;test your mettle&rsquo;, and pacing. Athletes knew the hills they had to face, having run/walked them twice already. Legs were heavy and things were close at the front of the race. I managed to pick a few off on the second run. In the back of my mind I knew my legs were going to be tired after a few weeks heavy training, but at the end of the day either you knuckle down and race or you worry about being tired!

Kate Robson held off Aileen to finish first, with Aileen second and Marna Van Deventer, third. I came home fifth, just over a minute after third. Daz Parker came home strong in sixth.

All in all, a great race format and a good training day for me. There are four more races in the series so it will be interesting to see if people are back for more come the 3rd December (Mudman) in order to contest the series.

I hope to be back on the 3rd December, but the only trouble with enjoying something new is that you then want to upgrade your kit so that you can keep pace with the competition. However, as I am still paying off the osteo bills from last time I sent my MTB to the mechanic, I will have to save up first (who said 15kg was too heavy for a bike, and how did I know the mechanic would try and lift the thing off the floor to service it?)!
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Scott XTri Series is back]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9379.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Scott XTri series, the UK&rsquo;s only off-road triathlon race series, is coming back for 2012. The XTri Series is provisionally made up of four races but with the possibility of adding an additional races into the series over the coming months. Last year&#039;s racing was super-close with the overall men&#039;s series being decided on the last race with Doug Hall beating Graham Wadsworth by 30 seconds in the last race to take the title. The women&#039;s was tough as well with Jacqui Slack taking the women&#039;s title but finishing just seconds behind Kerry MacPhee in the final round so there&rsquo;s lots to play for in 2012!

The off-road triathlon race scene is picking up globally now with Lance Armstrong competing in the US and Worlds, Jan Frodeno racing and even the UK&rsquo;s own Richard Stannard having made the switch to the muddy stuff &ndash; it&rsquo;s the way to go, good safe racing without issues such as road closures and cars to worry about, come and give it a shot! There will be short (sprint) and long races at each event in the series so a good place to start until you find your feet.

The organisers wanted to have a minimum of four races in the series but are looking at a couple of more southern-based venues to pull in as unfortunately the XTT, the British Championships for 2011, will not be able to take place in 2012 due to the army re-developing the land over the course of the year. This is a big loss and was the southern base for the series; the XTT will be back in 2013 though. If any other organisers have a southern based-race they would like to offer for inclusion then please get in touch with the XTri folk (email paul@xtriseries.co.uk).

On the plus side, the Ben Nevis Half off-road Triathlon has stepped up to the mark and joined the Series &ndash; this is a prime location up in Scotland with a perfect place for a holiday, there&rsquo;s the infamous mountain biking mecca of Fort William on the doorstep and a superb race. The distances are tough as well &ndash; 950m swim, 45km bike and a 10.5km &lsquo;hilly&rsquo; run &ndash; in fairness, the bike won&rsquo;t exactly be flat either.

To kick the season off it&rsquo;s an early doors British Championship race being held at the amazing Coniston / Grizedale venue; the swim is cool, the bike up and down with some technical riding including some northshore riding &ndash; one not to be missed, there&rsquo;s loads of camping and accommodation in the area available so a great excuse for a long weekend.

The second round goes onwards to Mud &amp;amp; Mayhem in Northampton, held at the gorgeous Delapre Abbey &ndash; this season will be its second year running but will see the end of the split transition with us now being allowed to use the main lake area. In contrast to Grizedale, this course is pretty fast and furious with no chance of rest, one of the flatter ones in the series so the speed demons should do well.

Scott Xtri Long from Dan Habershon-Butcher on Vimeo.

The third round is the always popular Durty Triathlon in the Scottish Borders, another amazing venue with lots of camping space available. This race virtually sold out last season &ndash; it has an amazing atmosphere with a big party kicking off post race (the venue is on the site of an Inn!), it&rsquo;s going to be boggy once you&rsquo;re up the climbs and rocky along the shores, the run isn&rsquo;t much nicer on the body!

The fourth confirmed round is the Ben Nevis Half &ndash; what more can be said, it&rsquo;s a famous and iconic location !

The website will be fully updated shortly and currently you can register your interest in the series with entries opening in the new year. You will receive a reminder email once the entries are open (some of the individual races will open before this point via their own websites). Once we have more on our two other possible venues we will update you through the XTri Facebook Page and on Tri247, it&rsquo;ll be good to see you all there for some more fun racing.

The dates of the races are as follows:
Grizedale / Coniston (British Championships): 10th June
Mud &amp; Mayhem (Northampton): 30th June
Durty Triathlon (Scottish Borders): 21st July
Ben Nevis Half (Fort William): 15th September]]></description></item></channel></rss>
