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		<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Events - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest events articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Official launch of Born 2 Tri]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3361.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Have you ever dabbled with the idea of duathlon or triathlon, or do you simply enjoy swimming, cycling or running? This Saturday, May 17th, the picturesque Gosfield Lake near Braintree will host an event giving you the opportunity to find out more about these sports and the different ways you can get involved.

The event marks the launch of a new lottery-funded multi-sports club in mid-Essex called Born2tri set up by a group of local triathletes who wanted to share their love of the three disciplines. There is no cost to attend the event and absolutely no obligation to join, it is simply a chance to demonstrate what is on offer in the county. The event runs between 10am and noon. Whether you are a novice or experienced, and whether you want to just take a look or &lsquo;get physical&rsquo; you are welcome to pitch up.Qualified coaches will be on hand and there will be a chance to try out an open water swim, some spinning bikes, kindly supplied by Complete Health &amp;amp; Fitness, or jog by the lake. For those who wish to try all three and experience the transition from one discipline to another will also have the chance through structured sessions from 10.15am.

There will also be sports massage and injury advice available from Jonathan McComish who currently works with Ipswich Town FC and the British Amateur Swimming Association.
The Cannondale bike van from Chelmer Cycles will be on site with a range of bikes and cycling advice and Lucozade will also be there providing sports nutrition advice and giving out promotional samples. There will also be a limited number of wet suits on site for people to try out in the water. A fee of &pound;4 will be charged for anyone wanting to undertake a lake swim. This is the same as the fee charged for open water training sessions held at the lake every Tuesday evening and Sunday morning throughout the summer. At any point in the lake you can touch the bottom with your foot and there will be swim coaches on hand. Shower and changing facilities are also available.

For more information about the club and other events go to www.born2tri.co.uk or call Mark Harman on 07710024214]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tatton Park Triathlon chooses Aqua Sphere]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3354.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[My Triathlon, the tri event specialist, has chosen Aqua Sphere as its official swim equipment sponsor for the inaugural Tatton Park Triathlon on 8th June 2008. The event races comprise an standard distance, a sprint distance and a corporate team sprint event. Aqua Sphere is supplying prizes for the fastest male and females out of the water, donating a significant quantity of its award winning goggles and masks, and the team will be available at the event for product advice and fitting expertise.

Tatton Park Tri organiser, Steve Collins, says &ldquo;We are delighted to have the support of Aqua Sphere for this inaugural event and it&rsquo;s a huge boost in our bid to create a race series which really makes its mark on the UK tri programme. The Aqua Sphere brand is widely recognised and has huge integrity  amongst the tri community because of the quality and innovation of its wide-angle goggles and masks.  Thanks to the team for their support and I look forward to a long term successful relationship.&rdquo;    

Offering every product for the water, including a series of high performance tri wetsuits which has gained critical acclaim, Aqua Sphere is best known for its revolutionary wide angle goggles and masks which deliver an amazing 180 degree vision and a superb anti-leak fit. Used by some of the leading triathletes and elite swimmers in the world, the Kaiman goggle has recently been awarded the coveted &lsquo;Best Buy&rsquo; accolade by Holiday Which? magazine. Continually innovating, the brand recently launched a new Vista Cross-Swim Goggle&trade; &ndash; a brand new hybrid product which offers the same wide-angle 180-degree vision, comfort and fit synonymous with Aqua Sphere&rsquo;s revolutionary Seal and Seal XP products, but combines these features with a sleeker profile indicative of a competitive swimming goggle. With innovation at its heart, Aqua Sphere&rsquo;s UK year-on-year sales growth makes it the fastest growing brand in UK water.  

For event information click on www.tattontriathlon.co.uk or call 0161 905 1300.  For Aqua Sphere call 01254 278873 or click on www.aquasphereswim.com ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mazda National Duathlon Ranking Series 2008 - Results]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3348.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Results from the 2008 Mazda National Duathlon Ranking Series have now been published on the British Triathlon website (www.britishtriathlon.org).

The series covered five events (Clumber Park, Steyning, Swindon, Milton Keynes, Ashbourne), with an athlete&#039;s best three scores counting towards their final series standings. Racing has been of a high quality throughout, and that is reflected in some extremely close results at the top of the final points tables.

Overall series results


    Females
    Males
  
  
    Victoria Wilkinson 
    307.74
    Lee Piercy 
    348.16
  
  
    Emma Dews
    306.87
    Daniel Corner 
    348.00
  
  
    Rachel Hobbs 
    293.97
    David Vaughan 
    343.80
  


For any queries about the calculation of ranking points, please contact btarankings@btconnect.com
Congratulations to all of the winners, both overall and by age group. 

The National Triathlon Ranking Series kicks off next month at Parc Bryn Bach on 22nd June.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Looking for a race to do?]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3320.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[There aren&#039;t that many events that can claim 17 years of continuous operations but one of them is the Shropshire Triathlon at the Mere in Ellesmere and the 2008 edition is going to happen on June 1st, sponsored (as it has been for several years now) by Tri-UK. The race is organised to perfection every year by Alan Penton of Shropshire County Council and has served as a World Championships qualifier and Grand Prix race on many occasions.

Unusually, the race doesn&#039;t start until 11am on the Sunday - you can even register on the Sunday morning up to 9am - and that makes it extremely spectator friendly. It&#039;s a lovely part of the country anyway so there&#039;s plenty for family to see and do while you are racing if they aren&#039;t the &#039;stand and wait&#039; sort. Entry for the race is &pound;64 (&pound;59 for BTF members) and relay team entry is &pound;66. You&#039;ll get a finishers T-shirt and a lunch voucher included with that so it&#039;s pretty good value in today&#039;s market. Alan is taking entries up to two days before the event and there&#039;s currently plenty of space available.

So, if you aren&#039;t headed for the Worlds in Vancouver (or even if you are...) why not give this one a go? You should find all the details on the Council&#039;s website (www.shropshire.gov.uk) or email Alan at sport@shropshire-cc.gov.uk ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Inaugural British Triathlon Grand Prix Launched]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3318.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[2008 sees the launch of an exciting new British Triathlon series; the British Triathlon Grand Prix, combining for the first time ever the most prestigious and elite triathlon events in the country. This new six race series has been created by the British  Triathlon Federation in partnership with IMG and Human Race, and taken up for broadcast by Channel 4 Television.

The newly-created  British Triathlon Grand Prix brings together the&amp;nbsp;British Triathlon Corus Elite Series, (consisting of three events): the&amp;nbsp;Mazda London Triathlon&amp;nbsp;&amp;ndash; the largest triathlon event in the world, the&amp;nbsp;Mazda Blenheim Triathlon, and the seven time British Triathlon event of the year, the&amp;nbsp;Nokia Windsor Triathlon.

Produced by Cirencester-based production company Dreamteam Television, highlights from each of the six races will be broadcast on Channel 4 as a six-part series, equivalent to four hours of coverage, which will be played throughout the summer on both Channel 4 and Channel 4 +1. The series will also be available  on the Channel&amp;rsquo;s catch-up service 4 On Demand (4OD). &amp;nbsp;This takes the  exciting sport of triathlon the homes of millions of people.

With a significant  combined prize purse across the six events, the races will attract the best of  British talent as well as interest from as far afield as the USA, Australia and  South Africa; providing exceptional opportunities for those British triathletes looking for success at the Olympic Games later this summer.

The Grand Prix kicks off  on 18 May with the Reading Corus Elite Series at GreenPark, just a few miles  away from the venue of the first ever triathlon held in Britain some 25 years ago.

President of the British  Triathlon Federation and former elite triathlete,&amp;nbsp;Dr Sarah Springman OBE, said: &amp;ldquo;The inaugural British Triathlon Grand Prix&amp;nbsp;marks an important new stage  in the development of elite triathlon racing in&amp;nbsp;Great Britain, and hopefully we shall see some intriguing and exciting competition across the six events. The combination of  the country&amp;rsquo;s top races is a positive step forward as triathlon moves from  being recognised as a vibrant up and coming sport into becoming a mature and  successful medal winning sport.&amp;rdquo;

Nick Rusling, Managing Director of IMG Mass Participation  Sports, said: &amp;ldquo;The British Triathlon  Grand Prix is a fabulous step forward for the sport of triathlon and we are  delighted to be part of this ground breaking project with our Mazda London and  Mazda Blenheim Triathlons. The Grand Prix partnership, together with Channel 4, will help continue to take the sport out to a new audience who can both marvel at the abilities of the elite athletes as well as realise that triathlon is a  fun and achievable sport for all

John Lunt, Managing Director, Human Race Ltd, commented:   &amp;ldquo;The Nokia Windsor triathlon and Human Race are delighted to be involved with this exciting  project. Combining the best events in the British triathlon calendar is a great step forward for the sport. We look forward to working closely with Channel 4  and the other great events in the series&amp;rdquo;

Deborah Poulton, Deputy Editor of Sport at Channel 4 said:
  &amp;ldquo;This is an exciting  time for Triathlon and there has never been a better time to work with these partners on the creation of this series. With the Olympics coming to&amp;nbsp;London&amp;nbsp;in 2012, interest will peak in our home grown talent and I hope that viewers will tune in to support some great  triathlon action on Channel 4.&amp;rdquo;


  
    Date
    Organiser
    Event
    Distance
  
  
    18 May 
    British Triathlon 
    Reading Corus Elite Series  Triathlon
    Sprint
  
  
    7/8 June 
    IMG
    Mazda Blenheim Triathlon 
    Sprint
  
  
    15 June 
    Human Race 
    Nokia Windsor Triathlon 
    Olympic
  
  
    26 July 
    British Triathlon 
    Parc Bryn Bach Corus Elite Series 
    Olympic
  
  
    9/10 Aug 
    IMG
    Mazda London Triathlon 
    Olympic
  
  
    7 Sept 
    British Triathlon 
    Strathclyde&amp;nbsp;Park&amp;nbsp;Corus Elite Series 
    Super Sprint 
  
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kids Go Free at Sussex]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3305.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Sussex Triathlon wants kids to get fit. That is why they have added a totally free aquathlon event for TriStar athletes aged between 8 and 14. According to Race Director Dan James: &ldquo;This year at the Sussex Tri we have an age range from 8 to over 70. We also have a visually impaired athlete participating for the first time which makes the event a fantastic and inclusive celebration of local sport.&rdquo;

Taking place at Ardingly College and now in its fifth year, the main event is a sprint distance triathlon comprising a 500 metre swim, a 24 kilometre bike and a 5 kilometre run. There&rsquo;s also a novice event for people who are new to triathlon which includes a 250m swim, 24k bike and a 2.5k run. Team entries are also encouraged for the Relay Event which enables 3 competitors to complete one discipline each.

Urbanrace Logistics Manager, Dave Perry commented: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re delighted to include a free event for children this year. With initiatives like ours and the Kids of Steel series the young have a brilliant opportunity to get into multisport. There was nothing like this in my day&rdquo;.

Those interested in participating in the Sussex Triathlon can register online at www.urbanrace.co.uk  Entry costs, including a pasta meal and race t-shirt for participants, are as follows: Sprint Distance Race &pound;35, Novice Distance Race &pound;32, Team Relay Event &pound;55, TriStar &pound;Free.  Athletes also have the option to add a donation to Sightsavers to their race entry fee.  Prizes are awarded for each of the different race categories.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[IMUK 2008 - new routes unveiled]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3287.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[By now you might have read some rumours about the changes to the Ironman UK bike and run courses... 

As with all good rumours there&#039;s some basis for them and Tri247 sat down with the event&#039;s organisers to talk through the changes, why they have happened and what they will mean for the 2008 edition of the race.

The simple, basic facts are that, owing to a mix of comments made by athletes, local circumstances outside of the organiser&#039;s control and an overwhelming desire to deliver the best race that they can, the run and bike courses have had to be changed for 2008. The trend in modern Ironman racing has been to move away from the single loop strategy where the athlete is out on their own for the maximum amount of time to a more spectator friendly and, in reality, an easier to manage situation where both bike and run are broken into multiple laps. Inevitably some of this is dictated by the roads that surround the venue and, in the UK at least, the ability of the organisers to get those closed down in part or whole for the race.

Ironman UK&#039;s organisers summarised, &amp;ldquo;We feel that the changes made will offer the athletes a whole new experience, but without removing the aspects of the race which has made it such a challenge. There will still be the mix of fast technical descents with slow grinding hills and some spectacular scenery - should you have the energy to look!&amp;rdquo;

Making these changes has taken time: there are many bodies involved that have to be part of the process and all have to agree - and that&#039;s before it goes back to the WTC for their blessing. It will mean that it is a different race to 2006 and 2007 but they, in turn, were different to 2005 where the bike course looped into Somerset. It certainly doesn&#039;t seem to be deterring the pro athletes; Bayliss, Neyedli and Comerford are confirmed and the organisers expect more pro athletes to confirm nearer race date as, five weeks out from Hawaii, it&amp;rsquo;s a great opportunity for those coveted Hawaii slots.

The bike course
The new bike course is more compact that last year&#039;s, the section of the A37 to Dorchester has been removed (which includes the section on the bike path) and now turns off the A352 at the point where the old half-Ironman course used to. The changes have meant that climbing has increased slightly overall to 2,360 metres, which is approx 10% more than the 2006/2007 course. The new course incorporates more villages and is more picturesque, which will hopefully generate more spectators along the route. There are now seven, rather than five, pubs on the route and one of the landlords is racing (!) which should greatly assist with generating local spectator numbers. One of the pubs is even offering to host a permanent aid-station for people training on the course before the race, we&#039;ll get you more details on that when they get firmed up but just having somewhere friendly to fill bottles will be a major help.

The new course has been measured (and continues to be measured) by onboard GPS, manual GPS and mapping software, and it comes out at approximately 113.6 miles.

You can get a PDF document detailing the whole route, turn by turn, here.

The run course
As we said earlier, at least a portion of the reason for the run route changes has come from the  feedback forms; IMUK get  between 30% and 60% response to these after an event. The single most consistent comment was,  &amp;quot; why run on dual carriageway?&amp;quot; with around two thirds of respondents making this point. And, as a result... 

There&#039;s NO A30 section in the 2008 race plan. You&#039;ll run three loops, with each loop returning to the Castle which should make it very spectator friendly. While those spectators who choose to remain at the Castle will obviously benefit, those who are prepared to walk out onto the course will find that the  most direct route to the turnaround from the Castle is only about one mile away. So, you could view at the Castle, and then walk out to the turn while your athlete is running and view again.

Two slightly ironic points to note are that although the majority of the age groupers didn&#039;t like the &#039;Energy Lab&#039; feel of the A30 loop, many of the pro athletes said they did and, for anyone thinking that these changes have been made to make things easier on the organisers and crew, the logistics of controlling a shorter, more complex route mean that just as many volunteers and crew will be needed - it&#039;s easy to marshal a straight bit of A road... 

The run route has been measured twice already and will be re-measured again - it&#039;s currently between 19 and 23 yards short of the full marathon distance. You can be sure that on race day it will be nailed to full distance! 

The swim
No, the swim isn&#039;t changing! It&#039;s still a single start for all 1,500 athletes and, for those who doubt the accuracy, it is measured five times during race week to make sure it&#039;s as near spot on as it is possible to get.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[The 'Hammer' gets knocked]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3279.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Owing to a lack of entries the Hamsterley &#039;Hammer&#039; Duathlon, scheduled for this weekend, has been cancelled and all entries have been returned. The race was to have been the North East Regional Championships and the deciding race in their Regional Duathlon Grand Prix so entrants will receive their average score from their two previous races. The promoters, Durham Triathlon Club are to look into the possibility of putting on a shorter distance duathlon during the summer months.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ashbourne Duathlon report]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3265.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Despite the recent poor weather in the UK it looks like Spring has finally arrived with near perfect conditions welcomed the 230 entries to the eighth staging of the Ashbourne Duathlon, based in the beautiful surroundings of Carsington Water, Derbyshire.

The first 12k run is deceptively tough around the perimeter of the reservoir, which has a total of 890 feet of climbing, making not only the uphills tough but the descents also give your tired quads a pounding. Early on in the run Tom Vickery from Cambridge broke away from the main field but was soon overhauled by 2XU TFN team mates Mark Couldwell and Joel Jameson who went on to run neck and neck until T1 in an impressive time of 43:24, Dan Corner (Shorter Rochford). Meanwhile in the ladies race, first back was Victoria Wilkinson (Climb On Bikes RT) in 52:13 shadowed closely by TFN Tri Club duo Louise Collins (52:44) and Verity Butler (52:45).

The cycle section is undulating and scenic taking athletes through the market town of Wirksworth and up the infamous Middleton Top and is both demanding and technical with 2000 feet of climbing to contend with. Jameson was the slickest on his transition and headed out ahead of Couldwell who was coming off a great third place at the Elite Duathlon Championships the previous weekend in Wales. Jameson proceeded to pull away from Couldwell in the early stages of the bike while renowned cyclist Dan Corner put in an excellent first half of the bike to overhaul Couldwell and come within about ten seconds from Jameson on the Middleton Top climb. This, maybe, was  too hard too early as once Jameson was threatened he went onto record the fastest split of the day in 1:06:00. Couldwell managed to pull back Corner, who had clearly paid for his early efforts, towards the end of the bike to enter T2 two minutes down on Jameson with Corner next in.

In the women&rsquo;s race Collins recorded the fastest bike split (1:16:44) to come within eight seconds of catching Wilkinson. Lucy Gossage (TFN Tri Club) had a strong cycle to move up to third place.

The final run is a flat out and back 4k along the dam wall and, even though it&rsquo;s short, many athletes were pulling up with cramp following the arduous efforts in the previous disciplines. This wasn&rsquo;t the case with Jameson who did not let up and managed to extend his lead with a 13:00 split, which was the second fastest of the day. This was only bettered by 30 year-old Justin Webb (London Dynamos) who recorded a blistering 12:19 to knock five seconds off Spencer Newport&rsquo;s six year-old course record.

Jameson was victorious in the end and added his name to the winners plaque (which includes some great past winners; the late Benny Vansteelant, Will Clarke, Tim Don and his older brother Toby) with a lead of three minutes in 2:02:24. Couldwell took second and Corner rounded off the podium positions. There was no easy victory for Wilkinson who had to drive hard to keep Collins from the victory to record the fastest split of the day (15:34) and win in a time of 2:24:56 with Collins just 32 seconds behind with Gossage rounding up the top three.

Locally sponsored team 2XU TFN RT started the 2008 season as they left 2007 with domination in the local events by claiming the team prize with all top three finishers coming in the top ten (Joel Jameson, Mark Couldwell and Peter Swaine). Team Butler (TFN Tri Club) won the relay battle against local rivals Deuno RT (Derby Tri Club). A full set of results is here.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[SPW Hyde Park Triathlon]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3264.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Team Tri247 were out en masse today for the second running of the SPW triathlon (relay division!) in Hyde Park, venue for the 2012 Olympic triathlon event. While none of the team are expecting to pick up medals in four years time, we were already ahead of the game, as we had two Golds already tucked away&hellip;

Team selection was tough &ndash; reigning bike course record holder Paul &ldquo;that&rsquo;s the only event I&rsquo;m ever going to win, and I like talking about it&rdquo; Shanley didn&rsquo;t make the final cut, and had been demoted to the role of swim start coordinator. Even in-house multiple National Champ and World Duathlon medallist Annie Emmerson couldn&rsquo;t make the squad, and was on-site in her role as official starter.

Only the best was good enough for Team Manager Downey, though rumours of my selection for the swim leg because &ldquo;no one else is daft enough to volunteer for open water in April&rdquo; are probably fair. Still, I had something of an incentive with James &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t do non-competitive&rdquo; Cracknell, Olympic legend rower lined up for the bike leg, waiting for the handover. After breaking three hours for the marathon in London this year, cycling to Spain and swimming to Africa, you&rsquo;ll be hearing more about James&rsquo; triathlon plans on Tri247 during the year. Anyway, after a surprisingly pleasant and not too cold swim, I handed over to the big man to blast out six laps of South Carriage Drive on the bike.

Waiting for the glory leg was Bea Downey, and as James wasn&rsquo;t hanging around she didn&rsquo;t have to wait long. Managing to combine both speed and elegance across the finish line, she brought the team home in style, for team photographer Colette O&rsquo;Neill to try and get us to look barely presentable for the photo-album: check out the &#039;Image Gallery&#039; link at the top of the page.]]></description></item></channel></rss>