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		<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>MIG Events - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest mig events articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[MIG Events 2008]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3309.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[A breath of fresh air is about to hit the British triathlon  scene and, when it does, a new concept will enter the consciousness of  competitors everywhere. Events already scheduled for Birmingham,  Redditch, Stockton and Warwick  this year, with Liverpool being added in 2009,  will each now be a &amp;lsquo;Di Vincenzo Promotion&amp;rsquo;. The team will rapidly become  synonymous with a triathlon organised to exacting standards and run with  military precision by experienced, high calibre personnel, who are dedicated to  meeting competitors&amp;rsquo; needs. The man enthusiastically driving the concept is  Marcus Di Vincenzo, who has now left behind a distinguished military career to  apply his considerable talents to organising high profile sporting occasions. The  former Royal Marine Sergeant and P.T.I. believes that his particular brand of promotions  will benefit from his passion and attention to fine detail which is the  hallmark of his Special Services training. &amp;ldquo;Meeting theatre of war challenges,  covering all eventualities, and delivering logistical solutions was often a  matter of life and death but it&amp;rsquo;s what I thrived on. Now I&amp;rsquo;m transferring those  skills to providing unbeatable standards for triathletes and the success of my  events will give me and the formidable team I&amp;rsquo;m putting together the same  satisfaction we got from our days in the forces.&amp;rdquo; said Di Vincenzo. Having  twice completed the New York Marathon, returned a medal winning performance in  cycling&amp;rsquo;s Etape du Tour and, as a junior, represented his country at swimming,  Di Vincenzo is no stranger to the demands of&amp;nbsp;  the sport and believes he is eminently placed to stage premier events  that will become the benchmark for a new generation of triathlons. &amp;nbsp;
Heading Di Vincenzo&amp;rsquo;s team will be Operations Manager, Sammy  Chung, another ex Royal Marine who served for 16 years in the Physical Training  Branch where he coached endurance athletes, most notably the Marines Marathon  Canoe Squad. Entrusted with organising all the sporting events on the force&amp;rsquo;s  domestic and tours of duty calendar, Sammy is relishing putting his vast wealth  of knowledge to use in the civilian world. &amp;ldquo;As a long distance runner and  competitor in enduro events like the 125 mile Classic Canoe Marathon, I&amp;rsquo;m  massively excited about playing a key role in all the events we&amp;rsquo;re staging and  I&amp;rsquo;m really looking forward to seeing the look of satisfaction on peoples faces  when they&amp;rsquo;ve experienced what we&amp;rsquo;ve given them.&amp;rdquo; he said. Technical input for  the new breed of events will come from Steve Hockings&amp;ndash;Thompson, who lives in  Exmouth, home of Di Vincenzo&amp;rsquo;s event management company M.I.G. A 2007 Tri-UK team member, he has literally done it all in his more than a dozen years in the  top echelons of the sport. From representing Great   Britain in the Long Course World Championships to  completing Ironman events in the U.S.A. and being a regional title holder, there are few who could bring more specialist expertise to the  organisational side of the sport. &amp;ldquo;As competitors we&amp;rsquo;ve all suffered at the  hands of incompetent organisers and seen months of hard training go down the  tube because, on the day, things fell apart. It won&amp;rsquo;t be like that in any of  our events because we&amp;rsquo;re going to work doubly hard to make sure they&amp;rsquo;re the  best run triathlons anywhere.&amp;rdquo; said the Royal Marine and Lifeboat coxswain.
Supporting the management trio will be a well balanced team  of dedicated specialists with practical experience of involvement in every  major U.K.  triathlon, as well as prestigious cycling events such as the Tour de France and  Tour of Britain. With the impressive line-up Di Vincenzo has assembled, the domestic  triathlon scene is about to enjoy some of its most memorable and enjoyable  events ever.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stockton Triathlon]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3240.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[With a dynamic new organising team taking responsibility for staging this year&rsquo;s Stockton Triathlon on July 13th, the event now looks set to enjoy a standard of promotion not previously seen in the North East. Devon-based events management company, MIG, aim to bring military precision to the three discipline sport, promising top quality elements for competitors and exciting entertainment for spectators. Managing Director and the event&#039;s promoter, Marcus Di Vincenzo, and Operations Manager, Sammy Chung, are both time-served Royal Marine Physical Training Instructors who share a wealth of organisational experience and a passion for athletic pursuits. Di Vincenzo, a former England international swimming squad member, has twice competed in the New York Marathon and cycling&rsquo;s classic endurance challenge, the Etape du Tour, while Chung has completed the double marathon from Exmouth to Poole and survived the 125 mile Devises to Westminster canoe race. &ldquo;Sammy ran all the Marines&rsquo; sporting events to such a high standard, both here in the UK and when we were deployed overseas, that when it came to choosing someone to lead the operations team for the Stockton Triathlon he was by far and away  MIG&rsquo;s first choice&rdquo; said Di Vincenzo.

Advising Chung on the competitors&rsquo; requirements, and special aspects of this rapidly expanding leisure activity, will be Technical Director, Steve Hockings-Thompson, a participant for more than a dozen years in some of the sports&rsquo; premier challenges. The former GB squad, Tri Team UK and Royal Marines team member numbers the Long Course World Championships in Nice, and the Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Clearwater, USA among the many endurance events he has successfully completed.  Supporting the MIG trio, on July 13th, will be traffic management specialists, paramedics, stewards and an army of marshals all skilled in delivering user-friendly events and keen to see the Stockton Triathlon take its place in the upper echelon of the UK&rsquo;s annual fixtures list.

While a complete infrastructure make-over from last year&rsquo;s promotion is promised, the main elements of the competitions themselves remain unchanged. Based around the emblematic Tees River, the swimming elements take place in controlled waters near the Four Seasons Canoe Centre close to the Tees Barrage, with the bike routes following closed tarmac roads to Newport Bridge via Stockton. The running sections will be around the picturesque network of paths beside the river, finishing along its beautiful grassy banks. Both courses are relatively flat, which should lead to some super-fast performances from the elite contenders.  Tim Ashelford, a 43 year-old veteran from Ilkley, competing for the Leeds Bradford Tri Club, was quickest in the main event last year, clocking a little over two hours for the 50.75km course, while first of the ladies home was Melanie Hayward, of the Barracuda club, who was just ten minutes behind. Spoils in the supporting 25.4km race went to Jonathan Brownlee, the only junior in the field, whose 56 minute effort saw him open a huge gap on his more experienced rivals. The two challenges will again be on offer, the Standard distance, used in Olympic competition, of 1,500m swim, 40km ride and 10km run and the Sprint event of 400m swim 20km ride and 5km run. Both can be tackled by individuals of all abilities or teams of three, with each member contesting their chosen element. The relay events are a fantastic opportunity for those who have the capability to complete one of the elements to get friends to join them either as a fund raiser for their favourite cause or simply for the satisfaction of experiencing the thrill of the occasion.  For further details, or to enter on-line visit: www.stocktontriathlon.com
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Birmingham Triathlon - 24th August 2008]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3239.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Birmingham Triathlon returns for its second edition on the weekend of the 24th August 2008 with a dynamic new promoter at the helm. Marcus Di Vincenzo is the senior director with Devon-based events management company MIG and he is on a mission to dramatically improve the quality of the event. Following its hesitant beginnings last year, Di Vincenzo is determined to now place the event in the very top echelon of this rapidly expanding international sport by introducing an organisational style based on military precision and exacting standards. &ldquo;Having evaluated the outcomes of the inaugural event, we&rsquo;ve basically decided to re-launch it as a major challenge to the market leaders and our aim is to quickly grow the Birmingham Triathlon so that it stands comfortably alongside the promotions in London and Windsor&rdquo; said the former Special Forces Royal Marine Sergeant.

The Birmingham City Council supported event will again be staged at the NEC, where Pendigo Lake will provide the spectacular backdrop for the swim section, which is ideal for competitors and, with its grassy banks, is a natural theatre for spectators. New cycling and running elements will follow smooth traffic free roads and paths totally within the exhibition centre&rsquo;s boundaries, which should lead to very fast performances. &ldquo;There were some teething troubles with the bike ride course last year, which caused a few minor glitches, but we&rsquo;ve identified the problem and are now ultra confident of providing a faultless event&rdquo; said MIG&rsquo;s Operations Manager Sammy Chung, another ex Royal Marine with a history of staging major sporting challenges. &ldquo;Make no mistake, our promotion is going to be awesome and it will put Birmingham right in the forefront of a whole new generation of triathlons&rdquo; he added.
                                                                               
To ensure the event meets the expectations of novice and senior elite tri-athletes alike, MIG have engaged the services of Steve Hockings-Thompson to act as Technical Director. Hockings-Thompson has spent more than a dozen years competing in major triathlons, at home and abroad, including the Ironman 70.3 Worlds in the USA and the Long Course Worlds in Nice. Having raced at every distance, represented GB, been part of the Tri-UK and Royal Marine&#039;s Teams, as well as picking up titles along the way, there is little he does not know about the needs of competitors when they are under pressure. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m on board to make sure every detail that helps participants have a safe, smooth and satisfying experience is provided. From the gradual beach entry into the lake at the start, through the swift transition to the road cycling section and on to the final pathways run for home, we will provide an infrastructure which will allow the field to concentrate on producing their best effort, without having to worry about heading in the right direction&rdquo; said Hockings-Thompson who, when he&rsquo;s not racing, is deputy coxswain of the Exmouth Lifeboat.

With options of competing in Sprint or Standard distances, the event is open to adults, youths and juniors, of all abilities, who can enter as individuals or as a relay team, with each member covering one of the three disciplines. Mike Cornes was the first senior home in last year&rsquo;s main event and his time of just over 1hr 50min will be the target to beat this time, while Ross Payne took the honours over the shorter distance, coming home in a little over 62 minutes.

&ldquo;We&rsquo;re expecting a big increase in entries this year and are pulling out all the stops to make it a great attraction for all the family.  Quite simply we&rsquo;re aiming to make the Birmingham event the undisputed home of triathlon in the Midlands&rdquo; said  DiVincenzo. For further detailed information or to enter the event on-line visit: www.birminghamtriathlon.com]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Warwick Triathlon]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3238.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[As the date of the Warwick Triathlon approaches, excitement is mounting with the expectation that ultra fast times are highly likely on the relatively flat and well surfaced courses. Based at Warwick School, the three-discipline sporting challenges boast an opening element in the 25m heated pool, followed by a cycling section which has only minor inclines and a final run for home on firm and level grass playing fields. Being held on Sunday 4th May, the organisers anticipate only light traffic on the nearby industrial estate, where temporary calming measures will be in place to alleviate any problems for the riders.

Senior entries already received for the main event include Sutton Coldfield&rsquo;s husband and wife duo Nick and Jackie Spargo, while 17 year old Simon Thatcher, from Bicester, whose father is also competing, heads the list of contenders in the novice category. Mother and daughter Brenda and Kimberley Wykes, of Redditch, head a strong female contingent, which represents over a quarter of the field and 58 year-old John Croucher leads a small band of super veterans who will be competing for a place on the podium. While the majority of places have so far been filled by those from the Midlands, there is a fair sprinkling of triathletes from London, the Home Counties and beyond who are being attracted to Warwick by the prospect of recording personal best times for the sprint event, which comprises a 400m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run.

Places are still being accepted, on a first-come-first-served basis, and a very limited number may remain to be claimed on the day itself. For further details and to enter on-line now visit www.warwicktriathlon.com]]></description></item></channel></rss>