After competing at the Paralympic Games triathlon in Rio, Clare Cunningham retired from Elite competition, but not from triathlon. The Outlaw Half awaits!
Always honest. Always genuine. Always compelling viewing.
Duracell Bunny Lucy Gossage talks emotionally about what will be inspiring her in Puerto Del Carmen on Saturday when she attempts to win a second title at IRONMAN Lanzarote.
As she told me at the end of last year, don’t write me off yet.
A chat with Great Britain’s Olympic Silver medal winner, Jonathan Brownlee, as he returns to the UK after his “crash and carry” in Yokohama on Saturday…
At the recent London Marathon Expo we managed to grab some time with Olivier Bernhard, the co-founder of On Running (www.on-running.com).
A multisport legend in his own right, with eight wins at the Powerman Zofingen Duathlon in Switzerland, Olivier co-founded On Running in 2010, the brand that has become known for its ‘Run on clouds’ tagline, and its CloudTech outsole.
We spoke to Olivier about the long process by which Javier Gomez joined On as a sponsored athlete, and get a closer look at their new flagship Cloudflash shoe.
From one race at Hever Castle in 2009, the Castle Triathlon Series (www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk), has developed into one of the biggest names in the UK Triathlon events market, with several races all over the country – and now in Ireland and France too.
Last week they hosted the second Pop-Up City Triathlon in the financial district of Canary Wharf (full report below), and we took a visit to check out the action – and also to catch-up with founder, Brian Adcock, to talk about that event, the growth development of the Castle Series and the state of the events industry generally.
We also found out that we may well be seeing a new event in Scotland in 2018… watch and listen to the interview for more details on that one.
Hundreds of city workers sweated it out as they competed against banking rivals in Montgomery Square, Canary Wharf last week (24-27 April) in a staged event, which included 10 tonnes of water in an endless pool. The ‘Pop-Up City Triathlon is organised by Castle Triathlon Series in partnership with Novotel London Canary Wharf, Macmillan Cancer Support and KPMG, creating a huge triathlon buzz with corporates.
Lets Do This, the endurance sports listings website, took the winning slot on the competitive leader board covering an impressive distance of 4595m as their team swam for three minutes in an endless pool, cycled for four minutes on a cycle ergometer and ran for three minutes on a treadmill.
The event saw the top three teams battle for the winning spot in a Grand Final that was exceptionally close. See the full results here.
There was an impressive selection of teams taking part in the event including last year’s winner Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds, Barclays and many more. The teams were made up of three individuals, competing in one discipline each and representing the same company.
Nick Tyler, who led the team from Adelphi Capital (asset investment managers) to third place, said “Adelphi Capital were delighted to enter a team into this year’s Pop Up City Triathlon and to beat some very large City organisations to finish third in the Grand Final. We are very proud of our team of Gemma Hearn, Emmanuel Renard and Doug Bendle and will definitely be back next year.”
Lets Do This received a winning trophy, a £1,000 charity gift which they have donated to Macmillan Cancer Support, and each team member will also receive many more prizes including free races, massage, training plans and kit.
Three highest recorded distances:
Race Director, Brian Adcock comments: “The event was hailed a huge success from all those taking part, spectators and partners. We successfully transported triathlon to the door-step of the corporates offices and celebrated the sport.”
The Castle Triathlon Series offer the opportunity for companies to have their own bespoke wave at their six-triathlon festivals hosted at iconic castles and stunning grounds. They also offer a hospitality tent with delectable food and drink for company members for both pre- and post-race refreshment. This year will see BBC Worldwide and the Big Four Accountancy Firms embracing the Hever Castle Triathlon for a corporate triathlon event.
At just 32 years of age, Jonathan Riall has already successfully lead the British team to the debut of triathlon at the Paralympic Games.
The Head Coach of the British Paratriathlon Team, Jonny was been part of that journey since the beginning, working for British Triathlon since leaving University and soon after that becoming the guiding light for Paratriathlon in Great Britain.
His often unseen contribution to the sport in this country is huge, but was recognised this week when he was announced at the winner of the Jane Tomlinson Award for Outstanding Contribution to Triathlon in the annual 220 Awards.
World Champion in 2014 and 2015. European Champion for the last four years. Paralympic Games Silver medallist in 2016. Lauren Steadman is one of the headline names in British Paratriathlon racing. Just this week she was announced as the Women’s Paratriathlete of the Year in the annual 220 Awards.
I spoke to Lauren in central London on Thursday, where she was taking part in a launch event for the new Garmin Forerunner 935.
While she is targeting future success in triathlon, she also has another big target to achieve this year…
Caroline Livesey has been our ‘Brit Abroad’ for IRONMAN Texas, which saw some very speedy racing take place on Saturday in The Woodlands. You can see our round-up on the race HERE.
Having talked us through her preparations ahead of the event (see links below if you missed them), it is now time for Caroline to check-in and tell us how it all went from her perspective. Which, was rather well!
Big thanks to Caroline for providing us with her insight for this event and to husband Mark for sorting out all of the video content!
(Previous IRONMAN Texas updates from Caroline: PART ONE | PART TWO)
You can read the extended race report from Saturday’s Gloria Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria HERE – which saw a fantastic finish in the women’s Pro race.
The BMC-Etixx Pro Triathlon team member talks, post-race, about her experience in Gran Canaria.
Thanks to James Mitchell (www.jamesmitchell.eu) for the images and video.
What happens when one of the world’s best Age-Group athletes is hit by cancer, chemotherapy and major surgery? That is exactly what happened to Gill Fullen
Caroline Livesey has agreed to be our ‘Brit Abroad’ for this weekend’s IRONMAN Texas, which also hosts the North American Championship event (meaning more prize money, more Kona points… and thus a top quality entry). We’ve also had a pre-race chat with Will Clarke.
Already this year we’ve followed Kimberly Morrison at IRONMAN 70.3 Dubai and Nikki Bartlett at IRONMAN South Africa, hoping to bring you a bit closer to the ‘inside track’ on how Britain’s best are preparing to race on the world stage.
In this first video update, Caroline looks back on some significant changes made over the winter to her own training and work environment, what motivates her to train and race as a professional and what she has been up to in the first few days of her time in The Woodlands.
More to come from Caroline later this week.
Could the British iron-distance record – broken twice in 2016 – be under threat this weekend at IRONMAN Texas? We chat to Sub-8 man, Will Clarke
Earlier in the year at the Triathlon Show: London (www.triathlonshowlondon.co.uk), one of the exhibitors was a relatively new race based in Greece, the Syros Triathlon (www.syrostriathlon.gr/en). We spoke to Anna from the organising team about what the event is Syros has to offer.
Taking place from 15th to 18th June this year, the second edition of this event will host Sprint and Olympic distance events, kids triathlons, open water swimming races, 5km and 10km runs… and an obstacle swimming challenge (more on that below!).
With a wide range of independent events taking place now within Europe, alongside the more commonly attended IRONMAN and Challenge Family series races, if you are looking for an alternative to combine sport with a holiday, then perhaps the Syros Triathlon would be a great option for you. The full 2017 event schedule can be found HERE.
There is a British connection too; British Pro athlete Alice Hector was the winner of the Syros Triathlon on its debut, and highly recommends the experience:
“Syros Triathlon is a real ‘destination’ race. It’s a small but perfectly-maintained Greek island three hours ferry ride from Athens. It sounds like a lot of travel, but the ferries are massive and actually very relaxing! Once you arrive, the town is immaculate: you walk on marble pavements, eat the freshest food and are surrounded by crystal water. You can cycle around the island easily in an hour, taking in its several secluded beaches and quiet back roads.
“The town shuts down for the race and it’s a full weekend of festivities, with children’s races, motivational and educational speakers, and a fantastic party-style presentation.
“Well worth a visit, and making a holiday out of it too!”
After starting 2017 in stunning style at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside last weekend, we spoke to IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Holly Lawrence
The Giant Store St. Paul’s (www.giant-stpauls.co.uk), recently hosted a series of five triathlon special evenings from January through to March, which we’ve been covering here on Tri247. The final event of the series, and perhaps the best attended of all, was a Women in Triathlon special, held on Thursday 16th March.
Here we provide the full length video of the excellent panel discussion from the evening, which covered a wide range of topics, including fears about getting in to triathlon, experiences, gaining confidence and training tips.
The event was superbly hosted by Helen Murray (one of the voices of the Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast). We even had a live link in store to bring in input from Australia!
A fantastic panel of athletes had been pulled together, from a Commonwealth Games medal winner, Kona Age-Group Champion, Britain’s oldest female Ironman finisher and more, to provide a wide topic of conversation and inputs from all perspectives. You can follow them all on Twitter via these links:
We are a great believer if you are going to do something you should do it with passion, and for Mary Wittenberg, the Global CEO of Virgin Sport (https://uk.virginsport.com), her passion has been running.
Starting off as a competitive marathon runner, then on to a successful career in Law, a return to sport saw her lead the New York Road Runners for 17 years. As well as being the first female Race Director of a major international marathon she also set up the World Marathon Majors Series.
We were fortunate to chat with Mary in London this week, a month before her latest venture with the Festival of Fitness, which will be held in Hackney on the 30th April. Paul Shanley caught up with Mary to find out more about her early career and what made her join Virgin Sport.
There is still time to enter the Hackney Festival of Fitness, which features the Hackney Half Marathon, at https://uk.virginsport.com/event/hackney-2017
You can find Mary and Virgin Sport on Twitter on these links:
Joe Skipper is full of confidence ahead of Sunday’s IRONMAN South Africa: “Do they think they can beat me, and if so, how are they going to do it?”
Check out this great interview and video profile, reflecting on the ’20 Year Project’ of Jodie Cunnama, successful swimmer, runner and triathlete
Next month, Great Britain’s Maurice Young ill be racing the European Duathlon Championships – at the age of 83. Read how (and why) he does it!
