Chirk Triathlon, 27th April 2008

Report by Nina McArthur

A bright morning hailed the start of the Chirk Triathlon with the race entry limit being full since the very beginning of 2007. Over 330 competitors lined up to compete over the Sprint distance of a 400m pool swim, an undulating 24km bike and hilly 5km run. Out of this large field, seven athletes were racing under the prestigious MTC name.

The 400m pool swim was fairly straightforward, especially if you'd been attending Tony's Thursday morning swims where there have been many failed attempts to figure out his schedule of 400m time trials and T20s. I was off at 2.30 by which time the heavens had opened resulting in a steady downpour covering the course and transition area. I was up against some good competition in the swim as my heat included Lee Szymanski and a familiar junior rival of mine from Wigan. A good start and some slick turns meant that I exited in a time of 5.04 (just 6 seconds off my PB!) and ahead of the Wigan athlete. After pulling off my swim hat and sprinting into transition, it was a slick changeover and off onto the bike course where the rain had luckily eased off.

The first section of the course takes you out of transition and requires some good bike handling around some technical mini-roundabouts and bends. Once past this slightly tricky section, it was onto the long undulating out-and back section taking you through the beautiful Ceiriog valley. On the out leg, the course gradually ascends with a few short steeper climbs and descents in places. With hills being my specialty, I pushed on and built up a good cadence managing to maintain a decent speed against a strong headwind. Even so, around 10 minutes into the bike, Paul Hawkins, who had set off in a slightly later heat, came speeding past in his snazzy, aerodynamic helmet, eventually going on to win the race in a time just one second slower than the course record!

Once I'd reached the turnaround point it was a fast, descending route back and with the wind behind you, it was easy to change up through the gears and chase after any athlete you could see in the distance. Towards the end of the 'back' lap, you hit a final ascent that takes you back into Chirk village and the technical section leading to transition. It was at this point that Sam Glover (who set off 3 minutes later) caught me up. I challenged him up the ascent before his confidence on the final roundabouts and the cobbled section showed through and he entered transition five to ten seconds ahead.

After another quick transition, I was off onto the run, hot on Sam's heels. The first 1km plunged us straight into a hill that wasn't ideal with me still having jelly legs after the undulating bike. Another gentle rise took us over a bridge and into the rural country lanes with the remainder of the out 2.5km consisting of several more quite tough ascents and descents.

Over the first 1km, Sam managed to get around a 10 second lead but the hills took their toll and my winter base of cross countries played their part with me taking the lead several metres before the turnaround point. Despite getting a stitch, I managed to push on and gain a lead of 35 seconds ending with a run time of 19.42, just 10 seconds slower than the overall winning female time and with an overall time of 1.07.01.

It was a really well organized race and a definite recommendation of mine for an early season sprint.

MTC achieved some brilliant results with Paul Hawkins (racing for tri central) winning in 57.25, Lee Szymanski in 3rd with an overall time of just under 1.02 and Tim Johns in 5th even with a stitch on the run. Sam Glover achieved 12th position and I was in 17th overall (2nd female), both of us getting £20 for top juniors. Andy Chalmers came 36th in a time of 1.09.10, Matthew Hodgson just behind in 37th with 1.09.17, Paul Savage in 67th with 1.12.34 and finally John Murray in 70th who wins the prize for the most pained facial expression due to his stitch trouble on the run.

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