Jon M reports....
Tewkesbury Athletic club members were out in force over the weekend…
Phillip Howells was by far the most active. On Thursday, he was joined by Rob Jordan in Gloucester for the LloydsTSB Fitness 4. Racing over a 4 mile course Howells clocked a personal best time of 24.41 - a smashing time for the V55+ ultra distance specialist. Improving Jordan ran in just behind to record 27.41
21st Phillip Howells - 24.41
26th Rob Jordan - 27.41
On the Saturday Howells set off in the “Caerphilly Summits Challenge”, an off-road run over an infamous hilly 22 miles. After an event as tough as that, you would think that Sunday could only be a day of rest? Not for Howells, as the Ledbury based multi-distance, multi-sport athlete raced in a demanding 100 mile cycle time-trial. Despite puncturing, a time of 5.45hrs was all it took for the veteran star to reach the century.
Vice-club captain Jason Draper also travelled west. The runner took on the Tenbury Wells Round Table 10km, set over a picturesque course through Herefordshire & Worcestershire. Fast times were off the menu as the runners were reduced to walking up one particular steep section after 5km. Draper recorded a time of 40.55 mins to finish 19th from a field of 178.
Barry O’Driscoll & Jon Mansfield combined swimming, cycling and running when they both took part in the Wychavon triathlon. The popular Worcestershire event was a sell-out with all 200 places taken. O’Driscoll enjoyed his second attempt over the Droitwich course that included a 400m pool swim, 20km cycle and a 5km run. The regular swimmer performed with ease in the water before he set-off on his most challenging discipline. The bike course is notoriously difficult to navigate, nevertheless, the cycling novice pushed pedals well enough to time under 44 mins for the 20km distance. The rest was easy as the runner displayed expertise while gaining dozens of places up the finishing order. Team-mate Jon Mansfield started the event for the 5th time. Mansfield also had a trouble free race with only his run time lacking to finish 5th overall.
5th Jon Mansfield 6.47 - 33.13 - 21.30 - 1:01.30
89th Baz O’Driscoll 7.58 - 43.42 - 24.40 - 1:16.15
And finally, Clive Sentance headed off east to race the "Hooky 6" around the picturesque Oxfordshire countryside. This course has the potential for some good times, but a fastish start was perhaps not the wisest choice as temperatures rose. The time of 37:39 was not quite good enough for a top 20 finish, but as a consolation there was a decent T shirt and a drinks bottle in place of the usual medal.