Barcelona Ironman is no match for Torbay Triathlete

The village of Calella in the Barcelona-Maresme region, on Spain’s eastern coastline by the Mediterranean Sea, hosts the most popular end of season race in Europe, and Torbay Triathlon Club was right in the mix. 

A sea swim in the bay, a fast bike course and a flat run, wrapped up in Spanish sunshine with a finish line on the beach. Ironman distances are 2.4mile swim / 112mile bike / 26.2 mile run. V45 Ryan Rudge had a fantastic day, completing the course in a super quick time of 10hrs 18mins 07secs. 

Matt Giles and Katie Giles conquered the Cardiff Half (again). Making a return to the Welsh Capital, both put in a spirited performance, Katie crossing the line in a very respectable 2:15:03.

Matt had a score to settle, going into Cardiff 2024 with a leg injury and not getting what he wanted. Despite battling a foot injury this time, he put in his first ever sub-90 min half marathon, crossing the line in 1:29:47.

Read more on triathlons in Torbay

Another long-standing local race so well organized by Teignbridge Trotters is the Templer 10, a multi-terrain 10-mile course starting and finishing in the wonderful grounds of Stover School, Newton Abbot.

The course is 90% off road and runners have the pleasure of running through the picturesque Stover Country Park, as well as the fields at Teigngrace, which attracts just under 300 runners.

First back for the club was V55 Jon Parkinson in 1hr 08mins 51secs (22nd) 1st in age category, not far behind was V60 Rich Smith in 1hr 09m ns 41secs (27th), 2nd in age category. Getting some good running form back was V50 Jerry Hocking in a time of 1hr 10mins 44secs (30th), V55 Ian Dabbs continued his good results in 1hr 17mins 52secs (62nd), followed by V50 Simon Johnson 1hr 19mins 33secs (70th).

Next was V65 Peter Hayward 1hr 22mins 46sevs (89th) 1st in age category, V45 Mark Maslin 1hr 23mins 10secs (94th), SL Molly Pimm 1hr 32mins 49secs (153rd) and V55 in his first club race V55 Paul Mitchell 2hrs 22mins 24secs (241st). 

V40 Dave Brown travelled up to Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake and Meetings & Events Venue in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Windsor and Eton, close to the River Thames.

Dave took park in the Duathlon, which included a 5k run / 20k bike / 3k run in 50mph winds and had a successful day, finishing 6th overall and 1st in his age category.

The Torbay Triathlon is a very popular event taking place at Torbay Leisure Centre, and very well organized by Sportiva Events. This year it doubled up as Torbay Tri Club's Championship, the event was a 400m swim /20k bike / 5k run. 

First back and men's club champion was V50 Andrew Longthorpe in 1hr 01mins 45secs, (8th) and 1st in age category, followed by SM Ben Baabii'o La Fleur in 1hr 03mins 46secs (14th) 2nd age category, just behind was V45 Mark Colombini 1hr 03mns 56secs (17th).

Then came the Ladies Club Champion SL Katie Potter in 1hr 09mins 24secs, plus 1st in age category (27th), with V40 Debbie Burman close behind in 1hr  10mins 26secs (29th), 2nd in age category, followed by V40 Chris Martin 1hr 13min 00secs (46th), V60 Cathy Parkinson 1hr 13mins 44secs (49th), 1st in age category, V50 Jo Atkins 1hr 16mins 00secs (58th) 1st in age category, Kate May 1hr 16mns 42secs (62nd), V50 Vivek Kulkarni 1hr 18mins 21secs (72nd), V50 Peter Coish 1hr 22mins 38sevs (91st).

Special mention to V45 David Rippin, who completed his first triathlon event but was two laps short on the bike, plus a big thanks for all the support by club members 

In the super sprint event, a 400m swim /10k /2.5run, V60 Naoko McKinnon had a good day, finishing 10th in 46mins 24secs, 2nd in age category out of 23.