With 401 locations nationwide, Parkrun has become a household name and one of grassroots sports’ success stories. Now tri could have its very own free companion to the 5km phenomenon with Intotri
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Intotri began life in 2015 and has since hosted six free events over junior, super sprint and sprint distances at the Elmbridge Xcel Centre in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, attracting nearly 400 athletes to date. Like Parkrun, the volunteer-run scheme sees participants create an online account before they can sign up for monthly Short (200m swim/10km bike/2.5km run), Long (400m/20km/5km) and Junior events in the summer. Intotri also provide free aquathlon events, and swim and run technique classes in the winter.
“The idea is to grow Intotri into the Parkrun of the tri world, providing communities all over the UK with opportunities to tri for free,” the co-founder Michael Burkert told 220. “So any bike will do, we use pools instead of OW swims, and participants can use the changing rooms instead of the transition zone.”
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Burkert is also upbeat about any expansion. “We’ve found local authorities generally supportive. We’re in advanced discussions with several leisure centre providers, and have secured the necessary risk sign-offs from local councils. The key is to find tri enthusiasts to run the events for us.” Head to www.intotri.com for more.
Scientists from the Center for Brain Health Research at The University of Texas have found aerobic exercise has been found to improve memory
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For the study 36 sedentary adults ages 56-75 years were randomly put into either a cognitive training or a physical training group. They then followed a training programme for 12 weeks while the scientists monitored the results of their brain activity.
They found that aerobic exercise group showed increases in immediate and delayed memory performance that were not seen in the cognitive training group. The randomised trial is the first to compare cerebral blood flow and cerebrovascular reactivity data obtained via MRI.
“Many adults without dementia experience slow, continuous and significant age-related changes in the brain, specifically in the areas of memory and executive function, such as planning and problem-solving,” said Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, study lead author, founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth, and Dee Wyly Distinguished University Professor. “We can lose 1-2 percent in global brain blood flow every decade, starting in our 20s. To see almost an 8 percent increase in brain blood flow in the cognitive training group may be seen as regaining decades of brain health since blood flow is linked to neural health.”
Those who participated in cognitive training demonstrated positive changes in executive brain function as well as a 7.9 percent increase in global brain flow compared to study counterparts who participated in an aerobic exercise program.
Each group took part in training three hours per week over 12 weeks. Neurocognitive, physiological, and MRI data were taken before, during and after training. The cognitive group received Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART), a manualised brain training developed at the Center for BrainHealth. The physical training group completed three, 60-minute sessions per week that included five minutes of warmup and cool down with 50 minutes of either walking on a treadmill or cycling on a stationary bike while maintaining 50-75 percent of maximum heart rate.
“Most people tell me that they want a better memory and notice memory changes as they get older,” said Dr. Mark D’Esposito, study co-author and professor of neuroscience and psychology, and director of the Henry H. Wheeler Jr. Brain Imaging Center at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.
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“While memory is important, executive functions such as decision-making and the ability to synthesise information are equally, if not more so, but we often take them for granted. The takeaway: aerobic activity and reasoning training are both valuable tools that give your brain a boost in different ways.”
Fancy a triathlon in Slovakia? Slovakia’s Oravaman triathlon, one of the most beautiful triathlons in Central Europe, is 133km race that includes a 90km bike leg and a 21 km run with a total 3300m elevation…
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Check out the gallery above and start booking your place for 2017 now…
Viewers can enjoy an exclusive, inside look at the most gruelling long distance races on the planet, as the world’s best triathletes are pushed to their limits by a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile ride and 26.2-mile run, all contested in a variety of demanding conditions and altitudes.
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Qualifying races for the 2016 Ironman World Championship span five continents around the world, and fans should tune in to BIKE’s coverage of the series to enjoy action from the following events:
22 July, 8.30pm – Ironman South American Championship (Florianópolis, Brazil)
Triathlon fans can look forward to even more exciting Ironman World Championship coverage on BIKE, as the channel will also showcase highlights from the upcoming 2017 and 2018 seasons of the event.
The paratriathletes hoping to bring back golds include defending world champion, Lauren Steadman. Steadman, who has been unbeaten for more than two years, but will face fierce competition from up-and-coming Grace Norman, USA, was second to her last year and could challenge her in the PT4 event.
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The line up include Britain’s four current European Champions, Alison Patrick (PT5), Andy Lewis (PT2), Lizzie Tench (PT1) and Steadman are all lining up with good opportunities to add to their medal tallies.
Four golds for GB’s paratriathletes in Lisbon
Head Coach, Jonathon Riall, said: “This is an opportunity for Rio bound athletes to practice their race processes and race hard seven weeks out from the games. It’s also an opportunity for staff to reinforce their games time roles.
“It’s a mixed bag in terms of competition, but that’s understandable at this stage, and we’ll focus on our own performances to get us on track for Rio.”
GB paratri team announced for Rio Paralympics
As well as Britain’s Paralympic athletes competing, the British team features athletes hoping to make their mark in the future. “We see this as an opportunity to kick start our 2020 cycle by integrating a new and exciting group of athletes to the upper level of the British squad and international competition.”
Athletes including Kerry Large, Mark Conway and Bret Crossley will compete in the open waves alongside their more experienced team mates.
Paratriathlon: the ultimate guide
In pictures: GB paratriathletes in training ahead of Rio
Great Britain team; Rotterdam ITU Paratriathlon World Championships; 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run; Sunday 24 July:
A week after winning Challenge Roth and posting the third fastest Iron-distance time ever the Swiss triathlete Daniela Ryf wins Ironman Switzerland in 8:51:50, a new course record.
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“My strategy was to go easy,” said Ryf after the race, “but Celine [Schaerer ] was going so good in the swim, I just had to follow. On the bike, I decided to go hard then, and on the run you can’t go easy when there are so many people.”
Schaerer, her Swiss compatriot, had the best swim split in 53:14 two seconds ahead of Ryf, but the reigning Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champion then hammered away on the bike.
Thanks to the best bike split by far, Ryf came off the bike with a lead of 21 minutes over Emma Bilham (SUI).
“My body was working very good today,” said Ryf.
She smashed the race record in 8:51:50 by more than 8 minutes taking an impressive win.
Behind the champion, Bilham added a great result to her CV after being runner-up at the Ironman France in June.
“I wasn’t chasing the Ironman World Champion today,” said Bilham with a smile, “I think she was already under the shower when I crossed the line. Daniela is in a different league.”
In the men’s the 36-year old race legend Ronnie Schildknecht celebrated his ninth win in 8:17:04 after a strong bike and run leg, which saw him overtake his rivals shortly before the half marathon mark and never gave it away again.
“I realised my win with two kilometres to go, and I was full of emotions,” said Schildknecht .”It’s a sensational moment, it is absolutely not normal for me to win here even if people may think that. This is a little Ironman world championship for me.”
Results
Top 5 men
1
Ronnie Schildknecht
SUI
00:55:39
04:31:01
02:47:07
08:17:04
2
Timo Bracht
GER
00:53:17
04:33:02
02:54:34
08:24:13
3
Jan van Van Berkel
SUI
00:52:56
04:33:37
02:59:23
08:29:12
4
Roman Deisenhofer
GER
00:55:41
04:26:15
03:07:08
08:32:58
5
David Plese
SLO
00:55:53
04:44:12
02:52:46
08:36:50
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Top 5 Women
1
Daniela Ryf
SUI
00:53:16
04:46:30
03:07:31
08:51:50
2
Emma Bilham
SUI
00:57:41
05:03:58
03:16:36
09:21:48
3
Michaela Herlbauer
AUT
01:01:05
05:07:02
03:15:37
09:28:12
4
Celine Schärer
SUI
00:53:14
05:13:07
03:24:57
09:35:26
5
Ariane Monticeli
BRA
01:03:58
05:11:16
03:20:05
09:40:07
Following Sunday’s news that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will leave it up to each of the individual international sporting federations on whether to allow Russian athletes to compete in their sports at the Olympic Games, the International Triathlon Union have decided to allow Russian athletes to compete in the triathlon races on 18 and 20 August.
In a statement the governing body said: “The ITU has carefully examined the information delivered by WADA and the McLaren report. Additionally, ITU has thoroughly reviewed the criteria set forth by the IOC on Sunday for Russian athletes to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“None of the six Russian triathletes (three men, three women) that have qualified for 2016 Olympics are included in the McLaren report, nor have any of them served suspensions or bans for failed doping tests. Additionally, they have all been tested outside of Russia.
“Therefore, ITU will recommend to the IOC that these six athletes be permitted to compete in Rio next month. ITU remains steadfast in our commitment to providing athletes a fair competition. We will continue to closely follow the updates from the McLaren report, as well as recommendations from WADA and the IOC on best practices in the fight against doping.”
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There are six qualification spots for the Russian team, with triathletes likely to be selected include Dmitry Polyanskiy, Igor Polyanskiy and Alexander Bryukhankov on the men’s side for the 18 August event. In the female race, Alexandra Razarenova, Anastasia Abrosimova and Mariya Shorets are all potential candidates to be on the women’s start line on 20 August.
Do you agree with this decision? Place your vote in our poll here
7 hours, 35 minutes and 39 seconds; on Sunday 17 July at Challenge Roth Jan Frodeno made triathlon history by destroying the previous long distance world record. Eclipsing the 2011 mark set by Andreas Raelert by an incredible margin of nearly six minutes, the German triathlete led through nearly the entire 226 km course in a breathtaking performance between him and the clock. Adding the world record to his 2008 Olympic gold medal and 2015 World Championship titles at both the short and long distances, the 34-year-old Frodeno asserted his dominance over the sport of triathlon.
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“I am incredibly happy that I got the record and just thankful that I didn’t break”, said Frodeno after the race, “but there wasn’t any other option except to risk it all and give everything I had. The time should hold for the next two or three years.”
#Project740: Take a Look Behind the Scenes of Frodeno’s World Record Performance
The Fastest Bike
Finishing the swim in first place in a time of 45:22, Frodeno quickly went to work defending his reputation as pre-race favourite and laid the foundation for his incredible wire-to-wire victory. During the bike ride, the Hawaii champion demonstrated his superiority with a 4:08:07 clocking that would remain the fastest bike split of the day. The deal was sealed in the final leg as Frodeno ran the marathon in a blistering 2:39:18 which brought him in a staggering 20 minutes ahead of the second place finisher. “The last kilometre of the marathon the pain was unbelievable, but the feeling at the finish of getting the world record was worth it.”
In an assault on a world record every second counts, so the engineers at Canyon wanted to make sure that Frodeno’s Speedmax CF SLX was up to the challenge. The handlebars were designed specifically for this race to place the World Champion in an extra aerodynamic position that would encourage him to shave seconds. A new hydration system was also created specifically to the triathlete’s preferences as well as custom tires which were made to have the least possible amount of rolling resistance and best possible aerodynamics in side winds. Every piece of the setup, from Frodeno’s position on the bike to his hydration system, helmet and speed suit, were all newly optimised through rigorous wind tunnel testing.
An energy drink created from ketones, rather than carbs or fat, improved performance by 2% when tested on elite cyclists, say scientists. The drink allowed the cyclists to add up to 400 metres of distance (2% increase) to their workouts.
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The supplement, which will be commercially available within the year, works by temporarily switching the primary source of cellular energy from glucose or fat to ketones — molecules derived from fat that are known to be elevated in people consuming a low-carb, Atkins-like diet.
In a study of 39 cyclists, including some former Olympians, they found that the muscles use ketones when provided in the diet, and that this uptake increased in proportion to the intensity of exercise.
In one experiment, the researchers gave the cyclists ‘energy drinks,’ each containing a different source of fuel — carbohydrates, fats, or ketones — and found that cyclists who had the ketone drink had the lowest levels of lactate, a byproduct of the body’s breakdown of glucose, which is often associated with muscular stress, or the achy, tired feeling felt after a strenuous workout. The observation could help explain why the high-performing cyclists on the ketone drink travelled an average of 400 metres farther over a half hour than those consuming the carbohydrate or fat drink.
“It’s really interesting; with a single drink of nutritional ketone you can do the same exercise with completely different metabolism,” says study author Dr. Pete Cox from the University of Oxford. “Given the findings of this study, which challenges our fundamental understanding of human physiology, it will be tempting for many to focus on pursuing the endurance and sport-related avenues, but it would be a great shame if the metabolic basis of this work was not further explored.”
Ketosis is a way for humans to deal with starvation. Ketones are made in the liver from mobilised body fat, so when the body doesn’t get enough fuel from food, internal fat stores are broken down to make ketones that feed the brain. Normal metabolism is driven by the burning of carbs and fat obtained in a balanced diet.
“The ketone itself is inhibiting glycolysis, so that with the same exercise you’re preserving glycogen and producing much less lactic acid — this hasn’t been seen before,” University of Oxford biochemist Professor Kieran Clarke says. “What may be happening is if you are doing something that isn’t a sprint, like going on a 26-mile run, you won’t hit the wall as quickly. Not only that, but it stops you from aching afterwards.”
While a good fit for endurance athletes, the ketone drink is unlikely to help sprinters and those whose exercise is primarily anaerobic, as the body needs oxygen to burn ketones. A University of Oxford spinout company, T?S® Ltd, will now develop and commercialise the ketone drink and aim to have the ketone food available for purchase by the end of the year.
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Aquabike combines long distance swimming and biking, and as the running stage is eliminated, great for people with joint problems.
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“The multisport world continues to grow at an incredible rate,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. “Offering multisport races like Aquabike promotes the growth of triathlon worldwide, as it makes the sport accessible to everyone of all ages and abilities no matter where they are.”
“We are thrilled to be adding Aquabike World Championships to the docket at ITU Multisport World Championships in Penticton next August. The addition of aquabike means the Multisport World Championships is truly complete, with five world championship events,” said race executive director Michael Brown.
Aquabike joins duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon, and long distance triathlon at the champs. The race will see athletes swim 3km followed by 120 km bike, mirroring the length of the Long Distance Triathlon. The finish line will be right after the second transition, with athletes racking their bikes at a second transition, and then sprinting to cross the finish line.
The 10-day Multisport World Championships is expected to see more than 7,000 age groupers race in the heart of the city, with the epicentre being along the beachfront of Okanagan Lake and Okanagan Lake Park. The spectator friendly courses will feature a variety of terrain and include some of the area’s many vistas, wineries and landmarks, as well as the downtown area.
All participants and visitors will enjoy a full week of triathlon action, as well as concerts, street dance, race expo, parade of nations, kids races and awards presentations.
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For more information on ITU Multisport World Championship Festival here, #Penticton2017