Always a very popular race – and not just because it features one of Britain’s top racing drivers showing his athletic chops – the Jenson Button Trust Triathlon is moving to Derby this year in a bid to nearly double the capacity.
Advertisement
Previously held at Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire, this year’s event will take place at Markeaton Park in Derby city centre on Sunday 12 July.
It’ll keep the same sprint format as years past, with the preliminary heat consisting of a 200m lake swim, 11km cycle and 2.5km run. The top performers will then go on to the final, 400m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run, with the runners up entering the wooden spoon race.
“We are very excited to be heading to Derby,” said Jenson. “The move allows us to grow the capacity of the triathlon whilst also being very careful that the event doesn’t lose the charm and family atmosphere we have built over the last few years. We have been very impressed by the support and enthusiasm shown by the local council and city of Derby to help us take the event to the next level.”
As with previous years there will be an event village, boosted in size for 2015, post-race party, live music and prizes to be presented personally by Jenson – all contained within a relaxed festival atmosphere.
To get a taste of what’s involved, check out our gallery of last year’s Jenson Button Trust Triathlon, and read this blog by age-grouper and 220 reader Sam Anderson about racing at Luton Hoo.
Tickets are now available from www.jensonbuttontri.com.
The March 2015 issue of your favourite tri mag is on sale now, featuring 20 ways to ignite your outdoor training this spring, advice on pushing your limits across all three disciplines and lots more.
A life in Ironman – we speak to Mirinda Carfrae, the fastest woman in long distance triathlon
220 Triathlon Show 2015 – official eight-page guide
Upgrade your wheels – 10 race sets on test, plus bike pedals and run socks rated
Storck vs Bianchi – which £3k bike is worth the extra spend?
PLUS win a huge £2,575 race package for the London Triathlon
Find 220 Triathlon on sale at newsagents across the UK, and the digital edition can be picked up via the iTunes store, Google Play and Zinio.
Advertisement
Bonus digital content this month includes: highlights of the 2014 Ironman World Champs; this month’s bike from Storck and Bianchi go head to head; coach Joe Beer presents his swim/bike/run tips to take your Ironman racing to the next level.
With just over a month to go until the start of the 2015 World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi, most of the sport’s biggest Olympic distance stars are confirmed for the start pontoon, including top Brits the Brownlee brothers and Jodie Stimpson.
Advertisement
This is the first time the WTS tour stops in Abu Dhabi, and the sprint distance season opener has attracted both 2014 winners Javier Gomez (ESP) and Gwen Jorgensen (USA), and a large British contingent too: Helen Jenkins, Lucy Hall, Vicky Holland, Aaron Harris, Adam Bowden and David McNamee are all on the start list.
There is massive strength in depth too: Mario Mola (ESP), Richard Murray (RSA), Aaron Royle (AUS), Anne Haug (GER), Andrea Hewitt (NZL), Emma Moffatt (AUS) and Nicola Spirig (SUI) are some of the other big names confirmed.
There is however no Non Stanford, Britain’s 2013 WTS champ who’s still out with an injured foot, nor Sarah Groff (USA), who won last year’s WTS Stockholm. Full start lists are available on the ITU website.
Abu Dhabi is the only new stop on the 2015 WTS calendar, while Australia’s Gold Coast returns for the first time since 2009. The dates for London have also been confirmed for 30-31 May:
6-7 March – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 28-29 March – Auckland, New Zealand 11-12 April – Gold Coast, Australia 25-26 April – Cape Town, South Africa 16-17 May – Yokohama, Japan 30-31 May – London, Great Britain 18-19 July – Hamburg, Germany 22-23 August – Stockholm, Sweden 5-6 September – Edmonton, Canada 15-20 September – Chicago, USA
We’ll be covering all the action via a liveblog on the 220 website and on Twitter – join us on 7 March from 3pm local time (11am UK time).
Advertisement
Who do you think will win in Abu Dhabi? Let us know in the comments below!
Are you part of a triathlon club planning to send its top athletes to The Bastion this July? This could be worth your while – there’s £250 cash and an impressive trophy on offer to the club with the first three members past the finishing line.
Advertisement
Taking place at Hever Castle on 12 July and known as one of the toughest long distance triathlons in the UK, the only criterion for entry into this year’s inter club champs is that each club must have a minimum of three entries. The individual times of the fastest three members will then be added together and averaged.
This year’s event has already drawn long distance pro Darren Jenkins, who is also planning to take on all five of this year’s Gauntlet races: Lough Cutra Castle (24 May), Cholmondeley Castle (28 June), Castle Howard (26 July), Château de Chantilly (30 August) and Hever Castle (27 September).
The Bastion was launched last year and won by Fraser Cartmell and Alice Hector, the race takes in two unique swim loops through the River Eden, cycle down country lanes around Ashdown Forest and the High Weald of Kent, and an off-road run passing two castles, streams and over quaint meadow bridges.
To enter this year’s Bastion head to www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk.
Advertisement
Will you be entering this year’s inter club champs? Let us know in the comments!
Ironman has named its overall 2014 All World Athlete Champions for each age-group category, with the US being top-ranked nation with 12 champs, followed by Australia and Canada with four apiece.
Advertisement
The 28 AWA champions come from nine different countries: Germany and Brazil have two AWA champions each, while Britain has just one, along with New Zealand, the Netherlands and Japan.
Caroline Livesey from North Yorkshire is the British athlete who earned top overall spot in the 35-39 category, after coming first in her division at Ironman Texas and Ironman Austria, and third in Kona.
Livesey also won silver at the British Middle Distance Championships in Aberfeldy last summer, and started strongly at Challenge Weymouth before being forced to drop out on the run:
Dropped out at 30k on run @challengetriuk gutted but it was the right decision. Kona too important. Thanks for all support @Huubdesign
— Caroline Livesey (@tri_c_livesey) September 14, 2014
In more good news for British long-distance athletes, the UK came fifth in the Ironman AWA country standings: over 20,000 athletes worldwide accrued enough points last year to earn the designation All World Athlete, with the US again leading the rankings (7,129 athletes), followed by Australia (1,971), Canada (1,196), Germany (1,044) and the UK (946).
For full results and more info on the Ironman Age Group Ranking Program head to www.ironman.com/ranking.
Advertisement
Were you one of Ironman’s 2014 All World Athletes? Let us know in the comments!
Did you race in the London Triathlon last August? How did you get on? We’re collecting stories to share and particularly want to hear any really funny, inspiring or gritty memories!
Advertisement
So whether it was your first triathlon and you scraped through by the skin of your teeth, your fiftieth and a personal best, you out-numptied yourself yet again or raced in memory of a loved one, we want to hear them all.
Please share them in the comments below, tweet us, share on our Facebook page or email us at [email protected].
Advertisement
We can’t wait to hear them all! Check out our galleries one and two to jog your memory…
How do you attract more newcomers into triathlon, when many people like the idea but are put off by the thought of long-course racing and equipment costs?
Advertisement
Sport England is hoping to do just that with its new GO TRI campaign, which aims to make multisport more accessible with shorter distances, low-cost race entry and give people the training and kit advice they need to get started.
The project has been running since last year on a low-key basis, offering training sessions via gyms and health clubs along with a few pilot events, but is now ramping up for 2015 with the aim of attracting around 15,000 new participants to the sport by April 2016.
It plans to do this with scores of small-scale events organised around the country by triathlon clubs, gyms and leisure centres at over 100 venues, with each event costing under £15 to enter.
The big initial push will be done via a weekend of multisport dubbed ‘GO TRI 1000’, taking place on the weekend of 25/26 April at around 36 venues around the country, with the aim of involving at least 1,000 new triathletes – though a spokesperson for Triathlon England tells us the actual number could be well in excess of that.
The intention is to provide dozens of small, informal events nationwide, along a similar model to the hugely successful Parkrun series. Triathlon England will be providing tri clubs, gyms and the like with an ‘event in a box’ containing all the necessary items to run a low-key triathlon, including risk assessment forms, flags, instructions and more. There’s no timing equipment though.
The campaign’s backers are also planning to involve Sport England’s ‘This Girl Can’ campaign which is making such a big impact at the moment, and may even run dedicated #thisgirlcan training sessions and race waves later this year.
With one eye on London 2012’s sporting legacy, Sport England hope that GO TRI will become one of its big success stories and demonstrate that with the right positioning, people can be persuaded to get involved – and hopefully come back for more…
For more information and to find a GO TRI 1000 event near you, head to www.gotri.org.
Advertisement
Do you think GO TRI can get people to tackle their first tri? Let us know in the comments!
Inspired by Sweden’s spectacular OtillO race, the team behind the Celtman have put together a new swim/run event for this September which sends participants across a bunch of beautiful Scottish lochs.
Advertisement
The race is being held in the spectacular South Loch Ness area, with two of the swim sections in Loch Ness itself (no word yet on whether Nessie will be on the water safety team). It started on 26 September at the historic Castle Urquhart and finishes in the shadow of the atmospheric Fort Augustus Abbey.
The race will involve 13 swims in total covering 8km across some very deep and dark water, and 12 runs totalling 53km. The race will be run under OtillO SwimRun rules. Entries for pairs of athletes will open this month on www.swimrunscotland.com.
The black sand beaches of the Albay Riviera – honest that is what it is called – welcomed about 300 racers and over 1,000 spectators last weekend with some neat shore chop. Not quite Maui, but it definitely had some local competitors concerned.
Advertisement
South Africa’s Bradley Weiss was coming off a win at Buffelspoort in South Africa, Ben Allen spent the winter in Australia and looked great and Mauricio Mendez is 19 and always ready. For the women, World Champion Flora Duffy had also started her training in South Africa and Jacqui Slack was with Ben down under.
The question mark was Renata Bucher, last year’s winner in the Philippines, who had suffered a bad ankle sprain and had considered not racing at all. Dimity-Lee Duke was looking quite slim and had been working on her biking skills, Mieko Carey lives in the tropics and was ready to race. Daz Parker was here after working hard with Johnny Depp (actually trying to kill him in the film ‘Out Of The Woods’).
Men’s race
And so things went in the big race. Ben and Mauricio were first out of the water with Flora right with them. Brad was not far behind and quickly took control out on the bike turning in the fastest time of the day a bit over 2mins faster than Allen.
Mendez is fast improving and came into T2 about 30secs behind Ben. His running is no longer a surprise after coming from 13th out of T2 to fifth at the finish on Maui and he dispatched the Aussie and set off after the Springbok. Mo put in a 40 minute 9K and gained almost two minutes, but was still a minute behind Weiss at the finish.
The run is reminiscent of Maui in that the first half is all uphill and the second half all downhill. The difference being Maui’s sand is on a beach and Albay’s is on the way up Mayon volcano.
Women’s race
Flora was first woman out of the water and kept the lead with the fastest bike and fastest run. Indeed our world champ was 5th overall of the individuals bringing to mind Lesley Paterson’s phenomenal 4th here a few years ago.
Jacqui was in great shape and similar to Flora had the second best swim, second fastest bike and third fastest run for the women and a very solid second step on the podium. Poor Mieko Carey was in third coming off the bike but was hurting on the run and Aussie Dimity-Lee Duke passed her for her first podium in an Xterra. She was simply bubbling with joy.
So the expected happened. A few nice surprises to start the year were Dimity looking very strong and young Aussie pro Brodie Gardner with an impressive fourth place. Aya Stevens was back after an injury kept her out in 2014 and while not super-fast, did finish and finish healthy.
Three-time Kona champ Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander (AUS) took his fourth win at Ironman 70.3 Geelong last weekend, holding off young compatriot Sam Applegate despite some hard battling from the latter.
Advertisement
Perfect conditions produced some super-fast swim times: Estonian Marko Albert led out of the water in 21:25mins followed closely by James Seear (AUS), with the main contenders including Alexander, Bowstead (NZL) and Appleton in the chase group.
Appleton opened up a 30-second lead on the chase pack early on in the 90km bike as Bell suffered a mechanical problem that forced him out of the race. Bowstead and Alexander pushed hard and, by the end of the bike leg, had closed the gap.
Alexander took the lead on to the 21.1km run, but Appleton was quickly onto his shoulder, where he remained until the last few kilometres when Alexander finally broke his young challenger.
“I put a lot of surges in today, on one of the downhills I was running sub-three minute kilometres, and I still couldn’t drop Sam,” Alexander said. “I was disappointed after Kona last year and took some time off; I trained through Christmas and actually feel fitter than I did last year at the same time.”
Women’s race
Before the women’s race Aussie favourites Rebekah Keat and Liz Blatchford had joked it would be a battle of the “unfittest”, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Blatchford, Rebekah Keat and Gina Crawford (NZL) led out of the water and then spent the entire bike leg within close sight of each other.
Keat knew she needed to build a lead on the bike and took off like a scalded cat. “I knew Liz and Gina were fit and I needed to go out hard and try and hold on,” she said afterwards. Blatchford took the opposite approach and held a steady pace, hoping Keat would hit a wall.
“I only had one pace today, so I just had to run my own race. Bek took off out of transition quickly and she got a minute up the road. I held steady and she blew up and started to come back to me, so I dug deep and managed to get the win. It was fun out there today,” Blatchford says. Crowley managed to overtake Crawford late in the run leg to claim third.
Results, elite men:
1. Craig Alexander (Australia) 3:46.26 2. Sam Appleton (Australia) 3:46.43 3. Mark Bowstead (New Zealand) 3:51.14 4. Jeffrey Symonds (Canada) 3:52.21 5. Marko Albert (Estonia) 3:54.48
Results, elite women:
1. Liz Blatchford (Australia) 4:19.34 2. Rebekah Keat (Australia) 4:20.03 3. Sarah Crowley (Australia) 4:20.52 4. Gina Crawford (New Zealand) 4:22.12 5. Amanda Wilson (Australia) 4:24.27
Advertisement
Were you racing in Geelong last weekend? Let us know in the comments below!