Spalding Sprint Triathlon race report

In what has been one of the wettest and most miserable June’s for some time, the sun came out on what was to be a beautiful day for the Spalding Sprint Triathlon.

After taking a five-year rest, the event was on its return year and hosted by Spalding Triathlon Club. The pancake flat course offers superb PB potential, attracting a varied field from first time racers to GB age groupers.

After coming second in the event previously, Mat Stephenson (RAF Triathlon/Lincsquad) was back to see if he could improve on his previous result. The men’s race was a closely run event, with the top four coming in just over three minutes apart.

Mat was consistent over all three disciplines, and put in the fastest male swim split on the day of 6:03, which included a good run down to the timing mat in transition. Nick Grimer put up stiff competition, with the fastest run split of the day with a 15:21, but he was not strong enough to fend off Mat’s overall time of 53:26. The Super Veteran race was won by long distance traveller Martin Beare (Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers) in an impressive time overall of 56:51.

The female race was won by local lady Lucy Nell (University of Leeds), who put in the fastest swim split of the day 6:00 and fastest female run split of 18:38, finishing in a time of 1:01:13 overall, with second place female Bo Haywood (Lincoln Tri) showing great potential in a time of 1:04:03.

The team event was won by the host club, made up by Nikki Balding (swim), Claire Thomas (cycle) and Aimee Stocker (run), showing that they too could give a good show, even after the extremely early morning for setting up. All three determined to show off to the home support, put in an impressive time of 1:01:18.

Spalding Triathlon Club would like to thank all of the participants, marshals and supporters and look forward to the return in 2013. More at www.spaldingtri.co.uk.

Photo credit: mwa-motorsports.co.uk

Matt Baird Editor of Cycling Plus magazine

About

Matt is a regular contributor to 220 Triathlon, having joined the magazine in 2008. He’s raced everything from super-sprint to Ironman, duathlons and off-road triathlons, and can regularly be seen on the roads and trails around Bristol. Matt is the author of Triathlon! from Aurum Press and is now the editor of Cycling Plus magazine.