A bit of a catch up this one, soooo busy, just coming to the end of college, just a little bit of work experience for a couple of months, landed on my feet here, managed to get a spot working with Adam, my swim coach, a personal trainer from GreenlightPt. He knows the amount of training I do, we fit the 'experience' in with the training - so works well.
I have also set up a bit of a monster with iPrintStuff, who would know there was such a demand for bespoke printing on kit that was reasonably priced ;) I set the business up to get money to fund my tri, in fact every penny I make is ploughed straight back in..... It does mean that I have to juggle a lot of stuff around, especially now that my 'racing' season has started in earnest. Who said it would be easy? If it were easy, everyone would be doing it! To find out my about getting your kit printed up with names, sponsors etc follow this link.
Talent Backer In 2013 I qualified and raced for GB at the European and World Triathlon Champs in Turkey and here in London. This year I have qualified six times to represent GB.
· Duathlon - Horst, Netherlands · World Duathlon - Spain · Euro Triathlon (Sprint) - Kitzbuhel, Austria · Euro Triathlon (Standard) - Kitzbuhel, Austria · World Aquathlon - Edmonton, Canada · Worlds Triathlon - Edmonton, Canada
Even with iPrintStuff going well I would not be able to fund all of these so I turned to Talent Backer, a 'crowd' funding website. I had a campaign with them for 30 days trying to fund Canada and Spain, just these two would be over £2,500 just for flights and accommodation!
To say the campaign went well is an understatement, I've been truly humbled by the donations. Mainly from people I know and out of them loads of fellow triathletes and club members. With two weeks of the campaign to go I reached my target and by the end had exceeded it by £600! It seems people were ok with me eating at these events as well! In all seriousness, a massive thank you to everyone that is helping me compete this year - I really couldn't have done it without your generous support - a cliche but true!
Horst - European Duathlon Championships First off... This was not a race I was targeting, bigger fish to fry and all that and I wasn't in great shape at all for this race. At my tri club, NiceTri, we had outstanding GB representation at this event, with some 14 club members going. Team-mate Kye Liddle thought it would be good if we pooled our resourses and hired a mini bus, word got out and before we knew it Kye had sorted a massive 38 seater coach with some 29 seats taken (more wanted to go but we needed the space for our luggage, the bike boxes filled the 'hold'). It was a great weekend and maybe a bit too much fun was had by all ;)
In the actual race I have to go back to this 'drafting' thing. The stuff you see on the telly with the likes of the Brownlees and Gomez all working together on the bike is OKfor them but in the races we do this is cheating in a non-drafting race. For clarification: It's OK to draft in the swim and the run, but NOT the bike. You would be surprised just how many competitors don't get this.... or are they deliberately cheating? Surly not... As a commentator said on telly while talking about not being on the front you can save about 30% of energy. Anyway I couldn't shake off my tail on the bike and came in 2nd in the end.
NiceTri Sprint Triathlon #1 (1 of 3 in the series) My local and one of my favourites, not only is it a fantastically well organised event it also brings in a great group of competitors, it's a great atmosphere. A lot of this is due to the volunteer marshals that turn out time and time again for these, 2nd to none... Thanks guys.
I know this race well and wanted to do well, so I pushed hard throughout and had a storm of a race and finished on top spot on the podium (well I would have if they had one!) BOOM - WIN!
UK - Quadrathlon World Championships For the first time in their history this 'little known sport with a big heart' (Not sure who came up with that strap line? ... I prefer the 'when three disciplines aren't enough!) Came to the UK, In Brigg and hosted by Lincsquad who did a brilliant job. This quad by the way was a 1500m river out and back swim, a 7k out and back kayak, a 38k bike leg finished with a two lap 10k run. Race report from the BQA and WQF here, mentions something about a 'machine on a bike'.
I finished 2nd overall by 14 seconds... The winner Steve King, who I was gaining on, looked round and sprinted... So it was game over for me! Well done to everyone that raced that day and a massive hats off to the Lincsquad boy and girls that allowed for some great racing. I did become world U23 quadrathlon champion that day so... BOOM - WIN!
Spain - World Duathlon Championships
Spain, Spain, Spain... What an awesome experience!! Went out with mates and team mates Dean Watson and Kurt Sanders... I met some pretty awesome people out there, including other Brits and loads of foreigners!!
As far as the race goes... It went well! Probably the best Duathlon I've ever raced anyway! Started off with a 5k run around the streets of Pontevedra (awesome place - must go again some time!) which was a bit hilly and twisty, but nonetheless a sweet run course... Came off the run in around 20th place with a high 16... I got to the bike and the pain/fun began! I overtook 16 people in the first 4k of the 20k bike and was left chasing the remaining 3... I managed to catch and overtake the 3 leaders and came in off the bike in 1st place and (it's unofficial at the moment) took the fastest bike split of the day too... SAWEEET! Anyway, at this point, I was in 1st place overall, but was quickly overtaken by the fast 30-34 age-groupers... Anyway, along with my fastest bike split, I became U20 World Duathlon Champion... BOOM - WIN! Pleased with that... And just for the record, I would of also become 20-24 world champ and 25-29 champ if I were in those Age groups... Although there was only 3 seconds splitting us!! :D
It's been a hectic few months, what with working with Adam at GreenlightPT and working at my own iPrintStuff - printing suits and what not, but I managed to get 2 world champion titles in 8 days... Can't say I am too disappointed with that!
It all started standing in a cold River Ouse early on a Sunday morning and, despite a cold wind, 1 hour 48 minutes and 27 seconds later I couldn’t wait to do it all again. Spending the rest of the day replenishing energy reserves with copious quantities of beer, wine and food confirmed it I wanted to do another Triathlon. A quick massage on the Monday showed the aged body suffered no major damage so I opened up the computer. No more paying day license fees, commitment was called for, so step 1 join the BTF.... Sorry (not really) to all you Anglophiles but my Celtic background dictates I had to join via Welsh Triathlon just a few clicks and membership was confirmed.
Noticing the Events button I thought I’d just have a look and May 18th Llanelli Sprint Triathlon in a Multisport Festival weekend just jumped out of the page as a must do. They have a Junior event lunchtime on Saturday followed later in the afternoon by a ParaTriAthlon event. Sunday is a sprint event, 4 waves of about 100 in each wave. Bad news was, entries closed, race full. I’m new to all this but not too proud to beg. I sent a pleading email to Noelwyn citing Welsh heritage and support for the Scarlets and enthusiasm for my new sport as reason to take up any place that came available. 2 long days of waiting and the joyous email came back, I was in.
Hotel places seemed too be at a premium but I found Llwyn Hall Hotel and booked. Now bear in mind I’m new to all this but the event and venue are magnificent, and for the second year running the weather was wonderful. The swim is an M shape, in salt water in the North Dock. About 800 metres some said.
This is followed by a 27k ride to the outskirts of Cydweli (Kidwelly) along the coast road and a 5k run along the coastal path with a view over Carmarthen Bay. What more could you want, and the sun shone. The event is run by Healthy Life Activities who are a not for profit organisation, and it attracts a very good quality field.
I am beginning to appreciate nice people do Tri and easy acquaintance was made with loads of new friends. One of whom proudly pointed out Paul Arnold (No. 23), twice capped Welsh 2nd Row, just a few yards away.
So how did I do? Swim was better than the previous week, bike was about the same. Halved the transition times due to better weather and organisation, run was just settling down to a rhythm at 2k when cramp in the left calf ended all hopes of glory. I managed to walk and jog through to the end where you are rewarded with water and genuine Welsh Cakes at the line. And 5 masseurs from the local ColegSirGar were on hand to offer much needed services for free. Gareth even had a go at the suspect left shoulder, brilliant.
The welcome (croesoe) was outstanding and the decision to stay over on the Sunday night as well proved inspirational. It meant a visit to Pembre National Park and late lunch outside a pub with 3 real ales on the Gower Peninsula, could be enjoyed at leisure in the sunshine. After a leisurely breakfast at Llwyn Hall the National Botanical Gardens were chosen over the Red Kite feeding station to be visited on the way home. The Red Kites WILL be seen next year as this is now a must do race and I will be back, who wants to join me?
Here is a short video of last year’s race which is well worth a look.
Latest new on this - fully Funded :) NiceTri club member Tom is all over the papers as he 'Tris' to secure funds for his GB representation in Canada and Spain. Tom has been massively chuffed with the level of support he has received form many fellow club members. http://www.talentbacker.com/talents/view/tom-stead
This is a cut and copy from a recent article By Richard Hughes of the Hunts Post: (apart from the photos)
Seventeen-year-old triathlete Tom Stead has turned to the crowd-funding website Talent Backer to help fund his burgeoning career in the fast growing sport.
Tom Stead has been selected to compete for Great Britain. Stead, who lives in Staploe, is one of the country’s hottest prospects in the triathlon, as well as the duathlon, aquathlon and quadrathlon, and he has been invited to perform for Great Britain at the World and European Championships at races in the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and Canada this year.
“My sport in general is very expensive,” Stead told The Hunts Post. “The addition of competing for GB on the world stage ups the ante. I have been given some fantastic support behind the scenes with coaching, sports therapy, nutrition and the like. But it surprises many that there is no funding whatsoever that I can get my hands on. Funding is all down to me.” Stead, who is studying outdoor adventures at Shuttleworth College in Biggleswade, will move to the University of Bedfordshire in September where he will study sports science and exercise practise. He continued: “I took up multi sport events four years ago. I am a member of the triathlon club NiceTri of St Neots and a recent team member of the race team Corley Cycles who are based in Milton Keynes. “If I was to choose two stand out events from last year they would be the ETU European Triathlon Championships in Alanya, Turkey, and the ITU World Championships held at Hyde Park in London. The highlight of London was having the fastest bike split out of all 1,845 competitors “This year is packed full of events. I have a very full race diary and dotted in among these are hopefully trips to the World and European championships in the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and Canada. You have to qualify for all these events, you can’t just rock up.”
The triathlon is a tough sport. Britain boasts some of the best competitors in the world with the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Johnny, winning the Olympic gold and bronze medals at the London 2012 Games. And, in a bid to reach that level, Stead is hoping to raise his profile with an appeal on www.talentbacker.com.
But the athlete isn’t resting on his laurels. “As well as training, college and racing, I recently started a small business printing names and sponsor logos onto tri suits and kits of fellow athletes,” he said.
“I found that there was a gap in the market for this service but I fear that Canada and Spain may still be out of reach.”
British Heart Foundation Charity Rugby Match 15th February 2014
Well, it’s official. A date for your diaries. The game will be during the afternoon, which is a must watch, it's going to be very funny - and probably quite painful for many! It would be great to have you all supporting your club mates from the side lines !! So, please bring your entire family that's kids, grandparents, friends, neighbours, countrymen ... you get the gist... and then get your party gear out, spend the evening with the Nicetri gang at St Neots Rugby club - there will be a band and disco.
Come and have a Laugh and joke at our expense as we take on the local Rugby club.
