Exciting Bala Triathlon debut for Liz Driscoll.

Liz Driscoll celebrates fantastic day at Bala Triathlon.

Report by Don Hale.

 

North Wales Road Runner Liz Driscoll, who last weekend competed for her second claim club GOG Triathlon, tells of her unique experience in taking part in her first ever triathlon race at Bala.

The event was said to be the ideal race for both beginners and experienced athletes alike, and the race seemed to live up to its pre-race publicity as “one of the most exciting triathlons the UK has to offer,” and soon became one of the most unforgettable races on the Welsh Triathlon Super Series.

Race organisers, Tough Runner UK, teamed up with highly experienced local club, Clwb Beicio Bala, to bring back this amazing event, which was previously considered one of the most popular races on the circuit. And this year, the event was included as Stage 5 of the Welsh Triathlon Super Series, which was also televised on S4C.

Billed as the Bala Standard Triathlon, it involved a closed road triathlon, which started with a 1500-metre swim in the waters of Llyn Tegid, followed by a 40k cycle ride along the A494 on a fast closed road circuit to the turn-point at Rhydymain, before returning to the lakeside, and then a 10k run to Glanllyn and back.

*Liz hits the shore after completing her 1500m lake swim at Bala.

After making her triathlon debut on Sunday, Liz, seemed an exhausted but very content athlete, and confirmed: ‘So I completed my first ever triathlon today at Bala. Not happy to start with a sprint, and I went straight in for a standard distance, a 1500m lake swim, (43.16) 40k bike (1.24.47) and a 10km run (54.28) with a total finish time of 3.05.54. 

‘It was a fantastic day, and I absolutely loved it. I think I might just have found my new sport. Absolutely buzzing, I loved all of it. I was a bit apprehensive about the swim, but I held back a bit and let the faster ones go first. 

‘The bike was fine but OMG, the run was so hard with the first couple of miles up a steady incline. Jelly legs followed by heavy legs, and I really wanted to walk at one point, but my stubbornness said no! What a fab day!’ 

The overall event recorded 463 finishers and Liz was 330th overall and the 163rd female, and 11th in her F50-59 age category, and she was also 11th out of more than 30 GOG Triathlon entrants.

*Pictured (above) Liz Driscoll tackles transition from the swim to the bike and (below) she starts out on her 40k cycle before changing to her 10k run to finish on the famous red carpet to complete a very successful triathlon debut.

*This is the link to the provisional results:

https://toughrunneruk.fullonsport.com/event/bala-standard-triathlon-2021/results/?page=all

 

Great day for GOG Triathlon members at Bala in Welsh Championship race.

 

Report by Don Hale.

 

GOG Triathlon had a strong team of 30 members competing at Bala last Sunday at Stage 5 of the Welsh Triathlon Super Series and celebrated by winning two top podium placings in different age categories, with Rhian Roxburgh completing a unique double.

*A unique double by Rhian Roxburgh at the Bala Triathlon.

The event included a 1500m lake swim, a 40k bike ride and a near 10k run, and attracted 463 finishers. Rhian Roxburgh was the first female club runner home in 21st position and claimed gold for winning her Vet Female 40-49 age cat, finishing in 2 hours 11 minutes 19 seconds, and she also won silver as the 2nd female finisher overall to celebrate a special double success.

*Another great performance by teenager Caitlin Owen who won her age cat.

And teenager Caitlin Owen continued her superb run of form to strike gold by winning the Junior Female 17-19 age category in 255th place in 2.53.21.

Jonathan Seymour was the first GOG man back home and finished 10th overall and was 5th in his VM40-49 cat with a time of 2.04.40, followed by Tom Kennedy in 19th place in 2.09.23, and then Rhian Roxburgh. Grant Falconerwas 34th in 2.18.45, with Rhian’s husband Simon Roxburgh 42nd in 2.20.48. Dan Hurst just made the top 50-finishers in 45th spot with a time of 2.21.54, with Matt Thomas, 54th in 2.25.11, and Matt was just four seconds ahead of colleague Merf Jones in 55th place, who just missed out on age cat honours by finishing 4th MV50-59 in 2.25.15. Mared Dafydd was the second club lady home in 2.25.30 in 57th place, with Andrew Brazier 76th in 2.29.55. And Emer Sandham was the third club lady home in 89th spot in 2.31.59, and Steven Owen just dipped into the first 100-athletes back, finishing 97th overall in 2.33.02.

*Mared Dafydd was the second female club runner home.

Other results included: 114th Paul Sanders 2.34.30, 116th Sara Gallacher 2.34.55, 120th Iwan Davies 2.35.08, 148th Aranli Thomas 2.37.43, 157th Carlo Galeotti 2.39.23, 162nd Nick Fleet 2.39.43, 217th Jen Wells 2.47.39, 224th Malcolm Harrison 2.48.20, 230th Paula Stevens 2.49.26, 255th Caitlin Owen, and she was also 1st Junior Female 17-19, in 2.53.21, 266th Rachel Cook 2.54.36, 311th Andrew Ellwood 3.01.31, 330th Liz Driscoll 3.05.54, 334th Melissa Everley 3.06.42, 374th Miklos Biro 3.14.28, 378th Angharad Lewis 3.15.06, 392nd Sarah Massey3.17.38, and 458th Deborah Robinson 4.14.19.

*The race attracted 463 finishers and it was won by Oliver Simon (ATAC), who was the 1st MV40-49 athlete in 1.52.16, with 2nd Dan Elliot(TriCentral UK) in 1.57.08, and 3rd place was Paul Skipper (Mersey Tri) in 1.57.31. 

The first lady was Katie Curran, who was also the 1st Senior Female age cat winner in 2.04.46, with Rhian Roxburgh (GOG Triathlon) the 2nd female athlete and 1st FV40-49 cat winner, in 2.11.19, and Sarah Harrison was 3rd, and the 2nd FV40-49 age cat in 2.13.49.

 

*This is the link to the provisional results:

https://toughrunneruk.fullonsport.com/event/bala-standard-triathlon-2021/results/?page=all