23/08/09 Banff Sprint

15/08/09 Aberfeldy 70.3 (Half Ironman) - 1.9km swim, 56mile cycle, 13.1mile run

This being my first  half Ironman I was feeling a bit nervous about it, especially the swim.  Having only had a couple of attempts at open water swimming and being such a pu--y in the cold! 

Got to the start and set up the bike in the T1 area then headed down to the loch where the water was looking a bit choppy due to the breezy blowing and the rain.  Turns out the temperature in the loch wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, 13C.  After the race briefing we headed into the water and made our way out to the starting buoys.  After a few minutes the horn sounded and all hell broke loose.  I decided to hang back and do things at my own pace.  After a few attempts at trying to settle into the front crawl I found it wasn’t going to work for me today so I decided just to swim it breast stroke.  Although not being the fastest stroke for this part of the race I was happy with my time of 52 mins 48 seconds.

Once out of the water I headed for T1 to get ready for the cycle leg which I was looking forward to. This was where I was hoping to pull back a lot of time lost on the swim.  Got my kit on and things were looking good for a reasonable transition time.  Headed for the cycle mount area but then realised as I crossed the timing mat I didn’t hear the bleep. Oh no!  I had left the chip with the wet suit and had to go back and find it.  Damn, not so good T1, even more time lost. 

Finally getting stuck into the cycle and feeling really good and confident.  Passing lots of riders up ahead and pulling back some of the lost time from the swim. This was the first time I had raced my new tt bike in a triathlon and I was very happy with the way it performed and handled. On the fairly steep decent back towards Aberfeldy I was in my element flying around the corners passing the other riders who seemed to slow up for them. At one point I caught up to car which I passed as well.  Heading on towards T2 now. Quite happy with my time of 3 hours.

After a reasonably successful T2, and remembering the chip this time, I started off on the 13.1 mile run.  I had allowed myself 2 hours for this part of the triathlon and was feeling pretty good of achieving my target.  The rain had finally stopped and the sun was coming out. It was quite warm and I was enjoying this much better.  Settled into a good pace and decided to stick to this for the rest of the race.  Towards the end of the half marathon there was quite a steep hill before the finish.  Crossed the line in a time of 1 hour, 56 mins and 39 secs.  I had done it within the 2 hours I had allowed and was very pleased to get an overall time of 5 hours, 58 mins and 54 seconds.  I had done it in under 6 hours for my first attempt at this distance.  This placed me 31^st in the male veteran category. I was well chuffed.  I have entered the March 2010 Auckland Half Ironman in New Zealand and hope to better this time there.  At least it will be a lot warmer than Aberfeldy.

This was the second time the Shetland Triathlon Club had participated in Aberfeldy and we were again impressed by the excellent organisation and marshalling of this event.  Highly recommend it to anyone thinking of having a go at a half ironman distance.  Well done.

Robin Atkinson's report:

            The race was to start at 8:30 so I got to the start at about 7:45. It was raining so I just put my wetsuit on. Felt quite relaxed and found my bike rack area, it was right at the exit for T1 – superb. We had our race swim brief and they said unfortunately the water was only 13deg. Positively toasty I thought. As 300 of us went down to the water to get in, people were apprehensive in front of me fearing the cold so I just barged through and jumped in. After 10min of treading water people were still getting in, maybe that was a silly idea to jump in first.

            We were all bobbing about chatting to each other when the hooter was fired. Right we’re off then! I was far to close to the front, not being a strong swimmer, everyone was swimming over the top of me and getting plenty of fists and feet to the face. It was so crazy I loved it. It was quite choppy out and my mind was wandering a few times but felt fine. Exited the water in 41mins. A bit slower than I was expecting but not to worry, the bike was next.

            I had quite a slow transition, it had stopped raining so I wasn’t sure whether to wear a jacket or not. Stuff it, I thought – and shoved it under a bungee behind the saddle.

            Got out on the bike and felt fantastic, really strong and overtaking everybody. Felt like all the hill training I’d done this year was put to good use as I powered up the 3 mile climb with considerable ease. There then followed an undulating 30miles around Loch Ranoch, which I got into a steady rhythm with, targeting the rider in front, passing them, and looking for the next one. After 40 miles came the dreaded 1in10 gradient back up Schiehallion. And again, didn’t seem to feel it this year as one rider shouted out as I passed him “Must be just like Shetland this!” Pretty much. After a fast descent and 5 miles of spinning the legs out I got to T2  with a 2hr42 bike split (which turned out to be the 10th fastest bike split). Was absolutely delighted. The bike was a dream to ride and it saw me round with no problems whatsoever.

So after a quick change in T2, I was out on the run course needing a 2hr half marathon to squeeze under my 5hr30 target. Should be easy enough, not quite! My hamstrings were really tight and every mile marker, my splits were getting slower and slower. There was a steep hill at the halfway point with a water station at the top, so I walked up it taking on an energy gel and grabbing a bottle of water at the top. Felt much better after that and managed to hold it together to get back into Aberfeldy and cross the finish line with a time of 5hrs 27min 53sec with a huge grin on my face doing my usual showboating to give the crowd something to cheer/laugh about.

It was an absolutely fantastic event and the marshals were amazing. I think I managed to thank them all on my way round.

So, that’s the 70.3 box ticked. Roll on Ironman Switzerland in 2010!!

19/07/09 - Shetland Triathlon Club Win First Ever Inter County !

The Shetland Triathlon Club claimed a stunning and unexpected victory by the smallest of margins in the first ever inter county Triathlon against Orkney and Caithness in Stromness at the weekend.The race was over the Sprint distance of 750 metre swim, 20km cycle and a 5km run, and was Incorporated within the Stromness Sprint, which is also a Triathlon Scotland ranking event.

Each team consisted of three men and one woman whose times would be added together at the end to make up the team time. With Orkney's men winning bronze at the Island games in 2007 they were expected to dominate on that side of thing, but with Lynsey Henderson, defending champion of the Stromness Sprint, completing the Shetland team line up this proved a strong advantage. As it would play out, every-ones efforts would be vital in the end.

The swim was pool based with everyone setting off at the same time, and it was Orkney's Mark Harrison who dominated by exiting the swim first with a thirty seconds gap back to Shetland's Lynsey with another thirty seconds back to Peter Fenwick of Caithness. There then followed a flurry of bodies coming out of the pool grabbing their bikes to hit the 20km bike course.

The Shetland team have focused strongly on improving their short distance bike speed over the last twelve months and this showed as a trio of blue and white flagged tops in the shape of Robin Atkinson, Andrew Grant, who posted the fastest bike time of the day but was still not happy with his performance, and Lynsey came flying into transition in third forth and fifth place respectively. Not even a storm of biblical proportions could slow the teams speed and this seemed to shock the Orkney and Caithness supporters and competitors. Forth Shetlander Bonar Barclay made up five places from the swim to come in to transition eleventh to start on his favourite leg, the run.

The 5km run through Stromness was a tough affair as the team knew that if they slowed up to catch a breath then it would cost time and no one wanted that on their conscious, so they all push incredibly hard to finish as fast as possible. Orkney's Mark Harrison won the race followed by Peter Fenwick of Caithness. Andrew, who followed up his bike split with the second fastest run time of the day, came home to claim 3rd place overall, followed closely by Robin in 4th to put Shetland in a strong position. Lynsey backed this up by coming in 6th overall, to win the women's race for the second year running three minutes faster than last year.

With Bonar struggling with a knee injury which had held him back in training over the past two weeks in was somewhat of an unknown quantity of how hard he would be able to push the run. With the team at the finish cheering him up the hill to the finish the pain was evident as he sprinted home to claim 12th overall. All knew that it had been a close race for the Inter County win and no one really knew who had won.

There then followed a tense wait till the awards presentation to find out. The times were added together to make up nearly five hours of racing, and it showed that Shetland had taken the win by 99 seconds. The Inter County Champions trophy was presented to the delighted Shetland team captain Lynsey together with the Women's' Champion trophy.

This has been a major breakthrough and confidence booster to the squad and to the sport in Shetland, however Orkney and Caithness will definitely come back stronger next year when the event takes place in Wick.

A spokesman would like to thank Northlink for their sponsorship, Orkney Triathlon Club for hosting the event, Torqui Clyde and Beccy May for their hospitality and Orcades Hostel for their outstanding facilities and support.

l-r: Bonor Barclay, Lynsey Henderson, Robin Atkinson and Andrew Grant.

21/06/09 - Shetland Half Marathon Results

The Tri Club put in a good show at the local half marathon on Sunday in sweltering conditions. Andrew Grant finished in 1hr 35:36 (14th), Robin Atkinson was home in 1hr 39:14 (17th), and John Anderson in 1hr 39:43 (18th). The trio's times were also good enough to claim 3rd in the team event. Good show !

Lynsey beats some of Britians best ! 

Lynsey Henderson was away on Sunday to compete in the Knockburn Standard Distance Triathlon in Aberdeenshire, the flagship event for the North of Scotland, which always attracts an international class of triathlete to the start line. This year was no exception as Scott Neyedlli, IronmanUK champion in 2007, and Graeme Stewart, Scotlands' fastest ever Ironman, were facing of on the men's side of things. On the females' it was stacked with Great British Representatives including Jenifer Eilertsen, who is age group world champion at the Sprint Distance, and Mairi Crawford a silver medallist from the same World Championships in Vancouver, Canada last year.

As Lynsey was warming up disaster struck. While putting on her wetsuit before the swim start her zip snapped off, making the suit unusable. Only the kind intervention of a marshall saved her, by running to the car to offer her his wet suit for the race. After a frantic change of neoprene she was ready and in the water for the start.

The 1500 metre swim is Lynsey's strength, and it showed even in this class of field. In the first lap she swam side by side with Eilertsen, but for the second lap Lynsey pulled ahead to exit the water as the first female in 22 minutes, leading the vastly more experienced Eilertsen by six seconds into T1.

During the first transition though, Lynsey struggled to get the borrowed wetsuit off in her usual fast style and this allowed Eilertsen to take the lead onto the bike. Lynsey quickly recovered her composure to mount the bike and start on the 25 mile bike course, regarded as one of the tougher courses out there.

Lynsey had been training hard over the winter to improve her cycling as this is weakest of the three disciplines and it showed as she powered through the course in pursuit of Eilertsen. She showed that she is a match for the world champ, even on the bike, by coming back into T2 in one hour 20 minutes, within two minutes of her and putting in a quick transition to get out onto the cross country style run.

The large crowd that had formed to watch the race race were now asking each other who the Shetland girl was, the unknown quantity leading to some debate as to whether she would be able to hold on to second place.

Lynsey is usually a strong runner, but with the course being a hilly cross country type, it was a real first for her. Eilertsen pulled away on the run, but Lynsey still ran strong to post a 47 minute 10K, and to claim second place by two minutes in the female category ahead of Mairi Crawford, the World Championship Silver medallist!

This result reinforces the potential that Lynsey has, considering that she is relatively new to the sport and is racing with and beating girls that are coached to compete at a world level. This result has catapulted Lynsey onto the national stage, and it is hopeful that she too will be competing at a European and world level soon if her progress continues.

Thanks must go to the gentleman who allowed her to borrow his wetsuit, without whom none of this would have been possible !

Please go to our results page to for times and race report.

31/05/09 - Edinburgh Marathon Results

Robin Atkinson and John Anderson completed the Edinburgh Marathon at the weekend in sweltering conditions, both posting PB's. Robin done it in 3:57:59 and John in 4:04:46.

17/05/09 - Turriff Sprint Triathlon Results

Shetland triathlon club members, Andrew Grant, Bonar Barclay, Ewan Stirling and Lynsey Henderson competed at the turriff sprint triathlon. The distances covered were 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run. This was the first chance that some members had competed at a mainland triathlon competition.

The competition was set off in heats due to the 76 entries. First up for the Shetland team was Bonar, he held his own in the pool and kept a smooth speed in doing so that he could show his love of the hilly cycle course, come back to transition with a fast time. He executed this well for his first race. Hot on his heels in the next heat was Andrew who had much the same approach to the swim as Bonar and was ready to unleash on the cycle leg of the race where he produced one of the fastest cycles out of all the competitiors. Both Bonar and Andrew continued on into the run at a good fast pace which they were able to maintain all the way to the end. This resulted in Andrew gaining 4th place and Bonar 11th in the senior mens section.

Ewan and Lynsey had to wait and go in the last heat. This heat suited their strength for swimming and both produced fast times going into the transition to the bike. Ewan also in his first race kept a determined attitude throughout and gave max effort on the cycle and run. His determination paid off and earned him 16th place in the senior mens section

Lynsey faced her demons on the bike and managed to produce a fast bike time compared with other women. She continued into the run with at a quick pace which was held till the finish. Lynsey�fs fast pace resulted in a win in the senior ladies section 4mins clear of the next female finisher.

The performances shown on the day were good start to the season and showed lots of potential for the season ahead.

Thanks to Trina and Ruairidh for putting up with all the bikes and Gemma, Ruairidh and Jamie for the transport to and from turriff it was much appreciated.

10/05/09 - Sandwick Novice Triathlon Race Report

On a sunny Sunday morning at Sandwick, the Shetland Triathlon Club held its first ever Novice "Try-a-Tri" event to open members of the public to come and sample triathlon racing in all its painful glory. 13 people took part, 12 of whom had never done a triathlon before; which is more than the club were anticipating and were delighted with the turnout and the enthusiasm displayed by all.

With the pool swim being organised by expected swim times and which stroke they were doing, it needed two heats to get them all racing, leading to staggered activity in the transition zone so one-one really knew who was leading the race at any one point. This meant that everyone had to just go their fastest to record a quick time to see where they placed at the end.

In the end, experienced swimmer and runner Kevin Gifford claimed the win in his first triathlon, followed closely by Bonar Barclay who displayed an amazing running speed off the bike. In third place was Alwyn Napier giving a solid performance over all three disciplines.

A spokesperson for the club said that they would like to thanks the South Mainland Pool staff for their help and all the volunteers who, without them, the events would not be able to run. Anyone interested in helping out at the next event, or indeed taking part, can contact the club at admin@shetlandtriathlonclub.co.uk or on 07917106461. The next event is taking place in Sandwick again on the 14th June and consists of a 400 metre swim, 12km cycle and a 3km run. You must be a member of the club to take part and memberships will be available on the day.

  Photos: Colin Smith

05/04/09 - Lynsey Impresses in Edinburgh

Lynsey completed the Edinburgh Half Marathon at the weekend, finishing in a time of 1:39:21. A solid winter training regime showed as this was a personal best by over 8 minutes.

12/04/09 - Tingwall Duathlon Results and Race Report

On Sunday the Club held another keenly contested Duathlon at Tingwall, comprising a 2.2 mile run, 14 mile cycle and finishing with another 2.2 mile run. Six contestants lined up on the start line, most of them newcomers to the sport this year, and with most of the more experienced absent due to work, house building or gardening it left the race open to for a new winner.

Although the wind would play a part, it didn�ft stop newcomer Bonnar Barclay setting off like a train on the first run to claim a solid lead going into the bike leg, followed by fellow novice Maurice Fraser and then John Anderson, looking forward to getting to work on his strongest leg, the bike. Then came Ewan Stirling, Shane Winson and Andrea Holmes. Shane withdrew soon after due to a puncture, leaving five left to battle it out for the win.

On the bike, John displayed his experience to catch Maurice and Bonnar, but knew he would need to put a large gap between him and his competitors to allow him to hang on in the next run to try to claim the victory. Coming into T2 with around two minutes gap back to Bonnar and three to Maurice, it was going to be a close finish. With the crowds beginning to gather in anticipation of the grandstand finish, it was Bonnar who caught and pasted John on the run with less than half a mile to go, to claim the victory. John held on for second, Maurice took third, Ewan fourth and Andrea fifth. Well done to Bonnar on his first victory, and to John for not being third.

15/03/09 - Grant Crowned Winter Duathlon Champ

Andrew Grant claimed victory in the final race of the Winter Duathlon Series to be crowned overall champion. 2nd in the points table was John " consistently 3rd" Anderson, with Lynsey Henderson clinching 3rd.