Is Alnwick Tri always so windy??  This year saw 5 members of the club at Alnwick for the very popular early season sprint Triathlon.  Jo Shallcross, Andy Gowans, Paul Gerrard, Jenny Edgell and Chris Heppell were all up early this morning and heading to Alnwick.

The Elite women were first away in the pool so Jo was in action straight after the 08:00hrs start of the event.  Later we all headed out on the same course,  and hit the undulating hills and the wind that is traditional on this costal event.

Event timings this year didn’t split out T1 and T2 but included them in the Swim and Bike times.  Great results for all who took part. Always a well organised event and our thanks go to Alnwick Tri club and all the volunteers on the day.

We are in need of the new club tri suites from Endura ( which should be here in time for Ponteland Tri ) as it’s not easy to recognise the club members as they finish the event. Great picture ( left ) of Andy finishing the run where we all managed negative splits on the course…..  ( Well we would on a course that goes uphill for the first half of the distance. )

The weather conditions couldn’t have been better at Ashington this morning when 12 Ponteland Tri members arrived to take part in the early morning sprint tri.  Unfortuneately a recent injury to Sue on holiday resulted in only 11 taking part, and an ankle problem to Katie during the run gave us only 10 finishers.  Martin Hallissey finishing with a fantastic second place overall and adverted the club using his club hoodie on the podium whilst collecting his award. Results for our members as follows,  with full results available here.

Best tri-suit award must go to Paul for his RAF kit, seen on the left here. A special mention to Mark Perry for a fantastic time for his first triathlon,  and with the weight of a mountain bike to push round the course!!  Well done Mark.  Another special mention to Katie who I believe was the youngest participant today in a field which ranged from 15 – 74!

Everyone participating enjoyed the event,  with most promising to be back next year.  I may try and hold all our club members to that and expect them to improve the times….

Danny was smiling all the way round, looked far too much like he was enjoying it.

I must finish with a thanks to VO2max Racing Events for hosting a great triathlon which was really well organised.  The marshalls on the day did a fantastic job,  including much needed encouragement as we went round the course.  Ashington Tri has been selling out quicker each year so if you are consideing taking part entries for 2015 will probably open 1st Nov this year.

A fantastic turn out from ponteland runners today. We had ladies A team with Joanne brown, Jo Shallcross and Claire Tumia coming in 6th place.  Then followed by our Ladies B team with Kerry Old, Chris Ford and Jill Errington coming in at 17th place.
The Men’s team were Steve Allinson, Elliott Ward, Mark Lyon and Jason Old who finished 35th which was fantastic as they were entered in senior race thanks to Mark being soooooo young !!!
Fantastic times for everyone ..another great team day out. Joanne.

It’s great to see “Ponteland Runners” competing in events all over the UK. Now that the race season is starting we have competitors in all types of events.  Last weekend we had runners in Park Runs, 10k’s and full marathons,  plus 4 entrants in a local duathon.  The club is growing well.  Jason Old was participating in the Brighton Marathon and had this to say about the event “I completed the Brighton Marathon last Sunday in a personal best time of 3 hrs 9 minutes. Although it was a long journey and the course wasn’t as flat or picturesque as I had imagined the crowds were fantastic even in the poor weather – I would definitely recommend it due to the fantastic atmosphere and entertainment along the route.”  Jason Old – Ponteland Runners

Well done Jason,  fantastic time for the Marathon.