Northumberland Tri includes a sprint and standard distance event and Ponteland Tri had participants in both this year.  Martin Hallissey participated in the sprint, along with Kevin Higgins and Paul Armstrong, and reports on the event below,

” After torrential rain the day before the weather was perfect for the 1^st Open Water swim of the year. The swim was marked out very well and easy to navigate, it’s always a surprise how far 750m looks in open water when you have spent so long swimming 25m in a pool. Water temp at 16C was just right. I had an OK swim but still a long way behind Tri4u coach Phil, who was 3^rd out of the water. The bike course was flat and quick and reasonable car free, I worked my way into third on the bike with a large group chasing me down on the final stretch into T2. The run course was round the lake and traffic free, some large puddles to cross but was actually refreshing as the temperature built up. I managed to chase down 2^nd place on the last lap but could not bridge the gap to the leader. Highly recommend the event – especially if you want to sample open water swimming. There was a number of Ponteland Tri members out, all enjoying the sun and racing well.”

Excellent performance from Martin to finish in second place.

Helen Moor and Danny Kendal for Ponteland were in the standard distance event, results below.

The Blaydon race is steeped in tradition,  and for Ponteland Runners we have had participants every year since the club affiliated in 2007.   This year we had 23 runners registered in the race with the club name,  and probably more that didn’t have the club name shown in the results.

Great times by Joe Barker and Joanne Brown as first lad and lass for Ponteland Runners.  Left is a great photo of Suzanne,  and an excellent advert showing the Ponteland Runners Vest.  Results below for the 23 listed as Ponteland Runners on the results website. Full results here.

Great weather on Wednesday evening 15-05-2014 saw Ponteland Tri host their first Go-Tri event, in fact the clubs first event ever.   19 starters lined up on the side of Ponteland pool for an 8 length swim,  followed by a 2.5k run.  We had a good mix from beginners trying multi-sport events to experienced triathletes using it as a training session.

Our next event is a Triathlon in June and we hope we will get another evening with similar weather so all participants can enjoy the event.

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.