Texaco Pembrokeshire Team Challenge & Quadrathlon
Saturday September 2nd 2006
Report by Peter Munn
For once the forecasters got it right and so after a summer of relative drought it was with much trepidation awaking at 05.45 a.m. to find it lashing down with strong winds present. We hoped with the strong winds that it may blow all the rain clouds over. In traditional race day scenario they did just as the last competitor crossed the finish line, although by then you could barely stand unaided.
Bike starts were staggered at 20 second intervals, which did give you a good incentive as there was almost always someone in sight ahead of you. I did think the heavy rain was blurring my vision as Roger, Oggy and a couple of others screamed passed me and very quickly disappeared from sight. I felt really good going to the turnaround point and thought this was too good to be true which was as usual correct when I headed home into the teeth of the wind.
It was a great credit to the club that we could raise 4 teams with everyone showing great determination and skill manoeuvring their bikes through all the fords that had developed overnight on the roads. It was mega bad luck for the boys with Merv snapping a chain just after the turnaround point, at which point Dave abandoned his marshalling duties to dash home to get his trusty steed to Merv in record time, but alas for them the race was lost. It was such a pity as Roger, Oggy and Dr. Dick had built up a tidy lead.
Back at transition it was on with boat daps and a short jog around to the yacht club slip. The fire service boys and all the coxes and helpers were doing a sterling job steadying the boats, but I must admit it did not look too inviting. It was not long before Julia and Alex appeared and off we went. It was tough heading for the buoy straight out from the club, ( apologies to Mervyn, who I believe we cut up in a piece of boat rage) but then we turned towards Hazelbeach and within 3 seconds we had lost control. With gale force winds, 3 foot waves and an incoming tide we manoeuvred throughout the moored boats and we only had one collision, a head on, but at that stage we were going backwards so fast I didn’t get to swap insurance details! For us novices it really was quite scary with the green oared side having to pull with all their might. I swear by Llandstadwell church we rowed for 20 minutes and were static throughout. A lot of other crews were experiencing similar problems with at least 5 boats aligned behind us all making slow progress. Credit to the Young Bucks who obviously found the eye of the storm and actually overtook us and rounded the buoy.
You could imagine our anguish when with the buoy just 10 yards away the boats were called in. Mind you it would have taken us another 20 mins to get around it. Big thanks to our cox Camilla who probably saved our lives. Of course going back with wind, tide and surf was a breeze and 10 mins later we were back on terra firma, albeit a bit wobbly.
A bit of confusion ensued with talk of boat time cancelled and you could run if you want to. I was all for a shower and straight on to a few jars but my teams motto became ‘We’ve paid so lets run’. It took a while for this theory to sink in but we mosied over to Brunel Quay entrance just in time to see our rivals set off. That was it, we had to run now. Bugger!!
The run wasn’t too bad and with the rain and wind now only torrential, Alex and Karen having strong runs 50 odd minutes later we had finished. Yahoo.
All said and done for my 1st team challenge I actually did enjoy it, it was just such a pity we encountered ‘ worse case scenario ‘ weather.
Much praise must go to the Quadrathlon guys and girl, they must be madder than us, but well done and congrats to Mervyn Williams who came in a brilliant 2nd, just a minute behind the winner. The showers were ace and the yacht club was an excellent setting. Much backslapping must go to all concerned in the organising of the event and all of the marshals- bravo. We did think maybe we were robbed , with the row and all that, until we saw our rivals run time so well done to them. Perhaps next year, or the years following them. The young bucks performed admirably with people Questioning Jim’s bike, surely it had some sort of engine on it ! The Orca boys were to put it mildly…. Unlucky as they were screaming ahead of everyone but that chain snapping put paid to that. But big cheers to the girls team, victors with some steady performances from Kate, Lucy, Val and Ellie.
It’s nice to know that it could never be that bad again.
Results:
| 5th THE ORCA BOYS Combined Time: 9hrs 53mins | |||
Name |
Bike |
Row |
Run |
| Richard Thompson | 1.27.16 |
1.10 |
41.56 |
| Mervyn Palmer | 2.02.03 |
1.10 |
50.05 |
| Tom Owen | 1.18.37 |
1.10 |
44.32 |
| Roger Devonald | 1.17.11 |
1.10 |
43.10 |
| 7th TRI GO NUTS Combined Time: 10hrs 44mins | |||
Name |
Bike |
Row |
Run |
| Karen Corcoran | 1.36.59 |
1.10 |
51.44 |
| Peter Munn | 1.30.34 |
1.10 |
52.45 |
| Julia Hill | 1.32.59 |
1.10 |
59.49 |
| Alex Ilyat | 1.27.02 |
49.24 |
43.10 |
8th ELL'S BELLES Combined Time: 10hrs 58mins Ladies Winners |
|||
Name |
Bike |
Row |
Run |
| Kate Cross | 1.41.02 |
1.10 |
47.07 |
| Lucy Elcomb | 1.40.11 |
1.10 |
53.20 |
| Ellie Jones | 1.31.35 |
1.10 |
45.41 |
| Val Brown | 1.33.40 |
1.10 |
53.09 |
9th NOT SO YOUNG BUCKS Combined Time: 10hrs 58mins |
|||
Name |
Bike |
Row |
Run |
| Glyn ? | 1.49.24 |
1.10 |
1.03.10 |
| Dave Howells | 1.40.26 |
1.10 |
1.00.00 |
| Terry Dobson | 1.34.36 |
1.10 |
48.43 |
| Jim Buck | 1.21.43 |
1.10 |
47.30 |
For full results please go to the CSA website.
