Wadenhoe Winter Race 4
Wadenhoe Winter Race 4
Plenty more glorious mud
The highs and lows of Wadenhoe, plus plenty more glorious mud. Race 4 saw the end of the 08/ 09 Wadenhoe Winter Challenge Series. Yet again we were plagued with high river levels. The low point of the race was having to cancel the Quadrathlon again, because of the Environmental Agency’s strong stream advice. Unfortunately having cancelled two of the Quad events meant that the series was based on the first 2 races only and very few people qualified for the trophies. A shame really, with so many keen new competitors this year. But not to be deterred we pushed on with the Duathlon regardless.
Sunday the 22nd Feb was quite warm and dry, prefect weather for a race. However underfoot was a different matter altogether. All the melt water from the recent snow was still to be found in saturated ground, as was to be come very apparent as the race progressed. We had 33 competitors for the final Duathlon of the series with a 60 year age gap between our youngest and oldest competitors.When the air horn signalled the start of the race there was the normal mad dash to get a decent place in the queue before hitting the first obstacle, the style. It was the strong running legs of Steve Giles that saw him take an early lead. The pace of the race soon took a sudden down turn as the lead competitors hit the swamp section. It does’nt matter how strong or fit you are, the glutinous mud always takes its toll. If it is possible, I was informed that the mud was even worse then the last race, and I believe the river was over the banks up to the day before.As the mud covered athletes arrived in transition, looking like some lost native Amazonian tribe, some of that endless euphoria of energy that emanated from the athletes had gone. It was Steve Giles who was first in to transition shortly followed by Michael Kelly and Tom Watt. There was a little flow of water in the stream this time and the spray from the speeding bikes helped to clean the mud splattered legs. When it came to the steep down hill slope the slippery conditions were to prove too much for a lot of the competitors as the bike wheels just slipped away from them. It was carnage with bikes and bodies everywhere [well that might be a slight exaggeration, there was definitely more crashes then normal] luckily it seemed to be only people’s pride that was hurt.During the bike stage the tentative lead that Steve Giles had built up during the first run laps, was slowly whittled down by Tom Watts who posted the fastest bike leg and by the end had taken the lead in the race.Throughout the race spritely Tom Wildman [for 76 he is very spritely, above photo] plodded on steadily and even managed to lap some people on the bike stage, way to go Tom! Some great bike skills.After the 8 slippery bike laps it was back to the running again and a further 2 laps around that energy sapping course. The majority of the second set of run times were considerably slower then the first ones. Those great running legs of Steve Giles came in to force again and by the second run lap he caught up with the leader and regained first place.Steve was to retain the lead and crossed the line in first place in a very respectable time of 1:02:50, followed shortly afterwoulds by Tom Watt in a time of 1:03:32. The first lady to cross the line was Naomi Brewer in a time of 1:25:01. Will Stockton, our youngest competitor, finished in a time of 1:16:35 [a couple of minutes down on previous times - must be the mud] and the last person across the line, Tom Wildman, finished in a time of 1:36:40. Tom may have been the last across the line, but in everyone’s heart his is definitely number one.After the race it was down to the Wadenhoe Village Hall for refreshments and the series prize giving. Unfortunately during the calculation of the results we had a few software problems which created a few wrong results for the Duathlon and a couple of trophies were issued incorrectly. We will be posting out the correct trophies shortly. A full set of results for the race series can be viewed on our website, www.quadracracing.co.uk, along with race photo’s and reports for the series. We apologise for any confusion by the mistakes made at the prize giving.That just leaves me to say a special thanks to everyone who has taken part during the race series and I hope you all enjoyed the varied weather and race conditions that Wadenhoe has to offer, it is still a fantastic location to hold the race and we are very grateful to the people who allow us to use the area.I also, personally need to thank all the members of Quadrac Racing who have put so much of their spare time into running the race and without their effort the series would not be possible. We hope to see you all in our other events during the year, check out the website. Also we will back in the winter for the 09/10 Wadenhoe Winter Challenge series again.Our 2009 race dates.Box End Quadrathlon and Off Road Tri. To be held 02.08.09 at Box End Water Ski Park, Bedford.Bedford Multi Sports Weekend. To be held on 29/ 30th August at Box End Water Ski Park, Bedford. Including; Duathlon, Off Road Tri, Aquathlon, 5km and 10km trail run, open water swim and Road Tri. Something for everyone.Box End Duathlon. To be held on 18.10.09
