BQA Trophy – British Quadrathlon Association

Box End Quadrathlon Our National Championships …. Entries Open!

February 24, 2019 Jean Ashley

Box End Sprint Quadrathlon will be the BQA National Championships for 2019, a big thanks to Mark Pryor and Quadrac racing for hosting the championships this year! It will also be our 2nd Quadkidz race of the series too. Entries are NOW OPEN!

A very well established and superb Race, organized by Quadrac racing, the whole event held within the Box End Waterpark. It always promises great racing across the board and is also ideal for beginners too as it’s a sprint distance and support crews can see the whole race from the lovely lake side café. All Quadrathletes racing will get BQA National Trophy and will be part of the ‘National Championships’ 2019! Its also the 2nd race of the QuadKidz Series, and is a great onsite race for our Quadkidz to be part off, with a chance to support them around this great course. Without a doubt a great weekend in store! Don’t Miss this Great Race and enjoy the venue with a lovely weekend of camping too!

See Details and Entry Form BOX END ENTRY FORM 30 June 2019

Event Details –
The Sprint Quadrathlon – 750m open water swim – 4.8km kayak [4 laps] – 15km off-road bike course [3 laps] – 5km trail run

QuadKids – 250m open water swim – 1.2km kayak (1 lap) – 5km off-road bike (1 lap) – 2km trail run. This is the 2nd QuadKidz race of 2019 Series

Lets watch ‘QuadKidz’ Grow and Grow, exciting times ahead for our juniors – Its time for our ‘QuadKidz’ to Shine!

Camping – is available at Box End Park for all competitors. Caravans and Campervan facilities available; apply directly to Box End – Telephone Number: 01234 846222, 07922 824678

Entries and Information Box End Quadrathlon

Exciting times for British Quadrathlon in 2019!

December 21, 2018 Jean Ashley

I’m sure most of you will have time to wear your lycra, and get out for a swim, kayak, bike or run over the festive holidays! Like all the athletes I know, we like to get out in the fresh air for some fun on the trails, or a blast on the river ….. leaving room for more Christmas cake and mulled wine! It’s what makes most of us tick ….. and besides, I bet we will all want to test out our new Christmas toys, with 4 disciplines to master, there’s always something to try out, even if its only new socks!

Over Christmas we might not all have Abs as good as this, but I’m sure once you get your Race plan sorted, and training underway they will soon be well defined!

I hope you are all starting to plan your Race Calender and have lots of goals and challenges lined up for next season, we have the World Championships in Brigg and also a World Cup Race in Shrewsbury, both races are likely to sell out quite quickly, so make sure you enter early!

IMPORTANT NOTE – The Brigg Bomber on Sunday 26th May and the final World Cup race of the season the Shrewsbury Sprint on Sunday 1st September, both these events have a good history of putting on well organised and well attended races. The last time Brigg was a World Championship race it filled up very quickly with local competitors and when International athletes came to enter, many were disappointed to find the event was full (about 100 entrants).
The Shrewsbury Quadrathlon takes place alongside a triathlon. Both events sell out every year and the quadrathlon has previously been limited to 50 entries.
Entries for both events are now open and spaces are beginning to fill up. Please enter early if you want to take part in either of these races.
Brigg Race: Lincsquad – Brigg Bomber
Shrewsbury Race: SYTri – Shrewsbury Quad

So get your entries in early and have a reason to start training. Having entered your races it does wonders for your motivation, having something to work for, kick start your training right now! Plenty of our races have opened their entries, and we’ve even had the 3rd Deva Divas (ladies only) Quad sold out, with an amazing 50 women now on the start line! Take a look at our 2019 races on our ‘events’ page!

BQA National Trophy Events for 2019

RACE 1 – 26th May – Brigg Bomber Quad – World Championships 1500km river swim/8km river kayak/40km road bike/10km road run.

A superb race to start the season, extremely well organized by our Top Quadrathlon Club ‘Lincsquad’ a fast flat and safe course, its the World Cham pionships so certainly not to be missed, Lincsquad will certainly pull out all the stops to make this a brilliant day! Entries OPEN

Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon

RACE 2 – 16th June – Dearne Valley Sprint Quad and QuadKidz 800km lake swim/4.4km lake kayak/13.2km X/MT bike/5km trail run.

This race takes place around the Manvers Waterpark and its surrounding area, all the racing takes place within this lovely venue, this race gets better each year! The aim is to deliver, a Quadrathon where people from all walks of life can participate. Mark Benton (organizer) quotes ‘All that we ask is that you enjoy your training towards it and feel a great sense of achievement afterwards’. The Junior Quadrathlon will run along side the sprint event, with various distances for the 3 age groups … it will be time for our Quadkidz to Shine! Entries open soon.

Dearne Valley Quadrathlon

RACE 3 – 30th June – Box End Sprint Quad – National Championships and QuadKidz 750km lake swim/4.4km lake kayak/13.2km X/MT bike/5km XC run.

A very well established and superbly organized by Quadrac racing, the whole event held within the Box End Waterpark. It’s ideal for youngsters, beginners as it’s a sprint distance and support crews can see the whole race from the lovely lake side café with excellent camping on site too. This Race has been given the National Championships this year so another good reason to enter! The Quadkidz Race will take part at the same time as the Open Race! Entries open soon.

BoxEnd Quadrathlon

RACE 4 – 1st September – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad – World Cup Race 550km river swim/5km river kayak/23 road bike/5km run.

This race just keeps getting stronger and stronger, and is well worthy of its World Cup Status! An excellent fast, flat sprint race, running on the back of a very popular Triathlon. A great day out with a superb race atmosphere, with lots of support especially on the 3 lap run course around the Showground! A real ‘feel good friendly race’ instigated and organized by one of our very passionate quadrathletes along with SYTri … one not to be missed! Entries OPEN

Shrewsbury Quadrathlon

RACE 5 – 21st September – Awesome Foursome Quad 800km sea swim/30km road bike/10km canal kayak/10km road run.

This is one of our longest running established Quadrathlons, in beautiful Cornwall in the surfing town of Bude. It never ceases to amaze me, I have raced it in all weathers …. it is always a brilliant exciting and challenging race and a great end the race season! Swimming in the sea, there’s plenty of hills on the bike, a historic canal for the kayak and amazing coastal views on the run! It’s one of those addictive races that keeps drawing you back. The race is on a Saturday so plenty of time for sun, sand and surf too! Entries OPEN

Awesome foursome.quadrathlon.event

All links to these races are on our ‘events’ page. I hope I have tempted you …. keep you eye on the events page as some race organizers may offer early bird race discounts!

You must be a BQA member to race for the ‘GB TEAM’ at the World Championships or in a World Cup race, and also to qualify for all BQA prizes in the National Trophy Series. We do need your memberships to help fund our sport. Money goes towards various areas within the organization, one being our website, where we keep you updated with the latest news and events. Our biggest annual outlay is insurance, which we use to cover the races on the British Quad Calendar, without this insurance many of our races would’nt take place. We also affiliate to the World Quadrathlon Association ‘WQF’ so our athletes can race at World Cup Races the World and European Championships. The future of British Quadrathlon is in our hands, so please support the BQA and you will be helping to keep our small sport alive!

BQA 2019 Trophy Series
26th May – Brigg Bomber
16th June – Dearne Valley Sprint & QuadKidz
30th June – Box End Sprint Quad & Quadkidz
1st Sept – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad
21st Sept Awesome Foursome Quad

QuadKidz Series
16th June Dearne Valley QuadKidz
14th July Lincs QuadKidz Event
30th June BoxEnd QuadKidz

Races supported by BQA (not Trophy Races)
18th May – Montgomery Canal Triathlon (Charity Event)
22nd June – Norfolk SuperHeroes Quad
6th July – Artemis Great Kindrochit Quad
14th July – Deva Divas Quad

Wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas … Safe Training over the winter months, and we look forward to a very exciting 2019 Quad Season!

Jean and the BQA Team

2019 Middle Distance World Champs in Brigg!

November 22, 2018 Jean Ashley

Lincsquad and the BQA are so pleased to announce that the ‘Lincsquad Keyo Brigg Bomber 2019’ will be the Quadrathlon Middle Distance World Championships …. This is just fantastic News for British Quadrathlon, and a Big Thanks to Lincsquad for taking on this event, I have no doubt they will do us proud!

The Keyo Brigg Bomber has always been part of the BQA National series and a WQF points race many times, but in 2019 BQA members can be part of ‘TEAM GB’ racing on British soil at the World Championships at one of the biggest Quadrathon races on the calendar!

I can confirm that all 2019 BQA members will be eligible to race for ‘TEAM GB’ so join the BQA, wear a GB Tri Suit, support your Governing Body … and Race in a World Championships! Lets help Lincsquad, give them the support they deserve and make this a World Championships to Remember. It would be fantastic to field a large team of GB quadrathletes to chase down those medals in all the age categories, but just as important to embrace this opportunity, to fly the flag and be part of this brilliant event!

Lincsquad are proud to be hosting this event and I know the club will pull together to put on an event to be proud of, they will put on a ‘big show’ for the worlds best quadrathletes and for every single athlete racing on the same stage!

Entries are now open and we encourage you to enter as soon as possible. (Early bird entry prior to Feb 1st 2019). Brigg-Bomber Entry

More details about ‘Team GB’ to follow …. Be there see you on the start line!

BQA Races 2019

October 13, 2018 Jean Ashley

Whilst you are all enjoying some rest and recovery time, (hopefully) The BQA Team and Race organizers have been clarifying next years races. This week all currant BQA members will have received our BQA AGM report, Annual report and Finance report … these will be added to the website when all have been discussed and approved by our members.

I have had athletes asking for next years race dates so here is a quick preview … so get them in your diaries!

BQA 2019 Trophy Series
CONFIRMED 26th May – Brigg Bomber
CONFIRMED 16th June – Dearne Valley Sprint & QuadKidz
CONFIRMED 30th June – Box End Sprint Quad & Quadkidz
CONFIRMED 1st Sept – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad
NO RACE until 2020 Sept – Fabian 4 Conwy Mountain Tri (Biannual)
CONFIRMED 21st Sept Awesome Foursome Quad

QuadKidz Series
CONFIRMED 16th June Dearne Valley QuadKidz
To be Confirmed ? Lincs QuadKidz Event
CONFIRMED 30th June BoxEnd QuadKidz

Races supported by BQA (not Trophy Races)
CONFIRMED 18th May – Montgomery Canal Triathlon (Charity Event)
CONFIRMED 22nd June – Norfolk SuperHeroes Quad
CONFIRMED 6th July – Artemis Great Kindrochit Quad
CONFIRMED 14th July – Deva Divas Quad

BQA National Trophy Champions added to our Hall of Fame!

September 25, 2018 Jean Ashley

The BQA started a National Trophy Series in 2005 this is a series of events which are generally spread throughout the country. Each event contributes points towards finding a National Champion, with the best three results for each individual to count.

This is our Hall of Fame, since the Series started in 2005 BQA-Hall-of-Fame-2018

Trophies are awarded each year, provided each winner has done 3 races in the series, and must be a current BQA Member. (In the event of a tie the 4th race points will count to decide the winner).

Overall Winners Perpetual Trophy for Male and Female. BQA Kit vouchers for winners Male and Female in each age category, Juniors (u23), Seniors, V40+ V50+ V60+ Vet 70+

Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy awarded each year ‘For Endeavor’ given to an athlete showing his enthusiasm and commitment to the sport of Quadrathlon.

2018 National Trophy Full Results 2018-BQA-trophy

2018 National Trophy: The Mens Trophy was still in contention up to the last race of the season, and with the age Group slots still up for grabs Bude was going to be the decider! Michael Mason took 3 wins in the series, but as the rules state the winner must be a currant BQA Member that takes the Trophy. So the Trophy rolled down to Alan Cole after he finished 3rd in Bude. Alan won the Vet 40 event, so there was then another roll down to 2nd place. Despite Bryce Dyer coming 3rd in the overall positions, in the Vet 40 category he had joint points with Peter Tindall, so the rules quote ‘we then take the points from the 4th race into account’. Peter having done 5 events had the extra points, so took the title. Peter has had a great first season in Quadrathlon, apart from one race sadly he got lost on the Conwy Mountain Tri, so missed the cut off time on the run. Vet 50 went to Nigel Unwin and Vet 60 to Nicholas Farnell. For the first time ever we had had a Vet 70 winner, we are proud to have the veteran Canoe Slalom Olympian supporting us … Congratulations John Macleod!

The Ladies Trophy, had been decided before Bude, with Helen Russell winning all her 4 races. Newcomer to our sport Elizabeth Angood in her first year of Quadrathlon took the Senior prize. The very supportive seasoned quadrathlete Jacqueline Davies took the Vet 50, in what is proving to be our most competitive age group. Jean Ashley won the Vet 60 catagory, quite a mile stone 20 years in the sport, she did her first Quad when she was a young 40 year old!

Congratulations to John Kavanagh (Vet 60) and Lance Ball (Vet 50) for showing ‘true commitment’ competing in all 6 of our Trophy Races!

Finally ‘The Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy’ was presented to Nigel Unwin he has shown enthusiasm and commitment to our sport, and has raced at a very competitive level for many years, showing true dedication to Quadrathlon, long may he continue to compete and enjoy!

A big thank you to everyone who has competed in our National Series, and all our BQA members we really appreciate your support, we need you to keep our small sport Alive and Kicking … so see you all in 2019! Next Years dates and Races are in the making …. watch this space ……

National Championships Bude Awesome Foursome 2018

September 25, 2018 Jean Ashley

The Final Race of the season and our National Championships for 2018, as ever Bude lived up to its reputation, and we were in for some great racing! A strong turnout of athletes, the regular BQA members, all fighting for those extra ‘BQA Trophy Points’ and age group placings, plus a couple of strong newcomers, and locals from the local surf-lifesaving scene, some compete as individuals but there are also lots of teams or pairs competing too.

It had been wet and windy the day before, and their was plenty of heavy swell in the sea. It was a little chilly at 7.00 am on race day, but we had sunshine and light winds, and as the day went on it got warmer and proved to be good race conditions, even though most of us found the sea challenging!

After the race briefing we all headed down to the sea lock, the swim consists of two 400m loops split by a 200m run across the sands of the beach, the tide was higher than expected and the beach was completely flooded. so the beach run was a wade through knee deep water instead. In the individual event Alan Cole was out first (20.28) with newcomer Billy Butler in 2nd place (22.10) with Nigel Unwin (23.30) and Andy Parrritt (23.30) close behind, there were a lot of locals in the team and pairs event amongst the top swimmers, all looking strong in the choppy swell.

The Bike is a course of two halves, a very hilly 1st half, along the coast road to Widemouth and then up those 30% climbs out of Millook, the 2nd half is very fast down the A39 into Bude. Alan managed to hold onto his lead for a while but his legs were still suffering from the Conwy Mountain Tri the week before. Nigel loves this bike course and put in the fastest bike split of the day (54.49) which took him into the lead. Alan stayed in 2nd (58.58), there were some good splits from Peter Tindall (56.00), Nigel Leeson (57.01) all looking for those Trophy points!

The 10km kayak section consists of two loops of the canal, with tight turns at either end, it was nice and calm and had started to warm up. Nigel pulled away and opened up a gap between him and Alan, but then paddler Billy Butler started to make huge gains on everyone, he produced the fastest kayak split by far (44.52) leaving everyone in his wake! Nigel was still 2nd fastest (51.29) Andy Parritt (53.05) with Alan (53.41) and Nigel (53.54). Race organizer Simon Hammond also produced a strong kayak split (54.36) … so all the age groups were still in contention!

The first couple of miles of the run are along the flat tarmac of the canal towpath, then up hill across fields and down to the coast road into Widemouth Bay, where you climb up the coastal path towards Bude, before a final descent to the Canal Warf. Billy had built up a strong lead, and maintained his position with a good run split (43.47). Nigel running the fastest time of the day (42.02) couldn’t quite catch Billy so held 2nd place, with Alan in 3rd (45.17) . There were some excellent age group performances, but the National Championship Title was well deserved by Billy Butler producing a fine win in his first ever Quadrathlon!

In the Ladies race Helen Russell came out of the swim in first place (22.51) with Jacq Davies 2nd (24.59), Natalie Abbott 3rd (26.23) followed by Alison Parritt, Bethany Goodlad, and Jean Ashley. Helen increased her lead on the bike (1.01.00), Natalie also having a strong bike moved into 2nd place (1.05.44) with Alison close behind (1.06.25).

Going into the kayak Helen maintained her lead (57.19), and the positions were to change again. Natalie was some what disadvantaged paddling a heavy sea kayak, so Alison moved in to 2nd (58.45) and Jacq into 3rd (1.00.03). Jean in her favorite discipline started to make up time and had the fastest kayak (56.48) which moved her into 4th place.

Helen maintained her lead and went on to take the National Championship Title for the 2nd year on the run, Alison stayed in 2nd place with Jean running into 3rd place. Some excellent racing from the ladies with a good quality of field, great to see newcomers to our sport performing well and strong performances from our BQA members too.

A special congratulations must go to our 2 BQA members who have done all 6 races in our BQA Calender, John Kavanagh and Lance Ball … a superb effort! Lance also deserves another mention, he was just at the start of the famous Millook climb when his chain broke, he quickly got his ‘chain tool out’ and proceeded to mend it … he then noticed a fellow ‘athlete in distress’ just ahead of him, who also had a broken chain …. so he mended hers so they both could continue to finish the race. Genuinely a top guy, showing us what a true advocate he is to our sport!

Everyone that completes this awesome course finishes it with a huge sense of achievement, its a true testament to the standard all our Quadrathletes, some out at the front, and some behind … equally your all just as important… Strong motivated and giving 100%, that’s what makes you all special!

A big thank-you to Simon Hammond and his Team for putting on another brilliant race, as always very friendly plenty of support, great commentating and lots of happy smiling faces!

National Champions 2018

1st Billy Butler Elite winner 2:51:00
2nd Nigel Unwin Vet 50 winner 2:51:42
3rd Alan Cole Vet 40 winner 2:58:24
4th Nigel Leeson Vet 50 3:02:50
5th Des Gosling Vet 50 50 3:09:31
6th Peter Tindall Vet 40 3:12:03
7th AndyParritt Vet 60 winner 3:12:49
8th Simon Hammond Vet 50 3:13:43

1st Helen Russell Vet 40 Winner 3.07.33
2nd Alison Parritt Vet 50 Winner 3:24:50
3rd Jean Ashley Vet 60 Winner 0 3:28:42
4th Natalie Abbott Vet 50 3:29:18
5th Bethany Goodlad Elite Winner 3:33:42
6th Jacqueline Davies Vet 50 3:36:02
Emma Whitehouse Elite 3:50:46

BQA Members
Peter Chappill Vet 50 3:32.57
John Kavanagh Vet 60 3:34:44
Lance Ball Vet 50 3:39:52

Full Results Bude 2018 results

This was also the last race of the Quadrathlon Trophy Series for 2018. This trophy is awarded to BQA members only and is based on your best 3 finishes out of the 6 trophy series races. Alan Cole took the overall Men’s trophy series win this year, whilst Helen Russell defended her Female British Trophy Series Champion status with the overall in the women’s series.

BQA Trophy Series 4 down-2 to go!

September 5, 2018 Jean Ashley

This weekend saw the 4th race in our BQA Trophy Series, its hotting up at the top of the table in the men’s event, with Alan Cole in the lead, Bryce Dyer 2nd and Nigel Unwin 3rd. These 3 are all Age Groupers so there could be a role down too! With 2 races left things could still change, Conwy Mountain Triathlon is on 9th September and Bude Awesome Foursome on the 15th. It is also our National Championships, the Trophies and Age group prizes will be presented there, and as always its a great end to our season!

We have just 2 of the categories finalized – Congratulations to John MacLeod our first ever winner in the Vet 70 category, and to Helen Russell has won the overall Ladies Trophy again this year.

Check out your latest points updated after the Shrewsbury Quad Race 18-BQA-trophy results

Just to remind everyone – OVERALL Male & Female Trophies are awarded each year, provided each winner has done 3 races in the series, and must be a current BQA Member. (In the event of a tie the 4th race points will count to decide the winner).

Overall Winners Perpetual Trophy for Male and Female. BQA Kit vouchers for winners Male and Female in each age category, Juniors (u23), Seniors, V40+ V50+ V60+ Vet 70+

Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy awarded each year ‘For Endeavor’ given to an athlete showing his enthusiasm and commitment to the sport of Quadrathlon.

Final 3 British Quadrathlon Races of the 2018 Season … Enter Now!

July 24, 2018 Jean Ashley

Its been a great season so far for British Quadrathlon, and after the last race at Box End there are plenty of good strong and enthusiastic Quadrathletes about this year! We have 3 great races left in our Series, all of which are very different, with each race having plenty to offer, short fast and dynamic – off road, exciting and challenging – just AWESOME in historic Bude and our National Championships!

Take a look at what they have to offer, and get your Entries in as soon as possible, to support our committed race organizers who do a great job every year for the BQA!

RACE 4 – 2nd September – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad – Only a handful of spaces left! This race just keeps getting stronger and stronger, an excellent fast, flat sprint race, running on the back of a very popular Triathlon. A great day out with a superb race atmosphere, with lots of support especially on the 3 lap run course around the Showground! A real ‘feel good friendly race’ instigated and organized by one of our very passionate quadrathletes along with SYTri … one not to be missed! Shrewsbury Quadrathlon

RACE 5 – 9th September – Fabian4 Conwy Mountain Triathlon– The long-awaited Fabian4 Dyffryn Conwy Mountain Challenge is back for 2018. Last year’s event (2016) was the best yet, & here at Fabian4, we’re already working hard to make sure that next year’s is even better! Where else can you find a well-organised, non-commercial, realistically-priced, serious sea to summit adventure, much of it taking place in Snowdonia National Park. All the profits will be donated, as always, to the Snowdonia Society. Fabian4 Conwy Mountain Triathlon

RACE 6 – 16th September – National Championships- Awesome Foursome Quad – This is one of our longest running established Quadrathlons, in beautiful Cornwall in the surfing town of Bude. It never ceases to amaze me, I have raced it in all weathers …. it is always a brilliant exciting and challenging race and a great end the race season! Swimming in the sea, there’s plenty of hills on the bike, a historic canal for the kayak and amazing coastal views on the run! It’s one of those addictive races that keeps drawing you back. The race is on a Saturday so plenty of time for sun, sand and surf too! Awesomefoursome.quadrathlon

If anyone is having a holiday in Bude there will be another event the following Sunday September 23rd ‘The Cornish Nutcracker’ and it’s an eight Hill hill-climb series on the coastal roads between Bude and Boscastle and back, including Millook in both directions, certainly one to test those legs – 100% of money goes to Bude Surf Life Saving Club!

National Trophy Standings – after 2 races!

June 14, 2018 Jean Ashley

Here are the latest Trophy Standings with the first 2 races done, the Brigg Bomber and Dearne Valley. Chris Carter (Nottingham Kayak Club) is in the lead with 204 points. Just behind with 200 points is Nicholas Farnell (Ludlow Tri Club) and in 3rd Peter Tindall (Lincsquad) with 197. So its all close up at the top, Box End is the next race, so no doubt there will be lots of great racing to gain those extra points!

In the Ladies trophy Helen Russell (Worcester Canoe Club) is in the lead, with 2 outright wins 240 points, with Mandy Greenaway (Wakefield Triathlon Club) in 2nd place on 199 points, these are the only ladies who have done 2 races so once again Box End is where we expect more ladies to be looking for those points!

Don’t forget Box End will give you BQA and WQF Points its our 2nd World Cup Race!

Check out your Trophy Points and Age Group positions, a big Thank-you to John Kavanagh who produces these tables for us after every event … superb work!

2018-BQA Trophy after Dearne Valley

TROPHY PRIZES

The BQA Perpetual Trophies and BQA kit vouchers are awarded to the Overall Winners. The Age Group winners receive BQA kit vouchers. The overall winner will NOT win a age catagory prize too, it will role down. In the Event of a tie the points from a 4th race will be counted. Each winner must do 3 races in the series, and must be a current BQA Member.

Age Groups Male and Female – Senior, Vet 40, Vet 50, Vet 60, Vet 70.

Here are the latest world cup points also – WQF Trophy World Cup Standings after 4 races

2018-WQF World Cup after Hannover

Dearne Valley Quad 2018

June 12, 2018 Jean Ashley

A brilliant sunshine day for the Dearne Valley Quadrathlon, our 2nd Trophy Race of the Season, lots of passion for our sport, with non stop smiles as juniors, first timers, and seasoned quadrathletes crossed the finish line! Organizer Mark Benton and his ‘Team’ of volunteers and marshals hosted a great race for us all, there enthusiasm and friendliness shone through, to make their 2nd time of running the event a huge success, thank-you you did your selves proud yet again!

The kids races got underway at 8:30am and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Those that were fast were giving it their all, but those that weren’t so fast were supported well the whole way around. The ethos of the Manvers Waterfront Boat Club is one of inclusivity and giving everyone a chance, which is just how it should be, this was clear throughout the weekend and it was good to see the kids giving it their all. One or two gave a little too much and returned from the bike bloodied and bruised after overcooking it on a corner or capsized their kayaks but from what I saw they all continued on and had a good time despite a few mishaps. The kids presentations were made at around 9:30am. The jubilant podium finishers collected their certificates, proud parents cheered and the adult Quadrathletes and Triathletes assembled ready for their races.

It was a real mixture of athletes racing 50 in total, with 27 doing the quad and 23 the Triathlon, with 18 of those BQA members, so plenty of National Trophy points ready to be picked up! There were plenty of athletes giving the quad a go for the first time, and they looked like they had given everything and had a great time! BQA members took the top 11 places, with plenty of friendly battles between themselves along the way.

Alan Cole was 1st out of the swim (12.10) with Helen Russell in 2nd (13.36), Bryce Dyer (14.26) and Jacqueline Davies (14.51) a close 3rd and 4th. There was then a steady stream of swimmers coming in between 15 and 17 mins, it was a 2 lap course, nice a calm and reasonably warm, there were plenty of paddle boards and canoeists encouraging the slower swimmers along the way.

The bike was off road and using part of the Trans Penne Trail which consisted of unmade tracks, there were a few boulders, and gates, 2 bridges and a few road crossings to slow you down, so you had to keep your whits about you! It was ideal for cross bikes, as they proved to be the fastest over the course and it was out and back so great to see where everyone was in the race! Alan was out in front with Bryce trying to catch him, though Bryce did the fastest split (32.42) it wasn’t enough to catch Alan (33.25). Peter Tindall (34.11) and Nicholas Farnell ( 34.36) also had strong bike legs, and Chris Carter was catching up too (35.18).

Alan paddled very well in his ski (24.36) leaving Bryce and Chris the job of trying to chase him down. Chris did the fastest kayak split (24.19) with Bryce (25.07) still holding onto 2nd place. John Kavanagh was also paddling well producing the 4th fastest split (25.58). It was 5 laps of the kayak course and compared to last year it was very calm, it was good to see some great kayaking, all types of boats, but a big improvement this year as most were K1 types or river racers and sea kayaks, so it was good to see paddlers moving on from short plastics!

Onto the run and once again Alan had the fastest split (21.39), Greg Lyle (22.14) and Pete Tindall (22.44) were both quick, but neither would alter the top positions. Bryce held on to 2nd (24.10) with Chris in 3rd (24.43). Nicholas Farnell came in 4th, Pete Tindall 5th and John Kavanagh 6th. Some great results and some big improvements in personnel performances since last year, Pete Chappill, Andrew Lawson, Wayne Smith and Lance Ball all had significantly faster times this year … well done everyone!

Special mention goes to our Vet 70 super fit BQA Member John MacLeod who did the 14th fastest canoe split of the day (31.36) He is very modest, and has an Olympic Gold Kayak Medal from Munich 1972 at home, so he has clearly not lost his touch! Well done John, great to see you out there again.

In the Ladies race, Helen was in the lead from the start, she was 1st lady out of the swim (13.36) with Jacqueline in 2nd (14.51) Laura Syndney in 3rd (16.04) with Jean a minuit down in 4th (17.10). Helen had a good bike (37.23), Jacq also just a minuit behind (38.23) Jean peddled past Laura and moved into 3rd place (39.10).

So onto the kayak, Helen had worked hard on her kayak training over the winter and produced a good time staying in the lead (27.17) Jacq and Jean set out to chase her down, but she was almost a lap in front. Jacq stayed in 2nd ((28.24) with Jean (really really working hard to catch her … I can assure you I was!!) couldn’t quite get there but produced a great split (26.41) 5th fastest overall.

Helen ran well to take the win (24.24) …. Jacq went out on the run pushing hard (31.07), Jean new she would have to push it and make up ground, so digging deep and leaving nothing in the tank she managed to pass Jacq around 2km (28.06) to take 2nd place. Mandy Greenaway came 4th having improved by 8 mins since last year, and Helen Adams, a first timer to quadrathlon had a brilliant race finishing in 5th. It was so good to see plenty of women racing and producing some good solid performances, new BQA member Lizzie Angood was inspired by the Brigg Bomber 2 weeks earlier so it was so good to see her racing with a huge smile! Amanda Knagg also had a huge improvement of 13 mins from last year … so well done all the Girls too!

A special mention must go to Caroline Jones, I spoke to her after the race she had done the triathlon last year and decided the Quad looked so much fun she got her kayak out, trained up and entered! She finished in fine style, was buzzing with enthusiasm and full of admiration for our supportive Quad Family, she’d had a great day loved every moment and had smiled all the way! Seeing her so happy just made my day too … it makes it all worth while when people are inspired and motivated by our friendliness and also by our wonderful race organizers who make us all feel Very Special!

Once again a Huge Thank You ‘Mark Benton’ and ‘Manvers’ …. we hope you’ll have us back next year!

Full results Dearne Valley Results

There are more photos on our Facebook page BQA facebook

Alan Cole has a Blog post so if you want to know all the knitty-gritty here is his race report from – get a coffee, put your feet up and get some much deserved R&R as you settle down for 10 minutes recovery while you read it:

alananna.co.uk/blog/2018/dearne-valley-quadrathlon-race-report/

Category: BQA Trophy