Whilst the UK was baking in a heat wave, the Standard Distance European Age Group Championships were held on a cloudy, windy, cool Sunday in Lisbon. Bikes were racked the night before but transition was closed by the time Euan arrived in the morning (despite team managers promises) and so he had to rely on a marshal to fit his bottle and lay out his shoes whilst hoping that his tyres weren’t too badly under-inflated! A PB sub 20min swim was a great start slightly spoiled by a, hardly surprising, slow T1 and then onto the bike. A fiddly technical section on the wet cobbles (that included going down a ramp and through the basement of a stadium!?) was followed by 10k into a headwind. The promised flat circuit turned out to have a tough hill at the end as the 10k turned into 11k but coming back to the stadium was much easier - downhill with the wind behind! Another lap of the same completed a 44k bike leg before a quick T2. Holding back a little at first on the run, Euan raised the pace at the mid point soon catching a Portugese athlete who told him “We are in second place!”. “No”, thought Euan as he shot past, “I’m in second place, you are in third!” Although gaining on the leader, unfortunately there wasn’t enough time left to catch him. Who knows what might have been had the shoes been on the bike and the tyres pumped up!? (35-39 Category: 2nd Euan Lees 2:09:10)

In the 40-44 age group Greg Keers & Mark Hayman produced great performances of 14th & 40th respectively. All in all a fantastic day of racing - nice one guys!

The Dave Aitchison SportsAid Fund has been launched by Dave's family and Ful-On Tri Club to assist talented young triathletes in the Triathlon London region to succeed in the sport. Dave's family were keen that the fund could assist athletes like Dave who take up the sport and find they have exceptional talent. The fund will typically provide grants of £500-£1,000 to London-based athletes between 12 and 25 years old, identified and nominated by British Triathlon and should help ease pressure on the "Bank of Mum & Dad" in getting these athletes started in the sport.

Last year's club-hosted Surrey Legs of Steel event has already raised £4,147 for the fund, with additional donations from friends and family raising a further £2,730. The ride has now become an annual event with all profits going direct to the Dave Aitchison Fund. This year's ride takes place on Saturday 27th September, with Dave's father Tony and his coach Bill Black hoping to complete the short course and Dave's girlfriend, CB moving up to the long course.

For more information and to make a donation, please visit: http://www.justgiving.com/daveaitchisonfund. If you wish to raise money for the fund through your own sporting endeavours, then you can create your own donations page through the following link: http://www.justgiving.com/sportsaid and select the Dave Aitchison Fund.

Our eight fantastic team members scored our first win in the London Triathlon League at the Dragonslayer mountain bike triathlon yesterday. Braving a very early start, and a chilly lake, followed by 4 muddy up & down laps on the bike and an off-road run, we racked up 55 points - exactly the same as home club East London Triathletes, to take the joint win. We also took the mob match result, so currently lead both competitions.

Our stars were Nik Haynes (2nd) Euan Lees (3rd) Phil Roker (12th ) Alistair Duvoisin (16) Gregg Walker (18) Julie Milroy (3rd female) Laura May Williams (6th female) Amanda Galloway (10th female)

Next match is on Sunday 11th May. The other league matches can be found on the events page.

No fewer than 50 Ful-On Tri Club members travelled to Club La Santa, Lanzarote, for the Club’s 2008 Training Camp hosted by Richard Hobson of Tri Living. This was a record number for the club, with a record number of last minute swaps, but it seemed to be the perfect number for an extremely successful and well-run camp.

The majority opted for the earlier flights, so that they could get there for a gentle swim on the first evening. Probably wise, as after our initial “introductory” sessions, the duration and intensity slowly picked up pace as the week progressed. Most of us don’t train 3 times a day, so it takes a little adjusting to do a swim, bike and run each day. However, Richard managed to emphasize the key elements we were looking to achieve from each day/session, so that individuals could adjust their efforts according to their own abilities and fitness levels. Bike rides split into 4-5 groups with options for every pace and longer options for the Ironman athletes. It worked well, and everyone was achieving a suitable level of fatigue and increase in fitness. The week culminated in a tough sprint triathlon with the Robin Brew camp joining us. It was a training race, not competitive at all. Yeah right!! Ful-On Tri took 7 of the top 10 places in a field of 65, with Tristan Shipsides taking the men’s win and Natalie Creswick the ladies. Not bad on knackered legs. It also marked the first triathlon race for three of our members: Michael Pagnotta, Liz Dimmock and Bella Wlosowicz, all of whom finished in very impressive form.

But the camp wasn’t all about training, ever the social animals, Club members were to be found dining en masse each evening and most lunch times in the pool bar, with a regular possie hitting the bar in the evening. The weather was great, sunny all week and that ever-present island wind just to cool things down a bit. As action-packed as our days seemed to be, there was still time for some lounging by the pool, and a couple of good nights out – to a restaurant in La Santa village, a BBQ on the beach, and a final night dinner watching the Club La Santa kids show, complete with Richard’s kids performing. This was all capped off with a fun awards presentation and a trip to the nightclub to undo all the good work!

Many thanks for a hugely successful week to Richard and his team: Dorte, Chris, Iain, Ron & Sue and also to Stuart Anderson for organising the trip at this end and sorting out all the last minute changes. Well done - now let’s bring on the races!

With Saturday being the warmest day of the year so far, the inaugural Ful-On Duathlon at the Chertsey MOD Test Track promised to be a good little event. The atmosphere was relaxed, Bill Black was on the commentary and there was a mini expo with an excellent coffee stand, some top-end BH bikes on display at the Prologue Bike stand and Physio4Life providing free post-race massages.

The race itself went very smoothly, despite a few issues with the racking and the wind blowing some of the barriers over. Thankfully we had plenty of marshals to compensate for this. The run course was tough and featured the 1 in 4 test gradient hill which those doing the standard distance had to run up 4 times. The bike course was fast and technical and appealed to the guys who like speed. Around 60% of the entrants were first timers and enjoyed the fact that the race had closed roads.

The men’s open race provided some fierce competition, and the 1 in 4 hill appeared to be the decider. Andy McFarlane swept to victory closely followed by Vince Kamp and Tristan Shipsides, all Ful-On Tri, securing the men’s team prize for Ful-On Tri with the addition of Stuart Anderson who finished fifth. The women’s race was equally as tight, with the win going to Julia Warren of Thames Turbo after Bethan Hopewell was DQ’ed for a cheeky bike change mid race. Victoria Collins of Serpentine was second just 10 seconds behind Julia, and Laura Fulton, Ful-On Tri, third. The men’s vets race had a clear winner in Gavin Francis of London Dynamo, with Phil Wege, Eton Tri Club, second and Colin Smith third. A few non-starters in the Ladies vets race meant only two raced, with Ann Marshall taking the win from Christine Glew. In the sprint event, Nick Tidball stormed to victory in the men’s race with Jo Perriam and Barbara Vintcent of Ful-On Tri sharing the honours in the women’s race. Great prizes were supplied by race sponsors Prologue Bikes, Vacherin and Swim for Tri. Every competitor felt like a winner, though, when they received a stuffed goodie bag on the finish line, making the effort up the test gradient hill all the more worthwhile. With offerings from Prologue Bikes, This Water, Gu, Jaffa Cakes, Kit-Kat, the real clincher was a CD of Stevie Wonder’s Numbers Ones! Not bad for a £20 entry fee.

Many thanks to all who attended, whether in racing, marshalling or spectating capacity and also to our sponsors for providing such generous prizes and goodie bags. We look forward to building and improving on the race for next year at this top venue. But how to follow up on that CD... perhaps Tina Turner’s Greatest Hits?!

Results are available here. A full list of prize winners in on the Ful-On Duathlon page with links to all the photos from the event.

Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us! To anyone passing The Chancery last Thursday we can't have looked much like a group of finely tuned triathletes as 80 members all happily stuffed their cakeholes with, well, birthday cake and champagne. But hey, Ful-On Tri had just turned five!

Yes, amazingly it's been five years since a small but enthusiastic team including Conan Gibney, Alan Hanley and Siobhan Brownlow gathered for their first training session on April 10th 2003. And after attending two triathlon swimming programmes at Fulham Pools run by swim coach Bill Black, Alan Hanley and Chris Spink decided the motley crew should become a club. They deliberated over the name - just be thankful they didn't go with one suggestion 'Tri-Ful' - before settling on Ful-On Tri and team colours, namely black and yellow as they matched Siobhan's bike!

With less than 20 members, the club started off meeting just once a week on a Thursday for a swim and brick session. Soon after came BTA affiliation, the first club kit, the first training camp to Lanzarote and the Saturday bike ride was born, although no one knew where they were going and most got dropped on the way home! As the club grew we got bolder and stripped off  for the now infamous 2006 naked calendar which raised £2,000 for the charity Aspire. We also raised £6,000 from the Legs of Steel cyclosportive organised after the untimely death of one of our champion members, Dave Aitchison last year. Recently membership hit  256, of which 218 are full members and the club continues to grow in every way.

But our 5th birthday wasn’t the only reason to celebrate last week. Jon Train, Triathlon London Regional Development Manager, joined the party to present Ful-On Tri with StarMark Accreditation. This makes FOT, along with Crystal Palace, the first London club to receive such an accolade and was awarded for all aspects of the club's operation from its management by committee to coaching, health & safety rules and code of conduct. This means increased funding for the club and the London region, so the club's first underwater camera could now be just weeks away. Maybe time to invest in that new swimming costume or Speedos!

There were many impressive Ful-On Tri race results over the weekend.  James Deane knocking out a 10h12m Ironman in South Africa...   in the London marathon Ellen Pooley was 33rd overall female in 3h9m and Alex Hussey went well under 3 hours....  Check out all the other great results here!

Yep its true, Thursday 10th April will mark Ful-On Tri Club's 5th Birthday and instead of eating gels we are going to have CAKE!!! An important part of the pre-camp/event nutritional intake.

There will be ONLY ONE swim session that night (8-9pm) after which we will have some complimentary bubbly and CAKE in the Chancery Pub (316 Lillie Road) from 9pm! Look forward to a good Club turnout - please wear some Ful-On-Tri branded clothing and/or buy a T-shirt on the night!

In view of the high volume of swimmers we’ve been experiencing on Thursday nights, the committee has decided to cap Full Membership for the 2007/08 season until renewals in September. At this point we are only accepting new members who take out associate membership which does not include the Thursday and Sunday evening swimming sessions. Associate members have full access to all training sessions other than swimming. For full details of membership benefits and training session on offer, please refer to our Membership and Weekly Timetable pages.

Alan Hanley Ful On Tri’s Head Coach has been appointed as the new BTF Development Coach for the London Region. It is a part time salaried position 10-20 hours per week. Alan says of the role “I will have to re-vamp my life somewhat as cannot fit enough in already without this coming along! I'm under no illusions about the difficulty of the task and indeed made this clear at interview. Basically I think it a simple coefficient...if you have pooltime you'll have a tri club, if not then you'll struggle. Obvious stuff really.”

There is one Development Coach from each of the regions & the new 12 strong team will be going to Loughborough for their induction day on 11th March. Congratulations Alan on behalf of everyone at FOT. We’re lucky to have you!

The inaugural Ful-On Duathlon will take place on Saturday 26th April 2008 at the Chertsey MOD Test Track at Longcross in Surrey. The venue, which has been featured on Top Gear, offers closed roads and challenging hills to tempt the racing snakes amongst you. There will be two distances on offer: a full 5k run/20k bike/5k run; or a half-distance: 2.5k run/10k bike/2.5k run.

The use of a closed road circuit brings with it the benefit of racing on a Saturday with a very civilised start time of 9am. The venue is ideal with grass areas for easy spectating and ample parking. Refreshments such as teas, coffees, sandwiches and cakes are available for purchase at Race HQ, along with any last minute bike spares. Online Entries are now open through the Ful-On Duathlon page.

Ful-On Tri will also be hosting the second Surrey Legs of Steel: Dave Aitchison Challenge Ride at Box Hill on Saturday 27th September with all profits going to the SportsAid Dave Aitchison Fund. Details can be found on the Legs of Steel page.

At the end of our first ever season competing in the Surrey Cross Country League, we are delighted to say that the Men's team has been promoted to Division 3, having won each of the 4 races by a considerable margin. Final standings show us beating the 2nd placed club by over 500 points:

1 Ful-on Tri 409, 2 Holland 957, 3 Haslemere Border 1335, 4 Collingwood 1642.5, 5 Lingfield 1720, 6 Waverly 1800, 7 Dulwich Park 2076.5

The ladies competing in Division 2 are in a tough league, with 42 clubs in the final league standings (including B and C teams),  and managed to finish 5th

Ful-on Tri dominated the top order of the last Div 4 cross country match again this weekend, with all 14 runners finishing in the top 24; our 10 scorers all within the top 19! Thanks to those who turned out on Saturday we won the match by a massive 160 points, and take the league by an enormous margin. Thanks also to all the other club members who have turned out this season (35 in all). Top spot on Saturday went to Tom Robinson, 2nd, then Conan came in 5th, followed by simon Kenyon, Jon Barks, Phil, Jaco, Tim Phillis, John Coolahan, Sandy, Will, Rich Bulkley, Ed, Tongy and Yannick. Times & positions in the discussion forum

The Ful-On Tri Club Championship determines the awards for Best Male and Best Female Triathlete of the Year 2008 at Sprint/Olympic Distance. You have to race at least three races from the list below to score.

The 2008 club championship races are:

Sprint distance (max 2 to count):  Thames Turbo Race Series 1 – 24th March;  Hillingdon Tri Series 3 – 13th July;  Crystal Palace Tri – 21st Sept

Olympic Distance:  Windsor – 15th June;  Wakefield – 6th July;  Milton Keynes – 20th July

See the Club Races page for the championship rules. The Championship races are also highlighted in the Events Calendar.

Happy racing!

Spring arrived early for the fourth & final Surrey ladies cross country league of 2007-8 held near Sidmouth Wood in Richmond Park. Sun, blue skies & warm temperatures greeted the competitors as they arrived ready to do battle for the last time this season. It could have been the weather or the fact that the race was on "home" turf but there were some fresh FOT faces lining up ready for the off. The going was relatively dry & hills were in short supply which made for a fast 2 lap 5.8k course. The first lap followed the dirt track around Sidmouth Wood & the longer second lap took the runners down to pretty Penn Ponds – not that many had the time or energy to fully appreciate the view! Cheered on by vocal FOT supporters Fran Hanlon put in a solid effort to finish 1st lady in black & yellow colours. Hot on her heels were Sarah Clark & Elizabeth Fernando. Jo Perriam defeated Vicki Grimshaw up the final hill to complete the scores for Team A. Gutsy runs were in evidence from Alice Honnywill, Barbara Walsh, Joolz Howe & Jo Knight. Alyson Tong saw real improvement in form to pip Barbara Vintcent to the post to complete the line up for Team B. Heart rates returned to normal levels as everyone reviewed their performances aided by a delicious selection of muffins lovingly baked by Mrs Tong. Well done & many thanks to everyone who’s turned out to race or supported our ladies this season. Promotion to Division 1 seems like a bit of a long shot at this stage but individual times & team position will posted on the website as soon as they are available.

On the weekend of the 12-13th January Ful-On Tri’s Vince Kamp and Stuart Anderson travelled to Egmond in Holland to race both a 36km mountain bike time trial along the beach and a half marathon. Among the competitors in the bike race were the Rabobank Tour de France team and over 400 other professionals. Vince and Stuart raced for a trade team called Team Busker and came 6th and 79th respectively in this category. There were 3000 competitors (click here for some video footage).

On Sunday they both braved strong gales to race in a half marathon. 7km of the 21km was along the beach into a 30mph head wind. The rest included 85m of climbing over sand dunes and the remainder on cobbles. Vince still managed a blistering 1.16 hr. Stu trailed with a 1.23 hr, but he commented: "It’s the hardest half I have ever run, but its all in the bank for IM Lanzarote". The race was won by Mulgeta Wami from Ethiopia in 1.04hr. There were 15,000 racers in all.  In the combined race Trade category, Vince was 3rd and Stuart 32nd. All in all, a great weekend's racing!

Our men's team had a great turn-out of 14 for a real taste of cross country - muddy as can be, great big puddles & lots of ups & downs. Resplendent in our new vests we looked good all the way round, and have surely consolidated our position at the top of the league. Andrew Mcfarlane repeated his strong performance at the recent mob match by coming in 5th overall (but surely 1st or 2nd in Div 4). Tom Robinson was not far behind, with Euan and then PJ shortly after him. Jon Barks, John Coolahan, Phil, Will Collins, Sandy, Michael Pagnotta, Ed Cooke, Gregg Walker, Yannick and Tongy were the rest of our fine team. Joint performance of the day award went to Tom and John who both supplied the most fantsatic cookies at the finish. Results are still not forthcoming, but will be added to the cross country page as soon as we get them!

Saturday 15th saw Richmond Park engulfed in a Christmassy sea of red/white/blue and yellow/white/black as Thames Turbo and Ful-On Tri faced off in their (triathlon's?) first ever cross-country mob match. Many thanks to the organisers of the Richmond Park Time Trial for allowing us to piggy-back on their race and triple its normal size! With 52 Fuls to 44 Turbos we had the numerical advantage, and with 10 in the first 15 we had the quality too. Andrew McFarlane (FOT) and Esther Evans (TT) broke the existing course records; Tristan Shipsides and Ellen Pooley grabbed us second in both races. With 41 to score, our winning margin was a comfortable 1380 to 2086. For further details, see the write-up on Tri247

Another great turn-out for the Ful-on men's cross country team saw 17 of us racing in this picturesque little enclave in the shadow of the M4 and Heathrow. Results will no doubt show that we have stormed the race again, with John Rawlins coming second overall (remember we race in Div 4, but alongside Div 3 teams), Tristan, Stu and Conan all in the top ten, and strong performances from everyone. The only thing lacking is the cake! Must try harder next time, team! The rest of the team were Alex Hussey, Jaco, Stew Ward, Simon K, Tim Phyllis, Alan Hanley, Gregg Walker, Tongy, Phil R, Will C, Yannick, Rich Bulkley, Tim Banner - thanks to all of you for turning out. Results are now up on the Cross Country page.

Congratulations are in order for Emily Reynolds and Tristan Roper who recently announced their engagement.  Many of you will know the couple well as they were both very active club members with Tristan being former Vice Chairman and Emily a frequent winner of the Ladies' Club Championships before they moved to New Zealand earlier this year.  Fortunately they will be in London over Christmas and are looking forward to catching up with old friends so don't fret you'll get your chance to raise a toast or two for them in the flesh very soon!        

Unseasonably warm weather, dry underfoot, this can't be cross country? Oh, hold on - there's 80's cross country man, replete with bouffant hair (is that a whiff of Grecian 2000 mixed in with the air of deep heat?), chest rug, gold medallion and lush 'tache - we are in the right place!

As it's our first season we are racing in division 4, but the races are a combination of divisions 3 & 4. Div 4 teams race with an X on their back, marking us down as the slow kids - some chance! Vince pushed the pace from the off, and then eased off having pushed the leaders heart rate through the roof, to come in 3rd overall, 1st in Div 4. Vince was closely followed by Tristan, Conan and then Euan - all in the top 11 overall. We didn't see too many X's interspersed with our scoring finishers. We had 17 runners in total, making it a fantastic debut for FoT, and by the second race on Nov 10th we may all have learned a few lessons about pacing, accessorising, and should look the part in our new vests! Huge thanks to all who turned up - Nik Haynes, Jon Barks, Jaco, Stewart Ward, Willem VdM, Greeny, Tongy, Sandy, Brett, Mark H, Dom G, Brian & Dawid. 

What an eventful inaugural outing for the Ful On ladies cross team in the Surrey League on 13th October in Esher! The date might have been a bad omen for some but that didn't stop 10 brave FOT ladies from signing up. Glorious sunshine & exceptionally mild temperatures greeted us on arrival but illness, injury & general bad luck prevented some of our eager competitors from taking part on the day. Despite this we fielded a top quality, high-spirited team for Match 1. As the race gun sounded the black & yellow clad women of FOT whipped past like graceful gazelles with Parys Edwards in 4th after lap 1 & Natalie Creswick & Emma Partridge not far behind. The two lap 5.9k course was undulating but relatively dry & fast so we were confident of some excellent performances all round. Natalie was 1st home followed swiftly by Leah Walland, Vicki Grimshaw, Jo Knight & Alyson Tong - well done ladies! Parys had a fantastic run but unfortunately became unwell & was unable to finish with Emma kindly staying back to help out. Siobhan Brownlow's delicious post-race treat made all the pain worthwhile. Fantastic result for the first attempt & the running wasn't bad either! Looking forward to seeing you at Cranford Park for Match 2 on Saturday 10th November. Results now up on the Cross Country page and photos are on Shutterfly site!

Over 60 members attended the Club's fourth AGM last night to vote on the hotly contested committee positions. Following another of Chairman Conan's epic speeches, the new committee members were duly elected:

Chairman - Conan Gibney; Vice Chairman - Euan Lees; Club Secretary - Bethan Hopewell; Treasurer - Sandy Sehmi; Head Coach/Welfare Officer - Alan Hanley; Membership Secretary - Ellen Pooley; Social Secretary - Tim Briggs; Fixtures Secretary - Tessa Keers; Communications Officer - Sarah Clark; Webmaster - Greg Keers; Club Kit Officer - Natalie Creswick; Team Captain: Phil Roker; and, Event Director: Siobhan Brownlow.

The winners of the Ful-On Tri Club Championship 2007 were announced at the AGM, with Tom Fordyce taking the honours for Male Triathlete of the Year and Jessica Taylor as Female Triathlete of the Year. With so many racing longer distance this year, only 13 members met the 3 race criteria for the series and the top three in each category are: Men - 1st: Tom Fordyce; 2nd: Tristan Shipsides; 3rd: Phil Roker. Ladies - 1st: Jessica Taylor; 2nd: Natalie Creswick. Full details of the rankings can be found on the results page.

The Chairman's report on the year's activities is now up on the website. Many thanks to all who attended.

The Ful-On Tri Club Annual General Meeting 2007 will take place on Thursday 27 September 2007 at 7.30pm in the members' café of Virgin Active, Fulham Pools. The AGM is scheduled to last no longer than 90 minutes but this will mean that Thursday night training session will be cancelled that evening. The opinions and support of the membership is vital to the ongoing success of the club and a quorum of 25% of members is needed for the meeting to take place. This equates to over 50 people. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be served and we plan to go to the pub afterwards.

The main business of the AGM will focus on the Annual Report and Club Finances and will also elect the committee members. All current committee posts are open for elecion and click this link for job descriptions.  Please forward your self-nomination and a brief biography to Sophie or Conan by 15 September 2007. Current committee members will be more than happy to discuss what is involved and we would urge you to consider how you can help, as our Club’s future depends very greatly on the continued participation of volunteers.

Beautiful sunny weather greeted our 14 teams of four racing at the National Club Sprint Relay Championships in Nottingham on Saturday. The morning’s racing saw 4 ladies teams and one mixed fight it out with nearly 200 other teams. Our Ladies A team of Jess Taylor, Natalie Creswick, Ellen Pooley and Bethan Hopewell finished fourth, missing out on the bronze medal by just 45seconds! And this despite Natalie cutting her foot badly on the swim exit and then coming off on the bike course – thankfully her run was incident free! Next home was our Mixed A team of Sarah Clark, Dom La Hausse, Tess Keers and Pete Doubleday finishing a very respectable 21st in the hotly contested mixed team category. Our Ladies B team of Emma Partridge, Kate McLean, Fran Hanlon and Parys Edwards were close behind, with Parys turning in the fastest run split of the ladies for the 5k – 19min 15secs! The next battle was between Morgane's Internationals and Vicki's Vixens, in which Morgane's team stole the march from the off.

The afternoon saw our Men's and Vet teams out on the course in slightly hotter conditions with the wind picking up. The constantly changing positions of one team against the next proved interesting and exciting racing. Our Men's A team of Euan Lees, Tristan Shipsides, Stuart Anderson and Vince Kamp finished the swim leg in about 32nd position, so had a lot of making up to do. In fact, the Vets team of Phil Roker, David Sharpe, Richard Keers and birthday boy Greg Keers were the first Ful-On team out onto the bike course, maintaining their place ahead of the A team until the 3rd leg of the bike when the gap had narrowed to a mere 20secs and was easily closed down by Stuart with an amazing sub 20mins bike split, averaging more than 45km/h ! (everyone else posted 22mins+). The SA Ful-On team’s impressive swim lead over the rest of our men was eventually closed down on the 3-lap 15k bike course, leaving lots of placings fights to continue into the 5k run. With both Tristan and Vince posting scorching running splits of 16:43 and 16:39 respectively, our Men's A team finished 7th overall, and 3rd of the non-sponsored club teams – something the BTF may need to take note of at a "Club" Championship. The next 3 teams home had a very close-run battle, constantly swapping places on the run course. The Limited Liabilities of Tim Lewis, Stewart Ward, Luke Carey and Neil Richardson pipped Conan’s Barbarians (Conan Gibney, Mark Hayman, Pete Doubleday and Alex Hussey) by just 50secs, with our Vets team just 39secs behind them and 12th in the Vet race. Next home were Tongy's Tigers, with our 4 remaining teams - SA Ful-On, Hanley's Beasts, PJ's Smoothies and the renamed Tony's Tearaways - all finishing within a minute of each other making for some very exciting and vocal spectating.

The disappointment in missing out on medals was quickly replaced by a lively social in the campsite with over 45 people staying up to camp. Kate & Ellen secured us a good supply of drinks to wash down the man-mountain of Domino's pizza which Joolz & Vicki mustered up. Then thanks to Tony Green’s efforts a number of the club joined Thames Turbo for a night out at Nottingham’s Oceana night club. Special mention should go to Bethan Hopewell and Pete "P Diddy" Doubleday for their immense staying power – the only two to race in both the morning and the afternoon races and then to make it on to the night club! A great weekend – and thanks to our Team Captain, Euan Lees, for his smooth organisation.