Chairmans Report 2009

Welcome everyone to the 2009 AGM for Ful On Tri Triathlon Club. Thank you for turning out in such strong numbers and showing your support for one of the most important events of the year in the club. I normally start by stating that I will be as brief as possible but I think its a great opportunity for everyone to hear about what the club and its members have achieved throughout the year and feel proud for being part of it all. Just a side point, I was looking at my speech notes prepared for the club back in 2005 – it only took 3 pages, this year we are at 7, one page of growth for every year, better than you would get with any bank!

Given how fast the club continues to grow, for many of you this will be your first AGM or you have joined the club over the past year. My report will give a brief history of the club and I will then report on the highlights of the past year and summary of the major race results. The report will finish up with some thanks and what our plans are for the coming year.

The club was formally established in April 2003 and became affiliated to the British Triathlon Association (now Federation) in September 2003. Over the past 6 years we have established a solid club structure which continues to support an ever-growing number of new members. In 2008 we achieved StarMark Accreditation. StarMark is a stamp of excellence awarded by British Triathlon, recognising the way that clubs are run in terms of Club Management, Coaching & Competition, Equity & Ethics and Health & Safety. It leads to increased funding for the club and the London region, and a higher profile for us at a national level.

I can tell you it has been another very busy year for the club.

• The Club’s VIP (Volunteer Incentive Point) Scheme was created to reward the efforts of those who give up their time to ensure the smooth running of the Club and the events it hosts
• Surrey League Cross Country started with Ful-On Tri entering the series as a club for the second time – competition for who could bake the best post race cakes also kicked off in earnest
• Credit crunch kicked in and everyone fled the banks for something much more stable, investing their money in triathlon club membership - Full membership was reached in what was then a record time!
• Siobhan Brownlow re-elected onto the Triathlon London committee as Participation Officer (in charge of the Triathlon London League)

• Victory was sealed in the Triathlon London League with a win at the Jekyll & Hyde Duathlon
• Popularity of the Club turbo sessions prompted the purchase of 5 more Tacx Sartori turbos, bringing the total to 25 Club turbos. Our thanks to Tongy for writing an excellent winter turbo training programme
• 3 new BTF level 1 coaches joined the coaching team – Kerry Anley, Nathan Goss, Richard Staite

• Club continued to dominate Thames Turbo with another overwhelming win in our annual mob match 5k run in Richmond Park
• A fantastic Christmas Party and awards evening organised by our social secretary Laura – a big thanks to Laura for that
• One of our club members Vince Kamp won a 4hr mountain bike endurance event dressed as Santa!

• New club bike kit arrived after what has to be the most extensive and competitive tendering process I have ever witnessed – a truly great job done by PJ and testimony to the fact that people in property have nothing else to do with their time, how fortunate we were!
• Flurry of short races as everyone rushed to get back to training feeling bad after not training for 2 days
• Triathlon London regional awards for Andrew Tong as Coach of the Year and Conan Gibney as Volunteer of the Year

February

• Men’s cross country team were promoted for the second year running up to division 2

March

• Ladies cross country team were promoted to the dizzy heights of premier division 1
• New club race kit arrived in time for the race season
• “Dave’s Athletes” were identified – 7 athletes aged 13-18 years old received grants from the Dave Aitchison Sports Aid Fund. Another athlete received funding later in the year, bringing the total to 8 funded athletes
• Changes were made to the end of year awards – scrapping the club championship series in favour of 3 separate awards for standard, middle and long distance, to reflect the wide spread of competitors in the club

April

• Two much-loved members of the Club – Alyson & Andrew Tong, along with baby Ellie – departed these shores for a return to Australia. Their contribution to the Club will be sorely missed
• A wet training camp in Mallorca for a record 60 members – no sunshine and lots of 48hr bouts of D&V – lots of fun with a great pub quiz (thanks to Joolz). Thanks to Stewart Ward for great organisation in getting us all there, but forgetting to book the sun!   
• The Triathlon London League 2009 kicked off with Thames Turbo Race 1
• Second Ful-On Duathlon – attended by Tim Don (thanks to Prologue Bikes)
• Inaugural Club Ceilidh social after the duathlon – thanks to Laura

May

• 20 club members raced at the London Marathon
• The inaugural Club Sprint Championships were held at Eton

June

• Ful-On were all over the podium at Windsor

July/August

• Cracking summer BBQ organised superbly by Laura
• Jessica Taylor, Natalie Creswick, Parys Edwards and Emma Williams raised over £6,500 for Dave Aitchison Fund while doing relay bike ride from Lands End to John O’Groats, finishing in a very impressive time of 46hrs 16mins 26secs – congratulations to all of them!
• Stewart Ward was appointed BTF Regional Programme Manager for London region to work alongside Jon Train
• Elite triathlon came to Hyde Park in the shape of the ITU World Championship Series – great to see so many from the Club involved as volunteers, spectators and competitors in the age group race
• A record 17 teams, and another great visit to the club relays in Nottingham where our mixed team took third

September

• A fine day welcomed over 460 riders at the Surrey Legs of Steel – fantastic job done by Siobhan again ably supported by Toby as chief marshal and all the volunteers from within the Club
  • Early indications show over £12,000 raised for the fund and a further £3,000 from donations
  • Great to see and meet 4 of Dave’s athletes who took part in the event

Race Highlights

World & European Championships:

• Stuart Anderson finished 21st in his age group and first placed non-pro Brit at Ironman World Champs in Hawaii 2008 in a time of 9:39
• Parys Edwards took silver at European Duathlon Age Group Champs in Budapest. Also competing for GB were: Kerrie Trembling & James Aldous
• Kerry Anley took silver at European Long Distance Age Group Champs in Prague
• Anne Hegvold, racing for Norway, took gold at the European Triathlon Age Group Champs in Holland. Also competing for GB were: Simon Kenyon, Paul Knowles & Mark Hayman.
• Anne Hegvold took gold again at World Aquathlon Age Group Champs and silver at the World Triathlon Age Group Champs on the Gold Coast. Also competing for GB/Ireland were: Donal Harte, Jo Gapper, Leisl Packer, Lucy Naylor, Nick Malynn, Sarah Gailey, Simon Kenyon, Tim Lewis and Tristan Shipsides

World & European Champ qualifiers:

• Nick Kensington secured a slot at Ironman China for this year’s Ironman World Champs in Hawaii next month
• Lucy Naylor, Mark Hayman, Mia Barry, Nick Kensington, PJ Thibault, Sarah Yates & Tristan Shipsides qualified for the 70.3 Ironman World Champs in Clearwater, Florida in November, though I'm not sure how many are actually going
• Euan Lees, Jo Perriam, Kerry Anley, Nik Haynes & Parys Edwards have all qualified for next year’s European Triathlon Champs in Athlone, Ireland

National Championships:

• Anne Hegvold took silver at the National Age Group Champs in Northumberland
• Our mixed team of JessTaylor, Parys Edwards, Nick Kensington & Euan Lees took bronze at the National Relay Champs

Race wins for:

• Anne Hegvold at Steyning Triathlon
• Caroline Jubb at Beaver Middle Distance Triathlon
• Ceri Ruzzi at St Albans Sprint Triathlon
• Euan Lees at Eton Club Sprint Champs & Tooting Bec Aquathlons 1, 2 & 3
• Nick Malynn at Upton Triathlon
• Parys Edwards at Jekyll & Hyde Duathlon (08), Windsor & Crystal Palace Triathlons
• Stu Archer at Tooting Bec Aquathlon 4 (Euan wasn't there!)
• Tess Keers at Eton Club Sprint Champs
• Tristan Shipsides at Windsor, Little Beaver, Liverpool & South Coast Triathlons
• Eleanor Resheph, Matt Ford and Andrew Sims at the Upton team event
• Euan Lees, Matt McDermott and Barney Randle retained their title at the Fix Relays last Saturday

Age Group wins for:

• Alice Honnywill at Upton Sprint
• Chelsy Dudman at Ful-On Duathlon Sprint
• Joe Turner at Chester Triathlon
• Jo Gapper at Volcano & London Triathlons
• Kerry Anley at Tooting Bec Aquathlon 4 & Human Race Middle Distance Aquathlon
• Laura Biskey at ITU Hyde Park Triathlon
• Lucy Naylor at Antwerp 70.3
• Mark Hayman at Eton Sprint
• Phil Roker at Eton Club Sprint Champs
• Sarah Gailey at Upton Sprint & Tooting Bec Aquathlon 1
• Simon Kenyon at Morden 6n6 & Clash of the Tritons
• Stephanie Robson at Beaulieu Triathlon & Thames Turbo Race 3
• Stu Anderson & Mette Kornum did a double act and won their respective age groups at Denmark Half Ironman

Notable Ironman performances:

• Stuart Anderson took second in age group and 18th overall at Ironman Wisconsin in a time of 9:33:18 and qualified for the Ironman World Champs in 2010
• Nick Kensington raced 2 Ironman races – Austria & Roth – in 7 days, in 9:25 and 9:06 respectively – nutter!
• 27 members competed in the Challenge Barcelona Half in May
• 19 members competed in Ironman France in June
• James Deane & Claire Johnson competed in the Norseman – true Vikings!

Plans for Next Year

• One very big announcement we are pleased to make is that the Club is going to be sponsored by Prologue Bikes. Discussions on the finer details of how the sponsorship will work have yet to take place, but we are delighted to announce this closer association with one of the top pro cycling shops in London. So expect to see further announcements and benefits to members in the coming months.
• We hope to expand on our lecture series through the winter months, by bringing in external experts to share their experience with the club, as we did with Michael Hutchinson and Dave Kelsheimer – your thoughts and suggestions on this are welcome when we open up discussions to the floor
• 7 more members have expressed interest in taking BTF level 1 coaching courses and joining the coaching team – Ellen Pooley, Phil Roker, Pete Doubleday, Jaco Geyer, Simon Kenyon, Matt Honey, Alistair Duvoisin. Additionally, Stephan Oursel and Bertrand Lacour have come forward to help with leading Saturday rides on a regular basis
• Toby Head and Mark Curtis will progress to BTF level 2 coaching
• Training camps: Next year we will run 2 training camps, each catering for around 40 people:
  • A tri camp with Richard Hobson in Club La Santa, Lanzarote from 4th-10th March
  • A bike camp to the Blue Bay Resort in Playa de Muro, Mallorca from 26th April – 3rd May, which will feature club-led bike rides and swim coaching led by Bluewater
  Full details of both camps and prices will be announced by Sandy and Stew Ward in the next week or so, when we will start to take deposit payments, and can also be found on the Training Camp page our website

• After the success of this year, we will continue to run the VIP scheme. That said, we would like to encourage more of you to step up and give something back to the club. The club is well run, but we are all volunteers, and we don’t want to overburden the club’s coaches and committee. Each and every one of us can afford to give up some time to help – be it at social functions, events like the Duathlon and Legs of Steel, or team events such as the National Relays. Don’t be shy in stepping forward!
• The Triathlon London Awards Party, where we hope to receive the Triathlon London League trophy, will be held on Friday 20th November at Thames Rowing Club in Putney – so we expect to see a big club turnout for this
• Our Christmas Awards Party is set for 12th December at London Rowing Club – the same day as the December Surrey League Cross Country Race
• The Ful-On Duathlon will take place in April next year (date to be announced) and the provisional date for next year’s Legs of Steel is 25th September
• A 5th swim lane has been secured for the second swim session and plans are being finalised for constructive use of this lane
• Our Full Membership cap of 200 was reached within days of membership opening to the public on 1st September. This is a record, and raises concerns about whether to cap Associate Membership as well. We are keen to keep the club at a size where it is possible to know each other, and also where our session sizes are manageable. However, we are also mindful of the fact that we could be coming across as being a bit exclusive – so again, your thoughts on this are welcome when we open discussions to the floor.

Congratulations are also due for various weddings and babies:

• 3 weddings: Tom & Ellen Robinson; David & Jacs Pattison; Paul & Sam Tetlow
• 6 Ful-On babies:
  • Daughter, Ellie for Andrew & Alyson Tong
  • Son, Rudy for Paul Tetlow
  • Son, Marcus for Bertrand Lacour
  • Daughter, Elizabeth for Nick Sinfield
  • Daughter, Heidi for Ingrid Hansen
  • Son, Ben for Mark Curtis

Thanks

As you will by now appreciate the club and its members have achieved a hell of a lot over the past 12 months and plans for the coming year are looking busy as well. None of this would happen without the time given voluntarily by those who assist with the running of the club. I would like to pay special thanks to all the committee who have given over a tremendous amount of their own time outside of their work, social and training commitments. The club simply would not function without them and we are very grateful for the work they have all done throughout the year:

• Vice Chairman, Euan, who has worked really well to expand this role and shape it into one that continues to take on increasing responsibility
• Treasurer, Sandy, kept the money coming in and books balanced in a tough economic climate!
• Club Secretary, Mark, for minute taking and keeping track of all actions coming out of committee meetings through the year and for doing a great job pulling it all together for the AGM this evening
• Membership Secretary, Sarah, for keeping a close eye on membership numbers and countless Thursday evening sign-ins checking on swim lane numbers
• Head Coach, Alan, for maintaining the coaching structure throughout the year
• Website, Greg, special thanks for all the great work done on the website over the past few years, and the event timing system which has saved the club a lot of money
• Social Secretary, Laura, in my time as chairman I can safely say that no social secretary has tried harder to keep the social scene alive in the club, creating new social events, mixing things up a bit and adding a lovely personal touch to things
• Club kit Secretary, PJ, has done a phenomenal job with the new kit line this year working closely with all suppliers to get the best deal, supply chain and quality, trying his hardest to balance all and I think he has got it spot on
• Fixtures Secretary, Mia for keeping us all right up to date with a very challenging job trying to collate all the race results
• Comms officer, Penny for her role in keeping the club in the public eye!
• Team Captain, Simon, for an outstanding job plugging club team racing and corralling you to attend club races. Under his captaincy we have won the Cross Country League, looking strong for the London League, 17 teams out at National Relays with the mixed team winning
• Events Director, Siobhan, for two highly successful club events in the Duathlon and Legs of Steel and generally for the giving of her time in many other aspects of the running of the club (and helping me prepare my speech this evening!!)
• Stewart Ward, for getting all the coaches in place for all the training sessions each month – a tough job and he does is brilliantly.
• All of the coaches for assisting with all the training sessions. We don't pay them, if we did we could not afford what time they give!

At this point it is worth me getting the message out that there are plenty of opportunities outside of the committee for giving back to the club on an ad hoc basis. The running of the 2 events and training camps etc all require help from each of you, we need your help and support for these events to keep them running as well as they do now but we are being stretched.

Finally (at last I hear you say!), the biggest thanks goes to all of you as club members. Your active participation in club races, team race, social events etc helps keep the club alive and generate a real buzz about the place. We all join a club for this reason and I hope we can continue to maintain the ethos of the club which is to give people the opportunity to train and socialise with others and have a good time doing it!

Enjoy some downtime over the next few weeks and planning for next year and we look forward to all sharing the journey to realising our goals for the year to come.