Club Membership is now at capacity - unfortunately we won't be accepting any new members until further notice. 

• Kerrie Trembling turning up 10minutes late to the first match – she not only took part regardless, but also managed to catch up with the back of the pack!
• Rupert Biggins’ outrageous neon cross country short shorts and Laura Fulton’s Santa hat at the Christmas race
• Wine-tasting at Denbies Vineyard and the superb turnout from the girls and boys regardless of a little wind, rain and sleet
• Tea and cake at Fanny’s Farm shop, and all other cake and post race treats throughout the season: Sarah’s improvised Date and Walnut cake (without dates or walnuts), Vicki’s out of the freezer banana cake and Simon’s jet-boiled mulled wine.

We are pleased to be able to announce the commencement of a new 12 week course covering injury prevention and conditioning for the triathlete running on Monday evenings at 8pm at the Parson's Green Club, Broomhouse Lane, Fulham, SW6 3DP. The first week is Monday 15th Feb. We'll decide nearer the time whether it will run on the bank holidays. Two sessions will also be at different locations.
The course is free and open to all club members. It is a sequential course and so the most benefit will be obtained by attending as many sessions as possible. As places will be limited due to space to about 20 people and there has been a lot of positive respose to the course, we will see after the first session if any prior sign up will be required.

The course is 50% theory and 50% practice (30min/30min) for each session. It is aimed triathletes at all levels wishing to reduce the injury and maximise performance. As a consequence the course has been written from a physiotherapists and strength and conditioning perspective. The presenters are Caroline Jubb MSc BSc (Hons) Senior Physiotherapist and Neil Welsh, an experienced strength and conditioning coach.

Please bring an exercise mat with you if you have one, if not the turbo mats will be available but may need a clean first. Sports kit and towel also required

Please see post under Messages from Committee and Coaches/General Updates for course details.

Congratulations to our esteemed secretary Mark Hayman and wife Jo MacInnes Hayman, who battled the weather and an enforced change of venue with a day's notice to get married in Oxford a week ago. As if that wasn't enough, their honeymoon featured the South African half Ironman yesterday morning. Reports coming in show that the race was hilly, windy and hot but that didn't slow Mark or Jo (competing in her first half Ironman) enough to prevent both of them marking their names on this year's Clearwater qualifiers list. Congratulations!!!

The Turbo session has been cancelled tonight. Please check the forum for updates on a Turbo session Saturday morning.

Penny Commins and Nick Kensington recently conquered Ironman Cozumel - Mexico.

You can read Penny's report, and see some photos here:

http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/21330/291726.html

Well done guys!

There was a universal groan heard across south London on Saturday 14th November, as the FOT cross-country ladies looked out of their windows and saw the rain and the trees bent over in the wind.  However, team spirit, determination or simple madness got 16 of us to Denbies in Dorking (or maybe it was the thought of the post race wine tasting that did the trick).  Despite a respite in the weather just before the start, the race round the vineyards was conducted in howling wind and driving rain - but everyone said they had fun!  There was delicious cake from Siobhan as we warmed up in the cafe after and 8 of us stayed on to sample some of the vineyard's produce & then cheered on the FOT men - by which time the rain had stopped! 
 
Many thanks to all the cross country legends for turning out on such a day: Ellen Pooley, Kerrie Trembling, Isobel Anderson, Liesl Parker, Penny Comins, Vicky Grimshaw, Jill Walsh, Holly Barker, Joanna Gapper, Gemma Hougton, Julia Howe, Mary Cockburn, Amy Waldron, Siobhan Brownlow and Sarah Watts.
 
Photos of the day are available here: http://www.simonhartphotography.co.uk/gallery_288700.html and results to will be on the XC page shortly.

Congratulations to Parys Edwards for winning British Triathlon Female Age Group Triathlete of the Year 2009. Four Members of Ful-On Tri attended the British Triathlon Federation awards ceremony on Saturday evening held in the East Midlands. Having completed a mucky and windy cross country in the early afternoon Euan, Simon and Conan were whisked away by Parys on a 2.5hr road trip up to Loughborough.

After a quick scrub down/scraping off of mud in the hotel and polishing up with dinner jackets/kilts and fine evening wear, we were ready to go. After dinner and coffees Parys was first up to collect her award and was clearly chuffed to bits and rightly so. We were next up to receive the British Triathlon Club of the Year 2009 award – keep your eyes peeled for a special feature in the March edition of TriNews. The evening ended up with James Cracknell as guest speaker sharing his experiences both as rower and now explorer – some entertaining little stories. We managed to rub shoulders with some of the up and coming stars of the elite triathlon scene and get a few photos (we thought one with James Cracknell would be most appealing for all the women!)

Once again congratulations to Parys for a magnificent achievement. Secondly a big thanks to all members past and present who over the past seven years have helped get the club to where it is today and make it the lovely club that we all enjoy being a part of.
Conan, Ful-On Tri Chairman.

Yes, that's right, Ful-On Tri have fought off the national competition to be crowned with the Leigh Day & Co British Triathlon Club of the Year Award 2009 by the British Triathlon Federation.

A significant achievement, the national title is awarded each year to the triathlon club to have shown a consistent commitment through the year to developing athletes, volunteers, coaches and officials. The award also recognises clubs who show an inclusive participation ethos, reducing barriers and fostering athletes to achieve their best with high quality coaching provided to all. The prize will be formally awarded at the BTF National Awards Evening on 14th November.

Conan Gibney, FOT Committee Chairman said: "A big thanks to everyone in the club - volunteers, coaches, competitors and supporters at races - who frequently give their time, energy and commitment to make the club successful, and to Simon Kenyon for putting together the submission. This is a fantastic achievement which would not have been possible without the club members who over the years have helped us to get where we are today."

Let's celebrate! DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
November Social - Thursday 5th November.
Christmas Dinner - Saturday 12th December.

Training camp runs from Thursday 4th March - Wednesday 10th March 2010. It's a perfect opportunity to get yourself ready to achieve your 2010 season goals whilst enjoying the fantastic climate of Lanzarote. Club La Santa is a world class sports centre at the north end of the island, away from the hoards of tourists. Structed training is provided by highly experienced coach Richard Hobson. There are a very small number of training camp places left, please contact Sandy immediately to take advantage of this and book yourself a place today.

For further information see the training camp page.

29 Ful-On Tri members gave Thames Turbo a run for their money in the final race of the 2009 London League at the Jekyll and Hyde Park Duathlon on Saturday. Sadly, we narrowly missed out the first place in the League this year, but that didn’t stop us enjoying the race and some sterling performances we put in. Andrew Clare was first in for Ful-on with a time of 1:16:09 (8^th overall) across the 4.2K run, 20.8K cycle and 7.6K run. Others racing were Barney Randle, PJ Thibault, Richard Staite, Joe Turner, Conan Gibey, Phil Roker, Uli Kraeling, James Aldous, Alistair Duvoisin, Mark Hayman, Rich Pigott, David Gibney, Anne Hegvold, Sandy Sehmi, Caroline Jubb, Jo Perriam, Walter Rothon, Anna McNuff, Stephen Boyd, Holly Barker, Mark Curtis, Penny Comins, Jo MacInnes, Karen Triegaardt, Eleanor Doody, Lucy Deakin, Sophia Warner, and Julia Howe. Well done all!

Keep an eye on the London League pages for announcements of the 2010 events. Those looking for more club team races to compete in this winter, check out the cross-country pages.

A sunny Saturday afternoon greeted the first race of the Surrey Cross Country League and our maiden outing in the dizzy heights of division 2 for the boys. After some minor logistical shenanigans; locating race numbers, safety pins, handing the entry sheet in with less than 1 minute before the race started to make sure we had 10 runners to score! (Nice work from Rupert, running straight from the car park straight into the race!) and the cake not being with us.

Tom Robinson blazed the trail for FOT with a blistering run to take 5th place over all with some strong running from the rest of the team that turned out, Jon Barks coming in second of the FOT runners and the remainder of the team enjoying some close competition mid pack. The tight and hilly course definitely got rid of a few hangovers and blew some cobwebs away.

We are currently 6th out of 9 teams and things are pretty close, so a big turn out required for the next race.

Over to a slightly muddy Reigate for the girls who were racing in division 1 in the league on Saturday too. An impressive 14 hardy girls turned out for the challenging course. Not daunted by stiff competition from the 'proper' running clubs, our A team of Anna Francis, Jo Perriam, Penny Comins, Vicki Grimshaw and Ceri Ruzzi powered the girls home to our first step on the division 1 ladder (13th place of 15 clubs).    
 
Special mention to Kerrie Trembling, who despite turning up 10min late, still took part and bolted round the course, to Vicki Grimshaw for the yummy banana cake and to Fanny's Farm shop for some more post-race treats!
 
BOTH male and female teams will be racing at the same venue – Denbies, Dorking (nr Box Hill) - on 14 November, with the girls scheduling in a post-race wine-tour to get their cheering voices ready for the boys who race slightly later in the day. See the Cross Country page for more details when announced.

Congratulations to Nick Kensington for an awesome race at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii on the weekend.

In his 4th Ironman for the year, Nick finished in 10hrs 3mins 29secs in a race that he described as one of the hardest races he has ever done.

Congratulations on a brilliant result Nick!

Ful-on Tri's very own Tristan Shipsides has decided it’s time to go and play with the big boys and girls and enter the world of elite triathlon. In January he leaves the UK to train in South Africa, America and Australia with the likes of Tim Don, Will Clarke and Chrissie Wellington.

To celebrate and to try and raise some funds to support himself over the coming year he's having a massive leaving do on Saturday 28th November at GJ’s Pub in Wandsworth from 7pm until 2am - http://www.gj-s.com

Tickets are available from Tristan for £15 and include entry, a hog roast dinner and dancing until late. It's a fancy dress affair with a theme of "Sporting Heroes", with prizes for the best male and female costume. There's also a raffle with some cool sporting and triathlon-related prizes!

Contact Tristan direct at tristanshipsides@googlemail.com to book your ticket.

The Men's and Women's Surrey League Cross Country kicks off next weekend. The girls are racing in Reigate while the boys are down in Esher. Details are on the Cross Country page - check the Club Team Races section of the discussion forum too.

There's no need to enter in advance, and nothing to pay, so you can just turn up and race - however we need to make sure we have commitment from enough people to field full strength team, so please email Matt Ford or Eleanor Resheph to let them know you're coming. Lifts and rides to and from the venues will be coordinated later in the week.

Get involved!

Around 75 members attended the Club's sixth AGM last night at Parsons Green Sports & Social Club, either lured by the chance to order new club kit, or the promise of free food! The new venue proved a big hit, as did Conan's speech which lasted an impressive 50 minutes. Not to be outdone by the Chairman, our Treasurer Sandy bribed interest in the numbers with a promise of sweeties to the person who spotted 3 lies within his delivery (Euan Lees). A round up of the membership figures was presented by Sarah, and then with just one contested post, the new committee members were duly elected:

Chairman - Conan Gibney; Vice Chairman - Euan Lees; Club Secretary – Mark Hayman; Treasurer - Sandy Sehmi; Head Coach/Welfare Officer - Alan Hanley; Membership Secretary – Sarah Watts; Social Secretary – David Gibney; Fixtures Secretary – Dominic Guinness; Communications Officer – James Aldous; Webmaster - Nathan Goss; Club Kit Officer – Antony Brailsford; Team Captain: Matt Ford; and, Event Director: Siobhan Brownlow.

The evening was rounded off with drinks and sandwiches in the bar. The Chairman's report on the year's activities has now been posted on the website. Many thanks to all who attended.

Congratulations to all those that took part in Saturday's third running of the Surrey Legs of Steel event at Box Hill. The beautiful sunshine made for near perfect conditions, with around 460 riders tackling this challenging circuit of the Surrey Hills. The event is held to commemorate the life of Dave Aitchison and raise money for the Dave Aitchison SportsAid Fund set up in Dave's name to assist talented young triathletes in the Triathlon London and South East regions.

There are currently eight athletes receiving Dave Aitchison funding, and it was great to see four of them involved at the event: 13-year old Lewis Hawkins; 14-year old Armanni Antoine-Chagar; 17-year old Matt Myers; and 18-year old Lucy Chittenden. Early indications show that this year's ride has raised over £12,000 for the fund, with an additional £3,000 in donations!

Provisional results for the Surrey Legs of Steel: Dave Aitchison Challenge Ride 2009 are now available by clicking the following links. Please email event@fulontri.com if you spot any errors:

Results (short route)

Results (long route)

Many thanks to all the marshals and volunteers from the Club and Dave's family for making this such a successful event. We'd also like to thank our event sponsors: Prologue Bikes, Infinit Nutrition and Incrediprint.com for their generous support of our event.

Photographs from the event can be downloaded through this link: Legs of Steel photos, and you can buy your Legs of Steel merchandising on display at the event - t-shirts, technical tees, and mugs - through Incrediprint.com to raise even more money for the fund. Plus check out our press coverage on Tri247.com and the Triathlon London website.

Clear skies and beautiful sunshine greeted six of us racing last Sunday. Gold Coast? No, a last gasp of British summer at Bala in North Wales. With money attracting the junior pros and European qualifying slots for the age-group athletes it was a very strong field, bundled into large waves of 200-300. After the predictable bunfight in the water, we headed onto an undulating bike course set picturesquely beside the lake. Here Parys was able to put her LEJOG training to great use, posting a 1:02:35 bike split that must have been the envy of many of the guys. A flatter-than-the-old-Bala run course allowed us to finish off a hard day without too much more pain; Nik and Euan chased each other to the finish, ending up only 15 seconds apart.

Parys picked up 4th overall and a bit of a pay-day; Parys, Nik and Euan all qualified for the Euros in Ireland. We also met a man who can talk to insects. Thanks to Patrick and Paul for the banter and Ceri for organising and playing Mum!

We have already reached the maximum numbers for Full membership.  For those interested in membership for the coming year on Associate membership will be available, giving exactly the same training opportunities EXCEPT FOR swim sessions.  Please see the Membership page under About Us for more information.

If you were there ... you know how much fun we had.  If you weren't ... make sure you get on the list for next year!

Congratulations to team "Dolly Mixtures" - Jess Taylor, Parys Edwards, Nick Kensington and Euan Lees who took third place in the mixed event. 

And well done to everyone who raced this weekend and helped make Ful-on Tri the biggest club at the Relays.

With Saturday's ITU Triathlon World Cup race out of the way, Sunday 16th August saw the turn of the age-groupers, and with a prestigious race just a bus-ride away, many Ful-on Tri members took the opportunity to test themselves against a strong field right in the heart of London.

The Sprint athletes made the most of the cooler, calmer morning conditions and turned in a few strong performances.  Donal Harte was first home, placing 6th overall.  Stu Archer was just behind in 7th, and Simon Kenyon followed on in 16th.  Both were runners-up in their age group and each duly secured a place in the GB team for the ETU Triathlon Championships in Athlone in 2010.  Solid performances from Conan Gibney, Mark Joyce, Richard Keers and Toby Head rounded things off for the men.

First home for the ladies was Katherine Vile in 7th, followed by Kerrie Trembling in 8th and  Jo Perriam booking her Athlone slot in 10th.

The weather was much hotter and breezier for the Olympic distance race in the afternoon, but this didn't seem to affect Laura Brisky who won her age group and John Thorpe and Sarah Yates, who finished 9th and 7th overall in their respective races with some impressive running in tough conditions.  Tamsin Booth completed the lineup for the women, while the men's contingent of Mat McDermott, David Sharpe, Rich Pigott, Will Bowen, Andrew Potter, Ben Shaw and Nathan Goss all put on an impressive display.

While the ITU World Cup series was unfolding at Hyde Park, the most important race series of the year was reaching its dénouement at Eltham College, where the Clash of the Tritons looked set to decide the outcome of the 2009 London League.  Competition was white hot, and this was probably the first time in the history of triathlon that swimskins have been seen in a 500m pool-based aquathlon!

Thames Turbo needed to win both of the remaining matches and the mob match to have a chance of knocking Ful-on Tri from pole position, and things were looking promising for them with a strong team entered.  

Ful-on fielded Euan Lees, Donal Harte and James Whetman for the men, Simon Kenyon won the vets' trophy and Sarah Gailey was the women's scorer.   With only one match remaining, Ful-On's position is looking very hard to beat.

Arguably this race was more about securing the mob match than anything else, so huge thanks to all the Ful-on Team for turning out at Eltham: Jon Barks, Jaco Geyer, Paul Brockway, Kerry Anley, Dom Guinness, Steph Robson, Jo Maciness, Holly Barker, Jo Gapper, Ceri Ruzzi, Adele Schulz and Jane Cooper. 

Congrats  to James Deane and Claire Johnson (aka CJ) who both completed the Norseman at the weekend.  For those of you not familiar with this race have a look at it on the web - quite possibly the true "hardest"  Ironman distance race there is.  Restricted to 200 competitors who have to bring their own support crew James came over the line in 17th place in a time of 13 hours 16 minutes.  CJ came 6th out of the ladies in 15 hours 6 min.   Truly Awsome!

More international success to report - this time from a blistering hot European Long Distance Championships in Prague where Kerry Anley took the silver medal in her age group.  The course was a challenging 4k swim in a fast flowing river, a 120k bike and 30k run, partially off-road on a horse-racing track.  Kerry's strength as a runner placed her 11th overall on the run, including the professionals, and saw her reeling in the age group winner from a 20 minute gap off the bike to a close 4 minute margin at the finish.  Well done Kerry!

Lucy Naylor and Tristan Shipsides completed a podium double at Antwerp 70.3 last weekend. In mixed conditions that began with pouring rain, Tristan took 2nd in M25-29 age group and 26th overall with an awesome time of 4:04:27 but the top step went to Lucy winning the W25-29 age group in 5:00:53 qualifying for Clearwater. Congratulations both.

Antwerp 70.3 moved to wave starts this year which reduced the carnage in the water although it was still tough due to near zero visibility; a flat, fast but technical bike course was hardly slowed by the rain and the three lap run of the sometimes cobbled city centre was well supported by the locals and eventually by the sun!

A cold start, forgotten wetsuit, more punctures (you know who you are) and the lack of a loo failed to spoil a great weekend and some commendable FoT results. Well done all.

Also racing Mark H (4:31), Olly B (4:34), Alex H (4:42), Andrew B (4:59), David G (5:01), Issie A (5:14), Nathan G (5:17), Tarne B (5:23)

There's now a dedicated page on the club site for the National Club Relays in August.  The current team sheet is there, along with information about the race.  We'll keep this up to date with more information as the race day approaches: Club Relays Page

Teams need to nominate team captains as soon as possible and inform the club Captain, and also need to decide no later than one week before the race who's going to race in which order.  Team captain nominations and team running orders to Simon Kenyon, please.  Also, don't forget the briefing at Fulham Pools at 8pm on Thursday 20th August.

The last couple of weeks has seen Ful on Tri out in force at the big summer standard distance events.  This weekend saw Kerry Anley making the long trek to bonnie Scotland for the Strathclyde triathlon where she placed third in her age group, qualifying for the 2010 European Championships in Athlone - further south, Tim Lewis posted a new PB of 2:10:59 at Blithfield tri. 

The previous weekend saw another big turnout for the club at Bedford Triathlon.  Despite a dodgy-looking river, a blustery bike course and some showery weather on the run, the competition was red hot.  Mat McDermott and Kerrie Trembling took men's and women's club honours respectively in 2:11:16 and 2:25:37 respectively.  Phil Roker came home as fastest vet, and Simon Kenyon picked up a qualifying slot for the ITU World Championships in Gold Coast, Australia.  Also racing were Paul Knowles, Ben Shaw, Richard Keers, Rich Pigott, Mark Joyce, David Sharpe, John Cameron, Guy Eastaugh, Jo Gapper, Laura Briskey, Edward Baker, Andrew Potter and Andrew Sims.

The race season is in full flow, and with several big races every weekend it's tough keeping tabs on who's racing and winning where.  Don't forget to use the Calendar feature of the website to make a note of where you're racing, and make sure to pass your results on to the fixtures secretary, Mia Barry, once you've got them.

Huge congratulations to Nick Kensington, one of Ful-on Tri's leading Ironman athletes, who this weekend managed the seemingly impossible - not content with an awesome 9:20 at Ironman Austria last weekend, Nick took a small detour on the way home via Germany to smash out an incredible 9:05 at Quelle Challenge Roth.  Performances like that are pretty special on their own, but on consecutive weekends - what can you say?

Halfway through the racing season, and Ful-on athletes continue to race and win here in the UK and beyond.  July 4th saw the European Triathlon Championships in Holten, Netherlands, with Simon Kenyon, Paul Knowles and Mark Hayman representing Great Britain and Anne Hegvold racing for Norway.  The non-wetsuit swim took many of the athletes at the event by surprise, but given the heat it was perhaps a blessing in disguise.  The bike course was fast - hilly by Dutch standards but nothing compared to the Surrey Hills, and the run was a baking hot affair through the streets of Holten, with four laps passing through a packed grandstand area complete with pounding cheesy Euro-techno music!

Anne Hegvold stormed home to win her age group in 2:15:21.  Simon Kenyon was first home for the guys with a PB of 2:12:55, followed by Paul Knowles in 2:13:25 and Mark Hayman in 2:22:29

The whole town turned out to volunteer or support the race, and the party atmosphere in the evening was something else - everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event, with many of the GB AG athletes vowing to return next year for the normal Holten Triathlon. 

Back in the UK, Joe Turner had a successful outing at Chester Triathlon, winning his age group in 2:15:42, and followed this up this weekend at the Bananaman 3/4 distance event at Dorney with a second place in age group, dipping under 1:35.

Congratulations to Ceri Ruzzi who was first female in the St Albans sprint triathlon on Sunday.  This event was Ceri's first ever triathlon last year.  She went back to race it again this year, and not only did she smash her time by about 10 minutes, but she also walked off with the winner's crown.  Well done Ceri on your first triathlon podium spot.  The first of many no doubt!

Ful on Tri added a third London League win to their tally this year with an excellent performance at Hillingdon Triathlon on a glorious sunny morning.  Over 20 Ful-on athletes took part in this friendly event, racing hard over the unusual swim/run/bike course and making short work of the free coke and doughnuts at the end.

The club was on the podium throughout the prizegiving, with Jess Taylor taking second overall female, a 2-3-4 in the men's event for Euan Lees, Stu Archer and Nik Haynes, and Simon Kenyon second vet and 7th overall.  Tim Lewis recorded the day's fastest bike split, and Holly Barker completed her first ever triathlon.  Also racing were Phil Roker, Mark Hayman, Andy Brewer, Jaco Geyer, Sarah Gailey, Steph Robson, Laura Fulton, Mark Curtis, Victoria Collins, Adele Schulz, Julie Milroy, Jo Macinnes, Mike Powell, Rafaella Valentino, Chelsy Dudman and Matt Ford.

Full results are on the Hillingdon site here.

Another fine weekend of racing, and another set of great results for Ful-On athletes.  Tristan Shipsides dominated the Liverpool Triathlon on Sunday 21st with an outright win in a time of 1:56:35, dramatically overhauling fellow elite athlete Doug Hall in the last few hundred metres of the run.  Further south, Nik Haynes was on the podium at Harwich Triathlon, placing third in an impressive 2:12:11.  Well done guys!

For the first time in the club’s history, Ful-On Tri bagged the overall win in BOTH male and female age group races at Windsor, with Tristan Shipsides finishing in a time of 2:03:13 and Parys Edwards finishing in 2:22:16, over 1 minute clear of the next female. Other podium places went to second-placed Kerry Trembling (F25-29), who was also 8th female overall, and Laura Fulton (F35-39) and third-placed John Thorpe (M30-34) who also finished 6th overall. Nik Haynes (M30-34), who finished 10th overall, and Greg Keers (M40-44) narrowly missed out by finishing 4th in their respective age groups. Twenty members finished in under 2hr30 and we also had some notable first time Olympic performances from Steve Kent, Ceri Ruzzi, Eleanor Resheph, Adele Schulz and Tristian Thornhill, and first time triathlete Claire Wells.

Basking in summer sunshine, Windsor attracted a good number of club supporters who were in full voice around the cafes on Eton bridge (and a slightly quieter ‘trying not to be biased’ voice from Siobhan as referee in transition!) encouraging all our gang around the course. With nearly 60 members racing, there were plenty of people to cheer for in a great and historic day for the club – well done all! The event is provisionally scheduled for broadcast on Channel 4 at 8am on 4th July.

Club Secretary, Mark Hayman, and Sarah Yates were the first two Ful-On Tri athletes to book their slots for Clearwater after completing Switzerland Ironman 70.3 on 6th June in 4hr51 and 5hr05 respectively, with Sarah also taking 3rd in her age group (F35-39).

In true Swiss fashion, the race went like clockwork, with our Ful-On Tri athletes matching this style by maintaining a constant, well-paced motion through chilled water, cogs in constant & even tension on the bike in repeated laps of ‘Witches Hill’ and ‘The Beast’ without a glitch, and rounding it all off with a smooth run, ascending the 'Stairways to Heaven' (twice), before gliding across the finish line. 

Also in the Ful-On line-up were Andy Bull (5hr32), Walt Rothon (5hr54) and Peter Heintzelman (6hr01). A great day out and great results from them all - well done!

2009's Crystal Palace Triathlon took place in glorious summer sunshine this Sunday.  With the mercury rising and Ful-On Tri out in force, competition was going to be red hot ...

With the competition pool reopened, this year saw the race return to the traditional format of a 750m swim in fifteen 50m lengths, nine laps of the crit circuit round the sports centre, and a hilly two-lap run.

Phil Roker kicked off proceedings with an early start and a creditable 1:07:59.  Most of the rest of the club raced in the midday heat, and once again Nick Malynn put in a superb performance to finish second overall in a shade over 1:03.  Next to finish was Uli Kraeling in 1:06:38, followed swiftly by Simon Kenyon who took second place in the vets' category in a time of 1:07:07.  Fresh from her triumph in Budapest, Parys Edwards won the women's competition outright in an incredible 1:08.

Also racing were John Cameron, Luke Carey, Eleanor Doody, Mark Dunlea, Alistair Duvoisin, Gemma Houghton, Steven Kent, Peter King, Iain Macleod, Rich Pigott, Eleanor Resheph, Steph Robson, Katherine Vile, and Nick Haynes, who despite making an unplanned visit to the pit lane, managed a solid 1:09.  Well done everybody!

Stu Anderson has written up an account of his brilliant performance at Ironman Lanzarote - if you're wondering what it takes to qualify for Kona, have a read  here ...

If you have a race report of your own, you can use the site's blog feature to let everyone know what you've been up to.  On the site menu bar, select Races / Race Reports (Blogs) and away you go.  There's a blog FAQ page here if you need any further help.

The inaugural club sprint championship race was held on Saturday at Eton on a perfect day for racing.

Our 2009 sprint champions are...

Senior Men: Euan Lees (Mr Reliable)

Senior Women: Tessa Keers

Male Vet: Phil Roker

Please send corrections to your fixtures secretary but am not sure that any vet women competed (none of you looked that old anyway!).

More top-level racing success for Ful-On Tri - Parys Edwards took the Silver medal in her age-group and third overall at this year's ETU European Duathlon Championships, held in Budapest. 

Parys came in just 3 minutes behind overall winner Emma Dews in a time of 2:07:13

More racing success this weekend, this time in the hot, lunar landscape of the Canary Islands.  Stu Anderson was out in the lava fields of Lanzarote for the 2009 Ironman, and posted a fantastic time of 9:53:46 in typically windy Canarian conditions.  Stu's time put him 42nd overall, 8th in his age group, and included an Ironman run PB of 3:08, which many of us would be happy with in a straight marathon.  Good work Stu!

It might only have been a Little Beaver, but it was a tough one, and Ful-on Tri had it well and truly licked ... The race was the first of this year's World Championships qualifiers, and the club was out in force to claim those coveted GB team slots.  

Result of the day came from Tristan Shipsides who romped home in an astonishing 1:56:35 to win outright by nearly 3 minutes. Nick Malynn also put in a speedy performace of 2:01:59 to book his slot for the Gold Coast in September and take second in his age-group.  Also racing were Stu Archer, Paul Knowles, Matt McDermot, Tim Lewis, Ben Shaw, Simon Kenyon, Donal Harte, Richard Thomas, Joe Turner, Rich Pigott and Leisl Packer. 

Later in the day saw the middle distance Beaver triathlon, with PJ Thibault and Caroline Jubb representing the club, finishing 26th and 63rd overall respectively - with Caroline taking the prize for the fastest female of the day.  Well done guys!

Results are online here

Get behind our girls!

Four members of FulOn Tri, Jessica Taylor, Natalie Creswick, Parys Edwards and Emma Williams will be attempting to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats non-stop as a cycling relay this August.
Each team member will ride for 2 hours before swapping to the next cyclist and resting until their next turn. They will sleep and eat in a support vehicle that will be following each rider.
 
It is predicted that the attempt will take somewhere between 48 and 64 hours to cycle the distance of approximately 1000 miles.
The team is raising money the Dave Aitchison SportsAid fund and need your help to raise as much money as possible for this great cause. Please visit and support the team at http://www.justgiving.com/daveaitchisonfund_lejog_ttt
 
The LEJOG team thanks you in advance.

Some great results from Dorney this weekend - Saturday's race saw Mark Hayman win his age group in a storming 1:03:10 taking 12th place overall, with Paul Brockway not far behind in 15th in a time of 1:03:18.  Sunday's race saw Paul Knowles dip under the hour to take 4th place overall in 59:12.

Also racing this weekend were Phil Roker, Andy Brewer, David Sharpe, Richard Keers, Caelim Parkes, Will Bowen, Michael Pagnotta, Eleanor Resheph, Guy Eastaugh, Adie Hannah, Jason Purcell, Richard Thomas, Louis Holding-Parsons and David Wells.  Next weekend sees even more people racing at Barcelona Half, the Worlds qualifier at Little Beaver and of course the Club Sprint Championship wave at Dorney Lake.  Bring it on!

A big thanks to everyone who turned out to the Morden 6n6 Aquathlon.  Everybody seemed to have enjoyed themselves, and even the bike specialists commented on how nice a race it was, helped in no small measure by the glorious May sunshine. 

Provisional results are now available on the  Kingfisher Triathletes site.  Optima won the League match, with Thames Turbo a close second and Ful-On tri 3rd.  Euan Lees led the team home with an impressive 41:21, narrowly missing the podium slots.  Simon Kenyon took the vets trophy in 44:14 (15th overall), followed closely by James Deane in 44:22 (16th).  Matt McDermott completed the men's scoring in 45:38 (24th), and Kerry Anley led the charge for the ladies in 48:44.  Completing the turnout for the club were Tim Lewis, Rich Pigott, Uli Kraeling, Claire Johnson, Sarah Gailey, Sean Everett, Kerrie Trembling, Richard Bulkley, Ceri Ruzzi, Matt Honey, Julio Orsini-Hernandez, Vicky Grimshaw, Adie Hannah, Gemma Houghton, Christine Chambers and Siobhan Brownlow.

If that's has whetted your appetite for Aquathlon action, don't forget there's Clash of the Tritons on August 15th, a little further east in Eltham - another chance to do your bit for the London League, and an easy race to combine with a bike ride so you get all 3 disciplines done in one day.  Details as ever on the London League page.

Congratulations to all the Ful-On Tri athletes who competed in today's 2009 Flora London Marathon!

Results so far:

2:58:58 - Alex Hussey
3:01:53 - Luke McFarland
3:01:06 - Tom Robinson
3:07:12 - Ellen Pooley
3:14:52 - Willem van der Merwe
3:23:41 - PJ Thibault
3:27:46 - Sarah Yates
3:28:21 - Ben Parkes
3:36:58 - Sally Benton
3:42:55 - Mark Benton
3:43:08 - Joe Turner
3:47:16 - Samir Samara
3:51:36 - Tony Green
3:54:15 - Andrew Bull
3:58:18 - Andy Brewer
4:04:47 - Laura Williams
4:10:45 - Victoria Tunsley
4:15:22 - Eleanor Doodey
4:27:48 - Dom Guinness
4:28:03 - Morgane de Verdiere

(results based on people who entered with Ful-On Tri as their club, plus Siobhan's list from the forum. Results missing? Email captain@fulontri.com)

Congratulations to Parys Edwards, Kerrie Trembling, Mark Hayman and James Aldous who have all qualified in their age groups for the European duathlon championships taking place in Budapest later this year.

A big congratulations goes to Nick Kensington, first to qualify for Ironman World Champs this year in the club.  He battled searing 44 degree Celsius heat to come fifth in his age group at Ironman China, gaining that elusive spot to Kona.  Well done!

Congratulations to Nick Malynn on taking overall second place at today's Dragonslayer Duathlon at the Redbridge Cycle Circuit! 

Nick pulled off a solid bike leg and two very quick runs to romp home in an impressive 1:57:17, seeing off strong challenges from Optima and Thames Turbo in this hard fought London League match.

After Friday's downpours, it was great to see some dry and sunny weather today (though a little cold early on) for the Ful-On Duathlon. We were especially delighted to have Tim Don racing for Prologue Bikes, and showing us all how it's done by finishing over 3 minutes clear of the rest of the field in 1hr3:09. Tim promises to wear his new Ful-On Tri t-shirt at Blenheim Triathlon next month - something for the club to watch out for!

With the race now part of the Triathlon London League, the Men's Open race was hotly contested with Ful-On Tri's Tristan Shipsides taking the win from Andrew Mercer and James Brown (both Thames Turbo). The Men's Vet race was even closer, with last year's winner Gavin Francis (Optima Racing Team) pipping Simon Kenyon and Richard Staite (both Ful-On Tri) to the post. The Women's Open race was won by Lucy Bowen (Thames Turbo) in impressive form from Parys Edwards (Ful-On Tri), with Nicola Boyd (Optima Racing Team) third. Women's Vet winner was Sandra Blenkinsop (Kingfisher) over teammate Helen Millier, with Ann Marshall third. In terms of League points, it looks like Ful-On Tri took the win from Thames Turbo.

In the Men's Sprint race, Stuart McLeod (Larkfield AC) stormed to victory over 16-year old Tom Beetham and Dan Linley. The Women's Sprint was won by Chelsy Dudman (Ful-On Tri) with Lucy Helmore (Kingfisher) second and Claire Strong (Serpentine) third. There were also prizes for fastest men's team (four to score) which went to Thames Turbo (Andrew Mercer, James Brown, James Lock & Nick Clements) and fastest women's team (3 to score) won by Ful-On Tri (Parys Edwards, Laura Fulton & Joanna Gapper). Special mention also goes to 16-year old Matt Myers (1hr14:49) and 17-year old Steven Smith (1hr24:25), both Optima Racing Team, for finishing 26th and 55th respectively in the Men's Open race. Matt Myers is one of "Dave's athletes", so it was great to see him performing so well at our event.

Final Results from the Ful-On Duathlon are now up on our website: FOD Results. You can also check results, photos and race reportage on Tri247.com. Photographs from the event will appear on: Dodsworld.com.

We would like to thank all our sponsors for their generous support of our event: Prologue Bikes, This Water, Infinit Nutrition, Vacherin, Kalas, Swim for Tri, Physio4Life and Island Records (suppliers of the Jack Johnson CD in the goody bags!). We'd also like to thank Bill Black and all our marshals from within the club for making the day so successful, and look forward to seeing them let their hair down at tonight's post-race Ceilidh!

The 2009 London League got off to a far warmer start than the 2008 series on a mild and windless Bank Holiday Monday, and Ful-on Tri were out in force to start the bid to retain the League title. 

Thames Turbo Race 1 is always a tough race, with the host club taking things very seriously indeed, wheeling out the big guns and their disc wheels!

Big thanks to Phil, Eleanor, Laura, Adele, Adie, Kerry, Tamsin, Joe, Andrew, Luke, Jonathan, Stu, Tim, Matt, Mark, Uli, Tristian, Pip,  Rich, Peter and Simon for turning out for the club.  With a strong Optima presence at the top of the field, an eyeballing of the results printout suggests we came away in third place. 

Not a bad start to the season, and with few of the Ful-On athletes tapering, many of the team will be very happy with their performances in this season-opener - if perhaps rueing their decision to put on extra clothing in T1!

Some hard work beckons though - and we'll need to pick up the pace as the season unfolds.  League races are cheap to enter, easy to get to and easy to "train-through", and make a change from the usual weekend training routine.  If you want to get involved, click here for more details of the League and how it all works.

Next fixture - Ful-On Duathlon and Dragonslayer Duathlon.  Dragonslayer is now closed for entries but the Ful On Duathlon is still open.  We need a home win, so click here and get your entries in ASAP!

The start of the 2009 London League also sees the launch of the Ful-On Race Team. 

Unlike other teams, we're not sponsored, and unfortunately we won't be showering you with free energy drinks, wetsuits and powermeters - at Ful-On Tri, it's all about taking part and doing the best you can.

Membership is strictly limited - but in true Ful-On spirit is also within reach of every club member.  Simply turn up and race (and finish!) at three or more London League events, or score at one of them, to guarantee your place in the hall of fame.  For more information click here.

Thames Turbo Race 1 saw the first team members signed up for the 2009 season - Matt Ford blazing a trail as the fastest club member of the day with an impressive 1:02:51 (23rd), followed closely by Stu Archer, returning to racing after a long injury spell with a commendable 1:03:03 (26th).  Simon Kenyon wrapped things up for the vets in 1:03:21 (29th), with Uli Kraeling rounding off the senior men's scoring in 1:04:40 (39th).  A clearly delighted Laura Fulton completed the team as the fastest Ful-On female.

Want in?  Sign up for your London League races now...

Please read below the letter of thanks received by the club and Dave's family.  It is great to see the club's hard work and effort to raise funds for the up and coming stars.  Thank you to all for making these opportunities possible.

Dear Mr & Mrs Aitchison and Ful-on Tri

On behalf of my daughter, Lara Nyman, I am writing to thank you so much for the £1000 Sports Aid funding.  This will be prove invaluable in the coming year for equipment, transport, training and competition costs.

Whilst writing, I also wish to express belated condolences on the loss of your son.  I have looked through the pages on the club’s website of Dave’s achievements and would be delighted if my daughter could achieve only half of what your son achieved.  His determination and athletic prowess appeared to be second to none and I am sure it leaves you wondering, as it does us, just what Dave might have achieved if he was still around to compete.  However, with your generous help, Lara will certainly be attempting to elevate her performances.

With kind regards and thanks once again.  

JANINE NYMAN

A record 60 Ful-On Tri Club members travelled to Club Pollentia, Mallorca, for the Club’s 2009 Training Camp hosted by Richard Hobson of Tri Living. Some happy campers had the good fortune to arrive a day early and enjoy riding in the sunshine, but for the majority arriving on Friday afternoon to blissful sunny conditions, this was sadly the last they would see of the sun!

The weather proved to be the dominant force in determining all training sessions, particularly since bike riding was our primary reason for choosing Mallorca. It seems unlucky to have been battered by wind and rain for 6 consecutive days, but in addition we had to content with a mysterious lurgy travelling through our ranks and forcing those it hit to 24 hours in bed! However, it was not all doom and gloom, and indeed most achieved a pretty high level of bike mileage and made the most of what breaks there were. Shorter, quality sessions undertaken by a few included a series of gruelling 3km hill reps. Most achieved 3-4 reps, but notable mention must go to Laura Williams (5 reps) and Conan Gibney (an awesome 7 reps!). Richard Hobson, and his coaching team of Richard Smith and Ron Feeney took charge of our daily swim and running sessions, with two open water swims for the brave hearted. In addition, we got some great swimming, nutrition and strength/conditioning advice from the team.

Given the inclement weather, there was a heavy emphasis on the social side of the camp and a great sense of unity in “toughing it out”. Julia Howe hosted an excellent pub quiz night with a broad range of questions to test the diversity of tri club knowledge. Ever competitive, the winning team, Conan’s Barbarians, pipped the win by just half a point from Stew Ward’s team. There were a couple of nights down the Irish pub watching the world cup qualifiers and the traditional last night display of how much triathletes can really drink, with some ending up in a karaoke bar till the wee small hours. The bountiful buffet breakfasts and dinners also deserve a mention, and provided a good deal of sport in smuggling out food for lunch without getting caught.

Many thanks to Richard and his team, Richard & Ron, and also to Stewart Ward for organising the trip at this end and sorting out all the last minute changes. Next year we’ll need to work on the weather gods!

As the season comes upon us, many FOT members have been sharpening their winter base training with a few races.  A few have even had podium finishes to boot.  Special mention goes to Leisl for 3rd in her first off road running race in Devon, PJ slashing minutes of his half marathon PB – look out Nice IM, Nicole finishing her first half marathon and the Puncher sportive.  The most commendable result is that of Simon Kenyon getting on the British team to the World duathlon champs from coming third in his age group at the Clumber Park in Nottingham. 

If your results have been missed off please don’t forget to email me the juicy details as I can’t be at every race to get the low down!

Please be aware that there no overall triathlete of the year this year.  There will be three separate awards for standard, middle and long distance for both male and female.  To be eligible for the award you must have completed three standard distances OR two middle distances OR one long distance race.

Get your dancing shoes out.....the social event following the Ful-on Duathlon this year will be a ceilidh.  This will be taking place in the upstairs ballroom of the Star & Garter in Putney from 7.30pm on Saturday 18th April.   

For those of you unfamiliar with a ceilidh (pronounced Kay-Lee, in case you were wondering!), it is a fun evening of Scottish reeling.  Don't worry if you have two left feet or have never done any reeling before, as there will be a caller (man with a microphone) who will walk you through every step of the dance, before letting you loose on the dance floor.  It is always great fun and will require almost as much energy as a triathlon!  Invite your family, friends and neighbours - all are welcome.

Tickets are £12 and can be bought by emailing social@fulontri.com to book your place, and transferring your money to the FOT bank account.  Account details are:

A/c name: Ful-on Triathlon Club
Sort code: 40 02 35
Account number: 91424068

Book your tickets today...you know you want to!

This is your last chance to order any Club cycle, race or running kit.

I will be at Virgin Active with the sizing kit for the new Club Tri racing kit and the new Club Performance running T shirts between 7 and 8pm this Thursday 26th March

The order will then be sent off to the manufacturer on Friday 27th March with delivery 6 weeks later.  There will not be another order until the Autumn and I am not planning to hold any club kit in stock.

Please download the order form and e mail it to me ASAP at kit@fulontri.com.  Then transfer the payment to the club account electronically with your name as reference.

The first seven triathletes to benefit from Dave Aitchison SportsAid funding have been announced by Sports Aid. "Dave's athletes" are:

• Armanni Antoine-Chagar, Walthamstow Tritons, aged 13 years;
• Lucy Chittenden, Farnham Tri Club, aged 17 years;
• Sky Draper, Jetstream Tri Club, aged 13 years;
• Lewis Hawkins, Jetstream Tri Club, aged 12 years;
• Emily McLoughlin, Crawley Tri Club, aged 16 years;
• Matthew Myers, Optima Racing Team, aged 15 years;
• Lara Nyman, Jetstream Tri/Team Viper, aged 16 years.

Six of the athletes, 4 from London and 2 from the South East region, have received awards of £1,000 each, with one London athlete, Sky Draper, receiving a £1,500 award. We wish all of Dave's athletes every success in their 2009 race season, and hope to see many of them at our main fund-raising event, the Surrey Legs of Steel cyclosportive on 26th September 2009. The Surrey Legs of Steel event has raised over £12,500 for the fund in two years.

Full details of Dave's athletes and information on the Dave Aitchison Fund can be found on the Triathlon London Athlete Funding page.

As you should all know by now Kalas will be at Virgin Active Fulham from 7pm this Thursday with the sizing set for this years Club Tri racing kit.  This is your chance to try the kit on to get the right size and order the Club 2009 race kit so it arrives in time for the first races of the season.  Kalas will also have a sizing set for the club cycle kit  so you can order more of that as well.

There is a lot of demand from the club members  so please try and arrive in plenty time to try the kit on and make sure you order the right size. Full price list and samples will be available on Thursday.  We have spent a lot of time working with Kalas to make sure that this kit addresses all the lessons we have learnt from previous year race kit and should be the best yet!  The colour scheme will be the same as last years race kit just in the new Kalas design.