Ful-On Tri were represented at the Long Distance Duathlon Worlds in Geel, Belgium on Sunday 10th August. Gavin Pape, long standing FOT member, club coach and former Treasurer raced with pride in his Great Britain vest to come home in a very respectable time of 4:05:42 in the 25-29 age group. The 18k run, 74k bike, 9k run took its toll on all the competitors. Despite Geel being a pan flat race, the bike course was into a very strong head wind, zapping the energy of most competitors legs, creating a slower second run split. Gavin battled on, and despite bombarding a local bar on his way round his second run for a "call of nature" he still managed an excellent 9th place overall, 2nd GB athlete home. Nice one!!

Ful-on tri were the best represented club at Upton Tri+ on Saturday 12th July in both the triathlon and the post-race party.

Our dominance was reflected not only in numbers but also in the results, including the top five places in the female senior standard race. Parys won this category with a time of 2:16:27, even more impressive when you consider she was still running up the river bank to the start as her wave started!  Followed by Kerry Anley (02:17:30), Julie Milroy (02:23:02), Liz Chittenden (02:24:31) and Laura Fulton (02:25:05).

The competition didn’t end there however as people progressed to the fourth discipline of the post race party, taking to the dancefloor with fellow competitors for some serious boogying into the early hours before retiring to the slightly muddy campsite.

On a personal note - thank you to everyone in the club for their support in organising the race again and especially to those who came and marshalled, Emma Partridge for the fantastically designed t-shirts and last but by no means least to ODESSA property investment for their generous sponsorship of Ful-on tri members. Click here for a full report. [Jess Surman]

What a great event - same format as Nottingham, but with teams of 3 instead of 4 - admittedly a bit smaller scale and low key, but a lot nearer, the racing was high quality, the weather was superb... and we won!

We took 7 teams in total, and walked away with 1st overall with the A team of Euan, Barney and Matt McDermott, 1st womens team with Jess, Bethan and Parys, 2nd womens team (Ingrid, Emma and Fran) and 4th overall (Greg, Phil and Simon). The prizes were some of the best we have seen, too, with the winning mens team taking £150 worth of Up & Running vouchers each, and the ladies a weekend break voucher! Definitely one to pencil in your diaries for next year as soon as the date is announced!

A final reminder that the Summer BBQ is this Sat July 26th from 7pm till late...make sure ya get there earlish for food (served from 8pm)!

Location: GJ's (89 Garratt Lane, Wandsworth, SW18 4DW  www.gj-s.com/wandsworth.htm GJ's is an apre ski bar theme in London) 

Dress: Informal but as always - dress to impress?!

Tickets will be on sale at Thursday night training. we welcome friends who could be interested in the club and I will have a limited number of extra tickets on Saturday if you have a last minute pal who is in town?

£6/ticket cash only please, this includes a spit roast & salad (veggie please advise) and a drink, (we have exclusive use of the patio/outside) after that its a pay bar and dancing usually unfolds later on!

Looking forward to seeing lots of you there, 

Tim

Over a dozen hardcore Ful-On Iron men & women braved the elements in Northern Europe on Sunday 13th July to compete in Ironman Austria, Quelle Challenge Roth & Ironman Switzerland.  While athletes competing in the UK experienced fine weather, for a change, this was not the case for the long distance contingent.  Experienced Ironman Daniel Mertens put in a solid performance in Austria coming home in a very respectable 10.58 hrs.  Not so far away in Roth, Germany James Deane completed his 2nd Ironman distance race this year in a fantastic 9.28 hrs.  Despite numerous punctures & replacing a wheel Tim Lewis crossed the line in 11.01 hrs & Caelim Parkes, competing in his 1st race of this length, finished in a worthy 12.54hrs. 

Meanwhile in Switzerland 2200 athletes lined the shores and started the race with Swiss precision right on 7am.  The swim was a pleasant reprieve from the rain and was only broken with an Australian exit to cross an island stacked with cheering sodden family and friends.  Nick Kensington lead the Ful-on Tri athletes out of the water where T1 was a challenge with everything so wet and 2200 bike covers all over the floor.  The smooth roads were like glass with a few millimetres of rain sitting on the top which meant no punctures (first time ever) for Mia Barry as she stormed through the bike course in less than 6 hours.  The drops continued to pelt down and then just when you thought you couldn't handle another sludgy bit of bar, the sun peaked through and there was hope!  For the fastest cyclist, Vince Kamp, this didn't happen until the end of the second lap, but for those who take a bit longer the second lap was nearly dry and the countryside was pretty again.  Running was a relief to be dry warm up; Vince took to the fast flat course and chipped his way around to come in 10th in M30 in a time of 9.26 hrs.  Penny Comins enjoyed all the support on the run and the awesome atmosphere managed a marathon PB and sliced an hour off her overall PB to come in at 12.05 hrs. Duane Sidford joined the Ironman club in 11.15 hrs & Sarah Yates also had a great race.

The latest round of the London Triathlon League saw Ful-on take two of the podium positions, with Euan 2nd and Tristan 4th, with Simon Kenyon also coming in as 3rd vet. It was a great race for all 9 of the Ful-on athletes, but sadly the home team were too strong on their home soil, leaving us in 2nd place in today's league result. The rest of our fantastic line-up today was: Phil Roker, John Coolahan, Sarah Clark, Fran Hanlon, Frank Burden and Peter Ive. Thanks to all of you.

It's even more important that we win the next London league race - Clash of the Tritons, August 16th - see you there?

Sunday 6th July saw club members competing in no less than six races including the National Age Group Champs (Wakefield), Ironman European Champs (Frankfurt), Cowman Middle Distance, Bournemouth (turned into a duathlon) and Norwich Sprint tri. 
Ironman Germany
Congrats to Richard Staite who scraped in under the 10 hour mark with 17 seconds to spare!
Having hit the wall with about 10 miles still to run, it was apparently the chairman's pre-race words of encouragement that motivated Richard in his desperate struggle to get over the line (rumour has it that Richard was told in no uncertain terms that if he didn’t do sub 10 he would not be allowed to show his face at the club). 
Wakefield
A tough day, made worse by poor weather conditions. Jon Barks did particularly well, actually beating his Windsor time when most competitors found themselves 5-10 minutes slower!

The full results for these races are available on the Results page.

Three races into the series of four and Ful-On Tri's Euan Lees is set to take overall victory having won outright all three races so far.
Also impressive results from Kerry Anley who was first female in both races 2 and 3.  Details of the race results are available on the Results page.

Some more impressive results from Ful-On Tri members were recently seen at the cold and muddy XTERRA UK with Andy McFarlane securing a Hawaii world champs slot, and Lee Jackson competing in a hot and sunny IM France in a super-fast 9h47! The full results are available on the Results page.

Over 20 Ful-On members took part in the Circuit of the Cotswolds cyclosportive, with most making a weekend of it and staying at the very grand Eynsham Hall the night before. The roll-call of names always looked like a great party list and a true test of the Ful-On work hard, play hard spirit. Needless to say, we didn’t disappoint and whilst enjoying a few scoops in the Gun Room bar, managed to get ourselves invited to a wedding reception also taking place at the Hall where we took to the dance floor with gusto. Many thanks to newly weds Mr & Mrs Gibbons for giving us the nod! An early start the next morning saw some tired faces (and tired legs) at the breakfast table, but all were ready to take on the hills of the 70 or 102 mile circuits.

It was a bright sunny day with a fierce wind blowing – all well and good when it’s behind you, but hard work the rest of the time! There was about a 50/50 split between those doing the long and short routes. Despite all the fighting talk at the dinner table the night before, only 2 of our long riders made it up the notoriously tough 25% climb without walking – James Deane & David Gibney (one of the last men standing at the wedding party!). The short route proved a little more social with a nice tea stop in Bourton on the Water. All in all, a great weekend away and some brilliant riding through exceptionally scenic countryside – a definite for next year’s calendar! Photos now up on the club's Shutterfly site...

A huge turnout of Ful-On tri competitors and supporters recently made for a great days racing a Windsor. Nearly 50 Ful-On Tri members raced in perhaps the biggest ever club turnout. The weather on race day was near perfect and the Thames put on a strong flow to make the swim a special challenge. An amazing 12 club members posted top 10 positions in their age groups. Euan Lees won his age group and the overall title with a time of 2:05:19. Greg Keers also won his vets category in 2:11:01 and Kerry Anley came third in her age group. Many stayed on to watch the draft legal elite race where our own Nick Kensington took over the mantel from our last years challenger Tim Briggs. All in all a great day out and a great days racing. Full club result details can be found on the Race Results page.

In view of capacity in the second swimming session on a Thursday, associate members will have access to the second swimming session (9pm start), starting Thursday 26 June.  Numbers are restricted for health and safety reasons to 32 swimmers per session.  As for full members, It is therefore essential that associate members sign the sign-in sheet in advance of the second session, either in the foyer before the 8pm first session or with the appropriate coach holding the sign-in sheet poolside after 8pm.  The £5.00 fee should be also paid to that person.

Other membership benefits and training sessions on offer remain unchanged.  For full details please refer to our Membership and Weekly Timetable pages.

This month has produced some fantastic results for those focused on "going long" this season.  The first weekend in June saw half a dozen club members jet out to Switzerland attracted by the fresh mountain air & cool waters of Ironman 70.3.  Cow bells & national costume encouragement was a feature of the race & certainly helped our competitors up the steep climbs & down the fast descents.  Fast bike splits were recorded all round.  1st FOT male home was Nick Kensington.  He was especially pleased as despite a bad cramp attack grabbed the last slot in the M35-39 age group for the Clearwater 70.3 World Champs in November.  1st FOT lady home was Penny Comins closely followed by Jess Surman.  On 8th June James Deane, Mark Hayman, Tim Lewis & Caelim Parkes tested their metal in the Weymouth Middle Distance event down in Dorset.  James had a notable race finishing in 4th in the M35-39 age group.  A week later 8 Fuloners were lining up for the mass start of UK 70.3 on the shores of wonderful Wimbleball Lake.  This is a notoriously tough 70.3 with hills galore from start to finish however our guys & gals didn't bat an eyelid been them!  Natalie "pro-beater" Creswick had a blistering bike leg & was only minutes behind the Julie Dibens / Bella Comerford duo!  She finished 1st in the F25-29 age group & not satisfied with podium glory set a new course record to boot!  The arduous run course didn't scare Ellen Pooley who came home in 2nd place in the F25-29 age group after a superb 1.33 half marathon run split.  Congratulations go to PJ Thibault who achieved his aim of qualification for Clearwater in the M35-39 age group.  Well done to all those who've competed in middle distance races this month.  Keep up the good work!      

The National Aquathlon Champs at Milton Keynes is an event Euan Lees raced last year, sneaking gold in M30-34 despite a reduced training programme, but finishing some way behind overall winner Andy Tarry (TFN 2XU, M35-39 age group). This year he was confident of a stronger race, though having moved up to Tarry's age group the competition was going to be tougher. The 750m swim start saw all 70 male athletes strung out in one long row, leading to more than the usual amount of congestion and fighting once the gun went. Things only settled at about half-way, and Euan got out of the water in a satisfactory 10 minutes, generally unscathed and roughly 16th place overall.
Wetsuit off, shoes on and out on a two-lap 5.5km run. Not much to say - no time for pacing or finesse, just go as hard as you can until the finish line arrives! Euan overtook a couple of people per kilometre, though they were all in other age groups. He finished in 29:36, once again behind Andy Tarry (27:05!) and a clutch of 18-24-year-olds, thus taking silver in M35-39. He was delighted with the medal and with taking some good scalps from the younger age groupers!
In the Ladies event Kerry Anley took bronze in the F35-39 age group with 36:23 and Sarah Yates was 6th in F30-34 with 36:47. Results on www.big-cow.com.

In calm clear sea conditions in the St Ives triathlon Nick Malynn was 10th out of the 2 lap swim, behind last years winner. The bike section was characterised by beautiful scenery and brutal climbs. Taking even the fastest guys almost 1hr 20min when normally they would rip round 40km in under 1hr tells you all you need to know about the route. Nick managed to make up some ground on the bike, coming in 3rd, still tailing the title holder. Looking ever bit the marathon runner he once was Nick took the lead as they started the 2nd loop of the vicious run leg. Recording an impressive 36min 10km on a nightmare course and taking the win in 2hrs 22min 16sec. Other Ful-On Tri members completing the brutal bike and run legs were: Christine Chambers, Karen Triegaardt, Karen Wells and Caelim Parkes.

A great weekend of racing & partying awaits those who sign up for the National Club Relay Championships in Nottingham on 2nd August!

We've had a great response so far, but there's still room for more - either ready-made teams of 4, or individuals who will be teamed up with club mates of similar ability/ sex/ nationality/ weight/ taste in music, or any other criteria that might bring you together - all standards catered for! If interested, just email phil.roker@hotmail.co.uk

Saturday 24th May saw 7 Ful-On triathletes take on the what is rated as the world's toughest Ironman, not that any Ironman is easy!  Lanzarote is renowned for its challenging bike course, relentless wind and hot temperatures.  You never know what the island will throw at competitors on race day!  Of the 7 Ful-On competitors, Jo Perriam and Sarah Clark were making their Ironman debut, Alan Hanley, Richard Staite and Stuart Anderson taking on Lanzarote for their first time, while Tongy and Vince Kamp were back for more punishment both completing this race previously.
 
For the first time in the race's history it was full with 1,200 competitors making it to the start line.  Ironman is a mass start and the gun sounded promptly at 7am.  The swim saw Stuart and Vince exit the water together with Sarah close on their heels and Tongy a further minute behind.  Through transition Vince headed out onto the bike first.  Stuart and Vince were having a good duel although at one stage Stuart was heard to say 'I'm done mate, have a good race' due to nutritional issues. Fortunately the special needs station was not too far away which enabled him to refuel and proceed with racing.  On the bike Richard made steady progress through the field to be the 3rd Ful-On competitor. Jo passed Sarah to take the lead for Ful-On ladies.  Regrettably Alan had to withdraw during this stage due to injury although he still had a rather long cycle back to transition and so alas there was to be no Hanley v Tongy showdown!
 
On to the run and Vince lead the charge however suffered with illness late on the marathon allowing Stuart to pass.  Back in the Ladies race Sarah was running with ease and was moving through the field.  Alan also assumed his more familiar position of spectating from the comfort of a cafe!  Stuart pushed home in 10.06 with a 3.12 marathon to take 8th in his category and place to Kona, the World Champs. Vince wasn't far behind with 10.19 just missing out on a Kona slot.  Richard looked like he was on a casual run cruising around the marathon in 3.15 finishing in 10.42.   Next home was Tongy in 11.46, an hour quicker than 2 years ago.  Sarah had a tussle for a podium position in her category and eventually beat her opponents to take 3rd finishing in 12.16 and a 3.54 marathon.  Jo also completed her debut ironman with an impressive 12.52.  Well done to our Ful-On Ironmen and Ironmaidens!
 

Another big race weekend saw an amazing half of the 30+ club competitors at Eton Sprints getting top 10 finishes in their waves. On Sunday Tristan Shipsides won his U30 category with second fastest overall time. Saturday also saw wave wins from Andrew McFarlane (M30-35), Greg Keers (M40-44) and James Deane (M35-36). See the results sheet for all the details. Official photos available at www.sportcam.net.

Marazion Half Ironman presents a challenging course early in the season and attracts a crowd preparing for the demands of IM Switzerland and Nice including Lee Jackson, Nick Kensington & Penny Comins. The course is aesthetically pleasing and takes you from the waters of St Micheal’s mount to Lands End and back. Race morning the rain continued to fall and Team FOT really had to question why they didn't just stay in bed and rent DVD's for the day. But you get wet in the swim anyway so who cares about the rain!! A positive attitude prevailed and by the time the race started the rain had given up and by the end of the day the sun shone bright. The water was a breath taking 13.2 degrees although the 100% visibility took the edge off. As crayfish scuttled below a battle for podium rights was thrashed out above between Ful on Tri talent – Lee Jackson and Nick Kensington.

Nick and Lee came out of the water with the lead bunch and after lightening transition Nick was first out on the bike course and lead the race for the first lap. It was just Nick and the Cornwall roads until the woosh woosh of a carbon tri spoke was heard as Lee reeled him in and eventually passed Nick. Not one to let some one pass, Nick put the hammer down and came in to T2 down a minute. The run is a 3 lap flat course in full view of the competitors at all times. Lee took off and put another 30 seconds on Nick. But 20 years of racing shone through as Nick chipped away and wore him down to a minute the next lap and then they continued the run 'stare down' until a huge sprint up the road to the finish. Lee didn't crumble on the 'eight ball' and held it to the end finishing 55 seconds ahead of Nick. Third place was over 10 minutes behind. Not one to be out done by the boys' performances Penny put in a PB on the 13.2 mile run section! A great race for all & highly reccommended (click here for local paper article)

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.