Racing
We’ve made it… we’re finally into “race season” and the events will be coming on thick and fast from here on! Again it’s a great mix of events for our members this month starting off with an Ultra Marathon and ending with a Triathlon.
Shropshire Way 80k – Tom S
Always up for a different challenge Tom S completed the Shropshire Way 80k Ultra Marathon covering the 50 miles and over 8000ft of elevation in just over 13 hours! Check out Tom’s full race report here…
Brighton Marathon – Jishnu N / Dave H
The first of the big Spring marathons is Brighton and this year both Jish N and Dave H were due to run, sadly after smashing all the training Dave suffered injury a week before the event and had to pull out. On the day Jish smashed his PB with a time of 3:53:52 and you can read all about his experience with his race report.
Manchester Marathon – Katie K / James B
Next up for Spring marathons was Manchester with Katie K looking to get a marathon under her belt whilst training for IRONMAN Wales, and James B aiming to complete his first marathon. The day was a success for both, Katie finishing in 5:04:09 and James in 6:06:02 and you can read James great race report for a deeper insight into the day.
Tewkesbury Aquathon – Multiple Members!
The last in the Tewkesbury Aquathon series was again attended by multiple TTG members, a few less than last time due to other commitments but yet another cracking day was had by all.
Dave H took over 500 brilliant pictures from the morning which can be seen here!
Louise was on for another first female but suffered a little from an astonishing swim split and was pipped by Katie W for first TTG female whilst Adey C came in first TTG Open and Gary B won his Age Group once again!
31:13 – Katie W
31:22 – Louise M
32:19 – Adey C
34:48 – Gary B
37:57 – Katie T
40:29 – Nicola C (John C’s wife)
49:50 – Ruth H
That’s the last of this years Tewkesbury Aquathon series, we’ve really enjoyed it so hope to see more members there next year!
DRC U7b Time Trial – Gordon S
Evening Time Trial events are now also in full swing and Gordon S is a regular attendee to the DRC (Dursley Riding Club) Thursday evening TT. It’s a great way to test how your bike training is going and super easy, just chip up and pay £6 and off you go!
London Marathon – Ruichao Z (Ray) / Rich M
One of the Abbot World Marathon Majors, London Marathon is an incredible experience both running and spectating. This year we had 2 members racing, Ray and Rich M with both finishing well under 4 hours. Rich with a comfy 3:50:59 and Ray obliterating his PB by over 5 minutes with a 3:41:34! You can read all about Ray’s day and the training leading up to it in his race report.
Mallory Park Sprint Duathlon – Richard H (Tricky) / Martyn C
A couple of our speedy members raced at the Mallory Park Duathlon both smashing out sub 20 min 5k’s in the first run split!
Black Country Sprint Tri – Hannah R
Often one to enter a random event here and there Hannah R met up with a friend to race at the Black Country Sprint Tri, a lovely race put on my the local Tri club just outside of Birmingham. Check out Hannah’s full race report for her experience of the day!
The First Tri – Yvonne F / Gary B
With some bigger races planned this year Yvonne and Gary took on the Trimax Events “The First Tri” at Lydney, a well established race and in recent years has added an Olympic distance to the offerings. Based on a poll swim this split is only 750m but the hilly 40km bike and rolling 5k run make up for that! Both finished as expected and were also proud to each win their Age Group! Gary has written a very honest and entertaining race report which is well worth a read.
Marie Curie Swimathon – Dave H
Due to the injury picked up just before the Brighton Marathon, Dave H was looking for something else to race and entered the Marie Curie Swimathon at GL1, taking on the 2.5k and earning a lovely medal and hat for the effort.
Swimming
With race season underway it was time for members to start venturing into open water… yes it’s still on the cold side (~11 degrees) but for those brave enough it’s still a fantastic feeling when open water swimming. One of our members, Steve G, is also an avid surfer and managed to find a sunny day!
Cycling
We’ve started to see a few breaks in the weather but still seem to be suffering the wettest start to the year ever it seems! As always, rides have been put on with a few hard core attending… fingers crossed for better weather soon then we should see the numbers start to improve.
Running
Yet another month packed out with various parkrun, social and long runs here there and everywhere! Be sure to share a snap of your run into the WhatsApp group to be included in next months round up 🙂
Coached Running
Our Tuesday evening run sessions are still on though numbers are starting to drop off, to keep this session going further into the year we really do need members to attend so don’t be put off thinking it’s an “efforts” session, it’s your effort not someone else’s so you can make it as easy or hard as you like!
Coached Swimming
Our bi-weekly swimming sessions at GL1 are getting busier which is awesome to see, we’ve had some great sessions from Coach Charlie and those regularly attending are certainly seeing their swim times drop. If you’ve never tried a club swim session then your first one is free, just come along to GL1 either Monday @ 8:30 or Wednesday @ 8:00 and see how you get on 🙂
Ploddy – Open Water Swimming
At the end of the month we saw the return to Ploddy for our Open Water Swimming sessions. An exclusive private lake on the outskirts of Newent, the club has been coming here many years with 2 sessions a week on offer (Tuesday and Friday from ~5pm) from now until early October for the amazing price of £50 (or £35 for 1 session a week). If anyone is interested in coming along please contact Peter Jones in the WhatsApp group for full details and the various documentation needed.
Membership Renewals
It is now our yearly membership renewal period, reminders have been emailed out to all but if you’re reading this and want to get it done and out the way then please go to the following link to renew for 2024/25 season:
Senior 2024/25 Season – £40
until 30/04/2025
Club Race
As you are all aware from the numerous Facebook posts and WhatsApp messages, the club race is all set for the 26/05/2024 at Halo Sports Centre in Brockworth. Hannah R has been canvassing members to help with marshalling on the day so if you’ve not been contacted and are free to help, speak up and we will add you to the numbers.
Similarly, if anyone wishes to race in the event, particularly newer members, then please feel free to, however, we respectfully ask you to source a marshal/volunteer to help out on the day where possible.
