UK triathlon club, Team Milton Keynes, scooped top honours and was crowned English Club Champions at last weekend’s Triathlon England – National Club Championships, held on 9 September in Emberton Country Park in Buckinghamshire.
The team of six, who named themselves Team Old Bullet after their oldest team racer, took top place on the podium after collecting the best score from each individual member’s race result. The club tactically put together a team with a range of age-groups to make sure they got the best points position.
Jem Lawson, Chair of Triathlon England, said “The National Club Championships event has been a fabulous success and the perfect way to experience a triathlon event. Whether you raced on the day or came down to support the athletes, we send huge congratulations to all those who entered, and the worthy club winners.
“The Triathlon England – National Championships have been a great success in helping provide opportunities for members to compete for national titles in England during the most exciting year for sport. The series of National Championships proves that triathlon is open to all abilities and ages, as each discipline – swimming, cycling and running is easily accessible to everyone.”
Lawson continued, “From school children first experiencing the sport, right through to the eldest age-grouper who races for fun; we are already looking forward to next year’s Championships.”
The whole event was raced by individuals in a team of six, with the final result being calculated on position points. Each individual was given points dependent on their age-group and overall position and the lower the points received in each team, the higher the overall team’s position.
The aim of this race format was to encourage clubs to think strategically about their team and to include a range of age-groups, rather than clubs choosing their top performers. This dynamic way of racing meant the excitement and anticipation was high right until the end of the event, as teams did not know their final scores until the last member crossed the line.
The race consisted of a sprint distance format, which started at 08:00 GMT with a 750m open water swim in the lake at Emberton Country Park, a 20K bike consisting of one lap around undulating country roads and then onto a 5K run course, two laps of Emberton Country Park.
The winning Team Milton Keynes members consisted of Phil Melling, Richard Ashton, Jordan Mackie, Tracey Haseldine, Corinne Price and Jim McKellar.
Jim McKellar, National Club Champion at the age of 76, also won first place in his age category said “It’s an absolutely fantastic achievement to receive and I’m glad I was able to support my team, especially since I only started doing triathlon’s two years ago, and only started learning to swim at the same time. I was originally a runner, and over the years have raced in 105 marathons all for charity.”
He added: “I started with sprint triathlons, and did my first Olympic distance at the National Championships the other week and am now planning a half ironman next year. I feel it’s a great challenge for me as a 74 year old to race in triathlons, and the support you get is absolutely fantastic. Triathlon is such an inspirational, approachable and friendly sport and I would advise everyone to get involved – you are never too old!”
For those who are inspired, and would like to ‘Give it a Tri’, then athletes are encouraged to view the many events available on triathlonengland.org or contact the Triathlon England events team at events[at]triathlonengland.org for more details.
Triathlon England is the National Governing Body for managing the sport and recreation of triathlon in England, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Members are affiliated to a region and can vote for their regional committee. There are nine regions, which correspond to the English regional government areas.
Each region has a representative on the Council of Triathlon England, which appoints and supervises the controlling Management Board of Triathlon England.
