A good turnout by the Lincsquad massive. Pictured left to right, back to front Steve Dolby, Phil Binch, Steve Grocock, Chris Spavin, Dave Hinch, Rob Wood, Andy Veitch and Paul Ralph at the Dambuster finish line.
First established in 2002 the Dambuster Triathlon is a well recognised triathlon in the UK. 2011 sees the Dambuster as the National Age group Championships which also acts as a World Championships qualifier for Beijing 2011.
The event is an Olympic (or Standard distance) Triathlon, which consists of a 1.5k open water swim, 42k bike & 10k run.
After some final “carb loading” on the friday evening, and “partying hard” until atleast 10pm at the camp site, the morning came. It had been raining since we arrived the night before, but just as we walked down to rack the bikes, the rain stopped and the sun peaked out from the clouds, excellent, although it was still a little windy particularly (as we found out later) on the bike course.
The overnight campers met up with Paul Ralph & Team Dobbers at the race briefing, one last chance to wish each other good luck, a quick photo we were ready.
Chris Spavin being the youngster of the team went off 10 minutes before us old boys, the water temp was ok but the reservoir was quite choppy out in the middle and it was quite a relief to be heading back to shore.
The format of the course meant it was unlikely we would see each other until a mile into the run, when we cross the dam 4 times before racing to the finish.
Lincsquad newcomer Robbie Whitaker recorded an incredible 2:03:26, a sub 1:04 bike & sub 33 minute run secured a finishing position of 13th overall & 3rd in age group.
Steve Grocock was next with a fantastic 2:13:55, proving his recent GBR age group status, a great 22:10 swim followed by an awesome 1:07:22 bike leg and good solid run set Steve Grocock up for a cracking sub 2:15 time.
Not such a good swim from Phil, who also found the hilly & windy bike route tough, especially as he’d forgotton to tighten one of his aero bars, which kept wanting to take a vertical position downwards (grrrr & not very aero!!), however Phil pushed hard on the run, trying to close the gap on Steve to record a 40:15 run and PB by 4 mins to go sub 2:20.
Lincsquad Chairman Andy Veitch, was on a mission, sub 2:30 or bust, like many others Andy found the swim & bike conditions tough but battled through, on leaving T2 he thought sub 2:30 was gone, with very little run training Andy needed a sub 41:30 10k run to achieve his goal, a time that’s well within his capability normally but would be a challenge today. With a little banter & motivation on the dam from fellow Lincsquadders, Andy raced in with 25 seconds to spare to achieve his goal.
Chris Spavin, after a night of little sleep in the back of his car, lovingly cuddled up to his carbon steed, Chris gave it all he had to finish in a great time of 2:30:43, sub 2:30 next time Chris.
Rob (no I dont want any spag bol, oh go on then i’ll have a plate full) Wood, adopted his normal “push hard till it kills me technique”, determined to obliterate last years 2:59:26 time, he started strong beating last years swim time by nearly 13 minutes (Lincsquad sunday swim sessions really work), a further 3 minutes quicker on the bike and a massive 7 minutes quicker on the run, brought Rob home in an impressive 2:35:00, thats nearly 25 minutes quicker than last year.
Paul Ralph, in a slightly higher age group came home just a couple of minutes behind Rob at 2:37:55.
Olympic distance newcomer Steve Dolby, came home next in 2:38:26, a great time for your first standard distance race and proving that transition is just as important a part of the race, recording the fastest T2 of all Lincsquadders.
David “wobblegob” Hinch, well what can I say, following last years Dambuster adventure, getting cosy with a kayak, Dave needed to put the Dambuster ghost to bed, success in last years Hyde Park Triathlon proved he could go the Olympic distance, but how would he fair when he went toe to toe with Rutland Water again ….. the smile on Dave’s face at the finish line, arms aloft, said it all, he finished, dambuster ghosts nighty night.
A huge thanks to Team Dobbers and Tinkerbellshell for all the cheers, and for being the Lincsquad flip flop/ slipper Guards.
A great team effort, lots of high five’s out there on the dam …… bring on the Steelman !!!
Lincsquad Results & Splits – Dambuster 2011
article updated by Phil Binch 20/06/2011