In the Forster Tri-Club, you don’t have to be fast, you just have to be faster than the mosquitoes.
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On Sunday, March 10 we held club race number six, the penultimate before our final club race of the season – ‘The Keith.’
It was a foggy morning and the local mosquitoes were out in force.
Everyone was coated in a good dose (or two) of mozzie spray but they were just relentless. And enormous.
If anyone is planning a visit to Forster Keys in the next few days, especially after Saturday’s rain, BEWARE OF THE BLOODSUCKERS!
It was a bit of a quieter race this month, with lots of club regulars competing up at Port Macquarie in the annual running festival.
After Saturday’s storms everyone went to bed a little uncertain about whether or not the race would happen, but despite a thick fog in the early morning, conditions turned out to be great. The water in the lake had some chilly patches but the road was dry and wind-free for the bike leg and the run wasn’t too soggy underfoot.
The real action happened between the men in A-grade this time around.
With a couple of notable absences (running at Port), the competition was HOT at the Keys between Richard Sewell, Fletcher Pearce, and outgoing President Dave Fitzhardinge.
Richard’s impeccable swim training put him in the lead as the boys finished the swim-leg, but in terms of times Fletcher won the ride and Dave the run.
Overall, it was Fletcher who took away line honours, closely followed by Dave and then Richard.
Tony Day and Scott Davies battled it out in the men’s B grade with less than a minute between their finish times.
Scott won the swim but Tony’s bike and run legs were just that little bit faster.
In C grade, Jack Woolterton and John Lenton represented the men, with Margaret Gordon, Jacqui Day and Anne Davies doing it for the girls.
Despite protestations that she felt terrible, Clodagh Deignan raced around the course looking strong, perhaps spurred on by her one-man cheer squad in son Bentley.
Leighton Hopper raced around the E grade course in just under 55 minutes, while his mum Deb Hopper and Club Secretary Tracey Sewell raced F grade with big smiles on their faces.
Talk about team spirit.
Big thanks to Bruce Hopper of the club committee who stepped in as race director for the day, keeping his eye on the timing system.
Bruce also made sure our two eager juniors had a race to suit their needs – Trent Hopper and Bentley Deigan both tackled the foggy conditions early on and spent the rest of the morning smiling and adventuring while their mums hit the course themselves.
The year is quickly racing away from us – can you believe it is March?
The Club has two events before we wrap up for the season:
- Aquathlon number four on 6pm, March 22 at Forster Keys.
- The final club race of the season will be ‘The Keith,’ named in honour of life member Keith Pearce. Keith loves a challenge, so we’re upping the distance for the final hurrah. The Keith will be a sprint distance triathlon (750m swim/20km ride/5km run). Handicaps will be carefully calculated based on club race times across the season, with the promise of a big shiny trophy for the first across the line.
For more info, check out Forster Tri Club on Facebook.