Hi Folks,

Hope you are all well, just a quick report following our weekend race at Selkirk Standard. Mandy, Charles, Rab, Acky and me all turned up on Sunday morning ably suported by our president Tina. Yes I did say Acky- who only 2 weeks prior broke his collar bone. To do triathlons (especially the longer ones) you need to have a certain level of grit and determination mixed in with a wee bit of madness. Well Acky has taken it to a whole new level!!!!!

First in the pool was Mandy in Heat 2 and a steady swim saw her come out in 31:21 and out onto the run. Next up was Acky, Rab and me in heat 3, I didn't see much of Acky, but Rab and me were in adjoining lanes. We had a right old tussle, stroke for stroke for 60 lengths and came out of the pool within 2 seconds of each other. Acky was last out of the pool (understandably) and to let you realise what a feet it was to swim those 60 lengths he had to get the steps put back into the pool so that he could get out of the water. Times were- Acky- 34.10, Rab- 28.48 and I did- 28.40. Last up in heat 4 was Charles, in among the speedsters and as he is there on merit came out in a fantastic 25.35.

The weather was not too good out on the bike and we saw everything from sunshine to wind driven rain and even hail storms. For any one that knows the course, I had a head wind driving hail stones into my face up that first hill and I can assure you I was just about greeting trying to push the bike up it. I think all of us had similar experiences on the bike, however special mention to the ever improving Rab- he was quicker out of T1 than me and I didn't catch him till just before the wee village that proceeds that f%&^ing hill. This time last year we did a trial run on the Selkirk Standard route and when we got to the top of that hill we got that worried about where rab had got too we went back looking. Not so this year- I got to the top, turned round and about 50metres back there he was hanging in there doggedly. Anyway bike splits were Charles an amazing 1:17:33, Mandy- 1:28:41, me- 1;32;33, Rab- 1:34:37 and the Legend- 1:36:52.

By the time I set out on the run, I felt like a lump of ice, following the weather we had on the bike and as I set out trying to get my numb feet moving, I was passed by Mandy going the other way to finish her run and she was absolutely flying. Checked her splits and she ran an amazing 47:10 for 10k, which is a good 10k time but to run that time at the end of a standard triathlon is fantastic and was the 4th fastest female run of the day. I managed to plod home in 54.43, Rab did- 56.12 (another vast improvement), Acky did- not sure, results are a wee bit off here and  Charles ran a brilliant - 41.59.

Overall Charles was 9th male overall in a time of 2;26;43, Mandy did- 2;49;18 for 47th overall, I was 61st in 2:58:41, Rab did- 3:02;27 for 64th- amazingly half an hour quicker than last year. Last home was the legend, unfortunately his run time hasn't recorded properly, but he came in slightly behind Rab and although Acky was injured Rab and Me are claiming a rare victory over him!!!!

Despite the weather we all had a good day- the performances once again were fantastic from Charles and Mandy's super fast times to Acky's beating the pain barrier to Rab's vast improvement again. Once again thanks to Tina for her fantastic support on the day and she got some good photos of the day.

C