Socials, early 2024 results and training
Socials - Starting with the dates for the calendar
Saturday’s Bushy Parkrun is celebrating International Women’s Day, with an all women pacing line-up. There are likely to be a fair number of Turbos running & catching up after.
Given that this Sunday is Mother’s Day, we thought it best to postpone the big Social Club run for a week to the 17th March (and we could given the 5 weekends in March). We’re proposing a double meet up at the Anglers 8am for the marathon runners going long, doing a 12km towpath loop, before reconvening at 9am for a Tamsin Trail loop (you can find the Strava route here). We’ll be finishing at the Local Hero on Kingston Bridge to meet those Kingston BreakFesting (will be thinking of Duncan & Nick at the Grizzly).
In the interim, we’ll be saying a sad but exciting farewell to James & Bryony as they leave Twickenham before heading to Adelaide. We’ll be heading to the Alexander Pope after track on Weds 13th – non-runners welcomed.
Advance notice of a date for your diaries.
Friday 12th April - it’s been proposed that we all meet for drinks and a meal with no triathlon related pretext. Nick Cox is currently scouting out potential venues, but mark the date to keep it free. Everyone should be back from Easter; it’s a week after Brighton & Paris and 9 days before London, so should be lots to celebrate / talk about. Given the marathons and Easter, we’re pushing back the Parkrun tourism to Saturday 13th, which will be at Wimbledon Common – and hopefully meeting our Windmiler friends. Should be a good leveller, whether recovering or tapering, to all be equally hungover.
The race & club championship seasons have started. All multi-discipline events count and any Bushy Parkrun. But please make my life easier looking for your results by adding Thames Turbo as your club for Parkrun (you’re not a Worcester or Salisbury junior any more) and filling in the Race Calender - always more fun to do events with friendly company.
Last weekend saw Ben set a PB, dipping under 1:29 to finish 10th in the Thames Meander half, whilst Alex paced Em to 2:12 in Great Yarmouth. Gail & Jim continued the Sportives conquering the Kentish Killer. And a big shout out to Jess, smashing the 40min barrier for the 10km (39:43) at Battersea the previous weekend.
This weekend sees Turbos in action home and abroad. Lauren kicks things off in Abu Dhabi at 07:20 on Friday morning (https://triathlon.org/timing/628665 without Grace or Claire - fingers crossed); Emma Hurdle makes her marathon debut in Barcelona, whilst Caoimhe & Tim C are at Dorney for the duathlon. Good luck all.
I know we bang on about it, but it really does make planning easier if you can sign up in advance to events (on Strava, Spond) and please enter your name on the race calendar. It really isn’t difficult.
You will have seen a number of messages on Spond about discounts available to club members with discount codes which we have been asked to not to distribute beyond. You can find a list of them here but please ask for the password if you don’t have it.
Thames Turbo races
A reminder of the two club organised races, which provide essential revenue to the club. We need volunteers to ensure they run smoothly (well, at all) and request of all senior members that they marshal at at least one. The link is on Spond or you can volunteer here.
We are running a Super Sprint alongside our normal Sprint triathlon event in an attempt to encourage more people to try their first triathlon on Monday 6th May, whilst the Junior Aquathlon is confirmed for Saturday 8th June. Please support this fantastic event. It is a wonderful opportunity for our juniors to showcase their skills in a friendly and supportive environment.
This leads on nicely to an update on the Junior section from Jonathan Ormerod. We are urgently seeking a solution to promote the juniors’ activities on social media, in the same way we have for the senior section (with wide angled, group shot photos, taken by the coach, no names, no tags, for which we will require parents’ opt-in consent) as we seek to increase member numbers across the club.
Update on training
Well done to all the juniors who joined us on Saturday for the bike session in Richmond Park. Despite some fairly unpleasant weather the juniors enjoyed a skills session with coaches Phil and Ralph. Great commitment to training!
This weekend is Parkrun week. Come along to Bushy Parkrun on Saturday for the 5k. Meet at the finish area, adjacent to the car park at the Diana Fountain end of Chestnut Avenue, for 8:30am to warm up before heading to the start. This is not a coached session so under 11s need to be accompanied by an adult (who can keep up!) Alternatively, under 11s can come along to the 2k Junior Parkrun at Moormead Park, Moormead Road, Twickenham on Sunday morning instead.
Junior Winter Series
Over the last couple of months the Juniors have been taking part in our Club Winter Series, an internal race series comprising run, swim and cycle events, and culminating in a Duathlon at Hillingdon Cycle Circuit. The idea is to encourage our Juniors to continue to train and develop their skills during the winter in preparation for the 2024 Triathlon Season. We had over 40 juniors compete in the series. There have been some great performances this year and as always it has been fantastic to see the progress of the juniors with some significant improvements in times between events. We will be announcing the overall Series results and awards at our Club Social BBQ in the summer. The Winter Series is all about training commitment and personal improvement, so we will have awards that reflect this as well as performance. Thank you as ever to the parent volunteers who have helped out with marshalling and timing – we couldn’t run these session without your support.
London Junior Race Series
The London Junior Race Series kicks off this month with the Lee Valley Duathlon at the Olympic Velopark on 24th March. Entries are filling up fast and it would be great to see a strong Turbo turnout! Sign up here.
A reminder for juniors interested in competing in the London League that you must be a member of British Triathlon prior to race day and must have selected London as your region in your membership profile. If you have any questions about racing, please contact Jonathan at junior_rep@thamesturbo.co.uk.
Other Upcoming Events
If you are looking for a friendly local event, Hillingdon Triathletes are hosting their annual family duathlon on 24th March at the traffic free Hillingdon Cycle Circuit at Minet Park. The event is not part of the London League this season, and is being held on the same day as the Lee Valley Duathlon, however it is a fun local event and perfect if you are looking for some race experience. It is also an event that the whole family can take part in. There are categories for Tristar, T1, T2 and T3 as well a Super Sprint suitable for Youth and Juniors, and an adult race. Entries are via the Hillingdon Tri Club website.