Sunday 13 August saw the 9th running of the Oxley triathlon event in Sherbourne. 270 athletes took part, ranging from those contesting for the top places in times that wouldn’t look out of place in international competition, those pushing themselves to improve their times and become more competitive, through to both adults and juniors who were competing for the first time and those who take part purely for the enjoyment of the sport and the pride of being able to say they completed the event. One participant could surely have tried harder though, saying “only my second triathlon and loved every second of it, I grinned the entire way around”.
In addition to the sprint and junior events, the club has expanded the event to include a classic distance event, with competitors completing a 750m swim, 40km bike ride and a 10km run. Widening the range of competition was an ambitious move, but the increased options for competition enabled a greater number and range of participants, feedback to the club has shown that the opportunity for the whole family to compete at the same event was a rare and much appreciated opportunity, with the head coach of the Hot Chilli Triathlon club in Trowbridge saying “Thanks to all the organisers and marshalls for a great morning of racing at the Oxley Triathlon, a great event for our club, hope to catch up with the many Wizards down at Vobster and hopefully at the Big T Trowbridge triathlon may bank holiday Monday next year”.
Top honours at the event were taken by Andrew Snook and Ella O’Neill in the classic event, winning their races in times of 1:59:06 and 2:29:29, while in the sprint event the top places were occupied by youth competitors, Niall Caley in 1:01:27 and Daisy Davies in 1:11:55.
Support for the event is essential to enable competition of this scale to run smoothly and the club is grateful to its sponsors, Battens Solicitors, Sainsbury's, Glencairn Clinic, Oxley Sports Centre, Penn Mill Scaffolding & Wessex Fertility for the assistance they give that makes the event possible.
The event is recorded by Charles Whitton photography, who have kindly provided the photos for this article and enable all competitors to retain a professionally captured record of their day.
The club behind the competition: Wessex Wizards
Another factor in enabling this competition to be possible is a local club, as well as enabling and supporting athletes of all abilities to undertake the necessary training to succeed in an event such as this the members of Wessex Wizards triathlon club also give up their time to organise and marshall the event.
In addition to organising a number of the club members further supported the event by taking part, with 6 in the classic, 8 in the sprint and 5 juniors taking part on the day. Top performances from the club included Doug Peirson and Danielle Every, who each finished in 3rd place for their gender in the classic race.
The triathlon club was born from a small group of triathletes who started open water swimming at Weymouth in September 2007. That group of eight has now grown! Although relatively new compared to some clubs, the club is ambitious and continues to grow.
The club recently received the BTF trimark bronze accreditation mark, and was the first club in the South West to achieve this standard, this achievement is a credit to the work of the five BTF qualified coaches and managing committee for the club, who co-ordinate and run a wide range of activities for club members across all of the triathlon disciplines.
Membership of the club is open to all standards and ages. Members enjoy competing in all race lengths from sprints to Ironman. If you are interested in more information then please contact the club through the contact us page of the club website at: http://www.wessexwizards.co.uk/contact-us.html
First Time Triathletes
One of the benefits of a local event is that is gives early opportunities for those starting out in the sport, competing in a friendly atmosphere alongside others undertaking the challenge for the first time
Hannah Moore joined the Wessex Wizards under a year ago, shortly after the amputation of her leg in an ambitious approach to managing complex regional pain syndrome, a chronic condition which had caused severe pain and prevented her from walking for a period of two years. The hard work over that year and the support of Dorset Orthopaedic enabled Hannah to complete her first fully able bodied sprint triathlon in a time of 1:33:18.
That however is not enough for Hannah, and the Oxley event is preparation for the British Paratriathlon championships on August 28th & she hopes eventually to compete for the British Paratriathlon team. You can follow Hannah’s progress at: https://imstumpedcrps.wordpress.com/
One of the disciplines, which can often put people off attempting a triathlon and the perception that it can be difficult to learn if you didn’t have the inclination or opportunity to do so as a child. However, disproving that by also taking part in her first triathlon on Sunday was Marianne King, who finished in a time of 1:24:24. Although harbouring ambitions towards competing in a triathlon for a while, in June Marianne was only able to swim two lengths and even the week before the race had concerns about dealing with the full swim and the transition to riding the bike, all went smoothly and after the race Marianne confirmed “The time was what I hoped for and I’m really chuffed to be 7th Female back”.
The family nature of the event was also evident in the feedback received. “What an amazing event, it was only my third triathlon and it was my son’s first one. Extremely well organised, and very friendly marshalls, brilliant to see so many people getting involved especially all the kids”.
