by Stuart Leng
There were 116 entries for the 5th Dragons Gauntlet, with the "Sold Out" signs being up weeks before the event date. The event kicked off with the Ladies Intermediate, for which there were 20 entries, but surprisingly 4 no-shows. Luke Sedges's girlfriend Teresa Macarty made her debut and came a respectable 12th in 17:35. Amanda Deane from Fitness First, Oldham picked up the best performance award in this category, with her immaculate technique in her first competition, giving her a time of 16:29. 1 second ahead were the consistent Emma Maggott and another impressive debutant, Mary Eve McErney. Laura Butlin was another impressive newcomer with a splendid time of 15;57 in 8th position, just behind Sally Cooper, who often trains with Sam Orgee and Phil Rawle. A big shock was Haley Deighan and Nicola Humphrey finishing 6th and 5th respectively, when they have so often picked up medals in previous events. Nicky was just 2 seconds behind the rapidly improving Emily Lockhart, who with a time of 15:04 secured her best placing to date. Another best ever placing went to Penny Bunton, who won the best performance award at the Ironman, with a great time of 14:20 to secure 3rd.Just 3 seconds ahead in 2nd was the reliable Master, Caz Waywell, who consolidated her position in the Grand Prix as the top master. Sam Saunt was a comfortable winner in 13:32 and intends to compete at the Open level in the UKXTA. She could certainly ruffle a few feathers based on her performances so far this year.
There were 30 entries for the Men's Intermediate, of which 26 took to the start line. The veteran George Zolkiewski, won the best performance award, with a time of 17:20. Sue's brother Kerry Regan acqitted himself well in his first competition with a time of 17:02 in 21st place.. The 5th race on the card saw newcomer Steve Mead set an amazing time of 13:31, running the treadmill at 17kph. What spoilt it, was his abuse of judge Matt Egan, for which many felt he should have been disqualified. Noone could get anywhere near Steve's time until the penultimate race. Mark Rudkins and John Currell from Calso, continued their close battle for the master's title, with John beating Mark by 8 seconds. Keith McGurr came an excellent 4th in his first race of the season in 14:27, just 1 second ahead of the consistent Pete Abraham. Jamie Fraser kept up the battle with Russell Stenning for 2nd place in the Grand Prix, with a superb 2nd place in 13:11. Phil Rawle secured the Grand Prix title with his 4th straight win in a great time of 12:49. He benefits from training regularly with Sam Orgee and has been under the guidance of Michele Parsons in recent weeks. He will look to step up to the Open later this year, in readiness for his progression to next years Grand Prix Open category.
There were 4 entries for the Mens Veterans. It is great to see Gary Yates, a previous winner of the Tropicana Masters, back in the sport and he finished a clear 3rd in 20:49. Simon Cox made his regular trip over from Spain and was a clear 2nd in his best performance to date , with a time of 19:50. Gary Nicholls was as brilliant as ever and won easily in 18:52.
There was a disappointing entry in the Ladies Open/Masters with only 14 taking part. Valerie Ritchie got a deserved medal in the Masters, before travelling to Birmingham the next day to finish 2nd in her category in the British Powerlifting Championships. A clear second was Mikki Skingsley in 21:32 to keep the pressure on Sue Regan Watts in the Grand Prix. Sue was rock solid as always, with a great time of 19:15 in 1st place.
Gail Davenport won the best performance award for her debut time of 22:46 and is another product of the Dragons X-Trainig club. Jo Holloway was a solid 6th in 20:12, behind Marie Mitchell, who returned to form after a couple of disappointing races, with 5th in 19:25. A real shock was seeing Becky Ciel outside the medals with a time of 19:00, but it's interesting to see that all the top girls have occassionally missed out on the medals this year and shows the benefit of having such a variety of really testing courses. Trudi Hawksworth was just awesome on the weight disciplines and came 3rd in 18:51. Sarah Deed has to be the most improved lady on the circuit this year and came an excellent second in 18:30. Kirst Read was certainly back to her best form and notched her second victory this year in a winning time of 18:18.
There were 44 participants in the Mens Open/Masters and there were a lot of new faces here as well as Wilbert Bennett coming out of the woodwork! Gorton's Craig Horsefield had an impressive debut with 15th in the Open in 20:45. Dan Edge also did well in his first Open event with 12th place in 20:04. Jimmy Wong couldn't repeat his Luton performance and was 10th in 19:09 Ex-club manager Mel Brooke produced his best ever performance to finish 11th in the Masters in 19:52. the strength of depth in the masters was highlighted by quality performers like Gary Nicholas, Andy Lett and Nelson Anderson, finishing 6th, 7th and 8th respectively and only 6 seconds seperating them. Paul Morton continued his rich vein of form at this higher level with an excellent 5th place in 18:22 and also holds 5th in the Grand Prix rankings. Only 13 seconds seperated the next three, with Steve Oxlade being the unlucky one to lose out in 17:39. It was great to see Paul Cooper back on the scene after a long-term knee injury and he dug a great performance out of the memory bag with 3rd place in 17:35. Sylburn Miller repeated his second place at Luton with another excellent performance in 17:26 to move significantly up the Grand Prix rankings after a disappointing start at Calso. Kirk Gibbons maintained his strong form with his third victory in four races and he also achieved the second fastest time of the day in 16:34. Dragons Matt Egan had his best ever race to achieve 9th in the Open in18:53 and old rivals Steve Dowse and Simon Bellinger were only seperated by 1 second in 18:10 and 18:11 respectively. Martin Carter, trained by Michele Parsons at One on One in Evesham continued his impressive year by moving into a clear 4th place in the Grand Prix by finishing 6th in 18:07. Roscoe Nash overcame an electrical problem with his treadmill to grab 5th in 17:50 and may have hit form in time for his favourite Octathlon. Luke Sedge, who had never quite fulfilled his potential, certainly put that right, winning the best performance award for his 4th place in 17:35. It was great to see Nik Kandola back in action again after a break to move house and become a father, and he virtually picked up from where he left off with a clear 3rd place in 16:55. His friend and training partner Jason King moved into 2nd place in the Grand Prix rankings with a tremendous performance to finish 2nd in 16:45. It was a big disappointment that the race we had all been looking forward to between Sam and Will didn't take place due to illness, but the Open category is now looking a lot stronger. Sam was a very easy winner after a disappointing performance at Luton and even allowing for a few dodgy reps on the Step Ups and Bench Press, he has benefited from the guidance of Michele Parsons over these last 3 weeks and 15:29 was some performance. The Grand Prix takes a break now until the Grueller in October-enjoy those Duathlons and Rowathlons.
