Yes, not the usual BPTT update, but an LSTT update! This one has been provided by guest reporter Kirsty Bangham…
Time Trial Goes International - The Inaugaral LSTT On Saturday 18th August an intrepid group of 8 athletes took part in the first international Time Trial in the ParkRun family - the La Santa Time Trial in Lanzarote. They were Wayne Ardley, Orlando Pellicano, Graham Brook, Kirsty Bangham, Danny Norman, David Rowe, Suze Lidbury and Sharon Rowe. Not forgetting of course the essential support team - Emma Dadlani, Duncan Gaskell, Katie Dadlani and Tom Young. This elite group includes two members of the BPTT committee, 2nd and 4th placed men in the BPTT points table, and the third placed lady.
The format was slightly different to the homegrown time trials and considerably more hardcore. A warm up run of between 3 and 5k was completed at 8.15 a.m, with the full competitive time trial over a distance of 5 or 10k taking place at 6.15 in the evening.
Naturally the preparation was carefully considered and began the evening before. The athletes carbo-loaded on various fried things with chips. Danny took his hydrating strategy very seriously and drank six pina coladas - an entire week’s alcohol intake in one night, for a man who doesn’t usually drink. Dinner was followed by a pool tournament, where it was generally agreed not to give up running.
An early night was had by all, well most, well, 2 a.m is early in one sense.
An easy run in the morning, followed by rest and relaxation to prepare for the big race in the evening. Just a little bit of windsurfing (Kirsty, Suze, Graham and the instructor David), body tone (Sharon, Orlando,Danny, Danny’s hangover, Emma and FGC), latin style aerobics (Orlando and 50 women), and crazy golf (the whole group except Sharon, which is odd as David assured everyone it is her favourite sport). Nothing energetic there then….
Eventually the time came for the pre-race preparations. Astonishingly the ladies captain of The Stragglers had not packed her club vest, but luckily Sharon was kind enough to lend hers and run in Ranelagh colours herself.
It was quite an auspicious sight at the pre-race briefing to see this group of international athletes all in their club colours and the opposition were effectively psyched out. Accordingly the athletes performances did not disappoint.
The race route began in the stadium, then followed an out and back course of 5k to La Santa village, finishing with a lap of the track. One or two laps depending on the distance.
Wayne and Kirsty opted for the traditional time trial distance of 5k. Wayne was 10th man out of 14 and 3rd in his age group in a time of 23.38. Kirsty was 5th lady out of 10 and 1st in her age group in a time of 23.08.
They were then able to join the support team to cheer on the 10k athletes as they began to approach the stadium, and encourage them to find more in the home straight.
More was found by all, and valiant attempts were made to reel them in as well. Graham won the race in 34.13, his time for the two laps would have also won the 5k race twice. Danny was second in 35.04, David fourth in 39.28 and Orlando 11th in a PB of 43.35, out of 19 men. Suze won the ladies race in 40.03 and Sharon was 4th in a new PB of 57.43.
So apart from the volcanoes and barren desert land it was just like Bushy Park on a Saturday.
Photo (left to right): Danny, David, Wayne, Sharon, Suze, Orlando, Kirsty, Graham.