All members that join the Tri Club are automatically joined to B&BHAC and can participate in all of their activities, social & athletic. In fact you are encouraged to join in the Wednesday evening training runs and enjoy a chat and a drink (hard or soft!) afterwards.

We have just taken delivery of the 1st consignment of Tri Club kit. This consists of 34 Blackheath & Bromley Tri Club T shirts and 3 long distance tri suits. The T shirts will be available to view and buy at the club on Wednesday evenings, price £6.99. The tri suits can also be viewed and will be available to order, price £69.99. Both prices include VAT. 21-01-09

Results updated 28-06-10

Details of who's doing what this year 29-03-10

Blackheath & Bromley Tri Club Update 20-09-09

Tri Training Tips For Beginners 22-03-09

Details of swimming training dates added 19-12-08

Open Events updated 23-01-09

2nd Swim report 12-01-09

1st Swim report 7-01-09

8 December 2008 - report on first meeting 10-12-08

Join your expert coach Nick Kinsey, one of Britain’s most experienced and consistent Ironman finishers over the last 20 years, for some serious training and then relax in the warm sunshine, for the perfect recovery, good food and fun-filled atmosphere! Yes, our own Nick Kinsey owns and runs this company - special rates for Blackheath Tri people.... info@mallorcaman.co.uk

Blackheath & Bromley Tri Club Update.

The Tri Club has had quite a busy summer. Members have been competing in various races, including Ironman, 70.3 Ironman and Olympic distance events, more of which later.

The training routine has largely centred on Leybourne Lake with Sunday mornings seeing a mixture of all three disciplines. Mike Russell, who runs the facility, has been his usual helpful self and we now feel we are really part of his “inner circle” by him making us cups of tea!

Swimming, on Thursday evenings, has continued at Trinity

school, with the Tri members of Striders of Croydon AC.

Lanzarote Ironman 23^rd May.

Nick Kinsey, John McConville and Trevor Simmons flew out to take part in, what is arguably, the toughest official Ironman in the calendar.

The event is known for its combination of heat, humidity, high wind and huge climbs.

Unfortunately Nick came down with Salmonella on the Friday before the race so was unable to compete.

When you consider that John has dipped under 11 hours for an Ironman, his time of 12:11:45 underlines just how tough a course Lanzarote is. Trevor came home in a very commendable 13:57:14. Nick would have his day.

UK Ironman 70.3 14^th June

Five Blackheath & Bromley Tri Club members headed west in mid June to compete in the UK Ironman 70.3. Steve Hough, Peter Burford, Rob Drake, Kev May and Deniz Mehmed wanted to see for themselves the course that reduced the mighty Kev to a walk the previous year. They weren’t disappointed. With 53 hills in 56 miles on the bike course, with the run no flatter, this one was going to be tough!

The day started with a 3am breakfast due to a 6am start time. But as the start time got nearer it was clear, unlike the reservoir, that heavy overnight mist would make the swim dangerous with over 1000 competitors going off in a mass start without being able to see where they were going.

The race start was eventually put back to 7am with much grumbling about being able to have a “lay in” until 4am if we’d have known. In reality, it was so cold at 6am that even if the conditions were clear we would have frozen on the bikes after getting out of the water.

The swim was fairly uneventful for the B&B delegation apart from the usual bun fight which is the mark of a 1000+ competitor mass start swim. I’m sure boxing lessons wouldn’t go amiss as part of the training!

The bike lived up to its reputation as officially the hardest bike section of any Ironman 70.3 race globally.

 The idea was floated, the day before the race, to recee the bike course but after realising that trying to remember 53 hills was next to impossible, we agreed that we should just take it for granted that around the next bend would be another hill, and there was!

The run was a mixed affair of on and off road with plenty of gradient thrown in for good measure. As a 3 lapper, the run would bring you tantalizingly close to the finish, only to send you round again, twice.

The finish finally came into view and although you felt sorry for the people who were heading out for another lap instead of the finishing funnel, secretly you didn’t feel too sorry. Ha!

So that was it, a good time was had by all and Kev managed to exorcise the ghost of UK 70.3 2008 with a cracking time that, if he had hung around after to accept and pay for it, would have earned him a place at the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater USA!

Results:
Kev May.  5:24:50

Steve Hough.  5:54:54

Rob Drake.  5:57:01

Deniz Mehmed.  5:58:19

Pete Burford.  6:38:20

 Ironman Austria 5^th July

Nick Kinsey’s day came at Ironman Austria. After having to pull out of Ironman Lanzarote, with food poisoning, he stormed to a 9:26:13 time to finish 74^th overall out of a field of over 2000 finishers.

In the process, he bagged a qualifying place at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii later in the year.

 Germany Ironman 70.3 16^th August

Seven Tri Club members, Kev May, Rob Drake, Deniz Mehmed, Lisa Page, Pete Burford, Roy Priestley and Kate Pratten, signed up for the German round of Ironman 70.3.

Three weeks before the event, Pete came down with a cold which then developed into a chest infection. Time was not on his side with the infection taking longer than anticipated to clear. To make matters worse Pete managed to virtually sever the top of his thumb a week before the event. These two problems combined meant “Nine Fingers” was, unfortunately, well and truly out of the game.

Unseasonably hot weather greeted the athletes on the day of the race with temperatures hitting 30 degrees midday.

The swim was a classic “out and back” affair with water temperatures just below the level where wetsuits would be deemed illegal. This is due to the real possibility of athletes overheating in the water.

The bike course was very picturesque, looking, in places, like a backdrop for the Sound Of Music. Instead of the UK’s 53 hills in 56 miles, the German course had 3 major climbs, which never the less, nearly added up to the same amount ascent as the UK course.

The run was a 4 lapper through mostly parkland. The heat was taking its toll with all of the competitors feeling the strain and unfortunately Roy was forced to pull out with only about a mile to go to the finish. Kate, on seeing Roy in trouble, pulled out also to accompany Roy in the ambulance to hospital. A really selfless act which shouldn’t go without being applauded.

Kev had another good race with Rob, Deniz and Lisa completing the quartet of B&B finishers.

Results:
Kev May. 5:20:49

Rob Drake. 5:50:01

Deniz Mehmed. 5:58:28

Lisa Page. 6:34:05