Participants cash in on a great day at the HSBC Triathlon and Duathlon

14th September 2014

Rumours have been circulating over recent months of soggy bank notes, tire tracks in branches and out of breath staff at HSBC buildings across the country, as hundreds of employees were gearing up and getting in shape for the HSBC Triathlon and Duathlon, which took place on Sunday 14th February at Eton Dorney Rowing Lake. HSBC Staff members were joined by over 1,000 other triathletes who made the day one of the biggest triathlons of 2014.

The event offered a huge variety of distances and options, with triathlons from Fun to Olympic, a relay over the Olympic distance, a duathlon for the less amphibious participants and a Scootathlon event for the children.

The day kicked off in true Human Race style with the Scootathlon, which was open to children aged 4 – 8. The event saw children scoot 390m, cycle 390m and run 250m in a triathlon styled event. There were no winners or losers, but all children received a t-shirt, medal and big hug from their parents for their efforts. One lucky family also took home a Micro Scooter as part of a competition on the day.

Participants cash in on a great day at the HSBC Triathlon and Duathlon2

The main triathlon action got underway with the Olympic distance individual and relay events, which featured a 1500m swim, 42.4km bike and 10km run. James Waite was the winner of the men’s race, after a slower swim leg than his closest rivals he made up incredible ground on the run and finished in 2:07:59. James was followed by Mark Yeoman (2:08:25) in second and Sam Proctor (2:09:00) in third. In the women’s race over this distance Lucie Custance was the clear winner finishing in an impressive 2.24.22, with Jessica Pealing (2:29:44) in second and Caroline Coles (2:33:35) in third.

The Team Relay format saw all three team members take on the triathlon together, with a team only completing the course when all three members had crossed the finish line. Team Router’s Rabble were the fastest team, completing the course in 2:07:44. A special mention must go to Dave Chapman, who over the last year has dropped from 32 stone in weight down to 15 and by completing the bike leg for his team has now taken part in his first mass participation sports event; well-done Dave!

The next triathlon to take place was the Sprint event, made up of a 750m swim, 21.2km bike and 5km run. First place in the men’s race was claimed byOliver Bradford (1:03:04); Paul Tarczyk finished second (1:05:00) and third place went to Duncan Emery (1:07:58). In the women’s race Tracey Harewas on top of the podium in a time of 1:20:45, second was Jacquie Hughes (1:21:09) and third was Rachael Wadlow (1:22:30).

Participants cash in on a great day at the HSBC Triathlon and Duathlon3

Following the Sprint race the SuperSprint triathletes were off, taking on a 400m Swim, 10.6km Bike and 2.5km. Two Youth athletes finished in 1st and 2nd in the men’s race, which saw Sam Mileham(34:53) take the top stop ahead of Sebastian Garry (35:12); Tim George (36:37) was third. In the women’s race Youth athletes stole the show again, taking all three podium positions. Estella Grantwas first (39:39), Emma Hatchett (40:13) second and Isabelle Ellis (42:14) third.

The last event of the day was the Fun Triathlon which comprised a 200m Swim, 5.3km Bike and 2.5km Run. The winning male was Aaron Westwood in a time of 27:13, followed by Bruce Hill (27:56) in second and Wesley Adamo (28:28) in third. The female winner was Gabrielle Icmat (28:46) ahead ofJasmine Kent (30:08) in second and Olivia Cameron (30:16) in third.

A shorter distance was also available for the younger kids. The winning boy in the Kids’ race wasWilliam Halford (18:42) ahead of Maximus Eddis (20:03) in second and Bailey Cameron (20:23) in third. For the girls it was Evie Wootton (21:08) who clocked the fastest time by some distance, ahead of Amelia Bell (22:14) in second and Eva-Marie Weintraub (23:00) in third.

Also taking place alongside the Triathlon event was a hotly contested Duathlon event. The men’s race saw Mohammed Ahmed take the victory in 1:01:46, ahead of Nev Watson (1:02:47) in second, who achieved some incredible run leg times and David Bagge (1:03:38) in third. The female winner by some margin was Nicola Kent (1:10:48), with Nicki Osborne (1:16:58) in second and Lucy Williams(1:17:20) in third.
As always, participants were grateful to be fuelled to the finish by PowerBar and hydrated naturally by Vita Coco as they crossed the line!

Human Race would like to thank HSBC for their involvement in making this one of the best triathlons around and we hope all the employees who took part had a fabulous and successful day, we’re sure nobody was short changed!

offroadseries

The HSBC Triathlon and Duathlon was the last Triathlon of the year for Human Race and competitors will now be turning their attentions to the Human Race Off-Road Series, a series of thrilling off-road trail runs and duathlons taking place at army training grounds around the South East.