Success for Gentry in the Keith Stephens duathlon

The informal and low key Keith Stephens Memorial Duathlon on Sunday was won by Liam Gentry of Velo Club Baracchi, just one second outside the course record set by Lee Cook.

Lee Cook did not defend his title of last year and the year before.

Billed as two 5km runs with a 25km cycle ride in between, the course is in fact rather shorter than that for the runs but nearly 30km for the cycling.

Cycling is what Gentry does better, and the course suited his strengths. He and Mark Richards of VCB were even going into the last run with a good lead on the others and Gentry was the quicker of the two.

They’re off!

Gentry won in 1-19:58 from Richards (1-20:58) and Carl Prewer (1-29:19). Prewer had decided at the last minute to have a go. His running was, as always, extremely light and fluid and despite not having ridden on tri-bars for several years he showed good style.

Carl Prewer off the ground

Chris Scott of Rock Estate took fourth place in 1-29:59 and the other times were Paul Dennington (VCB) 1-34:28, Mark Womack (VCB) 1-35:01, Kenny Saggers and Oliver Gardener equal on 1-38:23 and Hethersett visitor Stephen Waters 1-55:00 (after going off course).

Dennington still cheerful on the run

Carl Prewer on the bike

Richards leads Gentry into a corner

Mark Womack

Keith Stephens after whom the event is named was a former treasurer of VCB. He died in a cycling accident thirteen years ago and had enjoyed both cycling and running, so this duathlon is held at the end of each season in his honour.

Paul Dennington in more familiar style

Gentry arrives near the finish

Additional duathlon photos are here:- Keith Stephens Memorial Duathlon 2015 | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

This Sunday at 9am from the Blundeston Plough the annual inter-club Holmes Cup competition with Gt Yarmouth CC concludes with a reliability trial.

In recent years VCB has lost at this last hurdle as all the completed 50-mile rides count for a point and the Yarmouth club are better at getting a big field of riders.

The tally stands at VCB 22 points and Gt Yarmouth CC 19 points. Seventeen of the VCB points come from the scratch placings in a 10-mile time trial in May but GYCC almost caught up when the handicap results of a 25-mile time trial in August were added.

The audax season is now under way and John Thompson travelled to Sussex by train for the “Autumn Tints” 107km (66.875 miles) event last Saturday, starting and finishing at Hailsham.

After 35 kilometres riding on the coast road through St Normans Bay, Bexhill and St. Leonards to Hastings with a little headwind the steepest hill of the whole ride was a residential road in Hastings.

Thompson said, “I think any cyclists living along there get pretty fit just on their daily work ride.”

He enjoyed “a glorious descent” to a place called Petts Level, where it is flat again following the coast to Winchelsea Beach, by which time the headwind had got stronger.

It was only a short ride to the main control at 46 km in picturesque Winchelsea village. After that Thompson enjoyed a tail wind more or less all the way back but with plenty of testing hills, including one into Netherfield.

Finally, after Heathfield and Waldron, he completed the ride in 5.5 hours, with another 30-mile ride the following day.