The second St Helens Triathlon sponsored by Tabern Property Consultants in association with bocboc of St Helens took place on Sunday 25th September. It was Steve Prescott's wish to make this event happen so it was a real privilege to have everyone working together to make the event a huge success and raise awareness of the Steve Prescott Foundation (SPF). 200 participants from all over the UK took part.
The special guest starter for the event was SPF ambassador and war veteran Andy Reid. Triple amputee Andy also took part in the road race on his hand bike.
The first part of the Triathlon started with a swim in Eccleston Mere with transition to the very testing cycling phase which took the riders on the Shaley Brow challenge on their way to Orrell. The second transition was at Rainford High School where competitors completed the running phase. Heavy overnight rain meant tricky conditions for everyone and a few bumps along the way, but thankfully no serious injuries.
Prizes were presented by Andy Reid and Claire Hockenhull owner of bocboc of St Helens.
The winners are:
Male Sprint Open event (750m swim, 20k cycle and 5k run) was Sam Wardle in 1:08:16:00
Male Sprint over 40: Mark Ashton 1:19:50:8
Ladies Open Sprint: Rachel Fairclough 1:23:12:3
Ladies Sprint over 40: Yvonne Wyke
Male Standard over 40: Charlie Stirrup 2:36:21.1
Ladies Open Standard: Kirsten Cameron in 2:37:29:1
Male Standard Open event (1500m swim, 40k cycle and 10k run) was Mark Glynn in 2:27:20:3
Ladies Standard over 40: Rachel Irwin 3:25:58.9
Participants included Neil Prescott and former Saints star Steve Hall. There was also fantastic support form St Helens Tri Club members who Once again the St Helens Tri Club members have swept the board with Relay winners, Standard distance 1st Mark Glynn, 2nd Chris Green Sprint distance 1st Sam Wardle (beating the first relay team by over 5 minutes), 2nd Peter Fairclough,
1st O40 Mark Ashton, 3rd Mike Forber, 1st Female Sprint Rachael Fairclough,
Congratulations also to Emily Ashton taking part in her first St Helens Tri who was the first Youth Female to finish and was 6th overall in the Ladies Sprint.
The bocbocTeam trophy was won by Che Heard - Swim, Rob Chesters - Bike and Eddie Hirst - Run in 1:13:03:09
Results, which are subject to ratification, can be found at www.sthelenstriathlon.com/results
Sincere thanks to Vital Events, BeUrBest and Tecmark who provided expert advice, support and logistical planning for the event. Also to timing company Whatsmy time who provided immediate race results
Thank you to gymBUG for their support and for donating all competitors with free gym passes. Thanks also to Sandy Mount Physiotherapy for providing post event massage for the athletes. Traffic management was provided by Paramont and Traffic Direct. Thank you Tesco St Helens for the supply of fresh oranges for all participants,
The event organisers would like to express their sincere thanks to Matthew Berridge-James of Pheasant Equities for permitting the use of Eccleston Mere and to Pilkington Sailing Club for the use of their facilities and also to John Swindells for permitting the use of his land for car parking and transitions. Thanks also to St Helens Scaffolding for erecting the transition points and to the Marketing Manager Laura Daniels at Rainford High School for facilitating the use of their school site for the event.
The event would not have been possible without the fantastic support of the army of nearly 100 volunteers who helped with so many roles including the registration of the participants and who helped ensure the safety and welfare of the athletes. A split transition arrangement also required the transfer of baggage from Eccleston to Rainford. Transport for transfer of both logistical equipment and athletes were supplied by CMH Vehicle Hire of St Helens.
The SPF sends a massive thank you to everyone who gave up their valuable time to help make the event such a success.
The feedback from the competitors was extremely positive and the winner of the Ladies standard race Kirsten Cameron racing for Xhale said, ‘What a fantastic race. Brilliant marshalling and on course support. Thank you so much.’
Thank you to everyone who took part in the event and congratulations to all the category winners. Everyone can be proud of what the St Helens Triathlon 2016 has achieved; Steve Prescott’s final wish fulfilled and an event of which St Helens can be proud of.