The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Turkish delight for Lunn plus a World Championship place
Triathlon - PACTRAC man wins a big race in Turkey
by Paul Lunn rounded off his season with a brilliant win in Turkey at the weekend. The Peterborough Triathlon Club ( PACTRAC) member competed in the gruelling Gloria 70.3 Half-Ironman Triathlon in Belek, Antalya, and finished first in his 40-45 age group.
It was the first Ironman 70.3 ever to be held in Turkey and attracted a field of over 1,000 athletes.
The course consisted of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run and Lunn clocked a speedy 4:14:01.
That gave him 21st place overall and 18 of those in front of him were professionals. Another six professionals were behind him.
Professional Frederik Van Lierde won the race in 3:53:48.
Lunn’s fantastic effort earned him qualification for the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Australia.
Luun, who worked hard to come back stronger after suffering an injury early in the year, was 12th out of the water in his age group but he had the fastest bike and fastest run.
He said: “The bike course through forests and orange plantations had some shocking sections and the run was long.
“But it was one good solid day for me in perfect conditions.”
PACTRAC meanwhile held their annual club championship duathlon and prize presentation at Woodnewton on Sunday.
A total of 15 competitors entered the duathlon (run 2 miles, bike 11 miles, run 2 miles) and Paul Vernon led from start to finish. He won by five minutes in 50:33, just missing out on the course record by a second.
Mark Weathersby finished second followed by Andrew Chapman, Jonathan Oakey and Josh Mould, for third place.
At the annual prize presentation 19 Trophies were awarded and Simon Hoppe picked up the club championship trophy for a record 12th time, extending back to 1990, Club Champion - Simon Hoppe. Vet Champion - Simon Hoppe. Super-vet Champion - Antony Brown. Female Champion - Christina Cork. Female Vet Champion - Christina Cork. Female Super-vet Champion - Sue Davys. Mini-Series - Nathan Tweedie. Female Mini-Series - Abi Schofield. Youth Champion - Jonathan Oakey. Junior Trophy - Katie Tasker. Long Course - Paul Lunn. Biathlon - Sue Davys. Duathlon - Paul Vernon. Run, bike, run - Steve Giles. Novice - Josh Mould. Most Improved - Jonathan Oakey. Outstanding Performance - Nathan Tweedie. PACTRACer of the Year - Sam Fielding. Off-Road Triathlon - Simon Hoppe.
Hoppe came away with three trophies while Christina Cork, Sue Davys, Jonathan Oakey and Nathan Tweedie all took home two apiece.
Sam Fielding won the PAC- TRACer of the Year Trophy for her sterling work in taking the junior section forward.
PACTRAC now have over 30 juniors regularly training at the Stanground sessions.
The Novice Trophy went to Josh Mould who in 11 Mini-Se- ries races produced 10 personal best times taking his time down from an initial 71.20 to 58.55.
Nathan Tweedie won the Outstanding Performance Trophy for finishing third in the very prestigious Junior Elite Triathlon in London.
Nathan had some tough competition as PACTRAC had many top performances throughout 2015. Wayne Stainsby - Xscape@Bedford Sprint Triathlon, 1st. Antony Brown - NiceTri British Sprint Championships, 3rd; Grafman English National Middle-distance Championships, 1st; National Championships, Liverpool, 2nd. George Prodrick - English National Age Group Duathlon Championships, 1st. Paul Lunn - St Neots Tri, 1st; 70.3 Ironman, Turkey, Age Group 1st. Kim Bell - GB Team in Egypt, Portugal, Germany and the Czech Republic. Katie Tasker - Eastern Region Tristar2 Series, 1st. Abi Schofield - 48-hour Treadmill Run in Guernsey, British ladies half-marathon Treadmill record and British and world marathon record. Tracy McCartney - Man v Mountain, 1st lady; Snowdonia Marathon, 1st lady. Georgina Jennings - World Championships, Chicago, Age Group 2nd; NiceTri St Neots British Sprint Championships, Age Group 1st; Priory Park Triathlon, 1st lady; European Championships, Geneva, Age Group 1st. PETERBOROUGH CLUBS LEAGUE
LF