Scottish Sprint Championships 2015
Knockburn Loch is a purpose built triathlon venue near the rural town of Banchory, this made for an exciting and very enjoyable course for everyone taking part. The early morning brought with it plenty of midges and scattered showers, typical Scotland!
Current Stirling University athletes Natalie, Fergus and Shannon competed against a strong field including some past Stirling University members such as Cameron Milne and Andy Hood. As well as that we even had some future University members who will be joining us in September; Julie Nimmo racing in the junior catogory.
Great racing from everyone at the weekend. Special mention to Ferg who came 3rd overall (read more about his race below) and Natalie who is 2015's Scottish Sprint Champion
Race update from Ferg,
The 750m swim was fairly uneventful for me getting a good start and on the feet of my brother Doug and ex Stirling triathlete Cameron Milne, eventually exiting the water in third on my own (25secs down on the leading pair). The Bike was a relatively straight forward course although fairly challenging due to a few sharp inclines and a long gradual hill back into T2, I came off the bike in 4th position as Jack Lawson rode strong to take the fastest bike split of the day by over a minute. I usually class the run as my strongest discipline, but didn’t show it today. However I managed to get past Jack and claim 3rd overall. A solid result for me which I was happy with and good to get another race in my legs for future racing.
Everyone racing seemed to have good fun and enjoyed testing themselves on a challenging course, and would recommend this race for everyone else in the team to do next year!
Race update from Shannon,
Starting the race my main aim was to do a solid swim and bike and if all going well, and my knee and ankle held out for the run, the aim would be to finish the race in one peice. The swim went well, a couple minor issues sighting but nothing major, a reletivley smooth swim. Out onto the bike, began with a shakey T1, however I soon setteled into the bike which was a fairly demanding up and down ride, however it suited me well and I found the bike to be the best part of the day. Heading into the run my knee began to niggle early on however I'm not one to back out of a race, so I tried to keep focused on the techniqe and be careful of footing on the uneaven surfaces. The run was a mighty struggle especially with only 30mins of running leading up to the race due to injury in May, I am however pleased to have finished with a decent result considering. 5th in my age group and 12th overall. My aims now are structured around physio to get race ready and look forward to more races later in the season.
Great event overall, really enjoyed the location and thought the bike and run routes were perfect and challanging, a great event to get more of the club too next year.
