The third Welsh Triathlon National Championship race for the 2016 season
Bala Middle Distance Triathlon 2016
The third Welsh Triathlon National Championship race for the 2016 season, was held on Sunday 5 June 2016 in the north Wales market town of Bala. The distances were a 2000 metre lake swim, followed by a 81km bike, followed by a 20km run.
The athletes were divided into three waves for the 2km swim in Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid), which is the largest natural lake in Wales. The water temperature was 16 degrees plus. The conditions were perfect for swimming but as the day progressed, it just got hotter and hotter and hotter. Making the 20 km run a trial for all the athletes.
Hanging around the finish area our roving reporter managed to get the following quotes from some of the Welsh Triathlon National Championship medal winners.
The winner of the male race Joe Beech said, “it was one of the best races I’ve done. Top marshalling. It’s a challenging course, hilly with fantastic scenery. I should have picked an easier one for my first middle distance race.”
The winner of the female race Rachel Hall of Manchester Triathlon Club said, “For once I gave it all, nothing left. You had to keep going, especially on the run. It’s fantastic that I’m the Welsh Champion.”
Second senior male Dylan Griffiths said. “As always a fantastic race from Wrecsam Triathlon Club. It was tough on the way back on the bike. It was really hot and I was wilting on the run”
Christopher Lewis, second veteran male said, “I was delighted to be representing Port Talbot Harriers in our first year as a triathlon club. The bike was good and fast. I found it really tough in the heat.”
Ceri Cook, first female veteran from Cadence Tri said “I’ve only just got back from representing GBR in Lisbon and so wasn’t sure about entering this as well. I’m glad I did. I just went for it. The run was really hot. I’d like to thank Mark and Christine White of Cadence Tri for all their support.”
The Two Technical Officials Dave Rigby and Tony Smalley reported there were no penalties given. The Moto’s said that there were no incidents of drafting, and they had never seen such a well behaved bunch of cyclists.
The list of winners of the Welsh Triathlon Middle Distance Triathlon medals for 2016 were
| Senior Male | Gold | Joe Beech |
| Silver | Dylan Griffiths | |
| Bronze | Tom Walker | |
| Senior Female | Gold | Rachel Hall |
| Silver | Eleanor Davies | |
| Veteran Male | Gold | David Francis |
| Silver | Christopher Lewis | |
| Veteran Female | Gold | Ceri Cook |
| Super Veteran Male | Gold | Mike Pfeiffer |
| Silver | Mark Rigby | |
| Super Veteran Female | Gold | Bridget Ripley |
| Vintage Veteran | Gold | Steve Pryke |
| Vintage Veteran | Silver | Colin Hunt |
We would like to thank George Watson of WatsOn Events and Julian Hunter and all the volunteers from Wrecsam Triathlon Club, for putting on a superb event.
The next National Championship event will be the standard distance triathlon in Broad Haven in Pembrokeshire, on Saturday 25 June 2016. We hope to see you there.
