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Race Report – Mikes Bikes Pembroke Junior Triathlon

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133 Junior Triathletes from all over Wales descended upon a wet and windy Pembroke on Saturday the 17th of June to race in the 6th round of the Welsh Triathlon Tristar Series. The event supported by Mikes Bikes in Haverfordwest was organised jointly by Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club and Just Tri Junior Triathlon Club. A required change to the planned course resulted in a technical bike course and given the wet conditions this would lead to a tough bike leg.

The Tristart Start category (8 year olds) were the first to go in a delayed start as Race Marshalls battle in the wind and rain to secure a safe course. Seren Bowen was the first female home in a time of 10 mins and 6 seconds. Seren was followed just 5 seconds later by Milly Harris from Celtic Tri to claim second. Local triathlete Seren Barrett from Just Tri came home in third place with less than 30 seconds separating the podium places. In the Boys race, Ben Cleave from Celtic Tri dominated the top spot with a strong bike leg to finish in a time of 9 mins and 16 seconds. Second place was claimed by Rhys Thomas from Triathlon Coaching Wales with Jack John from Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club completing the Podium in third.

In the Tristar 1 category the Female race was dominated by Denbishire Triathlon Club’s Josephine Hurst finishing nearly a minute and a half in front of second place in a time of 14 minutes and 29 seconds. There was a tight battle for second place as Ella Harris (Celtic Tri) finished just 3 seconds ahead of Cardiff Junior Triathlon’s Mabli Phillips. With Ella having the quickest swim split, Mabli managed to close down the gap on the bike as both together on the run – Ella eventually claiming second.

In the boys race Ewan Leonard of Denbishire Triathlon Club once again claimed the top prize with a well-rounded overall performance. After an exciting swim where Ewan, Sion Thomas (Pembrokeshire Tri) and Josh Cleave (Celtic Tri) exited the water together, Ewan moved ahead of the other two with a strong bike leg and Sion and Josh battled it out. Josh eventually moved ahead towards the end of the bike to claim second. Solomon Silverstone had a great bike and run to move ahead of Sion Thomas to take a well-deserved 3rd.

Tristar 3 series Leader Anwen Nesham from Cardiff Junior Triathlon Club) again dominated the girls’ race showing her ability across the 3 events. In the absence of others, Anwen was two and a half minutes clear of second place, eventually finishing with the fastest time of both the female and male triathletes. With a biking background, Anwen made light work of the difficult wet conditions on a technical bike route. Mia Cleave from Celtic Tri had a great swim ensuring her the second place ahead of a fast finishing Holly John from Pembrokeshire Tri.

The absence of the James brothers from Triathlon Coaching Wales in the boys’ race would guarantee a new winner on top of the podium and it was Ifan Bowen who took advantage to claim the top honours. In a fascinating race it was Jac Thomas (Triathlon Coaching Wales) who exited the water quickest closely followed by Dewi Thomas from Pembrokeshire Tri. With Dewi exiting T1 first he moved away from Jac on the bike. Both were soon reeled in however by Ifan Bowen who moved into the lead and never looked back. Dewi was second on the run but couldn’t hold off a fast running Jac Thomas on the run who claimed the second spot. Dewi managed to hold on to the final podium position.

Maybe the most anticipated race of the day was in the Tristar 3 races. In the absence of Abbie Davies from Triathlon Coaching Wales it was between 7 girls who would take the top honours. Megan Thomson from Pembrokeshire Tri was quickest out of the water with both Alyssa Baker (Triathlon Coaching Wales) and Freya Thapa (Cerist Junior) exiting just 7 seconds later but despite leaving the water nearly a minute down on the other girls it was Neisha Roberts (Denbigh Triathlon Club) that took the victory with the quickest female bike and run legs of the day to finish clear of Megan Thomson (2nd)and Alyssa Baker (3rd) with Freya Thapa just missing out in fourth.

A quality field met the boys Tristar 3 race with previous winners of Tristar Races lining up. With the conditions probably at their worst during the Tristar 3 race the boys showed incredible bike skills without any incidents. Favourite going into the race was Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club’s Liam Edwards after a great result in Cardiff the previous weekend but with Luke Wyatt from Triathlon Coaching Wales showing good form and others in the race well capable of winning there are no guarantees in triathlon. Neo Seppman (Triathlon Coaching Wales) had a great swim but it was Liam Edwards who exited the water the quickest. The other boys however were not far behind including Finlay Catlin who came out just behind his club mates Neo and Luke. But it was Ruthin Tristars’ Ioan Oldfield who demonstrated his experience of biking to power through the field to move into second. He couldn’t however bridge the gap to Liam Edwards who claimed 1st by over a minute. Ioan Oldfield managed to hold his position for second and it was Finlay Catlin who completed the podium just 19 seconds ahead of Luke Wyatt.

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