Where is Lucky??

Julie's been dominating the headlines for the past month or so but now she's headed stateside it's time Harry and Pete got back on the D2T news page, so here goes.......

Harry, resplendent in pink Brooks gloves won our local race the Tavy 7. Tavistock Athletics club put on a great event each year which always attracts a decent field on 700 or so athletes. This year was no exception and Harry had company for the first couple of miles. He managed to gradually pull away on the tough course and went on to win by over a minute.

Pete meanwhile headed to Brighton for the Brooks Brighton 10k. Brooks have sponsored this event for the past couple of years and do a great job of supporting the event and turning up each year with some of there sponsored athletes which always makes the competition hot. Unlike last year it wasn't blowing a gale so there were some reasonably quick times recorded. Despite not being able to stick with the leaders, Pete ran a strong last 5k to come home in 4th place, just outside his PB in 31.12.

Away from racing we've got the 1st Driven to Tri big weekend coming up very soon in Bath. It will hopefully be a fun but hard weekend's training and if we're lucky we may even get some half decent weather. If you're racing the Chilly Duathlon at Castle Coombe watch out for the Big Weekend Crew!!

Oh, and if you were wondering about the blog post title it's because we're concerned about the Whereabouts of Julie's dog Lucky...... they've now moved to the US but we've had no news on whether Lucky has been allowed out with them.... we'll keep investigating!

Julie 4th at World 70.3 Champs

The title pretty much says it all, Well done Dibs, great end to a great season.

Julie Won.....AGAIN

Julie's World Xterra champ again! She was 3rd out of the water, moved into the lead early on in the bike then despite fading a little in the heat managed to hang on for the run to win by just over a minute. Good work Dibs.

Driven to Tri had a good day at the office, Daz was 5th in her age group as was Randy. Honary Driven to Tri member Jim McConnel was 23rd in the Elite race and unfortunatly Sam Gardener was a dnf.

Julie has jet setted onto Florida for the World Half IM champs this weekend (hence she isn't writing the update.) We are all hoping for the Driven to Tri Double!

Just as impressive as Julies win in Hawaii was Janes 11.45 IM Florida. Jane's 46, she works 40 hours a week and her previous IM P.B was 13.54, Well done Jane, amazing race.

Back in Blighty Kate made her debut in the Oxford League cross country, Pete was 3rd in the brooks Westward League and I made the top 10.

Xterra World Champs

Driven to tri has a small but select contingent out here in Maui preparing for this Sunday's World Xterra Championships. Obviously, I (Julie) am racing and looking to have another strong performance like last year. I am going into the race excited, and looking forward to the challenge of trying to retain the title I won last year. I still feel a little out of my depth on a mountain bike compared to some of these other Xterra chickies. But, I am looking for a strong personal performance all round, and will be looking to control the controllables and forget all the rest.

Also racing and in the hunt for a medal is Daz Parker (www.dazparker.com). Earlier in the year Daz dominated at the Age group World Champs in Vancouver. She is one tough cookie, and dealt with the extreme conditions the Vancouver summer threw at her. The conditions out here will be a little bit different, but certainly no easier and I am sure Daz will rise to the occasion and pull out a cracking performance.

Our third D2tri athlete, and a new addition to our team, is Canadian athlete Randy Walker. I met Randy out here in Maui this time last year. He had just raced the Hawaii Ironman, and was looking to double up by racing the Xterra 2 weeks later. He recently got back in touch and was keen to join forces in his build up for the race this year. He has been going really well in training, and again we are looking for a cracking performance from Randy on Sunday. He will be racing in the 50-54 age group.

And lastly, but my no means least, D2tri coach Mike "aka the fish" Dibens will also be racing on Sunday. He qualified for the race in Xterra UK with his 8th place age group finish....after the slot rolled down a few spots, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to see what all i have cracked it up to be! Mike will be looking to have a strong swim as per usual, hopefully messing with a few pros, and then will be looking to finish the race strongly with a smile.....rather than a grimace like in Wales!

Those interested can follow the coverage live online at www.xterra.tv And of course the results will be posted as soon as possible.

One Step Closer to World Domination...

That's the slogan for our new Brooks T-Shirts, it was Julie's idea so hopefully she's going to live up to it and dominate at the World Xterra Champs in Maui this weekend - no pressure!

Talking about Domination... Tash Diment did just that at the Wadebridge Triathlon. Recording the fastest swim of the day (male or female) she biked strongly and held it together well on the run to finish 1st by a couple of minutes. (some people would say Cornwall is a different world, so we could class that as world domination...)

Harry and I (Pete) managed to scrape the French Team into the top 10 at the Coupe De France - it wasn't the most stylish display of group riding and running but we got round well enough despite Harry nursing a chest infection and being informed he had to be drug tested after dragging himself round the run coughing and spluttering! The party out there was a good end to the season as always but as usual made the trip home rather less enjoyable!

Since then we've spent more time publicising and organising the Driven to Tri winter camps. The 1st swim camp of the winter ran smoothly at the weekend and the standard of swimming was pretty good. We're now just awaiting the reports of the time improvements everyone made.....

Next up is the Big Weekend in Bath - if you haven't booked your spot you're missing out big time - a fun filled weekend of hard training!

We Hate Punctures

Patrick made the trip to Rimini for the World Duathlon Champs.
After a solid first run and first half of the Bike it looked like a top 10 in hs age group was on the cards, then bang!

These things happen and Patrick has had a fantastic year making 3 g.b teams in his first full year of competition. Roll on the winter and the Swimming Lessons...

Lorne Having it Large in Studland (no not the nudist beach)

2nd for Lorne at the Steve Bird Memorial Triathlon held at Studland on Sunday, a great result to cap off a fantastic season that has sen Lorne make leaps forward with his training and racing. Not only that but he also passed his first year at Uni. Give it another 2 years and we might have a driven to tri nutritionalist!