STAR is looking back at a very eventful year with lots of highlights for our athletes. We kicked off the season with hosting the Avon Aquathlon in March. STAR was out in a force and James Barber topped the great club result with his podium finish. But one lady stole the show: Lisa Matthews competed at her first ever race and completed the race side by side with coach Kate McBain.
It’s was a home affair again soon after at the Durrington triathlon in May and yet again STAR was flying the flag again with age group top three finishes from head coach Shaun Green and Simon Dickinson. Our home race also saw a fantastic group of novices finishing their first triathlon ever! Lawrence Kaile, Charlie Waters, Sue Allison and Angela Bailey gave their all: blood, sweat and tears… lots of happy tears actually after crossing the finish line!
Unfortunately we lost the club championship to Salisbury Tri Club this year but there is no doubt STAR will be even more determined to bring the trophy back home next year!
Throughout the summer the club colours could be spotted at numerous local races including Andover and Newbury triathlons. It’s fair to say that Bowood House triathlon is a firm favourite with the STAR family and it wasn’t a surprise that the turnout for the club was fabulous again this year.
Some of our athletes ventured further out and our very own Simon Dickinson and Dale McCarter represented STAR at the British Championships in Leeds. According to Simon, racing on (almost) the same course as the pros was the best race experience of the year and “proper cool”.
The scorching heat in August didn’t stop seven STARS including 70.3 debutants Lee Salter and Ina Morris to compete at the Cotswolds Classic middle distance triathlon.
Only a few weeks later and the conditions couldn’t have been more different for Jon Hargrave and Alan Finlay who braved wind, cold and rain at Ironman Weymouth.
The weather hadn’t much improved for Thruxton Mass Attack duathlon in October. Once again the STAR gang proved themselves as very weather resistant and saw our athletes with new PB over both sprint and standard distance.
It has been a fantastic season for the STARs with lots of podiums, PBs and debuts. We can’t wait for next year! Will it be an even better year? Will there be more inspirational stories? Will we see more of our athletes daring new race distances? Well… it’s all written in the STARS…