WITH the race season now fully under way, many of Rochdale Triathlon Club’s athletes have been in action.

Andrew Pilling and Pat Rice made the long journey south to the New Forest to compete in the inaugural Beaulieu middle distance event.

Race day saw mixed weather conditions, with an overcast start and an extremely strong current in the tidal swim based along the estuary at the very picturesque Buckler’s Hard.

Due to the current the swim was shortened for safety reasons, and all competitors safely navigated the revised course.

The swim exit saw a demanding uphill transition of some considerable length and then a hasty exit out on to the 54-mile cycle course.

That course was over rolling terrain, with the added hazard of wandering New Forest ponies round every corner.

During the bike leg the weather improved and certainly provided much warmer conditions for the 14-mile run.

The event was won by Hywel Davies of Team Planet X in a phenomenal time of 4 hours 47 secs.

Andrew Pilling finished strongly in ninth position overall. He was second in the male veteran 40-44 category with a time of 4 hours 20 mins 19 secs.

The Bala Triathlon attracted five members of the Rochdale club, all of whom competed at the distance for the first time.

Bala, known for it’s highly changeable and usually inclement weather patterns, produced a scorching hot day and perhaps not one ideally suited to this tough endurance event.

Indeed, for those from Rochdale, this was indeed a baptism of fire.

A keenly contested event was won in the excellent time of 4 hours 3 mins 59 secs by Mark Stenning of Swindon Tri.

Rochdale times were Kieron Jackson 5-01.42, Graham McCulloch 5-06.10, Nick Allen 5-14.59, Martin Kay 5-17.51, Chris Amour 5-36.19.