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As always, the voice of X Training now, writes for the sport too, and here is his views on The Hampshire.
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| Introduction |
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| Sprint |
  There were just 6 entries in the Female sprint category, with 5 of them being from the local club. The first race was nice and even between Lea Rogers and June Hodgson, with Lea just coming out on top with 8:48. Pat Friel, mother of Simon, won the dubious award for being the oldest competitor on the day, but also took a very creditable third place with 8:31 - how she wished she'd started X-Training 20 years ago!. The final race was a really tight affair between Eliza Thompson and Gemma Sharp and thanks to an amazing run, Gemma was in a clear lead onto the bench press. However, she struggled badly on the bench , which allowed Eliza to overtake her and win by 13 seconds in 7:44.
There were 8 entries in the Male Sprint, with 6 being from the local club. Phil Noyce and Gareth Stokes had a cracking race, despite finding it very tough going and Phil just edged it by 15 seconds in 15:22. Club member Jon Brown then raised the bar significantly, with a time of 9:04 in race 2. Darren Lawson then eclipsed that with a 7:30 in race 3 and looked like he could have easily have taken on the Intermediate level. The final race and the overall title went to Andrew Roberts in an amazing 6:28 and he looks capable of progressing all the way to Open level. Although comfortably beaten, Gary Sacre came a good third overall with 7:51.
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| Intermediate Ladies |
 There was a disappointing entry of only 11 in the Female Intermediate and from that there 2 no shows! Mandy Lemon, from the club set the marker with 18:28 and Cath Haines, who won a bronze at Gorton, eclipsed that with 16:53. Race 3 was between Cathy Cojeen from the club and last years Intermediate winner Bianca Sacre. Cathy improved significantly on last year and her time of 16:13, ultimately gave her 3rd place. Bianca was a comfortable winner in 14:53, but didn't look in quite the devastating form of last year, when she beat the likes of Sam Saunt, Gemma Yates and Nicky Humphrey and it remained to be seen if Kelly Friel was good enough to beat her.
Emma Maggott had a very solid run in the penultimate race and 15:10 gave her a well earned 3rd place and second podium finish of the year. Kelly Friel certainly was good enough and she simply destroyed the field with an amazing time of 13:06. She appears to have no weaknesses and this was her 3rd consecutive victory. It would have been interesting to have seen her race some of the top Intermediates from last year to see how good she is, but after Ironman, she steps up to the Open and we'll soon find out!
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| Intermediate Men |
 There was a superb entry of 30 in the Mens Intermediate and whilst the likes of Rawle, Fraser, Mead and Millichap had moved on, the standard was still of the highest level. It was an interesting field with 3 Micallef brothers and the Manning brothers competing and 2 firemen and 7 club members also racing.
Nigel Hodges, a newcomer, set a very respectable 15:48 in race 4, but this was eclipsed by Alan Taylor, who looks a really good athlete and he improved from 11th last year to 7th overall this year. Miles was the first of the Micallef's to go and set 18:09, but brother Jo murdered this time with 15:36 in a magnificent race against Philip Penfold, who he beat by just 1 second.
Simon Bartlett, a real X/T stalwart, then raced local fireman Grant cartin and they were only separated by 16 seconds, with Grant winning the trophy for the fastest fireman in 14:56. Anton Micallef, then proved the fastest of the 3 brothers with a time of 15:23 against Sam Manning, who won last years sprint race. The last 4 races provided real quality racing and the key is for competitors to try and submit really accurate training times, which had certainly happened in this category.
 Steve Broadley, who has been a model of consistency recently and was 2nd at Gorton had a cracker of a race against Simon Friel, who had an absolute nightmare at the same event. Simon took an early lead and held it all the way and despite tiring on the bench, finished in 13:45, with Steve just behind in13:58. They finished 2nd and 3rd respectively and both are very popular competitors, who have total respect for the opposition.
Stuart Gilbert, fresh from a Masters victory at Gorton, destroyed Brian Aggett and was unlucky that his 13:50 gave him only 4th place in the masters category.
The penultimate race between 2 very accomplished masters in Paul Chase and Keith McGurk, was an absolute cracker and it's a shame they don't venture further north. Paul always just had the edge and his margin of victory was just 12 seconds in 13:15 to give them 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Masters.
The final race saw Ben Williams, a personal trainer at the club pitched against David Lightowler, winner of last years Masters category. Ben, who was 14th overall last year, had improved beyond recognition and he left David in his wake with an absolutely brilliant time of 12:21. David was still fast enough with 13:03 to win the Masters title again. Ty trains Ben and Keith and he had a smile from ear to ear, as did yours truly, who has trained Simon and Kelly. Maybe these old has beens still know a bit about X-Training!!
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| Open Ladies |
There was a disappointing entry of only 11 in the ladies Open and a number of the top players were missing. One of the highlights was a quality debut from Laura Sarkis, who took 4th place in the Open with 25:26, beating Michele Wakefield, who was 4th in the masters.
Mikki Skingsley returned to her best form with an excellent 23:51 to get her highest ever placing of 2nd in the Masters in an easy victory over the ever present Sarah Connolly. Jo Holloway was as consistent as ever and got her first podium finish with 3rd in 24:34. In the same race Trudi Hawksworth's 23:15 gave her first in the Masters.
The eagerly waited finale was between Sarah Deed and Jacqui Macquisten. This course, without her pet hate bench jumps, was much more to her liking and she always looked in command to secure victory in 19:48 and Sarah, after her epic race against Becky at Gorton was 2nd again in 20:36
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| The Open Men |
There were 36 competitors in the Mens Open/Masters. The Crispini brothers made solid debuts and Marco was only 23 seconds ahead of Nick. Tom Sargeant also raced well and set the early lead with 23:32. Phil Talbot and Gary Nicholls had a right old tussle in race 6 and Gary came out on top to win the Veterans title in 22:16 with Phil on23:09. Kevin Dykes then set the fastest Open time with 22:22, but had to settle for second best against Farouk Vawda, who had his best race and his time of 21:12 gave him his best ever placing of 4th in the Masters.
The ultra consistent Nelson Anderson then had a battle royal against an impressive Adam Scott and his 20:53 gave him 3rd place to top up his impressive collection of silverware this year. Adam's 20:38 was at that stage the fastest, but he was to ultimately finish 11th. It was no surprise to see Shane Fisher do well as he had impressed at the Ironman and he was the first to break the 20 minute barrier with 19:29 for an easy victory over fellow marine Chuck Berry and a splendid 6th place.
  Steve Mead had been suffering with the flu and still did well with 20:27 and I don't think we have seen the best of him yet. Danny Watson and Paul Moreton were up next and they always enjoy racing each other. Paul's running ability is well respected but he has improved the rest of his armoury and his 18:40 gave him 1st in the Masters and 4th overall, less than 5 seconds behind the 2nd fastest. He has had a great season and Danny, who is one of the most popular guys on the circuit was well back with 20:30.
Craig Horsfield found the going a bit harder in this company, but is still one of the most improved competitors this year. Steve Oxlade found the course to his liking and his 19:32 against Martin Carter gave him an excellent 2nd place in the Masters. Martin was 8th in 20:19. Now the big guns were about to explode on the course and Vito Graffagnino, a winner of Tough Guy, who had made his debut at UKXTA took on Ross Benson from Scotland. Ross had a very solid race and his 19:51 gave him 7th, while Vito's running was a treat to watch and he was unlucky to ultimately finish 4th in 18:57.
The race of the day was between Richard Vint and Les Barrow. It was nip and tuck all the way down and Richard got onto the Treadmill just ahead. After 200 metres, he took the speed up to 17kph and there it stayed until the end. Spectators just stared in disbelief and just couldn't quite comprehend what they were seeing. Les stayed calm and you know with the Marines that they are always likely to bench out and with immaculate technique! Richard became very ragged as Les pumped out his reps, but he just held on to win by 2 seconds in 18:35.
Jason King had given Sam a helluva race last year and could he do the same against Chris Lord. Sporting a very dodgy looking moustache, we presume for the party afterwards, Chris was at his imperious best and he just seems to glide down the course. He knew that he didn't have to kill himself on the run and benched out with ease to secure 1st place with an astounding time of 17:14. Jason had to settle for 5th in 19:17.
The usual mayhem of the Mens Team event followed. Dodgy technique and mickey taking was very much the theme, but it was superb entertainment. Surprisingly Prison Break, consisting of Vito, Ben Stroud and danny, won in 11:44, beating Chris, Les and Chuck from the Marines in 12:21. A great race between X-Men and David Lloyd Essex ended in a tie for 3rd on 12:34.
As always, a great event, great atmosphere and a great tribute to Ty Whitlock |
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As always , The Hampshire and Fire X-training challenge was eagerly anticipated by the X-training fraternity. As the last event on the calendar, it has a special feel about it, and we musn't forget that it is the longest running competition in X-training history. This is down to Ty Whitlock's dedication and love of the sport and it is incredible, the interest that he generates from his own club members, in taking part. Not quite so many this year, but still a magnificent response from the Hampshire club's members. The quality of entry in the Men's Open and Intermediate events was simply mouth watering. 