Fitness First, Rochdale held it's first National Grand Prix event on Saturday 9 August. It had held an excellent Internal charity event last December and attracted 73 entries for this event.

Beginners

The female beginners attracted 4 entries and the UL-Haq sisters had a good close race with Sadia beating Sammyia by 45 seconds. The event was won by Stephanie Haworth, whose father Steve took part in the Intermediate Masters event, in an excellent time of 9:05. There were just 2 entrants in the Male Beginners and Ollie Regan-Watts, who is very much following in the family tradition left Phil Beardsley in his wake with a very fast 7:27.

Ladies Intermediate

The Ladie's Intermediate attracted 10 entries. The December event was won by Annabella Weaver in 15:50 and in Race 3 Susan Russell posted a superb 15:14 to stamp her authority on the competition and her technique was exemplary. Emma Maggott then went down in 16:14, which ultimately gave her 4th place to match her 4th in the Ironman. The final race between Annabella Weaver and the Calso winner Kelly Friel was one of the races of the day. Annabella led all the way down the course, following a strong treadmill  and Kelly had to put in a huge effort on the X/Trainer to catch her up. Both girls then struggled on the Bench Press, but Kelly was first off in a brilliant 13:53 and Annabella smashed her previous best with 14:22. Susan Russell was a well-deserved 3rd and I hope that she and Annabella will venture outside Rochdale and take Kelly on at Gorton.

Male Intermediate

The Male Intermediate attracted 17 entries and with many of the usual top names missing, it gave a chance for a few new faces to get on the podium. Lee Ashworth and Andy Roberts had a good race in heat 2, with Andy 22 seconds ahead in 15:10. Frank Garvey raced on his own in heat 3 and his 16:£2 gave him 3rd in the Masters.Dean Langan and Stephen Wild then had a cracking race, with Dean coming out on top by 4 seconds . Consolation for Stephen was a great 2nd place in the Masters.The eccentric Domininc Boardman, who is a real character won heat 6 and the Mens Masters in 14:52. The next heat provided the top two times. Pete Abraham, an excellent runner, who is always in the top 6, found the course to his liking and his 17k run, always gave him the upper hand over Simon Friel. Pete's time of 13:25 gave him a well earned victory by 51 seconds. Simon had competed in the sprint at Southampton, and Intermediate at Luton nad he left his previous form well behind with a tremendous time of 14:16 to take 2nd and make it a fsmily double. Local lad, Matthew Di Rosa had the handicap of racing on his own next and was just 4 seconds behind Simon with a great effort to take 3rd in his first competition.Two more locals, Shakeel Whitlow and Yusef Ahmed then went off in the last race and probably went too hard early on, although Shakeel's time of 14:36 gave him 4th place

Ladies Open

There were 12 entries in the Ladie's Open/Masters. Claire Morris did well stepping up to the Open for the first time, but Instructor Vikki Williams, a mother of 5 set an excellent target of 23:19 for the others to chase. Hayley Deighan and Nicky Humphrey who had dead-heated in the Ironman then raced each other for the umpteenth time. Hayley was first off the treadmill and dominated the race totally to record 23:59, over 3 minutes ahead of Nicky, who didn't do herself justice. Jo Holloway, as consistent as ever, then set the fastest time so far in 22:49. Penny Bunton, who has been improving all the time, then had the perfect race agains Caz Waywell and her time of 20:00 came as a surprise, but we all knew it was going to take some beating.Old rivals Sue Regan-Watts and Trudi Hawksworth, had another battle royal in Heat 5. Sue dominated early on with a stronger run and was firat onto the Bench Press, However, she has been concentrating on Duathlon/Triathlon and her lack of strength cost her when Trudi, who always benches out passed her and won by a comfortable 43 seconds. The final race between Sarah Deed and Catherine Garner was eagerly anticipated, but Sarah was not at her best and she was 3rd in 21:28 and like a true professional, accepted that she wasn't good enough on the day. Catherine had a great race and unfortunately there was some dispute over the setting up of the bike, which couldn't be clarified and she was just 10 seconds behind Penny in 20:10. Her time on the winners rostrum will come and she is a great competitor to watch.

Men's Open

There were 28 entries in the Mens Open/Masters. It was good to see Mel Brooke back competing, and he set the early pace in the Masters with 21:24. The Luton pair of Mark Drury and Simon Bellinger had a really good race all the way down the course and it was Simon's superior strength on the Bench Press, gave him victory by 28 seconds in 18:56. The 2 veterans, Gary Nicholls and Simon Cox raced next and Gary, as reliable as ever finished 2 minutes ahead in 19:46.Organiser Aidy Cartwright then raced Shabir Darr in a keenly fought contest, with Aidy always having the edge to finish a minute ahead in 20:16. The 2 Gorton lads, Craig Horsfield and Mike Jones raced next and Mike had his best race to record 20:45. Craig has been improving rapidly all year and that continued with a fantastic time of 18:15, which ultimately gave him his best ever placing of 4th. Farooq Vawdadid well with 19:34 against Andy Ashurst, but Andy achieved his best ever placing to finish 3rd in the Masters with 18:16 despite having some reps docked on the Bench Press. Danny Watson against Steve Mead was always going to be a good race and so it proved. Steve as expected was very strong on the run, but Danny kept chipping away and ultimately caught Steve on the Bench Press to finsh in the same time of 18:11 to finish joint second. It was good to see Steve Watts back competing against Jimmy Wong and Steve was nearly 2 minutes ahead to win the Veterans in 18:40. Alex Wooda is another athlete who has made great strides this year and boosted by his 3rd in the Ironman, he was a very comfortable winner in 17:07, the fastest time of the day The penultimate race saw Neil Cameron, an Ultrafit veteran racing Steve Oxlade, who is never far away from the medals. Neil was a comfortable winner to take second in the Masters in 18:10. The final race was a renewed battle from December between Andy Lett and Jamie Fraser, with Andy all out for revenge, which he secured with a great time of 17:35 to win the Masters and have the 2nd fastest time overall.

There was one best performance prize, which was ultimately awarded to Susan Russell, for the fantastic improvement she had made with such perfect technique. Penny Bunton, Kelly Friel and Craig Horesefield were strong contenders for this also.

Congratulations to Aidy for putting on such a good competition, that was well organised with excellent hospitality.