All posts by jackpot

Bertha hits the Jackpot

The aftermath of Hurricane Bertha, sweeping rain across the country along with high winds, caused the cancellation of the Elite Wave at Liverpool Triathlon. That meant Tom and David Bishop, Kieran Bones-Hill and Will Cowen were all left high and dry whilst everyone else was nearly drowning.

Hardy soles, Ben Gerrard and Richard Knell-Moore were the only two to get some racing in over at Allethorpe. Ben, returning with a “bang” we are reliably informed, clocked a very respectable 2:14:16 especially given the biblical downpour. Richard went a bit quicker in this swim-bike-swimwithrunningshoes race, clocking 58:30 for the third fastest bike on the day and 2:08:18 overall.

Also out and about was Andrew Whiteley sporting his Jackpot kit as a guide for para-triathlete Haseeb at Liverpool. Luckily they got to race before conditions deteriorated too much and Haseeb came third behind the current European Champs and World champs.

Jackpot hits the London Triathlon

david bishop london 2015The 3rd August played host to the annual London Triathlon, one of the biggest races of the year, and no less than four of Jackpot Racing’s athletes entered the Elite Male Olympic distance race.

With 45 men on the start list it was always going to be a crucial swim, and David and Thomas Bishop took advantage of the first discipline to get out in the front pack on the cycle. William Cowen and Kieran Hill, although both exceptionally good swimmers in their own right, just missed the front pack coming out the swim and subsequently ended up in the second pack on the cycle.

With around 15 athletes in the front pack it was destined to turn into a running race, which played into Bishop brother’s hands, but with Tom nursing an injury it was up to David to bring home the bacon. Will and Kieran, having both put in a lot of work in a lazy group of athletes, would have to make up their positions on the run and see if they could scrap a top-25 finish.

David got off the cycle section at the front of the first pack and hit the ferocious pace straight away. The gulf in class was apparent from the off as David joined Mark Buckingham to break away from the other athletes immediately, but David slipped off by only a few seconds a lap to come in second, posting a 29:18 run time for the tough London triathlon course. Further back Kieran and Will came onto the run in a big pack and both athletes showed their class,  with Will posting a 32:41 after only a few weeks running, and Kieran coming in on a 35:28 despite rolling his ankle mid-run.

The final positions were David Bishop 2nd, William Cowen 13th and Kieran Hill 21st for the Jackpot Racing athletes. Thomas Bishop didn’t finish after having to avoid the run due to injury, but had he been healthy there’s no doubt he would’ve been challenging for a podium position.

All these athletes get a week’s rest before doing the same again at Liverpool on 10th August!

Triathlon Sprints to become Draft-legal?

The ITU issued the following statement on Friday 18th July

“To all National Federations, ITU would like to make you aware that its Executive Board has approved a change to the Competition Rules which will see the ITU Sprint Distance Age Group competition at the World Championship move from a “drafting-illegal” to a “drafting legal” competition. The Standard Distance competition will remain as a “drafting-illegal” race. The enforcement of this rule will go into effect at the Grand Final in 2016.”

From this can we infer that all sprint triathlons will allow drafting? Or, at the very least, in preparation for the finals, will qualifying triathlons be draft legal?

It has always seemed odd that the pros are allowed to draft but age-groupers can’t. Usually, in the world of sport, it is the pros that get the more difficult situation. However, drafting virtually takes away one of the three disciplines. You’ve only got to look at the pro races to see how difficult it is to get away from anyone on the bike when someone’s allowed to draft you. At the recent European champs three bike groups became one before the end. If the likes of Alistair Brownlee can’t put time into others on the bike, then us age-groupers don’t stand a chance. On a personal level, I see this as taking away my main weapon, and a bad day for the sport 🙁

On another front, have the ITU thought this through in terms of safety? There were enough crashes at Kitzbuhel to fill the local hospital, and that was without drafting. Methinks there’s going to be a whole lot of broken collarbones before this rule is reversed.

Bishop on the Button

david bishop at the jenson button triathlon
Fast triathlete, slow drinker.

David Bishop raced his way to second position in the Jenson Button triathlon on 12th July 2014.

For anyone who doesn’t know, the Jenson Button (yes, he of Formula 1 fame) Tri is fairly unique in that you race twice in one day. In the morning there are three eliminator super-sprint races, with the top athletes from each wave racing again in the afternoon over the full Sprint distance.

This is how the race went in David’s words…

“I have always wanted to do this race – I loved F1 and Jenson Button, and I loved the super sprint / sprint eliminator format. There was a decent field in the end, including the likes of Chris McCormack and Will Clarke. I was expecting a tough race. I managed to get myself easily enough through the heats and even had a chat with one of my sporting heroes; Jenson on the run. He is a real nice guy and that was easily one of the highlights of my day.

“The final came around and I knew it was going to be tough race. The swim managed to separate things up a little and a small group of four got away on the bike, including myself, Will Clarke, Carl Shaw and Cameron Milne. It was a non drafting race, but the nature of the course (hilly and technical) meant that the TT boys couldn’t get away.

“We all the hit run together and Myself and Will soon had a lead. I was feeling good so pushed the pace on leading the majority of the 5k. With 300m to go I tried to surge and drop Will, unfortunately he was able to counter my move and push on again himself. At this point my legs were beginning to fall apart and Will went on the beat me by just under 5 seconds. I loved the race. I got to race alongside three athletes I really look up to… Jenson, Will and Macca. It’s not often I will get to do that again. The day was a really enjoyable day as well, so to finish 2nd place topped off a great weekend!”

Congratulations to David once again!

Ripon Triathlon dominated by Jackpot Racing

ripon triathlon 2014
Signs of hard racing at Ripon Triathlon

Jackpot Racing claimed many of the top places at Ripon triathlon on 12th July, 2014.

A hot Saturday afternoon’s racing saw Andrew Whiteley claim second position with Jonny McLean, still smiling after his gold in Kitzbuhel, coming home in third position.

Off the podium, but still performing extremely well in a strong feild at the sharp end were Ton van Rossum coming home in fifth place following another outstanding bike performance and Colin Hill in 10th. Both athletes had expressed concerns over knees, ankles, calves and other leggy bits, so to finish in such good positions is even more amazing.

Mika Brown was the first man out of the water in 18:45, but was still chicked by 25 seconds. This was Mika’s first ever Olympic distance race and perhaps his inexperience and the 25 degrees heat lead to him blowing up. “I loved every minute of the race,” said Mika, “can’t wait to do it again”

Jenni Muston, JR’s sole female member, succumbed to her haematoma. Probably not helped by Chris Gorse punching it in the car on the way to the race in a desperate attempt to finish ahead of his beau.