2007 Reading Report
There was only one man's name on the overall title at this year's Reading Rowathlon Super-Sprint – or so we thought…. As all the series regulars know, rowathlon is not just about the rowing, the biking, or even the running. It’s about putting all three disciplines together well, with fast efficient transitions too. It can also be about counting…… and doing 16 laps of the bike course in a 14 lap race was too much for even the favourite Lee Rankin to recover from. It was left to Nicholas Wyatt and James Hart to fight it out for overall top spot, with Nick taking the crown and James winning his first M 30-39 title.
Meanwhile, in the M 40-49 category, a sprint finish saw the much improved Steve Hacking just pipped to the line by a determined Marc Scriven. Tim Ellis took another M 50-59 title in his impressive first year and John Wyatt made it a father and son double as he won the M 60+ category.
The women's event again threw up a few surprises as favourite Carol Powell was beaten in a close race with Rose Metalli. Rose stormed through the course in her first rowathlon and promised to be back for more next year. Carol took second place followed by third placed Anne Yates who made the transition from rowing to rowathlon for the first time. Anne showed that she’s going to be very hard to beat in the 2008 series in the F 50+ category. With no serious challenge from her fellow juniors, Kate Metalli took on the senior course at just 11 years old and managed to finish fourth overall. One to watch for the future! Performance of the day though went to Mavis Surridge who completed her first rowathlon at the age of 78 years young!
So with the fast and furious Reading event over, the course distance moves to the other extreme now for the final event at Dorney Lake – 4k row, 30k bike, 7.5k run. There’s still everything to play for in those age category battles and one lucky winner following Dorney on September 30th, will be the proud owner of a brand spanking new Concept 2 Rower! Don’t miss the 2007 series finale!
