City of Lancaster Triathlon
"The only limits we have are those we set ourselves"
Committee
Richard Mason : Club Captain
Richard Mason is a loving husband and father to his wife Sarah & two daughters Hayley aged 20 & Charlotte aged 18. He runs his own Personal Training Business Inspired Personal Training,but when not working spends most of his time training for Triathlon (ask his wife & children they will confirm this).
Since being at school Richard always played & competed in sports(the only double "A"s on his school report).Despite a wide range of sports he has only ever excelled in those where large lung capacity,small brain power ,& strong muscles were needed such as cross country running & skiing,800m athletics,indoor rowing and ultrafit gym decathlon. Oh, and he was pretty good at throwing himself around the assault course at Commando Training Centre Lympstone during his time as a Royal Marine.But it was really on the rugby pitch where he was most at home ,where his physical & destructive skills could be best employed.
As time ticked on he turned in 2003 to Triathlon for a new challenge ,firstly trying sprints & then Olympic distance events,but soon found these weren't enough & so in 2004 decided to enter his first Ironman in Frankfurt Germany.
It is now the 2010 season and he has competed in multiple full Ironman races with IM France & IM Lanzarote on his CV plus numerous 70.3 & middle distance events.
So why did I start a Triathlon Club ?
I had reasonable success at Triathlon when training on my own using my own ideas and methods .However it was when I began training with others & sharing their ideas,experiences & above all their friendship & support,that my Triathlon world became more successful beyond all my beliefs & much more fun.I shall forever be in the debt of those who helped me and it was thanks to all their encouragement that I decided and was able to start this club.So thanks to Andrew McCracken ,who showed me how hard you can ride a bike & has always been there on those long cold & wet training rides.To John Knapp who showed how hard you can race IM & is always there for advice on my training plans .To Steve Stretch who is the reason I started Triathlon after a conversation on the spin bike about swimming (Bloody Navy).To Chris Wild for his enthusiasm before & since getting the club started & making me believe Hippies can race IM Lanzarote .To Sarah Patterson (my Big Sister) who reigns me in & tells me off when I get carried away .And finally to Dan McParland (how could I forget) who thought up the name.
Spread the word THE MIGHTY COLT ARE COMING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Richard can be contacted via Richard@cityoflancastertriathlon.co.uk
Andrew McCracken : Vice Captain
Prior to triathlon the only sport that Andrew did competitively was eating. He peaked at 15 stone and with the waist that was still growing Andrew was challenged to enter and complete a sprint distance triathlon. He completed his first sprint distance event in 2003 and was instantly hooked.
The training and desire to race became more intense and before long (and after loosing weight) he was getting quicker and gradually increasing the distance of the races.
Andrew stuck at it an in 2006 qualified for and competed at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships, representing GBR.
More recently Andrew has been competing at the full Ironman distance events having posted sub 11 hours for Ironman UK. Andrew admits (due to living in the real world of work and family) that he is not as quick as he once was but he can still give Captain Mason a run for his money!
Andrew can be contacted via Andrew@cityoflancastertriathlon.co.uk
Sarah Patterson : Secretary
Sarah decided she needed a challenge on reaching the age of 40 so she cycled from Coast to Coast and entered a Super Sprint Triathlon. She was hooked and has been competing at Sprint Distance for the past 6 years. In 2009, she finally managed to pluck up the courage to enter an Olympic distance race and wondered why she hadn’t done it years ago. Keeping it in the family, her son Sam has got the triathlon bug and has been competing a Sprint distance with her this season. The main man in the COLT Support Crew is husband David, who cooks meals for Sam and his two sisters whilst their mother is out on her bike or swimming at South Lakes Leisure Village as well as being very good at bike maintenance!
Sarah doesn't have a typical sporting background, in fact her sixth form school reports usually had the comment "Rarely seen" in the PE Section. Sarah trained as a dancer until the age of 18 and is a qualified tap dancing teacher.
Sarah is the club secretary and if you have any queries or comments would lik to hear from you via Sarah@cityoflancastertriathlon.co.uk
John Knapp :
John started out as a backmarker runner in the 1980's but in 1991 came across triathlon while living in Sydney for a year. Teaching himself to swim freestyle, still evident in his swim splits, his first UK race was the Bath Olympic distance race in 1992 where he was pleased to break the 3hr barrier.
In 1997 he completed his first Ironman at the Longest day and triathlon has been a part of his life since. Having moved to Lancaster in 1999 it has been the friends that he has made through the sport that have helped to make it home. He provides living proof that you can get faster in your 40's and achieved an age group second at IM UK in 2008. In 2009 John represented COLT at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Still a keen runner who enjoys the trails and fells and the odd mountain marathon he won the KIMM A class in 2005 with Valerie, his wife.
John has a fair degree of experience and like the rest of the committee is happy to offer guidance about training, kit and events to anyone in need of help.
John can be contacted via John@cityoflancastertriathlon.co.uk
Chris Wild :
Chris is not a ‘typical’ triathlete. His colleagues in archaeology, and friends in the love of heavy metal are more usually associated with drinking than sport.
Maybe it was the lycra that drew him into cycling? Having found that too elitist to accept a freak, he ended up trying triathlon at his spiritual home of Club La Santa, Lanzarote. Despite being a bad swimmer, and hating running, he was hooked.
Having played at sprint distance for a few years Chris joined Total Fitness, and things got serious (by his standards). Within 12 months the first daunting Olympic distance led to the terrifying half Ironman, and somehow standing on the start line of the worlds toughest Ironman in 45mph winds, in Lanzarote 2006. Ironman had always been a pipe-dream, but with the encouragement, support, and possibly more importantly the banter and humour, of Andy Mc, John, Richard and Steve, it turned into reality before there was any time to stop and think.
Chris’ aims in triathlon are not to conform to stereotypes, to compete to a sensible level whilst maintaining a good work/tri/life balance, keeping a sense of humour and perspective, showing that not all dirty vegetarians are completely feeble (except going up hill), and demonstrating that it can all be done on a minimal budget (outvoted on Aldi team kit, fortunately!).
Girly long hair, a ridiculous beard, Ebay race wheels, the support of his lovely wife, and a PB of 11:32 at Lanzarote, suggests its still going to plan! We are often faced with difficult choices: race longer or eat less, turned out to be a great decision.
Chris can be contacted via Chris@cityoflancastertriathlon.co.uk
Louise Kelly :
Louise is yet another former runner from Barrow. Having spent her early years competing in various forms of running events, she succumbed to buying a road bike after several years of injury. Whilst riding with some friends Yorkshire, some competitive banter lead to her entering Ashbourne duathlon in 2005. Despite naively believing a race round a lake would be flat, she became hooked and later the same year completed Ripon and the Helvellyn triathlons.
Since then Louise has competed in numerous multisport events. She has represented GB age group teams in both duathlon and triathlon events including winning the European duathlon championships in 2006.
Louise runs the Wednesday night running training sessions along with help from John and Andy.
Daniel McParland : Treasurer
After so much banter/discussion on the Saturday early morning ‘rain or shine’ (or frost or hale or anything else for that matter) bike rides it is fantastic that such a thriving club has grown out of those early seeds and despite living in Manchester nowadays I know my roots and am proud to represent COLT in all my triathlon endeavours!
Triathlon came into my life in 2004 after the hardships (!) of student life had started to take their toll and I needed some way to gain a bit of fitness. I spent my youth in football and athletics specialising in 100m, Long Jump and Shot Putt and it was always clear my natural abilities were not suited to endurance sports! However, after purchasing a bike and joining the Loughborough Triathlon Club I gradually became more embroiled in the sport and my competitive nature had me training ever longer hours in search of improvement.
I have competed in all distances of triathlon except ‘the big one’, highlights include competing in the World Age Group Champs in Hamburg 2007, scraping under the 2hr barrier for Olympic distance in 2008 and winning my first attempt at Half Ironman distance.
Outside of triathlon I am a Chartered Accountant working in the Financial Services industry and live in Didsbury with my girlfriend Katie, 4 bikes, an abundance of lycra and 3 goldfish that die and get replaced every time we go on holiday.
After a year of dilly-dallying I’ve now finally decided to appease the rest of the COLT committee (anything to stop Richard and John harping on) and step up to the Ironman plate at Lanzarote 2010. The motivation is high, the 30hr training weeks are pencilled in and I’m finally ready to see if Ironman is actually as hard as Captain Mason claims.
John Towse : Website & Forum Manager
John comes from a background in running. Ten to fifteen years ago he would often have been found running round 400m of coloured rubber training for track racing, road racing or club relays. He still very much enjoys running, but is looking for different challenges. He recently made his Ironman debut in South Africa with a very impressive sub 11 hr time.
Whilst working for several months in Boulder, Colorado, in 2007, he increasingly realised the joy of two wheels and a saddle (what's not to like about living at an altitude of over 5,000ft with over 300 days of sunshine a year, quiet roads rising up to 9,000 ft and beyond with courteous drivers and an intensively active-oriented community??). Boulder being a mecca for triathlon training as well as running, he couldn't but notice the multi-sport fun everyone else was having...
The final piece of the jigsaw fell into place in 2008 when his wife Andrea persuaded him to join in completing a swimming weekend event in the lake district. Initially dubious that he would enjoy it (isn't it too damn cold in Easedale tarn?) by the time he'd swum Grasmere, Buttermere and Crummock Water he was hooked on the idea of open water swimming.
John is developing the club forum, and is looking forward to your contributions to the development of a club community
John can be contacted via johntowse@cityoflancaster.ac.uk
Andy Holgate : Website Manager
Andy has been competing in Triathlons for 3 years, he came into the sport from a background in running, being a member of Barrow & Furness Striders for almost 30 years. Andy was a good footballer and rugby player but had to give both sports up when he had major surgery on both knees in his teens.
In his first season in the sport he went from a sprint triathlon ( Cockerham ) to an Ironman distance race ( The Big Woody ). He did the Ironman as part of his stag weekend and got married 6 days later to Em, thankfully in one piece. Andy was a complete newcomer who couldn't swim freestyle and didn't own a road bike, he's never looked back since and in 2009 completed Ironman Germany in under 13 hours.
2010 has been an exciting year for Andy so far. He completed the London Marathon for the first time and is now training hard to take part in the inaugral Outlaw Ironman in Nottingham. He also recently started writing an online blog for Triathlete Europe Magazine, giving a 'normal blokes' insight into the world of triathlon.
And to top it all off in June he'll be publishing his book
'Can't Swim, Can't Ride, Can't Run.' about his life in triathlon.
Andy is responsible for maintaining and updating the COLT website, if you have any queries, suggestions or comments Andy would like to hear from you via Andy@cityoflancastertriathlon.co.uk