Those of you not in regular receipt of the Irish Times may be interested to view this article online, in which Sonia O'Sullivan reveals her "life more ordinary" including her training sessions with none other than Robin Dickson (she also takes a few years off his age): http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0927/1222419964890.html

The ladies performed well, with a Senior team and a Vet40 team in action. The senior team of Sonia, Vikki #1, Benita and Liz enjoyed a yo yo up and down the placings to finish a very creditable ninth place with Benita recording the third fastest lap of the day. The veteran team of Anna, Maureen, Alison and Vikki #2 placed fifth team, just outside the medals in a close race with Anna recording the twelfth fastest lap time. Special mention to Vikki who proved she is made of tough stock by runnning for both the senior and vets teams.

Senior:
Sonia O’Sullivan 	13.08
Vikki Filsell	16.05
Benita Johnson	12.27
Liz Stavreski	15.09

Veteran:
Anna Garnier	15.40
Maureen Poole	17.40
Alison Carpenter	16.29
Vikki Filsell	16.30

A resurgent Phill Sly brought Thames senior men home in 14th spot at a stunning sunny Aldershot afternoon. It was great to have Ben back on home shores to lead the team off strongly. The middle order of Toby, Andy, Julian and Dave consolidated the position, before Phill brought us home. Also in action the ever reliable V60 team of Robin, Peter, Michael and Hugh giving away a few years in their age group but still taking home well won bronze medals. Results below.

		time	team place   place in leg
Ben Reynolds	18:53	14		14
Toby Pearson	19:55	22		29
Andy Weir		19:45	22		21
Julian Rendall	19:25	17		11
David Symons	19:49	16		19
Phill Sly		18:38	14		5

Lucy Macalister showed her pre New York preparation is coming together well with an impressive win in the ladies race at Windsor in 1:16:16 (sixth place overall).

Forty Thames men and ladies towed the line for the opening handicap. Quickest over the course were Andy Weir and Vicki Filsell, but it was Richard OBrien who took the tankard with a fearsome sprint finish. Results below.

			Actual		Net
			Time		Time
Richard O'Brien		35:30		22:30
Laura Wanless		37:30		23:30
Andy Stainsby		34:42		23:42
Simon Molden		28:32		24:32
Anthony Doolittle		30:28		25:13
David Walsh		38:59		25:29
Andy Weir			27:33		25:33
Hugh Shields		30:34		25:34
Vicki Filsell		35:40		25:40
Andy Howse		28:41		25:41
Bernt Erik Roed		34:54		25:54
Andy Lea-Gerrard		43:48		26:18
Michael Johnson		34:58		26:28
David Symons		28:59		26:29
Chris Hutber		32:33		26:33
Rhodri Davis		33:41		26:41
Jeff Armitage		38:12		26:42
Tim Nightingale		33:47		26:47
Andrew Simon		42:52		26:52
Chris Cheeseman		33:32		27:02
Giles Stimpson		38:34		27:04
Peter Honnibal		42:09		27:09
Simon Wurr		28:12		27:12
Larry Matthews		31:14		27:14
Maddalaine Ansell		37:20		27:20
Hugh Arnold		34:22		27:22
Nick Altmann		28:53		27:23
Jeremy Denny		39:53		27:53
Peter Blair-Fish		36:57		27:57
Alison Carpenter		36:02		28:02
Michael Bostelmann		40:49		28:34
John Bryant		48:15		28:45
Mark Hope			46:16		28:46
Peter Giles		35:29		29:14
Richard Weston		49:24		29:24
Al Gibbons		37:32		30:02
Susan Snell		42:26		31:26
Bill Snelgrove		37:19		31:49
Diane Leakey		46:48		32:48

Thames were also in action in Nottingham this weekend for the Robin Hood Half. Naomi Warner placed an excellent second lady with 1:19:18 with Phill Sly pulling out a fine 1:09:24 for ninth spot. Chris Wrighton also ran well to finish in 1:16:35.

Two Thames men were in action over the Richmond Park course, with Anthony Doolittle finishing 113th in 1:41:33 and David Jenkins recording 2:04:50.

Congratulations to Nick Maloney for running a pb of 3:00:01(ouch)in this long and very hilly fell race

John Macfarlane showed that his recent move to the West Country has not diminished his form, with a typically stong performance to place 7th in 68:46, with Tom Kingsnorth also running well in his debut half to place 38th in 74:48. Pride of place however goes to Lucy McAlister (formerly Hasell) who finished second in the ladies race in a superb 74:35, and also to Antonia Burt coming back from injury to clock 91:03.

Thames fielded a mens team that competed well, with great runs from Stuart, James and Chris in particular, but was ultimately a little too long on experience and short on raw pace finishing 5th in a race comfortably won by Belgrave. The ladies fielded a vets team, and placed fourth, warming up for the road relays at Aldershot later in the month.

Ladies Vet 35

Anna Garnier		19.47
Vikki Filsell		19.47
Maddalaine Ansel		20.33
Maureen Poole		21.57
Laura Wanless (running for Croydon senior team)

Men's Senior

Chris Daniels		15.09
Hugh Shields		16.27
James McMullen		14.43
Matt Lynas		16.44
Larry Matthews		16.30
Stuart Major		14.47

Andy Robinson showed that he is made of stern stuff to complete the Ironman UK in 15hours 44mins comprising a 2.4mile swim, 112 mile bike and marathon run....

Julian Rendall continued his good form over the long distances to win over this challenging course with a time of 2:44:46.

Sonia OSullivan broke the ladies course record with Antonia Burt second. But it was Andy Howse who, with a strong, seventh placing overall, took the Clough Witton trophy by 20 seconds from Richard Pitt. Results below.

		Actual time	Handicap		Net Time
Andy Howse	45:42		6:22		39:20
Richard Pitt	49:36		9:54		39:42
Sonia O'Sullivan	47:08		7:15		39:53
Toby Pearson	44:56		5:03		39:53
Antonia Burt	53:56		13:26		40:30
Larry Matthews	47:55		7:15		40:40
Chris Hutber	51:32		10:47		40:45
Darren Talbot	45:30		4:37		40:53
Andy Weir		45:15		3:45		41:30
David Symons	46:45		4:37		42:08
Susan Snell	62:26		19:41		42:45
Vicki Filsell	62:26		17:54		44:32