Quite a few Bournemouth AC members come to the club from Zoom or other triathlon clubs in the area. For those wanting to gain those small margins by adding some speed and intensity to their running repertoire, Bournemouth AC is just the place. The fast and furious Tuesday night track sessions are enough to foster opportunity for improvement for any athlete at any level.

Some of the clubs top triathletes have been at Bournemouth AC all the time though. The likes of Emma Caplan and Paul Consani to name a couple of them. Then there has been other younger members coming through Oscar Newbery and Matilde Blagden.

Hence the presence of BAC members at Bournemouth International Triathlon has been a regular occurrence over the years. This year’s event featured Emma Caplan in the Standard Distance Triathlon which consisted of a 1500m swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run.

With the Ironman 70.3 in Marbella looming large on the horizon, it was a good opportunity for Emma to get some race practice in.

The swim for the Bournemouth International Triathlon took place on the west side of Bournemouth Pier. Then it’s up the zig-zag to the bike holding area on the Overcliff. The bike route sees the riders head out to Ringwood, at the edge of the New Forest before heading back to run down the hill and onto the prom, with the finish being across the sand.

The Sprint Distance Triathlon was a qualifier for the European Triathlon Championships in Tarragona, Spain, in June. Finishing in the top four of your age group would get you there. That gave it an added sense of importance, rather than it just being an event to try and finish high up in or get an age category prize in.

Beth Dowbiggin and Matilde Blagden were in the Sprint Distance Triathlon, which consisted of a 750m swim, a 20km cycle and a 5km run. Paul Consani and Mark Richardson were competing as well.

In the Standard Distance race, Emma Caplan completed the 1500m swim in 27:29. That put her 48th overall, 8th female and 3rd in her age category. She then blitzed through the 40km bike section in 1:04:55 which was 17th fastest overall and fastest of all the women. That meant she was 20th overall and was now leading the way in the ladies standings.

Emma was also faster than any of the other women in the transitions as well which would have put her even more ahead than she already was. Completing the 10k run in 42:52, she 15th best overall and fastest female on the run as well.

That culminated in a finishing time of 2 hours 21 minutes and 25 seconds and that indeed did put her in 15th place overall and first female overall. Kristina Kiss was second female in 2:25:23 which put her 19th overall. Serena Rendell was third female in 2:32:55.

Even though he wasn’t the fastest in the swim, the cycle or the run, Gianni Shipp won the Standard Distance Triathlon in a time of 2:05:52 and that cumulative time was enough to give him the victory. Clive Kennedy-Burn was second in 2:06:13, with Tom Gibson taking third in 2:07:55. He did the fastest swim of anyone, in 21:29.

In the Sprint Distance Triathlon, Beth Dowbiggin completed the 750m swim in 11:25, which 32nd best overall and 6th fastest female. In the 20 to 29 age bracket, she was second at that stage.

She then went on to 20km bike ride in 38:26 which saw her slip down to 70th overall but by virtue of being 7th fastest female on the bike, she was still 6th female but had moved down the third in her age category.

She got overtaken by a couple of other women on the second transition before moving on to the run which she completed in 21:23. That was an average pace of 6:48 per mile. That meant she’d ended up finishing as 8th female overall but had climbed back up to 2nd place in her age category.

With an cumulative time of 1:17:09, Beth was actually first female though in her age category so that was a great result for her and she’d finished 75th overall.

Completing the swim in 10:36, Mark Richardson was 14th overall and second in his age category. He then gained a few places in the transition before heading out on the bike. The cycle took him 34 minutes and 5 seconds which saw him move up to 7th place in the overall standings.

Losing one place in the second transition he then went on to clock a 20:16 for his run. That saw lose a couple more places but he was still second in his age category. With a cumulative time of 1:09:48, Mark had finished 12th overall.

Getting through the swim in 11:49, Matilde Blagden was 50th overall and 10th female. Then in the Under 20 category she was second at that stage. In the run up the zig-zag to the bike holding area, she lost 11 places and went down to 14th female before gaining a couple back in the transition before she set off on the bike. At that point she was fourth in her category.

Completing the cycle in 43:13, she was now 34th female and 139th overall but crucially, she was still fourth in her age category. Gaining quite a few places in her second transition, she moved up to 31st female before heading out for her run.

Registering a time of 23:12 for her run, Matilde had gained three more places overall moving up to 126th and had moved up to 30th female. She’d kept hold of fourth place in her age category as well.

With a cumulative time of 1:23:32, she come in as third Junior female which was enough to see her qualify for the European Championships. That meant, as far as Matilde was concerned, it was mission accomplished.

Getting though the swim in 13:06, Paul Consani was in 131st place overall and was 21st in the 40 to 49 category. He gained quite a few places on the run up to the bike holding area though and then gained several more during the transition, moving up to 108th overall.

Heading out for his bike ride he powered round in 36:02 which moved him up to 64th place overall and 17th in his age category. Then it was onto the second transition and onto the run to finish with.

Clocking a time of 20:52 for his run, Paul gained a further three places, moving up to 60th overall but he’d lost one place in his age category to finish 18th in that. His average pace for the run was 6:37.

That took him to a cumulative time of 1:15:54 which put him in 63rd place overall and for the 45 to 49 category for British Triathlon, he’d finished 7th. Sadly he’d just missed out on qualification for the European Championships but after an injury plagued summer, it was a valiant effort from Paul.

The overall race was won by Oscar Pye in a time of 1:06:16 and he’s in the Junior category. Thomas Greeves was second in 1:06:46, with Sam Holwill just four seconds behind in third.

In the women’s top three, it was Eleanor Wallace taking first in 1:11:38 which put her 27th overall. Bethan Jones was second female and 43rd overall in 1:13:37. Penny Guess was third female and 60th overall in 1:15:42.

Emma’s win in the Standard Distance Triathlon and the performance she put will be really encouraging to her as she prepares for her forthcoming Ironman 70.3. If she can stay injury free and keep those aches and pains at bay, she should be in with a real chance of flourishing in Marbella.

It was great to see Beth, Mark and Matilde all qualifying for the European Championships and should they choose to go, they will no doubt each have an incredible experience to look forward to, representing Great Britain in their respective age groups.

They have all undoubtedly seen the benefit of coming along to the Bournemouth AC training nights and that would likely have impacted the running side of their triathlon output and probably also their overall fitness.