Stand-out highlights of the year
Firstly to the club coaches, who turn out in all weathers, are always ready with advice & knowledge, with scheduled sets to get you race ready, and have provided the support to help those listed below to their achievements. THANK YOU.
The second is to Alan. He has served the club for the past decade on the committee, spanning various roles, captain, secretary and most recent with his sage & pragmatic stewardship as chairman. For me, he personified Thames Turbo. Although they are large shoes to fill, I feel we’re incredibly lucky to have James replace him; we’ve already seen his positive influence, shaping the club with his personality. #thevibe
But the one true highlight over the past 12 months, and one we should all be proud of, is all the members who represented Turbos for the first time. Beejal G, Sarah L, Emily W, Lindsay F-M, Natalie H, Lara C, Katie L, Alice P, Emma P, Natalie H, Caroline B, Lexie W, Becky M, Gabbie I, Rosie M, Dan L, Rob C, Dan J, Jack B, Sam B, Tom P, Ross S, Kevin V, Paul N, Eliott W, Dave J, George D, Louis A, Harvey D, David P, Justin R, Dmitrij S, Robert H, Alex C, Tom Savage & Felix H – take a bow.
For many, this was their first ever triathlon; whilst for others like Ross, Sarah, Michele, Duncan, Mark F-S, Ben, James T, Thomas Sav, Dave & Chuck, it was their first venture into Ironman.
I’d also like to recognise those few who, through adversity, didn’t make their finish line. Your achievements are every bit as great; you were as dedicated & put in the same amount of training to make it to the start line. Your subsequent triumphs will be so much sweeter & lauded – and look to Nicole & Ryan for inspiration in what they overcame, to earn spots for the IM 70.3 Worlds in Nice this year.
Our season started with Rosie qualifying in Taupo for the Ironman 70.3 Championships in Marbella – it’s fitting that this should be the season finale. We had 5 Turbos out, in what was the strongest, most competitive field I’ve yet participated in. After turbulent build-ups, for Rosie, James & myself just making the start & finish lines was the real achievement – and yet all turned in performances to be proud of. Steve put in yet another storming bike leg to the fastest Turbo (5:05), whilst Chloe turned in a quite stunning sub-4:00/km half marathon for a 5:09 & 17th / 281.
This year, we had Thomas Snell qualify for (Cairns) & then compete in the Ironman World Champs in Nice; whilst Caz Buckland won her Age Group in IM Wales to qualify for Kona 2026. Already qualified for the Ironman 70.3 Champs in Nice 2026 we have Natalie (Hradec Kralove), Nicole (Porec) and Ryan (Peloponnese) – I’m sure others will join them.
At the World Champs in Wollongong, Dan J finished 4th in the Aquabike, whilst former member Christian retained his sprint crown and Kester was the fastest age grouper outright in the standard. Moira came away with a silver in the European Middle Distance in Pamplona, whilst Jess picked up a silver in the Sprint in Istanbul, where Ryan finished an awesome 7th. Huge congratulations to all who have represented Turbos on the representative stage. Pier with 4 outings across aquabike, aquathlon & triathlon, Caoimhe with 3 top 11 finishes, Steve & Moira twice each, plus Gordon, JT, Ian, Matt D, Jess, Thomas, Justin, James, Chloe, Dan, Rosie & me. This year, we’ve seen a slew of athletes qualifying for the GB team for the first time – Richie, Katie, Tom Savage, Stewart and almost certainly joined by Mike & Lewis.
With Izzy joining, Jess rejoining, Chloe’s involvement and Katie’s recruitment, we’ll have one of the strongest young women’s teams in the country. On the men’s side, Atharv’s rapid development is genuinely exciting to watch.
So many other great performances to note; Thomas won the Huntsman half iron, Pier the Reading triathlon, with Steve & Nicole being the first V40s at the Burghley half iron & London T100 respectively. At Bushy, we had Atharv run 15:26 & Jess 18:06; Dave run 2:49 at Hamburg, new member Izzy 1 hour dead at the Cabbage Patch and Maria rack up the Boston, London, Berlin & Cybi marathons; Thomas doing typically insanely daft things in the Lake District a fortnight after Nice.
Together this year, Turbos have run 2,650 Parkruns at 250 different venues. We’ve done charity relay runs from Lands End to Teddington & rides from London to Scotland. We’ve cycled monuments, the Dragon, all across Dartmoor, the Etape & the Mallorca 312. We’ve swum the Serpentine, the Great North 10k, Windermere end to end in skins & relays across the channel.
You’re awesome.
Lots of social activities before the New Year. After Thirsty Thursday, we have the mob match with Ful-on-Tri at Bushy on Saturday 6th December, the Xmas party aboard the Yarmouth Belle on Saturday 13th December (last date for food orders is Saturday 6th December – any tickets purchased after will come a drink voucher instead – but book your tickets via LoveAdmin now), the Beer Mile on Wednesday 17th December (coinciding with the Chairman’s birthday drinks) and culminating with our annual Santa ride on Sunday 21st December.