Team Blizard elite triathletes, Tom Morris and Jono Frary, led the way for the rest of our crack team of athletes on Friday when they stormed their way through the European age group triathlon championships in Portugal!

Jono coached Tom to achieve the pinnacle of success in the triathlon world, winning his 25-29 age group sprint race in an incredible time of 63:23, covering the swim in 11:21, the bike section in 33:23 and the final 5k run in a fantastic 17:31!

Coach Frary also excelled in the 35-39 sprint event, clinching a glittering top ten position and crossing the finish line in 64:57, less than three minutes behind the hugely competitive winning time of 62:14.

Another of Jono’s impressive protoges, the ever-bubbly Katie Webster, proved her steely determination and hard work has paid off when she made a triumphant return to the GB squad after swiping the fourth qualifying spot at the Nottingham qualifying triathlon event yesterday!



Fellow Team Blizard triathlete ace, Jess Barrington, also had a gutsy performance, finishing tenth in her age group, and more importantly knocking 90 seconds off her previous fastest time in the same event. She was hugely impressed with her On Cloudracers, exclaiming “they are fab! I haven’t had any injuries since wearing them, they are the perfect balance between speed and support!” Great to hear Jess!



Not wishing to be left in the shadows of our triathletes’ success, our running Team Blizard contingent have been shining brightly this weekend too!

The Liverpool marathon saw two of Coach Dave Tune’s personally coached athletes, husband and wife team Caroline and Peter Jackson running big PBs, with both dipping under the four hour barrier for the first time in style.



Kimberworth’s ace V40 was understandably over the moon when she said: “Thank you Dave for all your time, patience, fantastic advice and the two lactate tests, all of which helped us smash our PBs by 27 minutes!” Caroline ran 3:55:45, while Peter stormed to a fantastic 3:58:49, with both eclipsing their previous bests of 4:22!

Moving further up north, the Edinburgh marathon festival proved it offers genuine PB potential yet again when Skegness’s Robert Rennie ran a massive 14 minute best of 3:15:09, incredibly running the perfect negative split race, covering the second half quicker than the first - fantastic performance Robert!



Gainsborough’s Hanna Bennett also ran the race of her life, knocking seven minutes off her lifetime best with a strong 3:45:27 - keep chipping away at that marathon time Hanna, sub-3:30 next!



The fastest Team Blizard athlete of the day, though, was Hull’s Paul Legard, another of Dave’s coached athletes, who sliced a massive 11 minutes off his PB to break the three hour barrier for the first time by some margin, recording an astonishing 2:54:30!

Paul spoke happily about his experience, and the work he had put in to achieve his admirable result: “Today I realised my biggest ambition, to run a sub 3-hour marathon! Not only can I now consider myself a 'Good for Age' runner, I've automatically qualified for the London and Boston marathons! It's been a tough two years with injuries holding me back since I ran my previous best of 3:05, but huge credit has to go to Dave Tune, who has whipped me into shape these last 16 weeks. I started the year with another minor injury, and never thought I'd be in this position. I've had to sacrifice more than I'd like to admit, but today has been worth it!”



Sadly, Barnsley’s elite Team Blizard star, Dan Kestrel, suffered severe stomach issues, causing him to withdraw from the race at 17 miles, but we know he will be back to run the time he is capable of soon - keep the faith Dan!

Stamford Striders’ Ed Fancourt finally broke 1:30 for the half marathon distance, earning a well-deserved 88:57, knocking nearly three minutes off his PB, while Gainsborough’s Mark Rodgers continued his path on the comeback trail, recording a 1:44:33 result.



Finally, one of Team Blizard’s strongest female running talents, North Derbyshire’s Sam Ilffe, finished a superb third lady at the Sinfin 10k when she crossed the line in a strong 40:18, and Bushy’s top veteran, V60 Eric Winstone, ran a credible 1:45:55 in the Portuguese heat when he took on the best of the rest at the European Masters half marathon last weekend.