Our version of the days racing - the best ever !

Mens Open Event

Saturday 11th October 2008 was the date for this years Octathalon Championships. With qualifiers from all around the country having to get the fastest times to enter this event, reputations were on the line for this years Octathalon and only the bravest managed to turn up. We say brave because the Octathalon is a show as well as a race and to turn up, and to potentially lose in the first round, takes a person with extra special qualities and everyone who turned up for this years event had those qualities by the bucketfull. A few reported afterwards that it was what they thought it might be like if they were to be lined up and shot. So the first thing we would like to say is a
big thanks to all those brave guys and gals who made it to this years event. We promise you more of that in the future, more in a bigger and better and even more enjoyable way.

The Octathalon Cup began with the 1st round of the Mens Cup event. As usual included in this race line up were the seeded Mens Masters and this immediately threw up some serious racing. Some of the top seeds were saying they were going to be just happy to get into the next round. With some really hard races, this also meant some of the races were going to be easier than others – the luck of the draw in a cup competition. However with the Masters in a position to withdraw from the next round, thinking they might well have a fast enough time for their final, this left the fastest 3rd places a good chance of also getting through to the quarter finals.

The first race of the day was a cracker with newcomer Ross Down racing seasoned Master Octathalete Kirk Gibbons. Kirk, last years joint Masters winner with Mark Elliot, was looking for a fast time and Ross was looking for a favourable place in the draw for the next round – that meant not coming 2nd. In the end Ross came first with Kirk second. Steve Mead and Craig Horsfield were left to hope their times were fast enough to get through.

The second race saw 4 times ‘Tough Guy’ winner Vito Graffagnino take on last years joint Masters Winner Mark Elliot and Rick Fenton. Not a nice line up for newcomer Vito. Mark took it with the 1st race of the day under 10mins. Vito came in 2nd which gave him one of the toughest quarter final line ups.

Vito Graffagnino & Mark Elliot

Race 3 saw another newcomer Richard Vint racing Neil Cameron. Neil had the fastest time for a Master, whilst Richard, fresh from coming 2nd in the recent Fit Brit competition and also a good 400m runner. Pushing each other to the limits Neil eventually broke away and put in a new World Record time for the Masters of 9min 51secs. Richard came in 2nd .

Race 4 saw Master Octathalete Andy Ashurst, past Commonwealth Games Gold medallist, come up against the man with the fastest qualifying time for this years Octathalon and another newcomer Danny Wright. Also competing was hardened competitor Les Barrow one of the Royal Marines who had successfully managed to get into the event and Garry Yates another master who was now considering he might have drawn the short straw in the draw with one of the toughest initial races going. Les Barrow had two weeks previously been one of a team of 12 Royal Marines who had done a charity row for 2,400 kilometres, the equivalent of rowing the Atlantic. Each had to do around 12,000 meters an hour to achieve this. Les started by getting off the Bike first and setting a slight lead. Dan, one second behind pulled back and set a blistering pace and completed the 400m run on 10% in 1min 50 seconds. It was all Les could do to stay with him, but stay he did and eventually overhauled Dan at the Shoulder Press to take 1st place in a time of 10.06 with Dan just 4 secs behind in 10.10. Everyone else looked on in awe. Things had just got a lot more serious, racing like this in the first few races was not known before. Times like these had previously had to be done in the Semi finals and Finals. Top seeds were now quickly rethinking their game plans.

Race 5 saw yet another newcomer to the Octathalon and this one had no time qualification so no one new how good he could be. Chris Lord had won this wild card slot by winning a fitness competition to find the UK’s fittest Royal Marine. Chris had also been on the Charity rowing team challenge and had exceeded all expectations by rowing for an hour at a pace of 1min 40secs per 500m. In the end Chris cruised into the quarter finals with Phil Talbot coming 2nd and Farouk Vawda coming 3rd.

Race 6 now saw the top seeds – last years finalists. Ben Stroud, last years bronze medallist had put in a new World Record time at the Swindon qualifiers in August with a 9min 38 secs. This had marked him out to the others and all gathered around to watch him put an easy fastest time of the day of 9 min 50 secs. Paul Morton came 2nd, Nick Bone 3rd & Mike Jones 4th.

Ben Stroud & Mike Jones on Step ups

Race 7 saw last years silver medallist Nik Kandola come in with 1st place with Alex Woods 2nd , Steve Oxlade 3rd and Jamie Spencer 4th. The last two having put in times that in other rounds would like have got them through to the quarter finals.

Race 8 brought two times Octathalon champion Cassius Frankson into the event. Cassius, also recent Fit Brit winner, looked comfortable with his race coming in 1st with Nelson Anderson 2nd, Jimmi Wong 3rd and newcomer from Birmingham Vladimir Penev 4th. Vladimir afterwards said he had seriously underestimated the training needed for the event and was amazed at the standard of the Octathaletes.  

Cassius Frankson & Nelson Anderson on Step ups

If the 1st round races had been tough, the next quarter finals turned out to be just nasty. It kicked off with Chris Lord racing Ross Down, Alex Woods and Vito Graffagnino. Scot lad Alex was a known fighter having won the Mens Cup pairs event last year and ‘Tough Guy’ winner Vito was getting warmed up. Ross shot off on the Bike and took an early lead, closely followed by Chris Lord. He still held it after the step ups but now all the others came of within 1 second of each other. This was the same after the Sit ups, but after a faster Row Chris began to catch up Ross. By the end of the run Ross’s lead was down to 6 secs with Vito and Chris coming off together in joint 2nd place. It was all going to come down to the shoulders and the big man Ross, 15 ½ stone, looked to have it in the bag, however Chris put in a supreme effort to win by just 1 second from Ross in a new fastest time of 9min 45secs, then Vito, then Alex. Had this been too much too early, there were concerned faces looking on.

Chris Lord & Ross Down

The next quarter final saw Ben Stroud racing Andy Ashurst, Nelson Anderson and Craig Horsfield. Three of the top masters had pulled out, hoping that their 1st round times were fast enough to qualify them for the mens masters final. This had left the door open to the fastest 3rd places from the 1st round. Ben came through the line 1st in a time of 9.54, whilst the other battled it out to get 2nd place and for Nelson and Andy, a fast enough time to get into the Masters final. As it was Andy got 2nd, but failed to get a fast enough time for that final. Still he had progressed to the Semis.

The 3rd quarter final found Nik Kandola racing Steve Oxlade, Phil Talbot and Dan Wright. All eyes were now on Dan and how he would do after his terrific 1st round performance. Again he put in some of the fastest times of the day up to the Row and the treadmill run but Nik stuck with him with only a few seconds between them. However Nik also now had to think of his other racing that day. He was also competing in the Men’s Cup pairs event and, champions two years ago with Jason King, he wanted revenge this year against last years champions from Scotland Alex Woods and James King. His decision was to coast through in 2nd place, with Dan coming in 1st. Steve Oxlade came 3rd with Phil Talbot 4th.

The last quarter final started fast with Les Barrow again putting in a fast bike time. Last years champion Cassius Frankson however was on alternative race tactics. Allowing Les to build up a lead and keeping a close eye on Richard Vint, he steadily reeled Les in and came off the Concept 2 rowers 2 secs ahead. However, not being put off by the great man, Les came back at Cassius and on the shoulder press started to catch up. This was turning out into another really close race with Cassius only winning by half a second. 400m runner Richard Vint, finding something within himself on the run in order to catch the other two up, put in a 1min 55 run and a personal best time of 10min 24secs. Speaking afterwards Richard said he now knew just what he had to do in order to win next time.

The line up for the Semi Finals had been up since 1.00pm on the day and it did not make easy reading especially when there was only 90 minutes before it came round. Both races looked good enough for finals in their own right.

The first semi saw Dan Wright against Ben Stroud, Chris Lord and Les Barrow. Dan’s race plan again seemed to be to go hard from the start and see how far he could get. He set out and stayed in front all the way to the shoulder press. All the others tried to catch him up and there was only 2-3 seconds between the 3 of them till after the step ups. Ben and Chris were still only 2 secs apart after the bench press and they got off the run 1 sec apart. Each was looking for at least 2nd place in order to get into the final, either that or they both had to catch up and overtake Dan. That they eventually did as Dan’s Achilles heel this year appeared to be the shoulder press. If he gets that right next year he could be unbeatable. So with Chris and Ben through to the next round thought moved quickly to the next semi final.

Ben Stroud, Dan Wright & Chris Lord on shoulder press in semi final

This semi final had Cassius lined up to race Ross Down, and Andy Ashurst. With Nik Kandola deciding to pull out to focus on winning the Mens Cup pairs, this meant that the fastest 3rd place got the semi final slot and that went to Vito Graffagnino. Changing tactics this time Cassius raced off with a fast bike and took an early lead. However he was overtaken at the next exercise – the lat pulls by Ross Down and it was not until the Sit ups that Cassius managed to take the lead back. The champion was not getting it all his own way. Only 1 second separated the 2 of them after the Row and the bench, neither wanting to give way and give up the psychological advantage of winning the semi. They both got onto the run together with Vito only a few seconds behind now. Vito turned up the speed and pulled out the 2nd fastest run of the day – a 1.53 – only Dan Wright had gone faster. With that he managed to come off at the same time as the other 2. They all started the shoulder press together. No one in the audience could guess at this stage who would have it in them to win and come 2nd. It was just too close to call. All 3 were now pumping out the shoulder press with Cassius and Ross matching each other one for one and as they both reached the 40 reps together they both turned and ran for the line. A dead heat for 1st and 2nd place with a time of 9.35. Seconds later Vito crosses over the line for 3rd place with a sub 10 min time and a personal best and in a time of 9.59. With a time of 10.55 Andy Ashurst came in with 4th place. It may have been the 4th fastest time for the Masters on the day but it was too late to qualify for the Masters final.

Vito Graffagnino, Ross Down & Cassius Frankson on shoulder press in semi final

This left a formidable showdown for the final. Cassius Frankson, Chris Lord, Ross Down and Ben Stroud. Anticipation filled the vast arena as focus and attention crept upon this goliath of a race. Cassius came out fast and took an early lead off the bike. Ross again narrowly overtook him on the lat pulls and took a few more seconds off the rest on the step ups. Ben then put in a tremendous set of quick sit ups and kept the lead till after the row.

Chris at this stage back in 4th place, realised a supreme effort was needed to keep in the race and put in one of the fastest row splits of the day - a 1.47(includes transition time). Would that take its toll later or would the experience of the Atlantic charity row pay off?

5 seconds separated them all after the bench press with Ben Stroud  first on to the treadmill. It was all now about how fast each dared to run. Too fast and they might die on the shoulder press. It was do or die time for Chris and with his fastest run of the day of 1.56, he came off 1 sec in front of Cassius and 2 secs in front of Ben. This was becoming too tense even for the audience who were now deafening the arena with their calls of support.  Chris, Cassius and Ben now propelled themselves beyond all know pain barriers as they pushed the bars skywards.

Faces strained across to see their fellow competitors desperate to catch some hint of weakness that might strengthen their own resolve to pull through. None wanted to put their 25kg bar down, but someone inevitably would have to slow soon. Chris Lord however kept up his fierce pace and gradually built a lead. His immense effort took him to a new personal best, a new World Record Time and first place with 9min 21sec. Ben Stroud followed in 2nd in 9.27, a personal best for him as well and Ross pulled in third, again with a personal best of 9min 34secs. Cassius, a great past champion crossed in 4th with another sub 10 performance, but this time in a place no one wants. Words uttered afterwards confirmed his intentions to be back to win in 2009.

Chris Lord (Left)

2008 Octathalon Champion

receiving his cup from Cassius Frankson 2007 champion (Right)

All spectators and Octathaletes who had watched the race were unanimous in saying that it had been the greatest gym race ever witnessed in the history of the sport. The Octathalon was in its 4th year, every year it has progressed further and now is at the stage where you can certainly say it is attracting some of the fittest and strongest people in the UK, professional sportspeople included.

But for this year, the Octathlon had now found a new worthy champion Chris Lord. With the 2 fastest times of the day and two sub 2 min 400m 10% runs and the fastest 500m row of 1.37, he had been supreme.

Masters Final

The four fastest Mens Masters after the first 2 rounds of the open were Mark Elliot, Kirk Gibbons, Neil Cameron and Paul Morton. The final promised to be close and exciting with scores to be settled. Both Kirk and Mark had tied in 1st place at last years event and neither was content with that. In addition to that, in a nice little twist they both also had to contend with an extremely experienced fitness competitor Neil Cameron. Neil was new to the Octathalon this year and had already posted a new World Record Time for the Masters event in the Qualifying competition up in Gorton in Manchester in July. Known as a fast runner the others would have to watch he didn’t get too far ahead early on. Paul Morton was also someone with the potential to upset. His training had gone well and many fancied his chances here as well.

The event had started well for Neil with a first round time of 9min 51s. A time many in the Mens open would have be proud of so he was coming into the final as a slight favourite. This was also a new World Record time for the Mens Masters.

Neil took an early lead after the Bike, followed 1 sec later by Paul Morton and one second after that by Bike specialist Kirk. After the Lat pulls Kirk and Neil were on equal terms and even after the sit ups Neil had only managed to get a 2 sec lead over Kirk. It was neck and neck between the two and even after the 500m Row Neil only had a 1 sec lead over Kirk.

The crowd were getting another extremely close race and no one could tell who was going to come out on top and now Mark Elliot was closing in on the leaders being only 5 secs behind them with Paul only a few seconds behind him. Again is was going to come down to getting the right judgement on the run. Who would be able to run at just the right level of speed for their own level of fitness, having paced themselves just right to get there. Both Kirk and Neil took the treadmill speeds up and went for broke. Kirk got the edge and came off 3 secs ahead of Neil, but had the overcooked it. Marl Elliot looked on with 50 meters to still go and with nerves of steel kept to his race plan and resisted pushing the up speed button. Getting off the treadmill 14 secs later it looked all over for Mark as Paul had now too overtaken him and had got onto the final exercise in 3rd place.

Both Kirk and Neil were matching each other on the shoulder press reps but by now were visibly slowing and tiring. Would either stop and rest? Had Mark judged it well enough to get all 40 of his shoulder press reps out in one go, and at a good pace? He was definitely catching up and the others glanced across nervously to see his ‘repping’ speed. Psychologically that could have been a mistake as both Kirk and Neil finally had to stop and take a break. That was all that Mark needed.

Energised at seeing his opponents needing to take a break was all the edge he needed to force out his final reps. Mark then turned and ran and dive-rolled for the line in a time of 9.57.

The other 3 now raced for 2nd and 3rd places. Neil just managed to pip Kirk for 2nd place by the finest of margins of 1 sec. Paul heroically came over the line later in 4th with a personal best of 10.56. Although Neil may have been unhappy at only coming 2nd, he can congratulate himself on still retaining his World Record time in the 1st round of 9.51, Mark Elliot has not quite managed to beat it in the final.

If this years Master’s race showed one thing, it was that the Octathalon sport was highly competitive at this level and that the standard of all round fitness and strength was phenomenal. A few Sport Science researchers are going to have to rewrite the text books on what people in their 40’s are capable of and how young and good they are still managing to look on it.

Mark Elliot

2008 Mens Masters Octathalon

Champion

Neil Cameron 2nd, Mark Elliot 1st Kirk Gibbons 3rd

Men’s Cup Pairs Race report

One of the more popular races at the Octathalon Championships is the Men’s Cup Pairs. It is so hotly contested, it always makes compulsive viewing. From a competitors point of view it is a veritable nightmare of choices and decisions as to how to deliver the best times and that challenge seems to appeal to many of the fittest Octathaletes. Over the last 3 years 3 different teams from different counties have won the Cup and this year they were all going head to head again. These were a Royal Marine team from Devon, that included Chris Lord and Les Barrow, both of whom had at this time reached the Mens Open Semi’s, a team of two talented Sports Scientists from Edinburgh Alex Woods and James King, who had won last year and a really strong team from Essex of Jason King and Nik Kandola who had won 2 years ago. All three teams wanted to show that they were the best, but with only 2 Semi Final races and  a Final there was a chance that there was not going to be any final showdown as 2 of the 3 would have to meet in the first round. The reason being was that this year other counties had stepped up their intent and their was not a weak team anywhere.

The first semi final was between Essex, Lancashire, Devon and Manchester. Many saw this being the round of death with such a strong line up. Expected to go through though was the Royal Marine team from Devon and the past winners Essex. The team from Manchester came from Gorton Fitness First and Mike Jones and Farouk Vawda had trained hard for this event and they too were in with a good chance to get to the final. As it was the Lancashire team of Rick Fenton and Nick Bone stepped it up and over took the Royal Marine team to come second by 3 secs to an extremely fast time of 9.55 from the Essex boys with the Manchester pair coming in 4th. The lads from Lympstone were not happy, but they were both still in the Mens Open event so could now focus on that.

In the second semi final Doug Harrison and Tim Moonen from London took and held an early lead for nearly the whole race, but an immense Row from Luke Sedge pulled the team from Kent, that included seasoned pairs competitor Gary Nicholas into 1st place. This they held till after the treadmill when Alex Woods for Scotland put in a 1.51 run to take the lead. The others struggled to keep up with that pace and the Scotland pair came in1st, with Kent 2nd, London 3rd and in 4th place came a second pair from Manchester Paul Morton and Steve Mead.

The Final turned out to be a close race between the Essex lads and the Scottish lads with the Scots pair taking and holding a narrow early lead up until after the Bench Press where the Essex pair now pulled out a 4 sec gap. The Lancashire and Kent pairs were neck and neck with no time difference separating them after the bench and they were both only a few seconds down on the other 2 pairs. It was not going to come down to the run. Intentions from all were to run the 400m on 10% at a speed of 20kph. The winners were going to need to do that and, knowing the Essex pair had a slight advantage on the shoulder press, Alex Woods knew he would have to pull out his best run yet. That he did as he stepped off the treadmill in a time of 1.37. Essex’s Jason King stepped off 6 seconds later in a time of 1.48. Could Nik Kandola now catch up James King on the shoulder press? Not to be out done Lancashire’s Rick Fenton stepped off the treadmill in a time of 1.43 and with Nick Bone on shoulders they too entered the race to bang out the 40 reps and win.

Alex Woods & Jason King

However with fantastic speed Essex’s Nik Kandola began to catch Scotland’s James King up. James’s speed now began to slow. It could mean a dive for the line. One rep ahead James finished his last press and threw the bar down from a height as he did indeed have to dive over the line onto the foam mats at the end of the course, narrowly followed 2 seconds later by Essex’s Jason King. As the final race of the day, another extremely close race was a fitting finale. The competitors all looked completely exhausted, they had given their all and some had valiantly come threw and won the day.

Nik Kandola & Jason King on right from Essex 2nd and Alex Woods and James King on left from Scotland 1st

Rick Fenton & Nick Bone from Lancashire 3rd in Mens Cup pairs

Women’s Open event race report

If one was to ever question if Octathaletes were brave, one glance at the Women’s Open line up would show you the bravest around. It’s not easy to work hard, as well as be part of a show, but all the ladies this year managed it very well. To manage to do this alone is something, but to look great on it, is even more of an achievement and they all managed to do this extremely well too.

What made racing special in this years Women’s Open Cup, was that there were some new competitors with unknown capabilities as well as some experienced competitors whose training had being going very well. All this meant, it was very unpredictable who would get into the finals.

In the first race second seed Marie Mitchell was racing against Amber Anderson, whose form had improved significantly over the last year, Jenny Davies-Hoare from South Wales and Nicola Rowley, a top Pentathlete from up in Lancashire.

Amber was first off the bike, closely followed by Marie and then Nicola. By the end of the step ups Nicola had the lead, but after that the experienced Marie Mitchell reeled her in an took up a commanding lead which she held to the finish with Amber finishing strongly in 2nd place. Nicola and Jenny fought it out bravely for 3rd place and both came off the run together. Jenny’s strength overcame though in the shoulders and she came through in 3rd.

In the second race 3 times champion Jacqui Macquisten was racing Trudi Hawksworth, a apst medallist and tough competitor, Sarah Green, whose form recently showed she could easily make the finals and Jenny Gabrysch who was alos capable of a fast time. Jacqui’s training had been impaired in the lead up the event by calve injury and it was quite possible she might have to pull up on the run. Her competitors knew this and saw it as the best possible chance to potentially beat her.

As it was Jacqui took an early lead and eased up on the run to come through and win with Trudi also reaching the final with her 2nd place. Sarah came in 3rd with Jenny 4th.

The pace in the final was stepped up by all 4 competitors, but it was Jacqui that came out on top after setting an extremely fast early pace. Her tactics were to win even if she had to walk on the treadmill because of her injury and that meant getting a good early lead. Trudi did her best to keep with her but found her own position threatened by Marie who was only 1 second behind her up to the run. All the girls raced with a calmness and a grace which belied the extreme effort they were putting in, something the guys could probably never match. Jacqui won in a new World record time of 10.59 with Trudi 2nd Marie 3rd and Amber 4th.

Trudi Hawksworth 2nd Jacqui Macquisten 1st Marie Mitchell 3rd

Mens Club pairs

This pairs event saw yet another close race with John Barclay and Stephan Gabrysch racing for Fenton Fitness up against Nelson Anderson and Phil Hylton racing for David Lloyd Essex. As a club level event this was a high standard and over the first three exercises there was only 2 seconds separating them. Fenton Fitness pulled in front by 5 secs after the sit ups but after the Row it was back down to only a 2 second advantage. They stayed 2 secs ahead till the run, when Nelson Anderson pulled back and gave his pair a 7 second advantage going into the shoulder press. This was all they needed and the David Lloyd club pair kept in 1st place to win in a time of 10.04. A truly valiant performance from all competitors.

Mens Club Event

A time trial event with the fastest time winning meant that racing was going to be fast from the off. Last year’s champion Doug Harrison was going again and he was still the man to beat. Unfortunately for the others his pace was just too great and he was ahead at each stage. Second came Phil Hylton and third Tim Moonen who had the misfortune to hit the pause button on the treadmill while he was running and this meant losing a good 20 seconds in time.

John Barclay & Doug Harrison

Women’s Cup Pairs

The pairs this year came from the counties of Kent, Lancashire and Derbyshire, with Essex unfortunately having to pull out late.
Favourites were Marie Mitchell and Trudi Hawksworth from Derbyshire, both however had just medalled Silver and Bronze in the Womens Open. The question was whether this had tired them enough to give the others a chance. The Lancashire pair was also looking strong with Jenny Gabrysch and Nicola Rowley, but Kent too had found a strong partnership of Kimberley Naylor-Perrot, a past Rowing champion, and Vikki White, a strong runner. The question was all about how they would fare on the exercises that were not their main strengths.
The Derbyshire pair took an early lead off the Bike and their experience began to soon tell. They steadily drew away from the other two pairs and it was left to those two to battle it out for 2nd place. Despite a great run of 1.49 from Nicola Rowley, a run which left many of the men looking envious, they were unable to finally catch up with the Kent pair who went on to take 2nd place.  

Kent 2nd Derbyshire 1st Lancashire 3rd

Juniors

With the competition this year opened up to the local schools, it was Sheldon School from Chippenham that had entered the most competitors and all in the Under 18 category. Favourite was Connell Macquisten, son of the female Octathalon Champion Jacqui Macquisten. Connell, 16, was also racing against 2 18 year olds. One was from Edinburgh, Finlay McAndrew, who had come highly touted to do well and the other, Ossian Willan, from Poole Dorset, who was also looking strong and definitely out to win. The only advantage Connell had was that he had entered last years Junior competition and experience in this event was important and you had to get your race pace right.

In the Under 18 race Chris Walker came in with a time of 13.23 to take second place, Jamie Harlowe took 3rd with Alex Gabrysch taking 4th.

In the Under 19 race Ossian and Finlay went out fast and strong with Connell content to pace himself in 3rd position. Ossian was first onto the shoulder press, but had his Row taken too much out of him. Finlay came off the treadmill 2nd and seconds behind him off came Connell. With a superb effort of steadiness and control, Connell began to knock of his 40 reps. The others looked on anxiously and began to fail. Both lads ended up having to rest, whilst Connell continued. It looked as though he had judged his race to perfection. With a new Junior World Record of 9min 59 secs Connell took 1st place in the Under 19’s and the under 18’s. Finlay came in 2nd with Ossian 3rd. The race had taken everything out of them.

Connell Macquisten with Cup

Finlay McAndrew 2nd Connell 2nd Ossian Willan 3rd

Chris Walker 2nd Connell 1st Jamie Harlowe 3rd