Held on

SATURDAY 11th OCTOBER at the OLYMPIAD LEISURE CENTRE

CHIPPENHAM

26th August

A few people appear to have had some difficulty in sending us their 'application to qualify' forms.

Please use this email address to ensure we get them:-

rory@octathalon.com

25th August

HELP NEEDED - Anyone that would like to help at the championships, please get in touch with us via the contact us page and we will get back to you. We would be able to offer reasonable pay for the day.

Another video has also just gone up - the Final of the Women's 2006 Octathalon Cup.

Just 5 days left to get your best qualifying time in to us to get into the Championships - download one here. Just email it back to us asap. Do this for the Men's or Women's Cup or Club, individual or pairs event and you too could be competing against the best.

23th August

20th August

They also happen to love what we are doing and are running a blog on the new taster sessions to find out how well the sessions help them get fitter faster. We will have to wait and see how they get on.

16th August

Invites will now be sent out by email to all pre qualified Octathaletes. These people have entries based on their finishing positions at last years event. If you recieve an invitation, you have until the end of August to send in your entry.

15th August

Photos are now up on this site from the Swindon qualifiers. Click here to see the Shoulder press gallery It hurts even the best !

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

10th August

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who came to the qualifiers in Swindon today. More about it will be up on this page later this week, however for now we can tell you that Lloyd Millichap from Fitness First in Camberley, along with his team won the club team challenge. Some truly excellent races with many close finishes ensured that the day was really enjoyed by everyone.

Times and photos will be up soon but we cannot leave it with out telling you we hd two qualifying times below 10 mins for the Men's Cup - Cassius Frankson and Ben Stroud. What everyone witnessed was supreme in the sport and we just cannot wait for the Finals in October.

What happens next is that all the Pre qualifiers from last year have until the end of August to get their entries in. We will email you forms again. Depending on the take up from them, we will know how many places we can fill with all the other qualifying times. Unfortunately some of you are going to be disappointed this year, we just do not have enough places for everyone.

6th August

The time table for the Southern qualifiers that will be held at Swindon West Fitness First this Sunday the 10th is as follows:

10.00 Womens Club
10.40 Mens Club
12.00 Womens Club Pairs
12.30 Mens Cup
1.30 Mens Club Pairs
2.10 Mens Cup Pairs 

Please ensure you at the club in good time to make the start of your race.

We have a real spectacle for you on the day with some classic races lined up. One really close one will be in the Mens Cup pairs but the one to watch will be the Mens Open with the recent Tough Guy winner Vito Graffagnino racing last years Bronze medallist Ben Stroud. We know what both of them can do the course in their training and folks - it is close. Much praise should go to Ben for stepping up to the challenge as well as the long trip from Kent as he has already got a pre qualified place by right for this years National Octathalon Championships.

We have several clubs in the Swindon area who are sending members as a team to represent their club at this years qualifiers. Club Team racing appears to be gaining interest amongst the members. If your Club would like to be part of a growing sport, please get in touch with us. If you are a personal trainer and wonder how it might benefit you, we have several Octathalon Trainers you can talk to that will let you know how good it has been for them.

2nd August

Two new videos have been put up for you to see from last years Octathalon finals. The Juniors final which was a really exciting race to watch as well as highlights from the Womens open event. Either click on the links or go via the Video page.

In the meantime, since adverts have gone out into the Ultra-Fit magazine and a Hockey magazine, interest continues to grow in our event. We are now entering the last 4 weeks in which you can submit times to us. After the qualifiers next weekend in Swindon, we will be sending out the first invitations to those podium finishers from last year. Failure to get these back to us by the end of August will mean you are not going to get into the event. If this for some reason is a problem for you, please get in touch with us via the contact page

Racing times for the qualifiers will be up by end of play on Wednesday.

16th July Gorton Qualifier a massive success

A fantastic day, some great races, extremely close finishes, loads of fun, in fact everything the Octathalon was designed to do. Support from everyone was really appreciated. The club team event turned out to be a terrific contest between three of the top clubs in the area. The winners will be presented with a magnificent Power Horse Trophy at the National Championships in October.

The individual racing was at a very high standard with Neil Cameron winning the Mens Open in a time worthy of a finalist at the Nationals. We are not putting times up just yet as the qualifying period is not yet over, however when it does we will have all the splits and times available which we will be building into a large online database in the near future. Also at the end of this qualification period, we will also put up a fuller report on this event. Suffice it to say we have uncovered some great new talent in both the mens and womens open event as well as the pairs.

In the meantime here are a just a few of the photos from the day.

11th July - Gorton Octathalon Time trial on the 13th - Racing times

10.00 Women’s Club course races
10.30 Men’s Club course races
11.00 Women’s Cup course races
11.30 Men’s Cup course races
1.00   Men’s Club pairs races
1.30   Women’s Cup pairs races
2.00   Men’s Cup pairs races

For those of you who want to turn up on the day and get a race, we will try to squeeze you in if you arrive early enough. We will be there from 9.00 am

8th July

We are delighted to announce that the Royal Marines have announced an event to find who is their Fittest Royal Marine. Full details can be found under the latest news on the www.ukxta.co.uk website. We have spoken to their organisers and have arranged that the winner of this event will be given a wild card entry into our October UK Power Horse championships. Although some of the fittest marines are already down to do our event in October, you can never be sure with so many fit people to choose from just who else might come along with an outstanding level of fitness. This however is exactly what they are going to need in order to successfully challenge our previous Champions. Their event will be on the 10th September just 4 weeks before what promises now to be one of the greatest Octathalon races ever.

5th July

A new Octathalon racing video page has just been put up on this site and over the coming weeks we will be putting more and more of the last three years best racing clips up on it. For starters, we have the highlights from the Mens Cup Pairs event last year - just clink on the link. Sport at its best.

3rd July

Entries for both the qualifiers are coming in quickly after the advert that has just come out in the Men's Fitness magazine and already we have had enquiries from some new faces. Places are limited though, so get you entries in fast if you want to have a run through of the course.

We have also posted out over 250 free Octathalon Taster Sessions as a result of the adverts that have gone into the non league football papers. With adverts going into the Hockey magazines next, we are expecting even more people to enjoy and benefit from these sessions which were designed to bring on higher levels of pre season fitness faster than any other sessions. Even if you have tried the Octathalon, why not email us and give them a go yourself, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Now the Octathalon Training DIaries are for sale, we can honestly say there has been a tremendously positive reaction from the lucky few that have been given advance copies to try out in their gyms. More news on the results of these later on this month, but early reaction says that they are a real winner and soon everyone will want them.

8th June

We are delighted to announce that we now have another venue and date for a second qualifier Time Trial. On the 10th August at the Fitness First in Swindon West we will be running two lanes to give people a chance to experience the Octathalon and to try and qualify for the championships this year. All successful entries from this and the event at Gorton will only have to pay the minimum entry fee to those championships.

We will also be running a team event again for the local clubs.

Directions to the Club - follow this link

Application form for these time trials - follow this link

Poster for the event - follow this link.

28th May

We can now announce that we will be holding a time trial day at the Fitness First gym in Gorton, Manchester on the 13th July for all those people who would like a chance to either just run through the course or who would like a chance to do a fast time in order to try and qualify for this years Power Horse Octathalon Championships.

We have room on the day for 30 races with 2 lanes running. Whether you want to run the course in a pair for the Club or Cup course or as individuals you can do so. Entry fee is just £10 but as you can see entries will be limited. In which case you will have to get your entries for this to us quickly. Forms will be available on the website in the next couple of days. You can email us sooner if you want to reserve a place or a time slot on that day for your race.

Power Horse representatives will also be there giving out free Power Horse drinks as a taster session for all those with a thirst.

Venue details - click on link below for more.

Manchester Gorton
Wall Way (off Hyde Road)
Debdale Park
Manchester
M18 7WY
Tel:0870 898 07 31

Many thanks must go to Fitness First Management and Farouk Vawda for initiating this and giving you all a chance to enjoy the Octathalon Racing.

Click here for event poster (PDF)

Click here for Application form for the Gorton time trials

TEAM EVENT

Teams of 5 people can compete for their club at this time trial event to win an Interclub challenge. See you club's representative for details. Winning team based on positions and places not times

PS. The two fastest times will go head to head at the end of the day.

May

The qualification details are now up. Just visit the 2008 Cup page for details. 5 Free Octathalon taster sessions are now available to anyone who sends us an email - visit the 5 free sessions page for details. If you are looking to masively improve your pre season levels of fitness and you have not much time to do it in, these are the jewels that will help you get there. You can go for the 5 free introductory sessions first and then the 5 taster sessions - your choice. You can even have both for free just let us know your sport, where you heard about the Octathalon first and contact us by email. If you really want precise heart rate training that will train you so carefully you will neither be under or over training, you will have to wait a little longer. The Training Diary is due out soon and is undergoing its final stages of testing. It will be well worth the wait, but in the meantime try the free sessions.

FREE POWER HORSE DRINKS will go to the fastest Mens & Womens Cup qualifying time to be submitted before the end of June and then again before the end of July. 4 packs of 4 cans will be sent or given to the person who submits the fastest time in these two periods. More will be given out for other submissions later on.

April

We are delighted to announce that this years main sponsor will be Power Horse. POWER HORSE is a caffeinated and nonalcoholic energy drink made in Austria. The drink is relatively new to the UK and the sponsors see the Octathalon as a great way to promote their brand of energy drink throughout the country. We see this as the beginning of a great new, longstanding and mutually beneficial partnership between us and one that will help the Octathalon sport grow around the world.

Before we agreed to the sponsorship though, we just had to do a taste test for ourselves. With so many energy drinks out there on the market we wanted to be sure we were linking up with one that had a good taste and flavour. When we did get to try it, we had to admit our suprise. Not only does it have a fantastic flavour but it really did feel as though it gave us an immediate lift. Do not take our word for it though try it yourself.

Power Horse sells in countries all around the world and outsells all other leading brands in some countries like Saudi Arabia and Nigeria which will make it a perfect partner for the Octathalon as it goes international.

More details on all the promotions that will be going on this year will emerge shortly on this site as will confirmation of our other sponsors, prizes and details on how to qualify for the event.

This years event is set to be the biggest ever in the history of the sport.

March

The 2008 Cup date has now been set. It will be run on the Saturday 11th October. The venue will be the same as in previous years - the Olympiad Leisure Centre, Chippenham. We have finalised our main sponsor and are in further negotiations still with several other ones. We will announce more details shortly. The reason for it being so late in the year this year was that our new marketing team need time to arrange all the sponsors promotions.

We are arranging for a couple of course improvements this year which will make it even easier to judge and one will even make it easier for competitors to do the shoulder press correctly. (Sorry the weights are still the same though).

The event will be advertised in many areas of the media and because of that we are expecting the entries to be oversubscribed this year. This may mean we have to hold qualifiers at an earlier date for some of the places. We will however hold a number of priority places this year and they will go to those past competitors who have qualifying times from those past performances. Details will be announced as soon as we can on these. If you are a past competitor and want to reserve one of these priority places, please notify us by email before the end of April.

We can already confirm that last years champions

CASSIUS FRANKSON & JACQUI MACQUISTEN

have confirmed that they will be there to defend their titles

February

The 2008 Octathalon will not be run in July this year as it has in the last 3 years. Our apologies if this has caused any inconvenience. Talks with potential new sponsors have required us to postpone it, along with a separate qualifiers event, till around September and October in order to get advertising and other preparations done in ways that suit all parties. We will let you know as soon as we can as to actual dates and venues.

5th August

OCTATHALON SUCCESS

2007 Mens Open Champion Cassius Frankson wins in a record breaking time of 9 mins 46 seconds. To the left is Ben Stroud who came third and to the right Nik Kandola who came second.

More photos, times and splits will follow shortly. For the full race report click here RACE REPORT

RACE TIMES - Click here RACE PHOTO GALLERY - Click here

27th July

Details on how to get to the Olympiad Leisure centre, Chippenham are opposite.

There are no problems with flooding in the Chippenham area, nor any of the motorways or railways in the area. Have a safe journey travelling and see you early on Sunday

The Olympiad Leisure Centre
Monkton Park, Chippenham, WIltshire SN15 3PE.

To get there by road, turn off the M4 at Junction 17 and head South for Chippenham. At the first roundabout head for the centre of town. Keep heading for the train station and Monkton Park which are at the heart of Chippenham and the Leisure centre is opposite the Station on the edge of the park. There is a large car park by the centre.

21st July - The Octathalon Draw

The draw for the 2007 Octathalon has taken place and is available for all to see on the 2007 Cup event information page.

In addition to the draw, there is an event time table and all the information you need to take part in the event. We would ask all competitors to read this and to turn up early before their start times.

Keep checking this newspage nearer to the event for more up to date information.

The draw has thrown up some great first round races which promise to be close and exciting. A good mixture of the old and the new will add to the tension. Remember that the Masters in the Men's event only have to do the fastest time of the day to win so they will be going hard in their first race. That puts added pressure on all the rest in order to go through.

In addition to the new Club Course event this year, we have also started a Junior Under 18 event. There seem to be no shortage of takers for this and we could well see many more entries for this next year. The Juniors will be doing the Club course.

14th July CUP DRAW

The draw for the Octathalon will take place next weekend. As usual there are top seeds made up from last years finalists and the top entry times and current ranking lists.

There will be 10 seeds in the Mens event and 4 seeds in the womens event.

The Women's seeds are:-

Jacqui Macquisten
Sue Hemsley
Jo Alexander
Trudi Hawksworth

The Men's seeds, in no pre-arranged or 'run through' time order are:-

Cassius Frankson
Nik Kandola
Kirk Gibbons
Robert Volpe
Darren Robson
Vito Graffagnino
Mark Elliot
Will Whitmore
Roscoe Nash
Jason King

The first round of the Men's races start at 9.30am on the Sunday 29th. Race order will be out shortly.

14th July

At this late stage, we have a few places that have opened up due to injury. There are three places left in the Women's Cup competition and room for two womens pairs in the Club pairs event. We can even accommodate a few more entries in the Mens and Womens Individual Club event.

This year we have also introduced a Male Junior Under 18 event due to several requests and a building demand for it. They will race on the club course.

The successful Womens Individual Cup entries are as follows:-

Jacqui Macquisten
Sue Hemsley
Jo Alexander
Phillipa Armitage
Jenny Gabrysh
Michelle Wakefield
Lyndsey Francis
Trudi Hawksworth
Caroline Waywell
Sue Regan-Watts
Sam Saunt
Marie Mitchell
Sarah Deed

Caroline Newman

29th June

1. Ian Lewis & Phil Piggot                   Staffordshire
2. Mario Preite & Craig Trembirth      Derbyshire
3. Jason King Nik Kandola                 Essex
4. James King & Alex Wood               Scotland
5. Dan Edge & Lance Hawksworth   Derbyshire
6. Adrian Berry & Les Barrow             Devon
7. Andy Lett & Jamie Fraser               Lancashire
8. Tony McGarr & Russell Stenning  Kent

26th June

We now have a fuller line up for the Men's Open which can be seen below. We have had one Octathalete who has had to pull out due to injury so we have one place left. After this has been filler any entries after this will go into the Club competition. They will also go down as reserves for the Cup in case anyone else has to pull out.

Looking down the list, we see some tough competition ahead. So tough in fact we would say that never before has there been a line up like this where no one person stands out as a clear favourite and with the possibility that any one of several people new to the Octathalon sport could also win.

The first year we ran the event the semi finals looked to be fierce competition, this year it will be the quarterfinals. It will take a truly phenomenal performance to win this year and the man who does will, in the eyes of the health and fitness industry, attain a supremely awesome reputation that will mark them ahead of everyone else and make them the man to beat in future Octathalon competitions.

Due to circumstances outside our control at the Olympiad Leisure centre, we are now combining the Club course event with the Cup course event and running them both on the Sunday 29th July. It will mean more races on that day than last year but everything has been carefully planned and there is time to fit them all in. A detailed race time table will be up before the event.

As we are now no longer running any races on the Saturday, this has now also allowed us certain advantages. As you know in the first round of the knock out event only the first two places get through into the quarterfinals. Now, however, in all the mens and womens individual Cup first round races, we will be allowing the 3rd place finisher to have automatic free entry into the Club event. The Club event is a time trial where the fastest time of the day wins. This will be a tremendous boost to the Club event and will increase the competition considerably.

19th June

Over the next few weeks we will be putting up the names for those in the Octathalon events. The draw will be made in the last week.

What you will notice is that we have 34 people and not the usual 32 needed for the knock out draw. We have had many people wanting to take part so we are now going to have an extra two heats in the first round. The first two places from each of the first round heats will go through to the quarter finals.

In the 5 quarterfinal races the first place will get through to the semi final and from out of the 5 second places, the fastest 3 will get semi final places. This means the slowest two second places will lose out.

EXTRA CUP PLACES AVAILABLE

This now allows us to have 8 more Individual mens Cup places. If your name is not on this list and you want to compete there are now 5 more places available to the first 5 people to get their entries in to us. That leaves us with one Wild card entry for us to use as we please or if we choose.

The Mens line up, in no particular order, is as follows:-

Cassius Frankson
Nik Kandola
Kirk Gibbons
Robert Volpe

Darren Robson
Vito Graffagnino

Les Barrow

Mark Elliot
Phil Piggot
Mario Preite
Lloyd Millichap

Jimmy Wong
Gary Yates
Tom Nolan
Alex Woods

James King
Dan Edge
Andy Ashurst
Andy Brown

Edward McHugh
Adrian Berry
Will Whitmore
Andy Lett

Simon Cox
Rick Fenton
John Barton
Roscoe Nash

Sylburn Miller
Jason King
Matt Egan
Steve Oxlade

Steve Dowse
Mark Drury
Tim Moonen
Doug Harrison

Ben Stroud
Nelson Anderson
Paul Chase
Charlie Paton

18th June

With the Cup event full for Men and Women, we are still able to take a few reserve place entries just in case there are last minute pull outs due to sickness or injury. So if you would still like a place, just email us on

administrator@octathalon.com

Many of you will want to know the line up for the event and the timings. The draw will be made one week beforehand.

There are still some places open for the womens pairs event in the Clup and Club course and several places for the Individual club event as well.

1st June

More Octathaletes have added themselves to a growing list of potential finalists for the Men's Cup Octathalon. Second two years ago, Roscoe Nash, is now limbering up for the challenge. Some may remember his run on the treadmill in the final on a speed of 18.7kph. Will he be able to keep that up for the full 400meters on 10% this year?

Roscoe Nash

Andy Lett

Also now preparing for it is last year's Health Club Games winner Andy Lett. For those of you who do not know Andy must have the World Record time for holding the Plank position at over 27 minutes. Try it yourself and see how hard it is.

31st May

As we approach cut off day for the Octathalon Cup event, more and more of the top names are submitting application forms. Today we can announce that Cassius Frankson, last years winner, is back to retain his title. Cassius broke he leg a few months ago and is now back in training. His last words to us were 'I'll be there, I'll be ready'

Cassius Frankson

Will Whitmore

There is still a short time to go and we know of several entries that are in the post so we will let you know more as soon as we get them. As you may know we also hold a couple of Octathalon wild cards which we can still use and they will only go to those who are or could be outstanding competitors.

30th May

Things have just got interesting. In the run up to the June deadline the top Octathaletes have got their entries in and we have some great names for you. This year looks at though it has become the year to stand up and be counted.

The great Ultra-Fit multi - winner of years gone by - Darren Robson, one of the fittest Royal Marines in history, will be flying in from Dubai to compete in this years Octathalon Cup. To say that he is in great shape and training for it is an understatement. To beat him will take a spectacular performance.

Perhaps that will come from Kirk Gibbons. Now a Master and one or our Trainer Trainers, Kirk, armed with the Octathalon Trainer Manual will be right on the button for this years event with the highly precise heart rate training programs now in his armoury.

Having said that, we can also tell you that Vito Graffagnino (read an earlier post -6th April) is getting faster and faster. His last 10km off road was an awesome 32 mins and he topped that off with a serious upper body weights session in the gym. He is seriously up for the event and that should shout alarm bells to everyone else.

What might be of interest to some of you is that a comment from VIto tonight was that he has been finding his running times have been increasing since training for the Octathalon.

The Master's event this year is looking hotter and hotter. We have now had an entry from Andy Ashurst. Andy, a past Commonwealth Games gold medalist in the Pole Vault, has just come joint first at the recent Luton Superstars event and is clearly showing increasingly good form. This looks like one of the hottest Masters line ups ever.

Andy Ashurst

So very little time left for anyone else to get their entries in. For those of you who have rung us, we will do what we can but we do have to have a cut off date.

Darren Robson

Kirk Gibbons

It is great to also see an entry from Adrian (Chuck) Berry, who will be representing the Royal Marine Commandos. He has just got over a long and serious illness which meant him missing last years event. For those of you that remember him, he has pumped up his guns again and is training hard for this event. No one who watched him the first year will ever forget his incredible Shoulder Press display.

Adrian (Chuck) Berry

We have also seen an increase in entries from those from the world of swimming and rowing with some veritable stars who will be pitting their fitness against the best Octathaletes. The Sunday event will prove very revealing.

29th May 2007

We have just put up the Octathalon rules on video. You can watch them on this site now - just click on this link to course rules.

28th May 2007

Entries continue to come in for the Cup event this year and we now have only 5 places left in the Men's event, so if you have not sent in an application form or you have and not sent in payment yet you will need to do so soon. Top seeded Octathaletes will also need to get their entries in in the next couple of days to meet their end of May deadline. If you fail to get into the event and do not want to do the Club event on the Saturday, then we will fully refund your fee.

The Women's event is also looking full with 4 places left as well.

We are also have a rethink on the Men's pairs event as we have had so many entries this year. Depending on the total, we may move to doing three rounds of competition for them - don't worry we will let you know in good time. One other thing being considered is three heats with the first place and fastest second place going through to the final. We will make our decisions at the beginning of June after the entry deadline has passed.

The Club course event still has many places left and for those of you who have run through that course at speed, you will know how different that feels from the Cup course and also how hard.

12th May 2007

More top names have entered the Octathalon this year. Jo Alexander, 3rd = last year is back as is top master Robert Volpe. The Masters event is looking to be the toughest ever with Robert, last years winner, and previous winner Mark Elliot set to go head to head along with Kirk Gibbons. Kirk one of last years Men's open finalists is now moving on to the Masters to give them a run for their money. However a blast from the past is set to join them - Jimmy Wong one of the top ten in years gone by fancies the shorter knock out course and will surely push them till the very end.

Ist May 2007

Sylburn Miller entered the Octathalon Cup today and with his excellent 2nd place last weekend, he is showing good form in the lead up to the UK's top strength and cardiovascular fitness event.

Sylburn Miller

30th April 2007

Suzanne Hemsley, in the pink shorts, a top Boxer from the North of the UK, second in last years Octathalon, has anoounced her intentions to return to the event again this year. The women's open line up is beginning to look tough. A few places are left still so, if you are fit and strong and new to the sport and fancy your chances, get you applications in fast as time is running out.

25th April 2007

For all you Masters competitors out there we have just had another top entry in and it is Mark Elliot, the 2005 Winner. With Kirk Gibbons, one of our Trainer Trainers, now in the Masters event, it looks as though it will be even tougher line up this year. For anyone new to the sport reading this, that is over the age of 39, that considers themselves to be supremely fit, now there is no better time to put yourself against the best in the UK. Get your application into us soon.

Applications are coming in every day now and with limited places left, you had better hurry if you want to make the CUP event. If not the Club event will offer you a new and faster challenge that is equally challenging if you race the course.

Mark Elliot

16th April 2007

Entries are coming in for the two competitions fast with newcomer to the event Rick Fenton now starting his training for it. Rick's done plenty of training & preparation down under in Australia and that makes him a marked man as memories of Adam Horder's legendary strength and fitness speaks volumes of those hailing from over there.

Rick Fenton

Amongst several other newcomers to the Octathalon, we have the well known and well loved Phil 'the flying pig' Piggott. Phil, who will be competing in the Masters event, has been competing in gym competitions for many years and proving time and time again that he really can fly through the course even at his age. All of these people have taken advantage of getting one of the guaranteed 16 places in the mens event with their early entries.

This event is being advertised in many new areas, so if you are considering entering, don't leave it too late or you might be disappointed.

6th April 2007

The first news we can bring you, with the launch of this new website, is that the entries to the July Cup & Club Octathalon are now open. Get your application forms in fast as entries are limited. Have a look at the entry details on this site for more information.

HEADLINES

We are expecting a fantastic line up in the Men's open this year - only the brave should apply as well as those wanting a chance to race against some of the best.

First to start training for the Cup course event is a newcomer to the Octathalon - Vito Graffagnino. Some might just consider him eye candy for the ladies, but he won Winter Tough Guy last year by a clear 2 minutes ! His time for the Bath 1/2 Marathon was 1hour 12mins and with a personal best of under 33mins for the 10km, it will take someone seriously fit to beat him.

Will the fact he is new to the sport be his weakness - only time will tell.

As the entries come in, we will bring you news of how the races are shaping up.