Fenton Fitness opens a new gym up in the North of England
Rik Fenton from Fenton fitness has now completed the opening of a brand new gym up in Garstang, just North of Preston in Lancashire. It includes 2 permanent Octathalon course lanes for all his members to use. Rik has plans to open several more centres up in Lancashire over the next couple of years and he says the Octathalon is most important to his plans. All his personal trainers must run through the course regularly and they are all looking forward to taking their customers thought the various courses and Octathalon classes as well.
The Womens National Champion Jacqui Macquisten went up to see Rik's new gym on the weekend and took a chance to run through the Cup course along with Rik at the time. She says 'It is a fantastic set up that Rik has put together up here and I am sure it will become very popular very quickly with everyone around.'
Rik says that he is planning to hold Regional and local Octathalon events at his new centre this year and we will let you know more about these on this site as soon as we have the details.
With its new website opening shortly, the Octathalon is moving on to greater things as more and more personal trainers are beginning to realise the financial benefits it can bring.
Rik Fenton with Jacqui Macquisten
31st January 2010
An update on where we are with the new website. This is nearing completion and testing is to start shortly. We have filmed and edited over 100 new short training videos that are also being put into it each set for the different Octathalon grades. The Blue, Brown and Black Grade videos are taking a little longer than expected due to their degree of difficulty. In the meantime, have a look at this one which has some extracts of what we are doing without giving the game away.
6th January 2010
A great new year to all of you. We hope your training is going well as we have some excellent things lined up for you in 2010. Our new website continues to be developed with with some of the most up to date technology. Much is being tested at the moment, so please bear with us a little longer.
Our plans for a National Event this year are also gaining pace with August looking like it will be the month we hold it and depending on numbers it may be over 2 days on a weekend. Qualifying details for entry will all be up on the new site.
19th October
Sorry for not bringing you this next piece of news sooner. We are extremely busy trying to develop this new sport for gyms and health clubs and we have only a finite time to get everything done. Highlights of the Mens Masters Final in the 2008 Octathalon Cup is now up on this site. It really is a great watch and shows just how much spectators are going to love Octathalon racing in the future. Just click on the link here.
6th October
We have managed to find a little time to edit and put up some more videos from the 2008 Cup event. Have a look on this video page. More will follow. Much planning is going on for next year 2010 so please bear with us regards more of these. Our new members area is being built at the moment and if you would like to contact us with any ideas of the sort of functionality you would like to see built in - please do so via the contact us page.
4th October
Just a quick note to say good luck to Mike Buss in his World Record attempt in Swindon this weekend. Mike is looking to break the 48 hour treadmill record with 40lbs on his back. It is the start of his 12 months of breaking as many World records as he can. Mike is a long time supporter of the Octathalon and his is also raising funds for Help the Heroes - one of the worthiest charities around at the moment. Check out www.mike-buss.com for more news and information.
6th September
The next Octathalon National Championships will be run in 2010. Due to unforeseen circumstances it has not been possible for us to run the event this year.
However the good news is that there is an event being planned up in Lancashire for the end of November, early December and one shortly after that down in the South West. Both are Regional Octathalon events and are run by our licensed Octathalon Trainers as part of the local club versus club scene that is growing nicely. Invitations will be sent out automatically to the top Octathaletes in the Masters and Open categories and there may be one or two more spaces available to those who get in touch with us first. More details will come up on this site in the next few weeks.
2nd August
Our apologies for the lack of communications since May, we have been busy developing a system that would ensure the Octathalon would grow well in the Clubs and Gyms around the UK. The first stage of this has now been completed and the Graded Guidebooks are a result of that along with a proposition for all personal trainers that they ought to find extremely attractive.
The next stage is completing the development of this website. This has taken longer than expected but will hopefully be finished soon and will give viewers some excellent things to read, watch and do that will not be found anywhere else on any fitness website.
Also on the cards for 2010 is a series of events that will lead up to the Octathalon Cup. It will be for the Elite Octathaletes only along with local club members where the events will take place. We are in discussions with sponsors on this already and it is looking very promising. Of interest will be the Octathalon variations we have in mind for the Elite few.
A few of you may have noticed we now host the UKXTA site within these pages. The UK Cross Training Association has taken a different turn from its past direction and is now only promoting good well run cross training events that conform to its rules, limits and guidelines. This has meant a split in the cross training world leaving behind those people who do not wish to progress things such that the Fitness industry can more easily accommodate these events.
5th May
Photos and a few words on the event last weekend are now up. Click on the following links to have a look.
Just a quick word to say many thanks to all who helped out at the Ultra Octathalon at the DW Sports club in Bristol as you made it an excellent day out for everyone. There were some really close and exciting races and full results and splits will follow shortly.
The winner of the Mens Cup Ultra-Octathalon was Vito Graffagnino in a time of 19. 48
The winner of the Mens Club Octathalon was Andy Crafield in a time of 10.18
The winner of the Womens Club Octathalon was Beccy Hayward in a time of 10.07 which also happens to be a new Womens Club Course UK Record - Well done Beccy.
Just a quick note to all those competing at the Ultra-Octathalon on the 2nd of May. The minimum levels on the Technogym bikes will be 6 for the Men and 4 for the Women. The race line up and times for the races will be up on this site in the last week.
9th April
More information on the Ultra-Octathalon event on the 2nd May is now up on a new 2009 events page. There are still places and we have now put up a list of races that will be running on the day.
16th March
The latest club to start Octathalon classes is more than happy with the way they are being received. Check out what it can mean for your club on the trainers page.
Entries are flying in for the Ultra-Octathalon in May. This is proving much more popular than we expected and we are sorry to say we only have limited number of places left. if you want a last minute entry just leave us a message on the contact us page we will email you an entry form but you will need to complete it and send it back to us asap.
26th February
Anyone now wanting to compete in the Ultra-Octathalon in Bristol on the 2nd May needs to send us an email requesting an application form. Please email us on jacqui@octathalon.com Entries will be on a first come basis and places are limited. We would also like to say that this event is not the same size of event as the Octathalon Cup with a large venue. This first Ultra-Octathalon is being run in a club where many club members will also be competing.
News is that the top guys are getting under 20 mins for the course. How close are you to that time?
7th February
The Ultra-Octathalon will be run on the 2nd May in Bristol. Club details will follow. Start time will be 12.00am going on to around 7.00pm.
Due to the demand from Personal Trainers from Clubs around the UK we have developed more marketing posters for them. In particular a Poster on classes of groups of people working together with the increasingly popular Octathalon Training diary. Click here to see them.
Lastly we have started to put together a page that shows a history of our own individual world record breakers. There will be more to come on this soon.
25th January
We have put up details of the Ultra-Octathalon course today. We are hoping to run the event with this format shortly and details will follow soon. Just one run through and an opportunity for male/ female pairs racing as well. Anyone doing under 20 mins let us know and we will put your name up on a new sub 20 min page. Click on the link to see the course details.
1st January 2009
We have just put up some great training tips from a few of the top Octathaletes. Click here to go on to the video page to find them. We will have more soon from other people to cover all 8 exercises.
By the end of January we should have more details on the Octathalon events in 2009. Our aim is to run an Ultra-Octathalon, 2 Regional Octathalon qualifiers and a National Cup event.
1st December
The 2009 Calendars are now available via the products page. In it are some terrific photos of some great Octathaletes which will hopefully inspire you throughout the year. It would make an excellent Xmas present if you order soon.
20th November
We have now put up some photos of the 2008 Cup event on the galleries. Just click on this 2008 Cup photos link to get you there.
2009 Octathalon Calender
We have also produced a 2009 Octathalon calendar with 12 competitors each with their own months. All but one of the photos are new ones. If you would like to know the months they are as follows:- January - Ross Down, February - Kirk Gibbons, March - Jacqui Macquisten, April - Vito Graffagnino, May - Amber Anderson, June - Cassius Frankson, July - Nik Kandola, August - Richard Vint, September - Marie Mitchell, October - Chris Lord, November - Ben Stroud, December - Mark Elliot. Our apologies if you are not on the list, we ran out of months. They will retail at £15 + P&P. More details will appear on the site shortly, but if you want one soon, please email us and we will order it as they take around 3 weeks to come.
25th October
The splits for all the races are now up on the site. Just click on this link - race splits or go via the results page. Top times will be adjusted shortly.
19th October
A race report with a few photos is now up on the website. Split times and more photos will have to wait a few more days due to the work load on at the moment. Please bear with us. Just follow the links.
16th October
Mens Open Champion Chris Lord
2nd place to the left is Ben Stroud 3rd place to the right is Ross Down
Mens Masters Champion Mark Elliot
2nd place to the left is Neil Cameron 3rd place to the right is Kirk Gibbons
Womens Open Champion Jacqui Macquisten
2nd place to the left is Trudi Hawksworth 3rd place to the right is Marie Mitchell
Full results and total times are now up for all races. Click on this link. Split times will be up at a later date as will more photos and a full race report.
12th October
Just a quick bit of news since we are still finalising all the clearing up after the organisation of the event yesterday. Firstly a big thanks to everyone who helped us on the day. It is really appreciated and definitely helped towards making it what, we think, was the greatest racing ever seen. A special thanks to the Royal Marine and RAF PTI's who excelled in the judging. We will be putting together a race report with all the times as well as getting all the photos up as soon as possible but please bear with us on that given everything we still have to do.
More importantly though we would like to show our appreciation to all the competitors. You all displayed amazing levels of inner as well as outer strength - you had to though - the races were just so close - even a dead heat for 1st and 2nd in the Mens open Semi final.
However here are the immediate results
Mens Open winner and new Octathalon Champion -
CHRIS LORD
2nd place Ben Stroud, 3rd place Ross Down
Mens Masters Champion
MARK ELLIOT
2nd place Neil Cameron, 3rd place Kirk Gibbons
Mens Pairs Champions
SCOTLAND - Alex Woods and James King
2nd place ESSEX - Jason King & Nik Kandola, 3rd place LANCASHIRE- Rick Fenton & Nick Bone
Womens Open Octathalon Champion
JACQUI MACQUISTEN
2nd place Trudi Hawksworth, 3rd place Marie Mitchell
FULL RESULTS WILL FOLLOW SHORTLY
6th October
We have some product information we would like to recommend to you. More information on them will be at an exhibition stand at the Octathalon event this year by some very nice people we have known for a very long time (30 years!) We have used the product, tested it and now are quite happy to recommend it. Click on the link to discover more. It may not be in time for this event, but it could well help you for the next ones.
5th October
All the competitors names from the draws are now up on the 2008 Cup event information page, as well as the race details. Please have a good look to see when you are racing and arrive in good time for you to warm up before your race.
You will notice we still have a Wild Card open for the mens cup race. We are hopeful this will be taken up soon, but if not we have reserves available on the day who may wish to race. We are still awaiting final names from the local schools as to which Juniors will represent them. In addition to this, there is now room for two club pairs teams. Due to having to pull out at this late stage, we are now looking to fill these places. If your gym has two people who would like to step up, all we can say is that they will really enjoy the racing and the day as a whole. Just contact us as soon as you can on this.
4th October
We have now made the draw for the places in the first round for the Mens Cup. Mens Cup pairs and the Womens Cup event. But rather than tell you all the names right away, we thought we would film it so you could watch the draw yourself. All three draws are now up on the video page, however you can click on any of the links above to get right to the video.
Also up are details of the later round races and where positions are in the draw for 1st and 2nd place going through to the next round. You can now work out all the permutations possible to give you the best race plan. Check these out on the 2008 Cup event information page
All the names will be written up on the event information page by Sunday evening if you cannot or do not have time to watch the videos now.
SPORT MASSAGE
We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that we have an expert Sports Masseuse who will be on hand all day on Saturday. Sian Whitmore, is no stranger to these events, as you might guess from her surname and she charges a very reasonable £6 for 10mins and £10 for 20mins. It is well known that a post-exercise massage will help reduce muscle soreness and improve soft tissue repair. Something you may well want to avail yourself of, if not in between races, perhaps afterwards. Just speak to her on the day if you would like one.
Vital information on how the Mens individual cup draw will work is on that page. Although you all know that only the first 2 places go through into the first round, there is now a third way. This is because the Mens Masters now have their own final. PLEASE ALL READ THIS INFORMATION.
The draw for the event will be done this coming week end.
27th September
We now have our line up for all the races but we do still have room in the Mens Club event. We have room in the Individual as well as the Club pairs event. Some of you might like to do both if you are not already. Just get someone else from your club to race with you. They will really enjoy the day as the racing will be the best there has ever been.
A draw for the starting positions in the early rounds will be held next week end on the 4th October. As usual there will be seeded positions for the top 8 in the mens open and the top 4 masters.
We have also decided to introduce a second Junior category as we have people racing from ages 16 to 18. There will be an under 19 category as well as an Under 18 category. All will race together though based on fastest qualifying times. The local schools - Sheldon, Abbeyfield and Hardenhuish are still finding out their fastest people and their names will be up on the site shortly. They will be racing for the North Wiltshire Schools Octathalon Trophy.
More news will follow shortly
23rd September
Just to help you all whet your appetite for the Octathalon Cup, we have just put up some recorded highlights of last years Mens Finals on the Video page. It is a 12MB file so please be patient while downloading it. However, we think you are going to like it. Four extremely fit lads battling it out to win last years event. All four - Will Whitmore, Ben Stroud, Nik Kandola and Cassius Frankson are racing within seconds of each other until Nik and Cassius begin to pull away in a very impressive manner.
After watching it, you would have to agree that it is all to play for this year, but the three of them racing again (Cassius, Nik & Ben) have to be firm favourites for the top three places this year and, frankly, we would not like to guess the order as every combination you look at seems highly plausible.
22nd September
Now just less than 3 weeks to go, and places are now full and finalised for the Mens and Womens Open event. The Mens Cup pairs are also full up. We are still able to take more places for the Womens Cup pairs. The reserves for that event are not sure they can make it so we are throwing that open to any two women from their same county that fancy their chances at winning. The Mens Club pairs are also open to all comers still due to some recent illnesses. We will be looking to fill these on a first come first served basis, unless you contact us first if you would like to enter that event.
Take a look at the top times now and you will see that times and splits have been put up from the two recent qualifiers we held in Gorton and Swindon. You may get an idea on how your competition is faring in the run up to this years event. The Masters top times will be complete soon, but everyone's time is on the open anyway.
What we can also announce is that judging this year will be ably assisted by local RAF PTI's from the nearby airbase at Lyneham as well as with the help of some Marine PTI's from their base in Poole in Dorset. This should ensure the judging will be strict but fair. However we would urge all of you, especially any new to our event to look carefully at the rules and the video rules on this site. You have been warned and will be warned again on the day if you come early.
Details of the times of races will be up in the next week, however for those of you new, the day kicks off with the early rounds of the Mens Open at around 9.30am. So if you are in that event - sorry its either an early start for you or a night over beforehand.
15th September
We have put up a list of current competitors on a new page on this site. Click here to go to the 2008 Cup competitors page. There are several gaps where we are waiting on invitations that have been sent in the post but not yet arrived, whilst others will be places for reserves and we will be contacting those over the next few days.
The line up in the Cup events are looking better than ever before and the racing promised to be spectacular with 9 new people managing to get really good times to get into the event. The Mens cut off this year was around 12 mins. With everyone getting faster the racing is going to come down to tactics and strategy and getting the psychology right.
More news on the coming event will be up shortly.
14th September
We have extended our congratulations to Chris Lord, the UK's fittest Royal Marine, after his win on Wednesday this week, and he has now taken up the offer of a Wild Card entry into this years Octathalon. For details and a race report please go to our other website www.ukxta.co.uk and look under latest news or the UKXTA Calendar section.
Chris Lord
The UK's Fittest Marine
This now means the Men's Open event is one of the strongest fields ever seen in any fitness competition. We will be putting up a preliminary list of Championship entries tomorrow. Anyone not getting their invites back to us before then, or having contacted us, will have their place given to a reserve. There are still some places available in the womens events - notably the Cup pairs. Email us if you are interested.
8th September
Invitations have now been sent out to all those who have been successful at gaining entry into the 2008 UK Power Horse Octathalon Championships.
If you have not recieived an Invitation by email do not worry as you may be on the reserve list and you will hear from us if one of the others cannot make it.
What we can tell you is the standard of entries better than ever. The cut off time for the mens open was 12mins 15 secs, a clear 2 mins faster than last years cut off.
We have 14 new competitors in the Mens open who have never competed at the Octathalon championships before and that is out of a field of 32.
We will give you the list of entrants over the next few days, but we have one more wild card to still give out and that will be to the UK's Fittest Royal Marine and that will be determined at an event at the Royal Marine camp in Devon this Wednesday.
The Womens Open is also looking sharp this year with Silver medallist two years ago Suzanne Hemsley, now a UK boxing champion, coming back to avenge her defeat against Jacqui Macquisten. It looks like a real showdown, but we know of 4 other ladies who could spoil the party. We will keep you posted.
We are betting that the Mens Cup pairs this year will have all 4 finalists finishing with 5 seconds of each other. The awsome duo of Nik Kandola and Jason KIng are taking it far more seriously after last years defeat and James King and Alex Wood are desparate to hold onto their title. However there are two other Cup teams capable of sub 10 min times and that will pose them a problem. We will keep you posted over the next couple of weeks.
31st August
Entries are now closed for the 2008 Power Horse UK National Octathalon Championships. We will now be checking with some of the verifiers of times and then we will send out invitations to the event over the next few days. If any of you receive invitations, but for some reason now cannot make the event, please let us know as soon as possible so we can let athletes on the reserve list take the opportunity.
We have reserves for nearly all of the events, but we still have a couple of places left for the Womens Club pairs and the Womens Cup pairs. If there is any one who would still like to enter these events, we will hold open the opportunity to do so for a further week. Please just email us the forms.
All we would like to say is a big thank you for your interest. The event promises some spectacular competition. As soon as we have all the invitations returned we will put up a list of competitors on the site.
29th August
URGENT ATTENTION REQUIRED
We have more than enough entries for the Octathalon this year and we will have to exclude a few of you. However there are a few fairly well known competitors who have not yet signified their interest in doing the event this year. If you really do want to enter, you need to get in touch with us this weekend by email or your place will be given to the individual with the next fastest time. If in doubt email us.
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.
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
Another video has just been put up on the site - The winners interviews from the 2006 Octathalon finals. Learn some of the training secrets from Cassius Frankson and Jacqui Macquisten in this short 5 min clip as well as some of their feelings from the racing on the day. Click on this link - 2006 Interviews or go via the video page.
20th August
If you are looking to get a new pair of running shoes for your next event, or just for training, we would like to direct your attention to a great new online price comparison site that will save you time and money www.runningshoes.ransacker.co.uk
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 !
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.
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.
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.
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
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
The Men's Cup Pairs event is now full and the names of the succesful entries and the counties they are representing are as follows:-
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.
CLUB EVENT NEWS
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
Another last minute entry has come from WIll Whitmore. Will was ill and unable to compete last year so has much to prove this time round. He has high expectations and getting to the final will not be enough for him.
However there are alot of old and new faces in the event this year and some of the fittest athletes are coming from the sport of swimming and rowing to try their hand at the event.
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.
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.
Jimmy Wong
Robert Volpe
Jo Alexander
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.
Vito Graffagnino
As the entries come in, we will bring you news of how the races are shaping up.
