Sun, wind, rain, hail, sleet, snow.  All that was needed was fog and the complete set of weather possibilities would have been there for all to see at East Leake on Sunday March 18 2007.  The race started with organiser Dean Hughes giving a race briefing and thanking the weatherman for blessing us with such fine weather.  This changed with emergence from the swim of the first competitor, the wind had got up by the time he was out of the pool and was greeted out of transition by flakes of snow being driven into his face.  This did not deter him or the other competitors.  In the 9-10 section (Tristars 1)

4 Life’s Nicholas Hobbs came second and Rebekah Dussek was 7^th girl in a time of 10:45.  4life claimed its first win of the day when Sophie Caldwell beat the opposition to win Tristars 2 (11-12 years), 4Lifers also occupied 3^rd, 8^th and 11^th courtesy of Ellen Hobbs, Holly Unwin and Katie Ohren.  Thomas Platt claimed 3^rd in the male section of Tristars 2 after a swim that saw the first three exit the pool within seconds of each other.  Grace Hobbs claimed 4 Life’s second win of the day as she came from behind to win Tristars 3 (13-14), making up a 15 second swim deficit she eventually won by 18 seconds in her first event in this age-group, 4Life also claimed 4^th thanks to Chloe Kearney’s gutsy performance as the weather worsened.  In the male section, Matthew Platt claimed 2^nd for 4Life and 6^th, 7^th and 8^th were 4Life’s Charlie Howick, Matthew Chapman and George Howick respectfully.  The wind and hail were waiting to greet the adults as they ventured onto the unsheltered 5km run course after their 400m swim.  4Life had a strong entry 8 in total and Alex Chapman lead them home in a commendable 24:33, finishing 2^nd in the Youth’s section

on the way.  Anne Howick was 4Life’s leading women, 6^th overall, 3^rd in her class, with a time of 32:09.  Other 4Life finishers were Anne-Marie Shaw (7^th woman, 4^th in class) 33:20, Jenni Manning (14^th woman and 3^rd in class) 38:22, Marta Oliveira (15^th woman, 5^th in class) 39:26, David Ohren (14^th man, 3^rd in class) 28:30, Jordan Sawacki (17^th Man, 3^rd in class) 30:31 and Stephen Hobbs (19^th man, 6^th in class) 32:21.  Many of these were competing in their first multi-sport event.

It was a different weather entirely when a large contingent of 4Lifers tackled the Wollaton 10km and 2km Fun Run on Easter Bank Holiday Monday.  A hot sunny spring day greeted the fun runners who started proceedings and it our own Alex Chapman who led for the majority of the 2km only to be beaten into third place, Sophie Caldwell and Grace Hobbs carried the torch for the triathlon club in the ladies section and finished 2^nd and 4^th respectively.  Other finishers were Charlie and George Howick, Nick, Ellen and Stephen Hobbs, Alfie Shaw (plus his cousin Ryan Hill) and Matthew Chapman The 10km event saw two late withdrawals through injury (Anne-Marie Shaw and Tracey Manning) and it was left to David Ohren to lead the team home with a 10km PB of 44:30, Anne Howick had a creditable 48:50 and Jennifer Manning in a determined 61:15.

4Life Tri Club is a family orientated triathlon club further details on the website www.fourlife.com