After the rain last year, this time the sun was out and although a little breezy conditions were near ideal for the Bristol Half Marathon. It was encouraging to see four wheelchair athletes on the start line, including Sarah Piercy, a former winner of the London Marathon. The wheelchairs started ahead of the main field and Dave sprinted away from the start to open up a small lead over Sarah, with the others not far behind. The long slog down the Portway to the turn around 4 miles in is an ideal timing point, and Dave estimated a lead of thirty seconds over Sara, with Jack about four minutes behind. The occassional glance behind was enough to ensure Sarah wasn't gaining, but her presence and potential were enough to keep him pushing hard throughout the entire race. He finished first in a time of 1:14:44, a significant PB over the distance and well inside his 1:20 target. Once again the prize was Bristol Blue Glass, this time a goblet.
One of Dave's favourite events of the year was held in warm and sunny conditions, though with a fairly stiff on shore breeze and a little swell. He has been working hard on his swim recently and has increased his stroke rate in an effort to gain more speed. This paid off and he found himself in the pack on the outward leg, rather than trailing the field. A particularly high "high tide" meant a crawl through the mud but then only a short "run" on the island before heading back into the mud and the return swim. The swell meant sighting was at times difficult, but Dave held course better than last year and finished the event in the top half of the competitors, in 31st position in a time of 42:19 (compared to 53rd and 48:08 last year). His only issue came at the end of the race when his crutches were in a kayak some way off shore and he was assisted from the water by one of the safety crew... (Review of the event here)
Whilst at the Langport 10K Dave heard a comment over the Tannoy about a 5 mile road race the following day. A quick internet search revealed this to be the Baltonsborough 5 miler, held in conjunction with the Baltonsborough Show. The race director had been at Langport and was happy to allow Dave to race, setting him off ahead of the field. The five mile route is on quiet country roads and is best described as "undulating" but with a long and quite relentless (though not particularly steep) hill climb at around half distance, where the faster runners eventually caught the racing chair. A fast and frankly, scary, descent into the finish meant Dave repassed all bar the one fastest runner and completed the course in 28:17. The organisers awarded him a bottle of wine as the first athlete ever to complete the course in a racing wheelchair.
Also called "The Battle of Sedgemoor" Dave considers this to be one of the best 10K races for a wheelchair in the region. It starts with a fast downhill before a steep and fairly long climb, where several of the runners manage to pass the wheelchair, before being overtaken once again on the following downhill. Once again good weather meant for a reasonable time, and despite still suffering from a rib injury sustained at the beginning of the month Dave managed to beat last years time by five seconds, finishing in 34:40.
The charity cycle ride in aid of Cancer research starts in Wellington, Somerset, with the option of completing either a 50Km of a 100Km route. Dave decided to opt for the shorter circuit, a good decision on a particularly warm and sunny day. The route went out to Milverton, across to Taunton, out to North Curry and then along a short section of the A358 before heading back across country to Bradford-on-Tone and back to Wellington. However, the 50K route turned out to be over 60K, though a break towards half way at the Community Coffee Shop in North Curry to replenish depleted energy helped. A good time was had by all and just for good measure Dave joined in to support the kids 5K cycle afterwards, eventually covering a total of 42 miles in a tad over three hours.
Dave decided quite late on to enter this event as it requires a lot of travelling and the Paratriathlon entry was always going to be small. But being the second in the three event series encouraged him to make the journey. Conditions were particularly bleak, 10 degrees and with a strong Easterly breeze. His swim was a little slower than what he'd hoped for at 13:29 but he was very pleased with a cycle time of 49:36 on a very hilly course, strong cross winds for most of the circuit, poor tarmac, and an exceptionally long route at 23K (14 miles). The wheelchair leg was a real challenge, with hills, uneven surfaces, numerous turns, bollards and even a rail track to cross. His run time of 21:06 was therefore completely untypical, but his overall finish time of 1:26:20 was over 11 minutes ahead of the second placed competitor in his class. And a second win in a row following the British Championships means Dave wrapped up the GB Series for the third year in a row, and has now won his class every year since it began.
The event was again held at Nottingham but the course was changed to try and avoid runners, particularly those in racing chairs, heading in the opposite direction to the cycles. Dave had a decent swim, exiting the water first in his class in a time of 13:00 and despite extremely windy conditions and driving rain during the last lap, managed 43:29 for the cycle, remaining in the lead. With a new longer and more technical run the completion time was always going to be slower than last year, but Dave held on to win the British Championships for the third time in four years, in a time of 1:20:46. By comparison, he exited T2 around 3 minutes ahead compared with his 2010 time.
A new 5K pb at this monthly event held through the summer, of 16:25.
A fast and flat course at Yeovilton resulted in a new 10K pb for Dave, completing the course in 33:29. He was very pleased with his 5K splits of 16:52 and 16:37, the latter being on the flat section used for the 5K series.
40 Commando, based in Norton Fitzwarren, Taunton set up a charity called Go Commando. They decided to run an indoor triathlon event at Esporta and Dave was keen to support the event. He took along his turbo and a borrowed set of wheelchair rollers to ensure he could complete all three disciplines. A 400m swim time of 6:45 was followed by 20K on the handcycle turbo and an estimated 5K on the wheelchair.
Dave set off and maintained a good pace for this 5Km sponsored swim. Initially he was put in a lane with around six other swimmers, all doing breast stroke, but after 30 lengths was switched to a more appropriate lane with faster swimmers. He completed the 152 lengths in 1:32:59, over 15 minutes faster than at the same event in 2010.
Conditions were not ideal with a stiff head wind on the outward section of the course this year, and cool conditions once again. Dave managed a good first lap in a shade over 51 minutes, but back markers and problems with the motorcycle outrider, traffic lights and other vehicles meant a much slower second lap, with Dave completing the course in 1:48:23, a touch slower than last year.
The event always seems to conjur up good weather and so it was again this year, with bright sunshine and a light breeze. A very competitive field had 28 racers in the general purpose class and Dave started with his usual sprint to the front. However, following a minor pile up of boats on a tight shallow turn a few minutes into the race, he managed to open up a good lead and despite being closed down a tad on the estuary was never really challanged, leading start to finish and winning for the third year in a row.
Consitions were close to perfect for this years race, sunny but very cool and just a light breeze. The target was to beat last years 37:15 by at least a minute and a half, and Dave completed the course in 35:24, a course pb although slightly down on the Langport 10K from August this year, which is a flatter course.
The first time this particular event had been held, Dave decided to race in the longer 3.8km distance (which is the swim distance for ironman races). A chilly start at 8:00am had a good field starting together with the usual scrum for free water. Two 1.9km laps followed, with the field gradually spreading out. Dave's finish time of 1:09:36 had him finish 46th of the 99 racers that completed the full distance, a reasonable time despite having to adjust his leaking goggles four or five times during the race.
The rain was incessant at this years world championships, held in Budapest. It was he largest ever field in the history of paratriathlon racing, with 85 entries, 14 of those in the Tri 1 class in which Dave races. The start was at 6:30am and with the bus arriving slightly late there was no chance for a warm up for many of the competitors. Dave had a modest swim but worked hard on the handcycle and put in another good wheelchair race, to finish in 7th place in a time of 1:18:57, around ten minutes behind the leaders and just 8 seconds off 6th.
Unfortunately it was raining for most of this years race and Dave was struggling with his hard learther Harness gloves, gaining very little purchase on the pushrims and making for a slow event. His finish time of 1:25:56 was around three minutes slower than hist time from last year and well outside his 1:18 target.
The "Battle of Sedgmoor" is held in Langport and starts with a couple of hill climbs before a fast downhill and leveling out across 'undulating' countryside. Dave entered the race with expectations of a good time, and he took two and a half minutes off his PB from the Taunton 10K last year, with a time of 34:45.
After winning the inaugural event in 2008, Dave was runner up last year. He had trained particularly hard for this years event and was very pleased to win and in a pb over the sprint distance of 1:17:26, albeit with a slightly (200m) short run discipline. The victory also means he wins the GB Series in the Tri 1 class for the second year running.
The first race in the GB Paratriathlon Series, this event is the Worlds largest Triathlon competition, held at the Excel Centre in London Docklands. Several of the GB Paratriathletes took part and for the second year in a row Dave won the Tri 1 class to take maximum points in the series. Finish Line Video
Held again at Hyde Park in London, this event had the largest field ever for a Paratriatlon competition held in Europe. Racing against some of the athletes from Athlone over the super sprint distance, Dave exited transition 1 in second and his second place was never challenged. He was particularly pleased with his wheelchair leg which he completed a minute ahead of the time set in the same event last year.
A few years ago, Dave used to help organise the kayak safety for this time trial event, but decided to enter as a swimmer for the first time in 2006. An enjoyable event which can be demanding due to the swell, the swimmers head out just over 1Km to an island and back again. Dave completed the event this year in 48:08. Further details of the event can be found at the Burnham-on-sea web site
This event was held in Athlone, Ireland. A more competitive field than in 2009 meant a closer race, Dave managed to hold on for second place and a silver medal with a fast swim and a decent effort on his new recumbent handcycle. His finish time was 1:28:22 which was competitove particularly considering the very long transition (which were a total of almost 7 minutes compared to a more typical 3 or 4 for most races).
The entry form says this event is "not wheelchair friendly", being particulary hilly and with lots of fun runners and other competitors to avoid on the second lap. Poor weather conditions being cold, wet and with a strong breeze didn't help, but baring the odd skid the event went well enough for Dave and he completed the race in 1:30:32, slighly outside his hour and a half target.
Dave has been a keen swimmer for many years and entered the full distance Swimathon only a couple of days before the event. Despite having a very bad cold he kept up a decent pace, stopping just once for fluid, and completing the distance in 1:48:36. His time placed him 1494 out of a total of 3592 people that completed the 5K challenge. He can be sponsored here.
One of very few events that permit handcycles, Dave had set himself a target of around 1:50, well inside his previous pb of 1:56. Conditions were almost ideal, dry, mild and sunny but with a bit of a North Easterly breeze, great for the initial half but hard work on the return. His first lap went very well, until the big hills in the last four miles, but he was pleased with a half marathon split of 51:30 or so. Definitely slowing a tad on the second lap, and the breeze had picked up too, when he started to catch the back markers. This became more problematic as the numbers increased, since handcyling down hill at 25mph whilst trying to dodge numerous runners close to exhaustion is a recipe for disaster. But nothing untorward happened (though one competitor did find him at the end and apologise for running across his path) and a finish time of 1:48:04, well within target.
A training event with SASP and UKA was held at the track at Castle School in Taunton. Plenty of coaches and disabled athletes were present, and Dave took the opportunity of training with some faster wheelchair racers over two ninety minute sessions.
Having won last year in a close race, this was going to be a challenge. This year Dave had two main competitors (in a field of around 40!), the three of them making an early break and swapping the lead a few times until Dave managed to break away at the half way distance, leading through half of the estuary until one of his competitors in a faster boat came past. Dave managed to hang on to his wash and all efforts to drop him were in vain. Ironically he once again took a better line into the finish, clutching a hard earned win from what should have been second place.
The world of Paratriathlon has been taken by surprise by new changes for the 2010 season imposed by the ITU. Regarding TRI 1, these mean that competitors will now have to race in a recumbent handcycle (rather than the more popular upright or kneeler models) and they will have to swim with their legs bound together. The handcycle change is the most significant, as it means current racers not using handcycles will need to purchase new models at considerable expense and short notice. The first race at which these rules will be imposed is the European Championships in July.
SASP held a disabled sports day at Castle School and Dave was pleased to be asked to be asked to run the wheelchair basketball sessions. Approximately 20 children took part in the session, many for the first time. Other activies on offer included football, judo, athletics and fencing.
Dave approached the organiser asking whether this was suitable for a wheelchair competitor. He was told that it was, mostly flat with one hill near the start. Clearly the organisers had little concept of what flat meant to a wheelchair racer, the whole course was hilly in the extreme, with mud and cow much over many of the roads, pot holes, puddles and some ice to contend with. At least the rain held off, though Dave discovered he'd managed to pick up a flat tyre at some point on the course. He completed in around 47 minutes.
One of the highlights of the season, this memorial race (and tour) is held on the River Barle from Tarr Steps to Dulverton each year. Dave was a previous winner in 2006 and this year managed a highly respectable third place in a competitive (and somewhat larger than usual) field.
One of Daves own quotes is "in a field of one a gold medal is assured". Once again he was the only wheelchair entry in the Taunton 10K but put in a much improved time of 37:33, well inside his 40 minute target.
218 Strand is a unique venue and services provider designed
specifically for lawyers. In September 2009 they made a significant
contribution towards new racing kit and became his first major sponsor since he
started competing in Paratriathlon in 2008.
Being a long term supporter of Oxfam, Dave was very happy to take part
in a cycle event to raise awareness of climate change. He joined the group at
the Oxfam shop in Taunton and went on to complete a 30 mile handcycle to
Tiverton, via Wellington.
Dave admits to being quite slow as a wheelchair racer, so wheelchair events are always seen as a training opportunity rather than a competitive race. His last half marathon was in 2005 when he completed the Cardiff Half in 1 hour 37 minutes. His aim was to beat 1 hour 30 this time round which is the qualifying target to enter the London Marathon. Bristol is usually quite popular with wheelchair racers, but this year there was only one other entrant besides Dave, and his target time was 1 hour 20. However, Daves recent training sessions with Taunton Athletics Club paid off and he completed the course in 1:21:50 which was 3:35 ahead of his competitor.
As a taster event for the 2012 Olympics, the ITU held a Worlds event at Hyde Park on the 15th August. Part of the weekend was dedicated to a World Invitational Paratriathlon, attended by many of the top Paratriathletes from around the world. The TRI1 class was hotly contested, with the three medalists from the Europeans, plus the Olympic Gold Medalist from Handcycling competing. Dave secured a hard earned Silver Medal over the Super Sprint distance. The super sprint is rarely run by triathletes as they tend to train for endurance events.
This is a British Heart Foundation Sponsored Swim across Weymouth Bay and is around a mile. The field of around 500 people perform a mass start from the beach. Dave chose his position carefully, off the the right of the field to steer clear of the masses. A good start found him in relatively clear water fairly early on, hanging off the feet of a fast lady swimmer who seemed to know where she was headed. This idea worked well until around 2/3rd distance at which point Daves swimming cap came loose and started dragging in the water. Once that was rectified she'd pulled away, so no more (partially) free ride, though the remaining water was clear of most other swimmers. Dave completed the swim in around 30 minutes and was estimated to have exited within the first 20 or so swimmers. Not bad for such a large field. Though of course, it was NOT a race...
The third and final event as part of the GB Disabled Series, Dave had a very good swim, excellent bike and decent wheelchair to finish the sprint distance event over five minutes ahead of his nearest competitor, and win the GB Series by a single point.
A good race began with a fast swim and decent hand cycle, Dave beat last years time by over ten minutes and was first in class. This event was part of the 2009 disabled series and the points scored means he is now placed first in his class. The final race is at The London Triathlon at the beginning of August. The winner there will be the series winner too...
The 2009 European Paratriathlon Championships were held in the village of Holten in the Netherlands on Saturday the 4th July. Despite a wrong turn on the swim and having to stop for water on the cycle, Dave managed to stay ahead of a fast closing field to finish first and win the gold medal in the TRI1 class, and set a new personal best time for a standard distrnace triathlon too.
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The 2009 Championships was held at the Torbay Leisure Centre in Paignton on Saturday the 20th June, 2009. There were several classes for different disabilities and it was a points adjusted tournament. The competition attracted around a dozen competitors including the highly ranked Gobi Ranganathan who went on to win the singles title. In his first ever Badminton Tournament, Dave Cooke held his own against tough competition, winning two and losing two of his four singles matches. He partnered Gobi in the doubles, winning all their matches bar the final pairing, against two England ranked players. Dave and Gobi finished in second place, unable to overturn an 8 point per game handcap.
The 2009 sprint distance race was once again held at the Rother Valley Country Park. In truly apalling conditions with parts of the course little better than a damp sandpit, several competitors gave up after a lap of the cycle route. Dave was beaten into second place by friend and rival Jimmy Goddard, who set a new PB with his swim and caught and passed Dave towards the end of the cycle leg. Despite nearly exiting T2 together, Jimmy was able to extend his lead to the finish.
Dave has competed in the local Wheelchair Tennis Tournament on two previous occassions, but has never started with a win. His first match started badly, losing the first two games, but then he found form, eventually winning 6-2, 6-3. His second match had an identical 6-2, 6-3 finish and so it was on to the decided. Losing the first set 2-6 didn't look good, but levelling the match with a 6-3 win in the second, it was all down to the final game tie-break. With the closest possible margin, Dave secured his first ever Novice Wheelchair Tennis Tournament win with a 10-8 score.
Dave is a great fan of this race, having been runner up in 2005 and 2007 and winning in 2006, always in the GP class (for slalom type kayaks). In this years race he lead from the start but was passed at around the half way point by arch rival Mike (the winner in both 2005 and 2007). Dave managed to hang on to the wash of the leading boat right through the estuary and when Mike miscalculated the final turn and overshot, Dave managed to sprint to the line and take first place once again.