Accelerace News

For when quality news sources just won't do 

Date 12/11/09

Ross runs like he's never run before!

In possibly his best performance in a running race since the Year 7 cross-country race in which he came 4th, Ross finished a magnificent 14th in the endurancelife Coastal 10k in Dorset. Out of 168 people. After the event Ross was heard to say "Wow, I am just amazed by how well I did. I may start running a bit more. I'd like to thank my family, and my trainer, and my colleagues, and everyone who's helped me get where I am today. It's been an amazing journey". I guess we can expect to see more of the new stream-lined racing whippet Ross at running events next year...  

Date 02/11/09

A report on Devizes to Westminster is written!!

Some months delayed, through adversity and great tribulation, a report is finallly forthcoming....Now we just have to wait for the other 10 or so that are outstanding...Read all about one of the UK's longest kayak races here.

Date 28/09/09

Elbaman wins again...

Not content with proving last year that Jelly Babies are not particularly reliable as endurance event food (when used entirely on their own), Chris went one step further and tried to conclusively put to rest the heated debate around whether or not one can complete an Ironman eating mainly honey. The results - not entirely pro-honey. All the same - a fantastic event, scorching hot weather, great organisation and a stunning island. A slow time, but a good weekend (stomach recovery took much longer than was hoped for though..)

Date 13/09/09

Accelerace Extreme Triathlon

Now in its 4th year, the 2009 Extreme triathlon was won in emphatic style by Alex Brooks. In spite of a shortened swim, Alex managed to pull out nearly 40 minutes on 2nd place, largely due to the first ever sub-2hr run. First place in the women's event went to Catherine Powrie who came in 10th overall. Massive thanks again go to the Teign Dive Centre for their support on the water, the River Dart Country Park  for hosting the finish and For Goodness Shakes! for their post race recovery.

Date 27/07/09

Accelerace Endurance Cyclosportive

What a ride - and what a ridiculously long way...250 miles around the Highlands, non-stop, and taking in the UK's highest road pass. A doddle I hear you cry...Well, no. It was really quite tough. Spectacular though. High points included reaching the top of the aforementioned climb, and Sarah Lovell's life-giving pasties. Low points probably the cumulative 40 minutes or so of sleep grabbed on the way round (10 minutes leaning against a road-side barrier, and a half hour on the floor of the public toilets in Achnasheen - pure glamour). Although the penultimate sleep (at the fantastic pub in Applecross, in the morning sunshine) was quite something. Amazing trip - and one which II hope we'll be revisiting next year. Matt and Chris enjoyed the journey, along with Pete Lovell (Ross's dad - in future to be known as 'the boldest Lovell'), and Sarah Lovell was probably the best support driver you could ask for.

Date 05/07/09

La Marmotte - revisited

Suitably intrigued by last year's tales of thrills and spills, this time Ross came too. A fun day out - albeit that the foot-deep waterfall coming down the Galibier made for an interesting additional riding challenge..

Date 27/06/09

Tour de Mont Blanc on mountain bikes

Amazing trip - complete with Marmottes by the bucket-load, snow, wind, sunshhine, mountains, more mountains, lakes, punctures, some more mountains, hair-raising descents, and one fairly feeble crash. Tom and Chris picked their way round one of Europe's most specacular Massifs, and worked up some lovely tan-lines. Pictures here.

Date 30/05/09

Stockholm marathon - hot stuff

Genetically speaking hot sunshine doesn't necessarily make for perfect conditions for tall pale skinned Nordic-types, but Chris plodded round in any case - and took comfort from the fact that there were many taller and paler people than him...

Date 09/05/09

Ross completes 7 marathons in 7 months..

And not particularly easy ones either - as part of the Endurancelife series of coastal trail marathons, Ross made the South West Coastal Path his own, and proved that the best way of training for a marathon is by running 6 over the course of the previous 6 months...

Date 14/04/09

Devizes to Westminster in a bathtub?

Ross and Chris successfully complete the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Marathon in a kayak aptly named Anvil, in the quite miraculous time of 27:50:53. Both were conscious at the end, although there were some dicey moments on the Tideway when Chris began to suffer from something akin to narcolepsy...

Date 20/01/09

Dart Winter Trail Run - congratulations to everyone who ran last Sunday - and especially to winners James Tomlinson and Elizabeth Kendon. Check out the full results and photos here.

Date 12/01/09

Dart Winter Trail Run this weekend...

We're really looking forward to welcoming you all to the River Dart Country Park on Sunday morning. Registration is from 8am, and the run starts at 10am. It's a 14 mile, partly off-road course - and should be an excellent way of kick-starting 2009. For all those who haven't yet entered, see here.

Date 01/01/09

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ACCELERACE!!

Hoping all our competitors have an excellent 2009, from all at Team Accelerace

Date 31/12/08

Jules' latest training missive!!

Just in time for December, and a great read for the new year - check it out here.

Date 28/12/08

Rob checks in...

...with an excellent account of his 2008 racing - check it out here.

Date 28/11/08

Ginge checks in...

"Next year is gonna be a big year for me - I'm gonna kick some serious butt! I'm already on a week long cycling camp in Majorca in March/April and am running with Bingley Harriers (Alistair Brownlie etc, Nick Peace who won the 3 Peaks etc. It's hardcore), and I'm doing a lot of time trials. I'm doing the Tough Ten at Weston Super Mare, New Forest (Olympic) Tri, a Half Ironman somewhere, Ironman UK, The Accelerace CycloSportive in Scotland, and probably Helvellyn again." Sounds busy..

Date 14/11/08

Jules' November log...

Check it out - here.

Date 14/11/08

Nicole Cooke, Victoria Pendleton... Laura Massey? 

After a day of gruelling trials at Loughborough (possibly the most poorly mapped university campus in the UK), and a positively superhuman performance in the bike trials, Laura has made it through to Round 2 of Girls4Gold, the UK Sport initiative to boost female participation in certain Olympic sports before 2012. OK, so she might not be aiming for the bobsled or modern pentathlon... but hopefully the second set of trials at the Manchester Velodrome will be huge success.

Date 5/11/08

First 20 entries for Endurance CycloSportive!!

Quite frankly this is astonishing. Even adjusting for the fact that about 7 of the entries are members of Team Accelerace, that's still 13 folks willing to cycle 250 miles around the Highlands. Some of it in the dark. Quite brilliant. A reminder if you're still weighing up the prospect, simply drop us an email to enquiries@accelerace.co.uk with the reason why you want to take part, and we'll register your entry... 

Date 4/11/08

Entries open for 2009 Extreme Tri!!

It's all on-line again - visit the event pages here, or go straight to EntryCentral here to enter our classic Dartmoor half-ironman.

Date 3/11/08

Ed completes the New York Marathon!!

Well done Ed, popping over the line in 4hrs 05. He's done one, odds on him doing another? Anyone?

Date 4/11/08

JOIN OUR GOOGLE GROUP!!

Ross assures me it's very easy to do (link is on the home page), and then you can discuss your latest adventures, tell us what you're thinking about Accelerace events (as long as you're nice), and exploit the vast combined knowledge-base of Team Accelerace on all things endurance. Go on - it'll be fun...

Date 28/10/08

ALL NEW FEATURE...

Accelerace is extremely proud to offer up a new series of articles/essays on training and endurance events from Jules Taylor, a man who knows a thing or two about the issue...Read his first instalment here - we're not sure as yet how frequent they're going to be, but check our training page for details on how you can sign up to havethem sent to you as soon as we publish them...

Date 22/10/08

220 Tri Article

In case you missed the West Highlands Ultra report, we have have handily scanned it in here for you. Enjoy.

Date 21/10/08

Ed Hayles needs your support!!

Ed's running the New York marathon in a couple of weeks, and is raising money for Macmillan Cancer Relief. Check out his fundraising page here.

Date 20/10/08

Entries open for the Ultra Tris!!

Check the event pages here. It's all online this year - so you can go straight to the EntryCentral home page here if you prefer. Entries should be open for the Extreme and the Dart Winter Trail Run tomorrow - just finalising a couple of more details...

Date 20/10/08

Team Accelerace will be doing the Scottish Endurance CycloSportive in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief

To sponsor the team check out their fundraising page here. As other members of the team realise that they really ought to be joining in with the madness, we'll get their names up on the page as well...

19/10/08

Report from Nick Mansley on last year's Scottish Ultra

Just in time for entries opening for next year's event (tomorrow), Nick has sent us an excellent account of his race last year, including some helpful tips for future competitors. Read it here. A reminder to check our reports page for all sorts of race reports from the past.

Date 12/10/08

Dates announced for 2009 Accelerace events!!

We've got 5 extra-special items for your agenda in 2009 - our all-new winter XC run, a slightly unhinged 250 mile ride around the Scottish Highlands, the now well-established Extreme Tri in Devon, and two of the toughest triathlons in the UK - our Mid Wales and West Highland Ultra Triathlons. Entries open on the 20th October. See our events page for more details. You know you want to be a part of Accelerace 2009...

Date 08/10/08

Accelerace photo gallery on Picasa web...

Hopefully a better way of storing and viewing our galleries of photos - check out the new Accelerace gallery pages here.

Date 06/10/08

Team Accelerace at Elbaman...

Chris has a little Mediteranean adventure. And discovers that Elba is not only a very nice little Italian island, and the place where Napoleon was imprisoned, but also a smashing place to do an ironman. If he'd only remember to do some training before the next one...Read the full report here. 

Date 22/09/08

Nice little write-up here in the local press - The Express and Echo. Factually pretty accurate, and without spelling mistakes. Good job. Have a read here (or click on the image)

Date 16/09/08

Little mention on the Tri247 site for the Extreme Tri. If you are keen you can trawl the archives and see past reports from the Ultra's in there too... check it out

Date 15/09/08

First report up on the site - from female winner Sarah Danning...

Read it here...

Date 14/09/08

David Bettinson and Sarah Danning win Accelerace Extreme Tri 2008!!!

Excellent performances from both athletes, including a new bike course record from David, saw them home as winners of the Extreme Tri, but huge congratulations to all competitors - for completing one of the hardest half-iron distance triathlons in the country. Expect full reports up on the site very soon, as well as results, photos and video. Thanks to one and all for making a great day!

Date 19/08/08

Less than a month till Accelerace Extreme Tri 2008!!!

Hopefully all competitors' training and preparation is going well - as always, if anyone has any queries or questions regarding the event, please get in contact and we'll be glad to help.  

Date 16/08/08

First Norseman report up on the site!!

Excellent account from Emily - read it here.

Date 12/08/08

Team Accelerace at Norseman Xtreme Tri 2008 - Rob, Emily, Chris and Ross all complete "the world's toughest iron-distance event" - and have a wonderful time doing so... The weather held up for the event, despite being profoundly damp before and after - and although the current during the swim meant some exceptionally slow swim times (even more so than usual), the lack of a headwind on the bike made for something of a change on previous years. We're optimistic about getting full race reports from all involved, so check back soon...

Some fine avoidance of camera eye contact here

Date 26/07/08

West Highlands Ultra Tri featured in 220 triathlon magazine. Get to the shops asap and pick up your copy to read the race report.

Date 14/07/08

Extreme Tri Marshals Wanted! If you live in Devon or are coming down to watch with a competitor why not lend us a hand for the day. All food, drink and t-shirt provided. Email rlovell@accelerace.co.uk with your contact details

Date 09/07/08

West Highlands photos are now all up. Find a more scenic triathlon and we'll... well...we'll be pretty impressed. Check them all out here

Date 07/07/08

Team Accelerace tackle Marmotte and Etape in the same weekend... Chris and Emily took on the furrier of the two, and Rob the famous Etape. Chris has got a report up here. The others should follow. Eventually...

Date 24/06/08

First competitor report up on the site - from Gary Fegan, who was second fastest finisher. A really good account of his race, well worth reading for anyone considering the challenge for next year. Read it here.

Date 23/06/08

Video on Youtube - check the video from this weekend's West Highlands Ultra on youtube - here

Date 23/06/08

West Highlands report on the site - check the event pages here

Date 23/06/08

First West Highlands photos on the site...

Click here to see them. We should get some more up shortly - and if any competitors have any shots they'd like to share, please get in touch - we'd be glad to put them up on the site. 

Stuart Reid coming over the Pass of the Cattle

Date 22/06/08

Stuart Reid wins inaugural Accelerace West Highlands Ultra!!

An epic race, characterised by good conditions early on, and torrential downpours and driving wind overnight - Stuart Reid won in 20hr19, laying down the gauntlet for future years, with Gary Fegan coming home 15 minutes later in 20hr34. Paul McGreal finished in 23hr31 and Nick Mansley in 23hr55. Superb performances from all competitors - unfortunately the cold water meant 3 withdrawals from the swim, and Carl Atkinson was forced to withdraw after about 17 miles of the run due to the weather. Huge congratulations to all the athletes, as well as to their excellent support crews. Look out for a full report/results and photos on the site shortly, and if any competitors or their support crews have photos/reports please send them in. Here's to 2009!

Date 16/06/08

Full race report from TransPortugal on the site...

Ross has finished off an excellent (and fuller) account of his week in Portugal - it can be found in the reports section here.

Date 16/06/08

Accomodation suggestions for Scottish Ultra

Click here for some links. Less than a week now, hope everyone's preparation is going well...

Date 11/06/08

Less than 2 weeks to the Scottish Ultra!!

Preparations are going well, and we're looking forward to this event a lot. The course is pretty spectacular, and the event is on the longest day of the year, meaning as much daylight as possible for the competitors. Keep checking the site over the next 2 weeks, and as always, any competitors with any queries or questions, please get in touch.

Date 08/06/08

Day 8 of the TransPortugal MTB

He's made it!! Check here for a quick text update, hopefully more once he's recovered...

Date 07/06/08

Day 7 of the TransPortugal MTB

Ross updates us with a full email account of the last two days of racing... Click here.

Date 06/06/08

Date 05/06/08

Day 5 of the TransPortugal MTB

Two days completed on the trot! Things might just be looking up for our man in Portugal. A thousand curses if I've spoken too soon...Read more here.

Date 04/06/08

Day 4 of the TransPortugal MTB

Another day, another bike... But what happened to Ross on Day 4 of what is rapidly turning into an epic race? Click here to find out...

Date 03/06/08

Day 3 of the TransPortugal MTB

Just when things looked to have recovered from the trials and tribulations of Day 1, disaster strikes again. Ross having some more really unlucky mechanical issues - hopefully we'll get the full story later. This is all starting to feel a bit like one of those Formula 1 teams that can do really well as long as their car survives the entire race...Read more here.

Date 02/06/08

Day 2 of the TransPortugal MTB

A much better day - with no mechanical failures and some praise for Ross's mountain goat-like climbing abilities...Click here.

Date 01/06/08

Day 1 of the TransPortugal MTB

Ross has a pretty rough day - check the diary for full details

Date 30/05/08

Ross off to take on the TransPortugal MTB race

He left this morning for Portugal for the 8-day stage race from the North to South of Portugal. No-one else in Team Accelerace is in the least bit jealous, in fact we're all really supportive, and hope has a wonderful time. We may even be updating the site with news from Ross as the event unwinds.. Click here for more - the race starts on Sunday.

Date 24/05/08

Another Wales video

A slightly different take from the first video - check it out on the events page, and on our video pages.

Date 13/05/08

Another report on Mid Wales - this time from Alex Thompson - a really good report with a great account of his epic bike leg. Check it out on our reports page.

Date 13/05/08

Accelerace Mid Wales Ultra Video!! Check our Youtube page to see the video - here. We may even have another edit of it coming soon (watch this space), and will also be getting it up on our video pages shortly..

Date 09/05/08

Some great photos of the Mid Wales Ultra on Steven Lord's website - see them here. 

Date 08/05/08

Mid Wales Ultra Photos on the site... The first few, admittedly in no particular order, are up here. If you have photos of the event you'd like to share, do send us links to your pages, or the photos themselves.

Date 08/05/08

More race reports!! This time from Ladies winner Joanna Carritt - a really engaging description - well worth a read, and once again can be found in the reports section. 

Date 07/05/08

Report from Ultra winner Shaun Lamb - they're coming in thick and fast now - a really good report from Shaun is up on his web page - access it here, or click the link on our reports page. Thanks to all competitors and supporters for your reports - really appreciated, and great fun to read. Keep them coming!

Date 07/05/08

Mid Wales Ultra Support Report - Charlotte Carritt (support for Joanna Carritt and Steven Lord) has put together a really good account of life as a support car driver - essential reading for future support drivers, and a different perspective on this year's event. Read it here, or check the reports page.

Date 05/05/08

Mid Wales Ultra Reports up on the site...

One from us, and two from competitors - well worth a read. See them in the reports section here.

Date 04/05/08

Shaun Lamb and Jo Carritt win the Mid Wales Ultra Tri!!

A fantastic performance from Shaun saw him take victory with a stunning time of 16hrs53, with Jo winning the womens' category in 18hrs44. All competitors did brilliantly - and the weather held up despite our pre-race concerns over rain. The swim was shortened, due to temperature and a stiff offshore breeze, but from that point conditions were reasonably favourable, with athletes even enjoying some sunshine for the later sections of the bike, and a warm night meant the sporadic drizzle didn't cause too much trouble. Some super individual performances, and a reasonably tight field meant the race was (hopefully) enjoyed by all, and as organisers we'd like to thank all competitors, and especially all support crews for making the event such a success. We'll have more on the site soon - including full results, reports and photos/videos - keep checking back. If any competitors are writing event reports, please email them to the usual address - we'd be happy to feature them on the site. For those tempted by more Ultra action - check our West Highlands event at the end of June in the events section - it promises to be a cracker as well. 

Date 29/04/08

Exciting brand-spanking-new Accelerace shop!!!

Check out our range of t-shirts and other apparel here. A whole new exciting world of Accelerace, with more stuff available soon - keep checking back and get buying!!

Date 28/04/08

Weather forecast for 'light rain' on Saturday - although visibility is set to be high, and one forecast seems to suggest conditions should pick up in the afternoon. We suggest competitors bring along plenty of warm and waterproof clothing in any case.

Date 28/04/08

5 days till the Welsh Ultra... Just a quick one - check the event pages for some briefing notes posted there, if you haven't already done so, and please be aware that it's best if you bring your own swimming hat. If possible, a nice bright one...Not long now...

Date 26/04/08

Excitement in Richmond Park...(by Chris) I don't know if anyone else noticed, but whilst doing a few laps of the Park on Saturday evening, I was intrigued to see a pick-up truck loaded with a large amount of general gardening detritus (branches etc) pulled over by a police car onto a small access track off the main road. Suffice to say riding laps is not the best way to keep track of what unfolded, but the three installments I got (each separated by about 20 minutes), went as follows: 1. Police man talking to three guys stood by their truck, policeman apparently unimpressed. 2. Police man still talking to three guys - now rooting around in the pile of branches, generally tugging at stuff and (I thought) seemingly trying to prove that it wasn't loaded very securely. 3. Police man debating with two pretty irate members of the party, with the third sat in the back of the police car, handcuffed. It was really this very last element which caught my particular attention. I have no idea what the whole thing was about really, but it all seemed fairly bizarre from my (slightly fatigued) perspective. Just thought I'd share... Any suggestions as to what might be behind all this, answers on a postcard to the usual address (or email). Or if you can share the legalities of branch-loading into pick-ups that would also be helpful. Was a nice ride though.

Date 23/04/08

Less than two weeks till Wales...hopefully all the hard winter training has left you ready and keen to get out and hit the best that Wales' longest triathlon* has to offer... For more information on the event, including a couple of notes on what will happen in the case of adverse weather, and where/when to meet prior to the race, check the event pages. (*not certified).

Date 10/04/08

Check out the new Sanoodi profile acceleracecity...for those of you who are London-bound and want a couple of running ideas... 

Date 17/03/08

Only a month and a half till the Welsh Ultra...and a few more competitor profiles make it up on the site... 

Date 03/03/08

Chris's weeked skiing in Davos, and Emily's week in Les Arcs passed without any broken limbs or appendages. Which was a bonus.

Date 24/02/08

Rob and Chris tackle the (aptly named) Legs of Steel route across the Surrey hills. Surprisingly steep in parts, and scenic throughout - the ride comes highly recommended (although don't ride it with Rob if you can help it - he's pretty fast...)

Date 20/02/08

Ross learns how to fly... Sort of. He was actually parapenting in Zermatt, and came back all excited about his newly-acquired skills, and seemingly desperate to jump off some more mountains. We've been promised video footage, which I for one am very excited about.

Date 21/02/08

Competitor profiles for the Mid Wales Ultra going up on the site...

One by one..See the startlist and click on the competitor names to learn a bit more about them..

Date 19/02/08

Site updates...

We've got exciting changes taking place (slowly) - check out our embryonic mountain biking and climbing pages, which will be developing slowly, and our video pages, for some of the footage of past events and trailers of upcoming ones, as well as a couple of others.

Date 10/02/08

Jim completes New Zealand Coast to Coast race!!

Having gained the necessary kayak qualification with a whole 2 weeks to spare, Jim raced in what's rated as the World's toughest multisport challenge (Day 1 - 3km run, 55km cycle, 33km mountain run, Day 2 15km cycle, 67km kayak, 70km cycle) - no mean feat - finishing in a time of 17:24hrs - "I knackered my knee on the first day making most of the race a very painful, teeth gritting experience...could have been a fair bit quicker without the knee trouble and if I hadn't capsized on the paddle - though only fell out once when I hit a rock". Sounds tough enough to me - huge congratulations to Jim, who's already eyeing up next year's event...

Date 03/02/08

Only 3 months till the Mid Wales Ultra!!

And it's getting exciting again.. Lots of interest, some nervous phonecalls, a very talented field, and our first female Ultra competitors - this should be a cracker... There's still plenty of time to enter, if you're still toying with the idea - check the ultra pages within our events section here.

Date 28/01/08

A whole new girl member of Team Accelerace..

Laura Massey has joined Team Accelerace - check her team page here. We really are going to have to get that girl kit sorted..

Date 13/01/08

Soggy Bottom? Ross initiated himself into the world of competitive MTB racing at the Soggy Bottom 2 race near Plymouth. A highly creditable 21st place in the Sport competition was enough for him to utter the immortal lines "I am a natural at mountain biking". Pride comes before a fall...

Date 05/01/08

Exploring the North Wales MTB scene.. Ross and Chris return from a hugely enjoyable, and largely accident-free jaunt to Llanberis for a weekend of mountain biking. Check the video here.

Need more news? Not worried that it's a little out of date?

Check out the Accelerace News Archive - where stories from the past go to rest...