Page 179 - Mind, Body and Spirit No. 105 2021/22

After a sporadic 2020 race season, the ‘Lycra Warriors’ were back together. It was now time to dominate the 2021 ATA race season. After much deliberation and understandably postponed races in 2020 due to Covid – 19, Maj (Ret’d) Stu Irving, still flying the flag for the RAPTC as the Army Secretary for Triathlon, was keen to pack out the 2020 season with innovative and challenging events for all abilities. It was no wonder 2020 Triathlon Magazine wanted a bit of the action with races at an all- time high with max capacity!
The first ATA race of the season was an Individual Duathlon, of run/bike/run. With SSgt (SSI) Littlewood (Sam) and SSgt (SSI) Hanson (Matty) taking their respective age group wins. SSgt (SSI) Woolridge (Danny) took a 3rd place in his age group and wishing Matty wasn’t in his age group. The RAPTC lycra clad warriors had started to bring home the silverware early and the season looked promising.
On 7 Jul 21 the team gathered from across the UK to Mallory Park for the Super Sprint Triathlon, which consisted of every athlete completing 3 rounds of 300m Open Water swim. 7.5km bike and 1.2km run. You had to complete each round within the hour and be back at the start line ready to redline it again. It was 3 hrs of absolute carnage and awesome type 2 fun! This was closely followed by the Army Inter Unit Team & Individual Sprint Triathlon on the 21 Jul 21. Maj (Retd) Stu Irving again secured an amazing location and a spectacular race in the beautiful setting of Castle Howard, the civilian race held that weekend cost £100s to enter, whereas we paid £10, well done Stu, an amazing race!
With not much of a respite between races and with the Inter Services/Inter Corps Standard Triathlon around the corner ,the Team were fortunate and able to get together to train. SSgt (SSI) Webster (Webby) the Triathlon Secretary organised a fantastic UK-Based Training Camp located at Loughborough University. The team had outstanding facilities to hand and were accommodated in the Elite Athlete Centre and Hotel, which provided a High-
UK-Based Training Camp - Team ride of the local area
Altitude sleeping room for each athlete during the week. The 7-day training camp consisted of a robust training programme with an ATA Sprint Triathlon mid-week, where the team again performed exceptionally well, even with the infamous Major (MAA) Willie Wilson’s ‘reverse taper’ in the legs.
Following the UK Sports Tour, the Dinosaur of the team Major (MAA) Willie Wilson sustained a serious injury while riding, and apparently, trying to coach. Fortunately, the only thing he broke was his arm, which did not stop him breaking into his usual smile. However, it was not what the team had hoped for, as we prepared to retain the 2019 Inter Corps title. Although OLD, he is a key member of the team and still manages to push out more Watts than us youngsters.
In September the team gathered in the hope of retaining our title from 2019 at the Inter Corps Standard Triathlon which also
RAPTC TRIATHLON
SSgt (SSI) D Woolridge RAPTC
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Lycra Warriors, Mallory Park