We are super pleased and proud to spotlight the fantastic achievements of some Darlington CC members in 2022
First up is Iain Hodgson, who represented GB in August at the 2022 Europe Triathlon Championships Munich | 30-34 Male AG Sprint.
I asked him to summarise how it went, read below.
𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐’𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘩; 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 16𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵. 2𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 26𝘮𝘱𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦 22𝘬𝘮 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 - 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 (𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦). 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.
𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.
That’s one heck of an achievement, along with the honour of representing GB.
Next up we have Tony McCullagh and in his own words.
𝘈 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘒𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 24 2022 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦
2022 𝘊𝘏𝘐𝘓𝘓𝘌𝘙 24𝘏𝘙 𝘔𝘛𝘉 𝘙𝘈𝘊𝘌
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦.
𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 24𝘩𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2021 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳24, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 24𝘩𝘳 𝘮𝘵𝘣 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘐𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦. 𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘰 24𝘩𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2022 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵.
𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 2022, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘐 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥.
𝘚𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳'𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯.
𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 6 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘵 3𝘢𝘮. 𝘚𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩, 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘮𝘵𝘣 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐'𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐'𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 (𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥).
𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 13 𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 104 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 3 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘥𝘴!
𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘐'𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 13𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 6𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝40 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘺.
𝘔𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘢 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯-𝘔𝘤𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘩 , 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘰.
That’s brilliant Tony, but I still can’t get my head around what you went through and still carried on.
Finally, and you guessed it, it’s that super machine Mr Marcel Schubert.
Later in the season, unbeknown to Marcel until Steve Fullerton pointed it out to him, he was in a good position to compete for the Cycling Time Trials Men’s BBAR (Best British All Rounder) that’s 50, 100 miles, plus a 12-hour event. The event winner is the rider with the fasted combined average speed over all three events. At this point Marcel’s ears pricked up as he hadn’t realised, but in a meeting after the Wednesday 10’s in the Chequers pub, where he asked what support he could get from club members which is needed for a 12 hr event, three members quickly put their hands up and offered the help he needed at the 12hr event.
Roll on a few weeks and they all travelled down to the Monmouth for the National 12 Hour event with 55 entrees, which required an overnight stay for the early start. At these events you watch many riders go past as they race around circuits on the road and it’s all about pacing, especially as some of the best time trialist’s in the UK were taking part, you don’t want to blow up before the end.
The support team help with regular drink hand overs on the move (this had been practised in advance by his support team) and making sure he had enough nutrition to keep going. Then came the Formula 1 moment in the pits, Marcel rides with a waxed chain rather than oil as there is less resistance, but it wears off with time. So into the pits and Steve Earle and Mike Gent help with topping up his front and rear water carriers, whilst Steve Fullerton sets about changing the chain, the whole process took a couple of minutes and then Marcel was back on it, to complete his challenge.
Due to the number of riders and the fact the winner is based on the number of miles they ride in 12 hours, there are lots of marshals taking times. After the event was finished, we had to wait a number of nail biting weeks to get the final results, due to the number of times to check. They did however publish the results after the event, but they were challenged, and it seemed an age before they were finally released.
Then it happened. Our wait was worth it, Marcel was the 2022 winner of the Men’s BBAR. This is the first time in Darlington’s Cycling Club’s history (and I include Richmond & Darlington CC, as we were previously called in that statement) so that goes back to the 50’s I believe, and we have had some top cyclists over those years, that we have had a BBAR winner.
So not only is it a remarkable achievement for anybody to achieve, but when you look at the results and just see, one, how fast they can ride and, two, how close the results at the top it’s unbelievable, just milliseconds apart over all three events.
Some of these riders taking part will have the best bikes you can get and some of the most aero clothing and equipment on the market which can make a difference between being a winner of not, Marcel has none of this and he won.
So, there we have it, three club members with brilliant racing results in 2022, you are all a credit to the club. If I have missed a club member with some results that should be mentioned, I’m not aware of it and I owe you an apology, but please get in touch so that we know about them.
On a final note, we are working behind the scenes to be able to put some financial support in place for club riders of this calibre, so that we can put in place a racing ethos within DCC.
Mike Drake
Chairman
Darlington Cycling Club
Mob: 07702 311081
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