Latest / The Folkestone & Hythe Sports Podcast / INTERVIEW WITH MAX RANSLEY BACK IN MAY ABOUT HYTHE BAY TRIATHLON WHICH IS NOW SUNDAY 18TH AUGUST

Transcript

INTERVIEW WITH MAX RANSLEY BACK IN MAY ABOUT HYTHE BAY TRIATHLON WHICH IS NOW SUNDAY 18TH AUGUST · The Folkestone & Hythe Sports Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: From nineteen seventy five their Tennessee c Life is a ministrone. Okay,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: we're back in the studio now with Max and we're
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: going to chat about this Hive Bay Triathlon. So I
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: don't know where to start, Max, So we know there
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: is a triflon tell us the headquarters if you like,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: where is it going to be based from?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, so it's based at hythe swimming pool, so
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: that's where you start. And if you know high swimming
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: pool is an area out the back which will become
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  Speaker 2: what we call transition. That's where all the entrants will
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: start and register on the On the morning of the event.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: They will then be allowed into transition, which is a
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  Speaker 2: secure area where they rack their bike and get themselves
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  Speaker 2: ready for the swim and set their running kit up
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  Speaker 2: and everything like that.
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  Speaker 1: Then we will.
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  Speaker 2: Set them off in order, so is the fastest so
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  Speaker 2: and it's all timed, will have everyone going in every
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: thirty seconds.
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  Speaker 1: Do they stand by the pool, do they start in
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  Speaker 1: the pool, do they start in a transition and then
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  Speaker 1: enough to get into the pool.
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  Speaker 2: From the transition, they will be ushered to the pool side.
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  Speaker 2: They will be given a final race brief and a
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  Speaker 2: safety briefing because we've all done properly with adjudications and marshals.
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  Speaker 2: And then the first swimmer will be asked to get
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  Speaker 2: into the water and the countdown will start when push
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  Speaker 2: off off you go.
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  Speaker 1: I see, So they're in the water already before.
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  Speaker 2: They thirty seconds later, the next person gets in, the
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  Speaker 2: next person gets in, and it all goes from there.
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  Speaker 1: Now I picked up I've been looking studying this website
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  Speaker 1: and things. A zig zag swim. Yes, explain what that is?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, So it's really simple. You have a rectangular pool
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: which is split into five lanes as you would see
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  Speaker 2: in a normal swimming pool, but you would start in
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  Speaker 2: the bottom corner and that's where the first swimmer goes.
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  Speaker 2: And in the first lane they swim up and then
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  Speaker 2: they swim back down on and then they go under
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: the lane rope and swim up again and back down,
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  Speaker 2: and they do that across the five lanes, and that
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  Speaker 2: when they get to the corner at the other end,
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  Speaker 2: they will have done their two hundred and fifty meters
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  Speaker 2: and they exit out of the pool. At that point
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  Speaker 2: they are officially in what we call T one, and
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  Speaker 2: so they've exited the pool and they will make their
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  Speaker 2: way out of the pool venue into the transition area
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  Speaker 2: in the swimming costume, and then they will prepare themselves
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: to get onto the bike. They obviously have to not
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: necessarily drive themselves. Some do some down some because it's
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  Speaker 2: all timed, even the transition piece. So get their bicycled
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  Speaker 2: kit on, helmet, safety gear off, they go out of
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  Speaker 2: transition and then that's when the timer starts for the bike.
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  Speaker 1: Right, So the bike now the bike ride. Just tell
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: me a little bit about the bike ride where they go.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so it's fifteen k which starts at hythe and
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  Speaker 2: you come out and go along the sea front on
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  Speaker 2: the main road up into Sandgate. You go almost into
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  Speaker 2: Folkeston and you turn around at the roundabout which is
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  Speaker 2: not too far from where Folkston Park run is, so
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  Speaker 2: I can't remember name of the road, turn around, and
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  Speaker 2: then you come back down along Sandgate, but then you
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  Speaker 2: cut off by the garage there onto the promenade and
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  Speaker 2: come all the way down back to the swimming pool
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  Speaker 2: and then you enter transition from the other side and
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  Speaker 2: dismount your bike at the correct point. Then walk your
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  Speaker 2: bike back into transition, take your helmet off, take a
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  Speaker 2: cycling kit off, put your running kit on. That's when
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  Speaker 2: the timer starts for because you're in T two at
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  Speaker 2: that point, and then your run starts and you go
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  Speaker 2: from there.
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  Speaker 1: So okay, So the next step is the run. So
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  Speaker 1: how long and where'd you go?
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  Speaker 2: So the run is an out and back. It's five
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  Speaker 2: k it's from the steps by the Cafe of Cafe
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  Speaker 2: on the Beach which is behind there, and you run
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  Speaker 2: almost back towards the c Brook petrol station. Yes, it's
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  Speaker 2: just past there. There's a turnaround point and then you
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  Speaker 2: run all the way back just past the Imperial Hotel
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  Speaker 2: to the promenade and we have a finished area there
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  Speaker 2: you go through.
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  Speaker 1: Right. So that's that's the course for every single runner,
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  Speaker 1: every single triathlete. But you're going to get a point.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if it happens in a swimming pool.
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  Speaker 1: Could you make up thirty seconds when you're sort of
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  Speaker 1: zigzagging the fast ones? You can because two fast ones? Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, because of the way we start all the swimmers,
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  Speaker 2: if the swimmer has been truthful with their predicted time,
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  Speaker 2: then it means that everyone should write. There's less chance
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  Speaker 2: to make up time in the pool because it is
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  Speaker 2: a shorter event, there's more chance to make up time
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  Speaker 2: on the run or on the bike.
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  Speaker 1: So obviously some tri athletes they got stronger discipline than others.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we've had tom Bean in here. Tom Bean,
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  Speaker 1: he's a gb tri athlete and he did the London Sunday.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know two thirty six. I think he did.
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  Speaker 1: But sorry digressing there. So what can I say if
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  Speaker 1: you're training for a sprint triathlon? Is this the ideal
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  Speaker 1: one to get into? Yeah, I start with To start with,
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  Speaker 1: I would say yourself. So High Bay Try itself.
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  Speaker 2: This is the fifth event over eight years that we've
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  Speaker 2: hosted and done and obviously had to stop for COVID
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  Speaker 2: et cetera. The whole point of the High Bay Try
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  Speaker 2: was inclusive, friendly beginner's event. So it's a super sprint distance,
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  Speaker 2: so a little bit shorter than what I was talking
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  Speaker 2: about earlier in terms of a sprint distance. It's solely
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  Speaker 2: aimed at those people who want to try or try
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  Speaker 2: have a go.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: It's it's the safety of the pool, it's a very
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  Speaker 2: short bike, it's a very short run, and it's it's
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  Speaker 2: open for everyone.
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  Speaker 1: So because it's quite doable, really isn't it you you
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  Speaker 1: adapt yourself creptly and yeah, yeah yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And then the other good thing about this event as well,
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  Speaker 2: whilst it's it's it's all beginners, we get seasons seasoned
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  Speaker 2: try athletes who will come along and enter as a
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  Speaker 2: little tester before the season, so just to make sure.
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  Speaker 1: That they're their training is on track. So yeah, and
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  Speaker 1: do you get a split of male and female? Is
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  Speaker 1: it a mixture?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I would say it's predominantly female. That was that
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  Speaker 2: was one of the goals that we wanted to achieve
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  Speaker 2: when we originally set it up, and it was the
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  Speaker 2: chairperson at the time, Julie Abbott.
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  Speaker 1: It was her I think she came on the show. Yes, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: that and it has has grown from there. So right,
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  Speaker 1: So going beyond scenes now, is there an association that
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  Speaker 1: you know that is a governing body looks after this race.
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  Speaker 2: BT which is the British strithle And Foundation. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: they adjudicate and keep your eye on every event. So
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  Speaker 2: we have official umpires come and we have to follow
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  Speaker 2: all the rules and procedures and everything like that. So
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  Speaker 2: I'll give you an example which for new people they're
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  Speaker 2: always a bit like, really, why you know they'll turn
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  Speaker 2: up with a bike in any any condition. And the
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  Speaker 2: first thing one of the masters is to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that the handlebars are covered on the no holes. And
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  Speaker 2: everyone says, well why do any things to be covered?
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  Speaker 2: And it's for safety because if there's an accident it
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  Speaker 2: could cut them and bits and pieces like that. They
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  Speaker 2: must have a helmet, must have the correct stuff, everything
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  Speaker 2: like that and and if the adjudicator says you haven't
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: got that stuff, yea.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well they should know that time they get there.
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  Speaker 2: But I suppose the thing is on the day you
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  Speaker 2: get a lot of nerves and bits and like that.
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  Speaker 2: So whilst well we're there, we're there to help you
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  Speaker 2: as well. So if you haven't got a bit, we
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  Speaker 2: can make it work. We can help them and cover the.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so we've we've covered the official side of things,
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  Speaker 1: but obviously you've got people marshally now on the course.
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  Speaker 1: Where do they come from? So they are all members
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  Speaker 1: of the tri Club. So it's our event. We put
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  Speaker 1: it on, We we do the whole shebang. That makes sense.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, so we're always got all the volunteers. We're
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  Speaker 2: super friendly.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: The first I think every year we've done that. The
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  Speaker 2: feedback has been that you've got great marshals, great support it.
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  Speaker 1: It's a bit of a party for us. Yeah so really,
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  Speaker 1: I mean I'm sure they understand, but no ash for
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  Speaker 1: Try people take place.
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  Speaker 2: No, so we it's it's our event to put on.
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  Speaker 2: It's our event, not our event to participate in. Every
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  Speaker 2: now and again we do. You know, we might raffle
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  Speaker 2: off a spot to one member World card t Yeah
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  Speaker 2: exactly so, but no majority of well all of the
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  Speaker 2: club members, of the volunteers.
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  Speaker 1: So what time does the first person? They're normally quite earlier.
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  Speaker 1: They was really early. I believe it's a seven o'clock start.
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  Speaker 1: Seven o'clock, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Which means it's a it's an early start because that's
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  Speaker 2: when at seven o'clock you've got to be in the
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  Speaker 2: pool ready to go.
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  Speaker 1: And where'd you find Do you get people from outside
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  Speaker 1: the county come around?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I mean it's it's grown and grown. So we've
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  Speaker 2: had TRY clubs from other counties, Essex, Surrey, they've they've
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  Speaker 2: come down. You know, it is mainly a local event
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  Speaker 2: and I mentioned deal Try already. They use it as
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  Speaker 2: one of their little championship events. So you know, because
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  Speaker 2: for them. They put on lots of events, but they
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  Speaker 2: don't get an event where they get to.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, okay, so so yeah, that's the other thing.
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  Speaker 1: What's your role on the day.
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  Speaker 2: So on the day I've mentioned transition, and I will
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  Speaker 2: be the transition captain. So I will be in the
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  Speaker 2: transition making sure that everyone's in the right place, racking
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  Speaker 2: their bike, making sure that the adjudicator is happy, because
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  Speaker 2: each area has to be controlled. So we have a
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  Speaker 2: transition captain, we have a swim captain, we'll have a
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  Speaker 2: bike captain.
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  Speaker 1: One judicator.
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  Speaker 2: For the size of our event, yes, just one, the
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  Speaker 2: bigger the event more dui yes, yeah, yeah, so we
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  Speaker 2: are a smallish event. From that point of view, you
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: get to the really big events where you're in the
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: hundreds or of thousands a lot because.
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  Speaker 1: I mean there with the experience of the club and
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  Speaker 1: that it must be. I mean it's always something is wrong,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: but you must know exactly what to do, you know,
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  Speaker 1: at a meeting the week before. But there's always something
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: goes wrong on the day, and that's it.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: And I think, you know, five events in we're relatively
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: well experienced that in dealing with whatever happens, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I give you an example. Last year, I suppose the
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: biggest wild card was we'd check the route the night before,
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: everything was fine, and on the morning we've got a
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: phone call to say, actually part of the route is
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: unavailable and okay, so we had to quickly go and
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: do a risk assessment and we still managed to put
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: the event on.
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  Speaker 1: So, yeah, you just can't tell, can you. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: for example, with the folks to ten ten mile race,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: there was a high tide and an alder shingle got
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: thrown over along the path from the promenade there, So
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: there was a message put out, turn up with your
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: broom and it worked, you know, they got They swept
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: it all the way and the race went ahead. Lead
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: did a run down there the runners off really windy day.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: A tree come down right across the court, honestly, and
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: people was clambering over. Nearly nearly canceled the race, so
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  Speaker 1: off they went. Luckily it was twenty miler and where
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: the tree felled down, the guy in the house he
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: had a chainsaw and he got rid of it. It
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: just they all mucked in and got rid of it
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: and the runners were coming back, where's the tree gone?
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Just so you just do not know what happens on
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: the day, right, Okay, well we're going to wrap it
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: up very shortly. But now I had a little little
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: look and a little birdie told me that you've got
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: a very sporty cousin. Is that right? I do? Indeed, yes,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: And I did a little bit of Wikipedia and tell
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: us a little bit about is it Tom? Isn't it? Yes,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: my cousin Tom.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: He's nine years my junior, and yeah he is or
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: was a professional sportsman. He was a rower for Team
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: GB and he got bronze in twenty twelve and he
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: was a gold medalist for the men's eight in twenty sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: So it's a bit of inspiration in the family there,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: it was.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, but ultimately he's still my little cousin.
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  Speaker 1: Remember what to do? Yeah? Yeah, absolutely good. It's nice.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: I were running a sporty contact that's really gone to
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: the top, have been professional as fantastic. Yeah, okay, now
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: before we go, is there anything else you want to add? Max?
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: We've I think we've covered most things about the day,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: so it just really leaves us to let everybody know
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: how they can get Okay.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: So yeah, we've still got entries available we've still got
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: spaces available and we'd love for you to come along.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: You can enter via our website ww dot Ashford try
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Club dot com or for our Facebook page. We've got
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: a public Facebook page which is ash Ford Tri Club
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: and you can enter from there.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: So tell us when when is it again?
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: It's Sunday, the twelfth of May, so just under three
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: weeks time, right, so not long not long out, yeah,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: exactly the last thing then, Max. I know it's a
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: big one, but I always ask people this, is there
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: any any thank yous you want to say?
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I have got a few.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Thank you just I suppose first and foremost to Shepery
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Council and High Swimming Pool. You know, without the pool
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: we can't, but also Shapwick Council in terms of allowing
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: us to do it in terms of the permits, bits
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: and pieces like that, so that's good. I've got to
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: thank the organizers in the club, So that's Claire Brooker,
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: Jim Hawkins who are respectfully of a chair lady and
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: the events director, our club sponsor Podplus and Jenna Construction
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: who they always feel they help us out in terms
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: of a sponsorship, but they also field their own team
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: normally of about fifty people.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's great. Yeah yeah, so.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Whilst it's all beginners as well, you get a contingent
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: fantastic yeah yeah. So and finally, basically I've got to
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: thank all the club members themselves because that's part and
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: parce love it is volunteer.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: So thank you Max. It's been absolutely really interesting talks
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: to you and finding out that there is a triathlon
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: on our doorstep. That's the main thing. It's in the
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Folks and High region and you do get people coming
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: in and they might make a weekend of it and
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: they might have some of them that come in for
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: a long way obviously stay the night and can have
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: a look around the harbor arm and places like that.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: So I just want to say good luck for the
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: day on the twelfth and may thank you very much, Kevin.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Some people call me the space Come