As you know we are supporting Maggie’s charity in 2010 and encouraging people to raise sponsorship when racing. Also you can keep up to date with all the other goings on in the newsletter. Maggie’s South West Wales e-newsletter is the most economical way to keep the ever growing number of supporters up-to-date with their campaign progress.  Please download this newsletter and pass it to all your contacts and encourage people to give their support. Let’s all help Maggie’s South West Wales become a reality for everyone in our region as quickly as possible. From all the team at T&E thank you in advance.

Maggie’s March Newsletter

Registered Charity number:  SC024414.

Why I Love Events by  Lowri Powell – 8 years old.

I love helping my Daddy in events because it’s fun.

My main job is on the water station with Grandma and we love it when someone says thank you!!! (P.S. Grandma doesn’t get paid!!)

I get paid when I help in an event and I spend it on an ice-cream.

Now I know how much fun a triathlon is when I am a grown-up I am going to do a triathlon.

Hopefully my daddy is fit when I am older so we can do one together.

To join Lowri in volunteering for an event click here.

Rosie has successfully completed her five year long, around the world run.  For various charities and to highlight the importance of cancer awareness and early diagnosis. For more please click this About Rosie link.

31st of January2010. Tenby Observer by Ceris Hewlings, talking to Rosie about her upcoming challenge to run 26 marathons in 26 days.  To raise money for Ty Hafan,  family hospice in Cardiff, and Helen House hospice in Oxford.  These are great charities that Rosie feels very passionately about.  Here is the full article:

Rosie prepares to step out on new marathon challenge.

Friday, 29 January 2010 (Tenby Observer) by Ceris Hewlings link

Rosie Swale Pope is undertaking 26 marathons in 26 days for charity. She is also launching the new Wales Marathon in Tenby organised by Matthew Evans (seen left) and Scott Powell, of Activity Wales. Pic. Gareth Davies Photography.

Twenty-six marathons in 26 days! To most people that’s unthinkable.
But not for Tenby’s round-the-world adventurer Rosie Swale Pope MBE, who will be stepping out on the challenge in April in aid of children’s hospices. And her first marathon on her epic 681.2-mile journey will be in her very own home town as she launches Tenby’s new Wales Marathon.

Rosie is teaming up with Matthew Evans, chief executive of Activity Wales, and company director Scott Powell to promote the exciting three-day gruelling event which is being hosted by Tenby in September.
Rosie, 63, will run the 26.2-mile course on Easter Monday, April 5, pulling her famous cart Icebird, which accompanied her for a large part of her 21,000-mile global trek.

The Wales Marathon will be Pembrokeshire’s first ever measured marathon and will be held on Sunday, September 26, as part of the Long Course Weekend. The whole event will include the 1,500 and 3,000-metre Wales Swim on Friday, September 24, 40, 80 or 120-mile Wales Sportif bike rides on the Saturday, followed by the full marathon and a half marathon which will start and finish in Tenby on the Sunday.

The event is being organised by Matthew, Scott and Activity Wales.  Both are well-known athletes, with Matthew having completed 10 marathons in 10 days and the Ironman Austria last year, while Scott already owns and runs many national award-winning events.

Although the event is still in its planning stages, with the marathon course – which will see runners complete loops heading out from Tenby towards Manorbier and back along The Ridgeway to Penally and Tenby – officially being measured in March, they are hoping to get as much community support as possible.

“It is unique,” said Scott. “There is no race like it that sees these sports come together over one weekend.
“We aim to get all the communities around Tenby involved and make the event a real carnival atmosphere, with a prize up for grabs for the best community support.” Participants will be able to raise funds for their own charities, but there will be an overall charity that the event will support. “To have Rosie running the route is quite a treat,” added Matthew. “Tenby is hosting this event, which is fantastic for both the town and Pembrokeshire.”

Participants can enter as many of the races as they want, with finishers receiving medals which will, if all three are completed, form a jigsaw to create the unique Long Course Weekend medal. Rosie’s other 25 marathons will all be in Wales and England.

Her friend and supporter, Geoff Hall, is currently working out her schedule, but other runs are likely to include Bristol, Bath, Hereford and Gloucester. “It is just a little challenge, but is very important to me,” she said. “It will be very hard, but I have been partly inspired by Matthew, who did 10 marathons in 10 days, which is unbelievably gruelling, and Eddie Izzard, who did a huge amount of marathons, one of which I ran with him,” she continued. “I know I will be very slow and it will be harder because I am pulling Icebird. I am not superwoman; I am just an ordinary runner, but it is wonderful to be doing my first marathon here in Tenby and I will just go on from there.”

The marathons, Rosie says, are her personal thank you to all the people who have always been there for her through thick and thin, and will also be in aid of two very special hospices.  Rosie continued: “There are many causes that are forever part of my life.

I felt the need to do something for the children of Britain during these marathons, and intend to raise funds and awareness for Ty Hafan, the family hospice in Cardiff, and Helen House in Oxford, the world’s first children’s hospice, and Douglas House, also in Oxford, the first for young people. They are remarkable, and I am so proud to run for them.  “I was very moved when I visited Ty Hafan recently and hope that I can raise £3,000 for each, so every penny counts.”  Rosie is now busy training, for which she has received advice from her friend Ann Rowell and Runners World.

Anyone who would like to sponsor Tŷ Hafan hospices, the charity Rosie is running the 26 marathons in aid of can do so by can do so by clicking this link or this logo

Sponsor forms can also be found at Coastal Cottages’ Tenby office, Kate Blair Hairdressers, Webb Computers and Weybourne Guest House.

“I am so grateful to everyone who has agreed to have sponsor forms and the those who have sponsored me already,” said Rosie.  Details about the Long Course Weekend can be found at www.longcourseweekend.com and www.thewalesmarathon.com. Entries open on February 7.

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15^th May – Gower Duathlon- Rhossili – Welsh championships – Full Distance 10k run – 40k bike – 5k run & Sprint Distance 5k run – 24k bike – 3k run.

 16^th May – Rhossili Monster 10k – start and finish on the beach!!

 24^th July – Activity Wales Gower Triathlon – Port Eynon, Gower – Sprint distance 750m open water swim – 24k bike – 5k run.

7^th August – Cymer Off-Road Triathlon- Cymer, Port Talbot – Welsh championships – Various distances as well as tri star race categories.

Coming soon

We will be announcing the official launch of the events below in the very near future. Keep an eye on the news section for further details.

 26^th June – Mumbles Mile Triathlon- Mumbles Gower – Long Sprint 750m open water swim – 32k bike – 5 k run & Short Sprint 750m swim – 21k bike – 2.5k run.

 24^th /25^th /26^th  September – Long Course Weekend- Tenby, Pembrokeshire – 24/9 1500m or 3000m swim – 25/9 40, 80, 120  mile bike – 26/9 13.1 or 26.2 mile run. Enter all or some of the race options.

 2^nd October – Fancy Dress Triathlon- Tenby, Pembrokeshire – Sprint distance – 750m open water swim – 24k bike – 5k run – fun weekend with a party to end all parties to finish off the season in style.

The club boasts many Welsh and Great Britain triathletes who have competed across all age groups and distances from Sprint to Ironman events. However, the aim is to provide a welcome to all persons irrespective of ability or experience and to give support, advice and encouragement for everyone to reach their goals. To achieve this Celtic Tri Club has invested in providing Qualified British Triathlon coaches to administer all training sessions put on by the club, this covers all three disciplines of swimming, cycling, running and operates a junior section. Within the club there are numerous members who are qualified in other areas such as Sports Therapy, Sports science, Physiolotherapy, Personal training, Sports Massage to name but a few.

To further raise our standards in providing a high quality of instruction and service to its members the club has achieved the STAR accrediataion and Un,Dau,Tri junior accreditation. These are the WelshTriathlon governing bodies ‘marks’ of excellence. The Club was elected Welsh Triathlon ‘Club of The Year’ in 2008.

If anyone is interested in joining one of Great Britain’s leading triathlon clubs or wishes further information, please feel free to contact us.

Yours in Sport

Ieuan Jones (Chairman, Celtic Tri)

When the air horn went off to signal the start of the Gower Peninsula Triathlon, I leaned into the sea, swallowed a mouthful of brine, and immediately wished I’d trained more.  My goggles fogged up and my wetsuit seemed intent on drowning me.  I heard a voice from somewhere in front of me say “Don’t worry about this, you only have to finish the swim”.  OK, I only have to finish.  As I approached the first buoy I wondered if I had made the biggest mistake of my life.  I was struggling to swim, not to keep up, not to be competitive, just to stay afloat!  As I tore off my goggles I heard the same voice “That is the furthest point!  You’ve got it from here!”  Do I?  I must!  I feel like I’m seconds from making bubbles, but the guy ahead is trained to spot a sinker and he doesn’t think I’m in that category.  I struggled on the next buoy.  “There it is!” he said, “Head on in!”  And I did!  Whew.  One event down, two to go!

At the transition point I noticed there was only one other bike left, besides mine.  That niggling voice came back, more urgent than before: “I really hope I’m not the last one.”  One other exhausted swimmer came in right behind me.  We were it!  I threw on my shoes and helmet and ran my bike through the funnel.  The Marshall who had insured our bikes were tagged on the way in smiled as I scooted past:  “There you go, get up that hill!”  Right.  I jumped on my bike an began the ascent.  Luckily I had no idea before I started (due to my lack of attention to emails) that that hill would take me from 20 meters above sea level to 160.  I believe I made it to about 120 before I had to dismount and jog (let me remember it as a jog) along side my bike.  The final athlete had overtaken me prior to this point, I was the last entrant on the route.  I was able to remount and as I neared the crest of the hill.  A man sitting on his fence with a cup of coffee shouted: “You’ve almost made it!  It’s all downhill from here!”  He knew I was ok, even if I was having my doubts.  I thanked him and informed him that I was the last one.

As I crested the hill, I was rewarded for my diligence with a breathtaking view.  The words of one of the organizers sprang into my head.  “Just enjoy yourself.”  Before now, I had hopes of finishing in the middle of the pack, because that’s what I do.  I let gravity pull me forward and realized that this was not going to happen for me.  As I struggled up another incline I came across an athlete on the side of the road.  Her gears had exploded.  I felt a twinge of guilt.  Should I offer her my bike?  She’s obviously better prepared for this and has a chance of actually finishing.  My hopes of finishing were fleeting, as I noted that even from my high vantage point, I could no longer see any part of the pack.  Or was this just me trying to give up without actually having to answer for it?  I asked if she was all right, she said she thought she had it fixed.  So on I rode.  Through the tiniest of road ways, spotted with sheep, cattle and horses, watching me struggle ever onward.  At one point I noticed a lamb that had managed to get itself into a glassed in bus stop.  It couldn’t find it’s way out and was beating itself into the glass, running back and forth.  If I had been able to ride at the speed everyone else did, I probably wouldn’t have noticed, but there I was, no other riders in sight.  I slowed down and positioned myself so that I was directly in front of the opening, the panicked lamb stopped short and looked directly at me.  He ran toward me and out of the bus stop shelter.  Awesome.

The next turn brought me news of my location.  “You’re half way there!!” shouted the Marshall, as I limped by, looking a bit worse for wear.  “Thank Heaven!”  I shouted back and headed up another gentle incline that burnt my stomach and legs and brought the taste of salt water to the back of my throat.  I knew the first hill was the worst hill, but I also knew that there were more technical and steep areas ahead.  I wasn’t sure I was going to make it.  It was the first time I really wondered if I would complete the course.  My thoughts were hitting me like shrapnel: “This is a difficult course for a first time triathlete.  No one would think any less of me if I quit.  I can work harder and try again later.”  Then up to my right pulled a Marshall on a motorcycle.  “How you doing?” he asked.  “That’s relative, but I think I’d be happier if we switched bikes!”  He laughed, “Eh, you’re all right then!  I’ll see you at the next intersection.”  I don’t know if he heard me call him a showoff as she sped off, or not.  But I do know that once again I was given the courage to go on due to the kind word of a complete stranger.  I did see him at the next intersection and one more time along the course.  He let me know that I had less than a mile to go and that I had done it.

The end of the bike route was the same as the beginning.  I realized that I much preferred going from 160m to 20m!  At the bottom, I was amazed to see a crowd of people cheering…for me!?!  Didn’t they realize I was the last one?  As I stepped off my bike to walk it back into the transition area, I had to pass other athletes who were packed to leave.  They had already completed the entire triathlon!  They moved out of my way and smiled and clapped.  I was taken aback by the realization that they wanted me to finish as badly as I wanted to finish!  I hung up my bike and headed for the run.  It was a course that had to be run twice.  As I stepped onto the sandy beach, I reminded myself that running is my strong point.  There was a volunteer there with a huge smile and a glass of water.  “You’re practically finished!”  I gulped down the drink and headed off toward the beach.  There were Marshalls all along the trail.  They were pointing the way and telling me I could do this, I could finish.  As I rounded the corner for the second lap, I didn’t know if I could.  My 2 supporters where there cheering me on.  I had come this far, but I didn’t know if I could make another 2.5K.  I considered just running toward the finish.  Who would know?  Who would care?  I was the very last competitor.  But I would know.  Not only would I know that I had cheated, but I would know that I had cheated everyone that boosted me through the water, up the hills and over the sand, everyone who knew that I could do it, even when I didn’t.  So I ran (let me remember it as running.)

As I came around the last corner I could not believe my eyes.  It seemed that EVERYONE was lined up around the last few meters of the race.  The announcer said my name and number and my ears were filled with cheers and shouts of encouragement.  I was so overwhelmed by this show of support that my eyes filled with mist, much as they are as I type this now.  As I finally, finally crossed the finish line, I found myself thankful that I finished at all, indebted to my family and the Marshalls who willed me on and moved by the amazing show of support from my fellow triathletes.  They were my fellow triathletes, because I AM A TRIATHLETE!  And next year, I will take that hill!!