The 19th edition of the Cleveland Long Course Triathlon was held on Sunday 3rd July at the village of Ruswarp, near Whitby. Ruswarp is a small village without the facilities to hold a major sporting event and therefore the entry to this race is limited but nevertheless 60 entries were received from competitors as far afield as Merseyside and Suffolk.

This triathlon is acknowledged as one of the toughest in the country and starts with a 1 mile swim in the River Esk followed by a 40 mile bike course over the North York Moors to Pickering, Thornton-le-Dale and return and finishes with a 9 mile run. The notorious “Blue Bank” out of Sleights has to be negotiated on both the bike and run along with many other “lumpy bits”.

Geoff Ayers

The first half of the swim is upstream against the current and then it returns to the start. Noel Hitchcock of Sun City Tri, one of the youngest competitors in the race was first out of the river in a terrific time of 20.53 followed by veterans Paul Godley of the promoting club Cleveland BikeTraks and Mike Hall of Hartlepool Triathletes. The first lady on to the bike was Annaliese Mawdsley of Tri-Angle Tri Club in 26.44 followed by Samantha Ayers of Tri-Lakeland.

The bike route favours the strongest and most experienced cyclists and it was no surprise therefore when first Godley and then Geoff Ayers of Tri-Lakeland passed Hitchcock who was finding the going tough over Fylingdales Moor. In the ladies race Mawdsley and Samantha Ayers were having similar problems and were being caught by Robyn Oldham of White Rose Tri whose bike split of 2.23.57 was the fastest ladies time of the day.

After 41 miles of racing there were only 10 seconds between the men’s leaders as first Ayers and then Godley set out on the run. However the ladies race was even tighter as Mawdsley led Oldham out on to the run by a mere second. The run has several long hills to climb which, after the exertions of the bike section and the rising temperature, were causing many of the competitors to have problems with leg cramps.

Right - Robyn Oldham

But the leaders didn’t seem to notice. Ayers turned in a magnificent time of 53.31 to win overall by nearly four minutes in a total time of 3.13.03 from Hall who had an excellent run to pass Godley just after half way. Oldham too had a blistering run in the ladies race to relegate Mawdsley to the runners-up spot by seven minutes. The oldest competitor, the irrepressible 70 year old Kevin Robinson of Cambridge Tri Club received a standing ovation from all the competitors as he finished in 5.36.55.

Photos of all competitors can be seen at:-

Leading Results

Male 20-29
1. Philip Smith - Tyne Tri Club - 3.31.24
2. Noel Hitchcock - Sun City Tri Club - 3.42.58
3. Iain Pay - Unattached - 3.54.26


Female 20-29
1. Annaliese Mawdsley - Triangle Tri - 4.01.07


Tony Rees


Male 30-39
1. Gary Grounds - Hartlepool Triathletes - 3.21.17
2. John Bent – Tyne Tri - 3.24.05
3. Elliott Gowland – Sun City Tri - 3.26.51

Female 30-39
1. Robyn Oldham – White Rose Tri - 3.54.13
2. Samantha Ayers – Tri Lakeland - 4.23.27

Male 40-49
1. Geoff Ayers – Tri Lakeland - 3.13.03
2. Mike Hall – Hartlepool Triathletes - 3.16.57
3. Paul Godley – Cleveland BikeTraks - 3.18.01

Carol Young

Female 40-49
1. Carol Young – Leeds & Bradford Tri - 4.12.15
2. Judith Brand – Lincoln Tri - 5.17.41

Male 50-59
1. Tony Rees – Hartlepool Triathletes - 3.50.25
2. Jim Colledge – East Coast Tri Club - 4.16.19


The full results sheet, in overall finishing order can be seen at :-