ON a big weekend of European distance racing, Farnham Triathlon Club registered another nine official Ironman finishers as the club’s top long-course competitors staged their own ‘iron war’ at the iconic Challenge Roth event, just south of Nuremburg in Bavaria.

Roth attracted a capacity 3,500-strong international field for the disciplines of 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km marathon run.

Four Farnham Tri members travelled to the Black Forest and a see-saw battle for club honours ensued in good racing conditions. The age-group out-and-back swim was in the Main-Donau canal. and fastest for Farnham was Mark Richardson in 56mins 8secs, putting him first in the M50 category.

George Gray clocked 57-25 and Matt Winn-Smith, in the same M35 category, kept close tabs on his team-mates with 1hr 46secs. Huw Lloyd (M55) recorded 1-24-29.

A smooth road surface and huge crowd support made for quick times on the two-lap cycle as the Farnham trio continued to swap places, Gray edging ahead with 4hrs 53mins 42secs.

The question in the Farnham camp was whether Winn-Smith’s marathon pedigree would enable him to overturn a 10-minute deficit on Gray over the closing 42.2 km run. The flat, compacted dirt trails played to the runner’s strength and the gap gradually closed until the pass was made at 30km and Winn-Smith went on to record 3-11-20, finishing 15th in the M35s and winning the ‘FTC challenge’ with an overall 9-17-22.

Gray completed his run in 3-29-41 for an equally impressive overall 9-24-36 (19th M35), giving the pair two of the three quickest times in the club’s history.

Richardson, looking to break the 10-hour barrier for the first time, achieved his goal with a 3-46-29 marathon, finishing 12th M50 in an overall 9-54-34.

Completing the Farnham quartet, Lloyd’s 5-38-11 marathon saw him to another Challenge Roth finish in 14-18-58.

Germany’s Sebastian Keinle was a popular overall pro race winner in 7hrs 46mins 23secs.

On the same day, five Farnham Tri Club members were over the border in Klagenfurt , joining 3,000 triathletes from 60 countries for the 20th Ironman Austria.

Husband-and-wife Antony and Lorraine Baker and Charles Miller were making their debut over the distance, while Mark Tomlinson and Keith Conradi had just one previous Ironman under their belts.

The 2.4-mile swim was in the crystal-clear Lake Worthersee and Anthony Baker emerged first in 57mins 18secs.

The two-loop bike course through Carinthia included the steep climbs of Rupertiberg and Riebnig, but again quality European roads allowed for fast times. Baker clocked 5-15-34 to maintain a slight advantage, but Tomlinson was quickest with 5-13-19.

Tomlinson then posted the fastest run of 3-28-31 to lead the Farnham contingent home in 9hrs 49mins 13secs (25th M30-34) and the fourth sub-10 for the club on the day.

Lorraine Baker’s impressive debut of 11-36-34 was the third fastest ever female iron distance time for the club.

Pro race winners were Michael Weiss (Austria) 8-04-46 and Mareen Hufe (Germany) 9-00-32.