 |
5 October
2002
RAF Cosford |
Report by Simon French and Ade Clift
>>Pictures
>>Results
Superteams on TV
SuperTeams will form part of the Sport Nation TV programme being shown
on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra:
25/10/02 17.00 Sky Sports 2
25/10/02 23.30 Sky Sports Extra
26/10/02 04.00 Sky Sports 2
27/10/02 15.30 Sky Sports Extra.
Overview report (Ade Clift)
The first ever SuperTeams event took place last weekend at RAF Cosford.
Usually the venue for the X-Zone, Superteams was to take centre stage
this year. Superteams involved (as the name suggests) teams of three
people, who all had to perform ten disciplines and reach minimum amounts
of distance and repetitions on each. A brilliant idea, as it meant that
if you had a strong (weights) person who was a weaker runner or rower,
he or she would simply do the minimum requirement of distance on the
cardio and hopefully make up the deficit on the bench press and shoulder
press disciplines.
RAF Cosford, as some of you will know, is a fantastic venue for these
types of events and probably one of the very few events to be held in
an Aircraft hanger. It’s quite an amazing sight to see teams of
three people, five lanes wide all competing against one another. A bit
different to watching two people going ‘head to head’ and
certainly better than watching one person compete against the clock.
More than 50 teams from all over the Country attended and as well as
the usual or regular cross-training competitors, this event introduced
quite a few ‘new-comers’ to the sport, which is always nice
to see.
The advantage of a team event like this was that you all had to work
as a team and a lot of planning had to go into it. Some teams had obviously
worked well on their tactics - and some not so well. The difference
was plain to see, as some team members all finished the cardio disciplines
within a few seconds of one another, whilst others had one or two team
members finishing 90secs or more before the third member.
This of course meant ‘dead time’ i.e. if two team members
finish the bike section 90 secs before the third member, it would have
been more efficient to have the first two team members stay on the bikes
and help the third member make up the total distance. The problem for
most of the teams on the day was that distances had to be pre-set before
the event, so any miscalculations at this stage, proved very costly.
All in all, it was a great day’s competition and I’m sure
opened a few ‘new comers’ eyes to crosstraining. On reflection,
it would have given everyone something to think about, where they did
well and where they may have made mistakes and hopefully, if the event
should take place next year, where they can improve on this year’s
performance. Well done to everyone who competed and we look forward
to seeing you at the next one on November 30th.
The details (Simon French)
Great return to competitions for Hywel with the DB Max boys setting
the fastest qualifying time in the morning. All three looked impressive
and had definitely thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of the field.
Vydex were probably the one team everyone had forgotten about in the
run up to this event and it was good to see the likes of Andy Evans
back in the mix again. Cassius was the surprise addition to the second
Netfit team (Lee and Glen) so I guess Nick Lloyd couldn't make it for
some reason? From the women's point of view, Michelle's team (Michelle,
Sarah C, and Jacqui M) were set for the title providing there wasn't
a disaster somewhere on the course for them. The DB Max girls were strong
though (where Will finds these women I have no idea but they certainly
managed to turn a few heads on the day!!!) and certainly their nearest
rivals, along with Cool Breeze who were coached by Cassius.
Finals proved to be fantastic viewing. First up were the women with
Michelle's lot forcing out an early lead which they continued to build
on down the course. Credit to the DB Max girls though as they never
gave up and had a great battle with Cool Breeze for the second and third
spots. In the end though there was only one team that was going to win
it and Michelle, Sarah, and Jacqui crossed the line a good few minutes
ahead of DB Max, closely followed by Cool Breeze. Success was not without
a price though as Sarah had taken herself right to the limit and needed
the attentions of the paramedic for a while after the race after succumbing
to a dizzy spell.
On to the first of the Men's final and Jeff Wiseman's crew took out
an early lead (Jeff, Gary Nicholls, and Steve Watts). A cock-up on the
bike for Gary (by the marshall I might add!) cost them valuable seconds
and from that point on their lead slowly crumbled. As the second final
started 20 minutes after the first one I missed the end of this race
but I know Jeff's lot didn't win it - maybe someone else can fill in
where they came??
The second Men's final was the big one with both Netfit teams going
against the DB Max boys, Vydex and Minimuscle. A treadmill failure for
Steve Quick cost them a few seconds right at the start so it was Lee's
team and DB Max who hit the ropes first. Nothing in it at this stage
and so it moved to the crunches with good hangeover techniques being
used by both teams. Chins followed with Hywel banging out countless
reps to give DB Max a slight lead onto the bikes. Lee's team made the
bike next followed by Roscoe's so still pretty close at this stage.
Another bike failure for Glenn Cook meant he had to switch to the spare
one, again costing the team valuable seconds although the marshalls
allowed him to finish as soon as both Lee and Cassius had completed
their distances regardless of how far he'd gone. By this stage DB Max
were stretching out a small lead on the shoulders with all 3 members
now pushing themselves harder all the time. However Roscoe's team were
now in second place and starting to turn up the heat. And so to the
rowers with DB Max gaining a 15 second advantage over Roscoe and co
with Lee's crew a further 45 seconds behind. If the DB Max boys could
hold it together the title was their's.
Slowly but surely though Netfit were coming back at them. Ceri, who
for the previous 8 disciplines had given absolutely everything, started
to show signs of fatigue and his splits on the rower began to creep
upwards. Roscoe on the other hand was gaining all the time and with
a few hundred metres to go, Netfit hit the front. A last minute burst
from Hywel and Will was to no avail as Ceri was pretty much blown out
now and with less than a 100 metres left for DB Max, all three of the
Netfit team finished pretty much at the same time. It was all over.
A quick dash down the mats with weights and the title was theirs! A
courageous DB Max team finished about 15 seconds later. Poor old Ceri
looked as white as a sheet and collapsed at the end of the weight carry
with absolutely nothing left in him at all. Lee's team finished in third
spot with Vydex following in fourth and Minimuscle bringing up the rear.
An amazing climax to the day with inspiring peformances from all of
the teams involved. You had to feel for Ceri as he'd given it everything
on the day and ran himself into the ground. Both of the Whitmore brothers
have more than proved themselves to be major contenders in X-Training
now and with the addition of Hywel to their team they looked an awesome
trio! Credit to Roscoe, Steve, and Adam though. They never once gave
up and proved that the race is never over till you cross the finish
line, despite most of the spectators placing them behind DB Max and
Lee's team in the build-up to the race. Everything looks very promising
now for the Netfit comp at the end of November and if the racings half
as good as it was yesterday it should be a cracking event!
 |
DB Max on the treadmill |
 |
Glen Cooke of Netfit on the chinup bar |
 |
The winning Women's teams (and Jodie Swallow far right) |
 |
The winning Men's teams |
Results
The full results including heats are downloadable
in an Excel spreadsheet.
| Position |
Team Name (womens final) |
Time |
1
2
3
4
5 |
Bupa Fitness Connections
dbmax.co.uk
Cool Breeze
West 4 Ladies
North & South Utd
|
29.12
32.00
32.33
33.55
35.04 |
| Position |
Team Name (mens final) |
Time |
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 |
Netfit.co.uk
DB Max
Get Fit Netfit
Team Vydex
Minimuscle 1
Apple One (A)
Esporta Sheffield
Team (122)
Jeff & the Retards
Powerhouse |
35.32
35.46
37.18
38.38
39.39
42.51
43.00
43.37
44.00
44.50 |
