Newcastle (Staffs) Triathlon Club

Our Eammon is a familiar sight on the podium at local running races, but this weekend he put on his wetsuit, got his bike out of the shed and had a go at his first triathlon since he was a junior in 2022.

It wasn’t any old beginner triathlon either.

This was the Slateman – cold water Lyn Padarn, the mountain roads of Snowdonia and the technical and hilly slopes of Llanberis quarries.

Eammon Clowes was the winner of the sprint distance event.

Eammon says: “Thankfully I could still remember what to do in transition!

“I was first out the swim, had a decent T1 but was caught on the downhill sections of the bike.

“I had a quick T2 so closed the gap to about 5 seconds, I think, to the guy who was first of the bike.

“Then I caught him up on the run and could enjoy myself a bit more.

“The run suited me quite well with some more technical trails.

“I really enjoyed it but I was glad it was only a sprint distance!”

NTC’s Emma Broadhurst and Nathan Walker have been competing in the Europe age group triathlon championships, in Tarragona, Spain, over the weekend.

Our man Will Slater was there to cheer them on, and here is his race report.

I woke on Saturday morning full of nervous excitement.

Strangely not for myself, but for Emma (Broadhurst).

Another huge race for her.

A chance to build on the fantastic success achieved in 2025 at the European Championships with a 6th place finish in Istanbul.

Improving on this is something she deserves and is fully capable of achieving.

The swim involved something I am sure many had never seen before with a swim to reach the starting pontoon.

However, it was a great opportunity for the athletes to acclimatise themselves to the (nice and warm?) water.

A third-fastest age category swim split and a speedy T1 put Emma in a solid position behind favourite Naomi Reynolds going out into the bike.

On the run, alarm bells started to ring in my head.

Reynolds appeared.

Emma did not.

And the gap widened significantly.

I had a horrible feeling that something was amiss due to how strong Emma has been riding recently.

It wasn’t until I caught up with her (or she caught up with me) that I had discovered that Emma had taken a fall on the bike- resulting in her losing precious time.

This news came as a massive shock due to the utterly focused and composed nature shown by Emma, and also how good she was running off the bike.

This could easily have thrown a lot of people off, many would have thrown in the towel and called it a day, but Emma showed great mental fortitude and determination to keep going and push hard on the 5k run leg despite a very significant set back on the bike.

It also started to get very, very, hot at this point too - providing further proof of just how much grit was required to keep pushing to the end.

Emma came in 9th overall in her age group - a very good result considering the circumstances, and it makes you wonder what could have been?

In a sport riddled with uncertainty, this was a performance to be proud of!

• 30-35 women’s sprint age group result: swim 12:15, bike 38:51, run 22:51, total 1:17:11, 9th age group

After Sprint Saturday, it was time for Standard Sunday- and the way Nathan has been performing over this distance recently got myself, and others at home I’m sure, very excited indeed to see what this man could do at a championship race over Standard distance.

Although we should not judge a book by its cover, the start list did not provide any stand out names to pose a serious threat. This could be it!

We don’t call him The Shark for no reason and a textbook fast swim, and textbook fast T1, saw Nathan out on to the bike in a very good position.

He continued to look good on the bike too - not losing any time at all in the early stages.

It was at this time that it started to get hot, very hot.

Noticeably hotter than the day previously.

Out on to the run then, and the temperatures had well and truly skyrocketed by this point - adding an extra layer of pain on top of the customary battered legs.

It was a true war of attrition for all those scattered across the 10km run course!

Nathan finished 12th overall in the end.

Given the intense heat, this was definitely a performance to be proud of!

• 20-24 standard age group result: swim 22:49, bike 1:02:50, run 45:42, total 2:17:29, 12th age group

It was great to watch from the side of the road.

Nathan and Emma did NTC proud and deserve a lot of praise for their efforts!

It was really nice to see former member Lloyd Bebbington doing so well too!

Looking to swim outdoors in a peaceful setting? NTC offer a weekly swim session at Astbury Mere, every Thursday 6-7:30pm. This session is for members only but a trial (free) membership is available to enable swimmers to book onto this session:
Access the trial membership and swim booking here: https://clubspark.net/NewcastleStaffsTriClub

It’s been another busy weekend of triathlons for our members – and some great achievements.
1st woman in the Ashbourne triathlon – Emma Broadhurst
1st age group in the Ashbourne triathlon – Fiona Ridley
1st age group in the in the Southport standard distance triathlon – Nathan Walker. Nathan qualifies for the European age group championships GB team in 2027 with his placing.
Plus four women finishers in the Outlaw 70.3 at Nottingham:
- Charlie Ashworth
- Georgia Newstead
- Beth Lloyd
- Emma Hickson
And two finishers in the Outlaw sprint
- Zac Oakes
- Steph Wilcock
Well done everyone!

Our summer cycling programme is in full swing.

🚴 fast chain gang (weekly)
🚴‍♂️ intermediate chain gang (weekly)
🚴‍♀️ steady social ride (fortnightly)

Three groups all out on Tuesday nights. Led by experienced ride leaders and British Triathlon coaches.

It was a miserable, cold and windy day on Sunday.💨🥶⛈️

That didn't put off our athletes (although Will does looks a bit fed up🤣).

🥇1st place: Eammon Clowes in the intercounties 10 mile event at Llandudno, as part of the Staffordshire team
🥈2nd place: Harry Hughes in the PTVI British Championships duathlon event at Oulton Park
5th place: Will Slater in the non-draft standard duathlon at Oulton Park
Also Hayley Green in the draft legal sprint duathlon at Oulton Park

What a morning. Headed to a very windy Llandudno (44mph wind to be exact) to stand in as Staffs Team Manager for the first inter county event of the year.

Yet again the teams turned up and dominated.

Eamon Clowes leading the pack home winning the race overall, winning his age group and 1st home for Staffordshire, with Georgia Stanfield mirroring the achievement for the ladies.

Men’s team all with the top 11. 🥇
Eamon Clowes Newcastle Tri Club🥇u20🥇
Jon Read 4th Rugeley M35 🥇
Pat Buckingham Gater AC
Christian Prince Gater AC
Neil Dixon Newcastle staffs AC M50 🥇

Ladies team 🥇
Georgia Stansfield Trentham 🥇u35🥇
Jo Stanfield Trentham 🥉F55 🥇
Charlotte Bagnall Newcastle Staffs AC 4th
Lindsay Dixon Newcastle Staffs AC F50 🥇
Deborah Thomas Trentham
Sarah Taylor Trentham F55 🥈

Massive well done to all our runners for turning out today that was not easy. You all showed true strength, determination and shire grit to get to the finish. 🟢⚪️🟢⚪️