Devon Indoor Rowing Comp. 5k and 500m.

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plummy
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Re: Devon Indoor Rowing Comp. 5k and 500m.

Post by plummy »

A little bit more detail for those who fancy a more intimate/less intimidating race....

The Devon Championships this year were held in a school hall after an 11th hour change of venue. Being a standard school hall with all the doors open the air was as fresh as anything bar Madchester (i.e. rowing outdoors).

The setup was 8 race machines and 8 warm up machines and your race erg number was also your warm up erg number and it was allocated to you for the 40 minutes ahead of your race - better than anything I've seen done before and worked superbly. There were 5k races every 40 minutes and they were taking around 20 minutes so the gaps were very wide. The disadvantage was quite a bit of down time between action but it gave you plenty of time to chat and catch up. Assuming the event grows they could shorten the gap and increase the number of races quite easily.
In fact, in the afternoon they did that for the 500's (with everyone's agreement) so my 500 race was nearly 50 minutes ahead of the original plan.

Being in a school it had decent facilities (toilets/kitchen etc) but I think only one shower so that may be a limiting factor for too much growth. They utilised the kitchen well by selling home-made cakes to raise some funds for the school.

It was good to Richard Lindner and Andy Affleck (I've not met Andy before) and both put it solid efforts. Andy is a powerhouse and about 9 feet tall so when he's fully cleared his chest infection I think he's going to put some amazing times down. Watching him row his 5k, he looked like he was warming up but was pulling high 1:40's

There were two "men with the mic" giving running commentaries on what was going on which helps those who aren't so much in the know to understand all the relative paces and achievements. I seemed to strike a chord with them with my OCD 1:55.0 average split and endless 1:55.0 strokes which became quite amusing for them and me both.

My target was really to set an SB, which at the time was 19:22.8 but I didn't think I would get anything better than 19:15 in my wildest imaginings but with the race atmosphere and being sufficiently stubborn minded once I tuned in to 1:55's I decided to try and hold that right through until the final push.The final push was a short one, only around 200m but it pulled the overall time from a potential 19:10 to 19:07.5.

There were 2 British Records set (Clare Busst from Q-Power lopped 4s off the British Record (18:44.x I think) and Colin Leiba set a new 500m record with 1:18 and change so there were some top level efforts along with the kiddies row which was a superbly hard fought 500m at around 200spm it seemed at time with their little arms and legs.

It's a bit out of the way down in the South West but certainly one I will look to do again.

I only took a couple of piccies. Race erg layout:
ScreenHunter_15 Sep. 21 19.56.jpg
ScreenHunter_15 Sep. 21 19.56.jpg (134.57 KiB) Viewed 1503 times
Richard Lindner giving it full beans...
ScreenHunter_15 Sep. 21 19.58.jpg
ScreenHunter_15 Sep. 21 19.58.jpg (108.44 KiB) Viewed 1503 times
A bit of Video from Jon Goodall from Facebook:

60 yrs old, 76kg, 5' 10"
43Mm metres rowed. Re-setting the bar much lower now. Getting too old for this malarky
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Jill
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Re: Devon Indoor Rowing Comp. 5k and 500m.

Post by Jill »

Thank you Plummy for your informative and well written write up - your positive comments might even tempt others to take part next year.

Watching Charles Morley, I thought he was a shining example of how age needn't be a barrier against regular exercise, keeping fit and good muscle definition.

Rock and row on Plummy. :fsbgrin: :fswink:
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CamiCrew
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Re: Devon Indoor Rowing Comp. 5k and 500m.

Post by CamiCrew »

Love the report, Plummy. What a cool event. I have studied the photos and the video, but I do not see cake :-k

:fswink:

Agree with you Jill on seeing Charles row.
-barbara

F Hwt 53 yrs 5'10"
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plummy
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Re: Devon Indoor Rowing Comp. 5k and 500m.

Post by plummy »

I was not responsible for the video so can't comment on the lack of cake visible, or not. From the photos, if you were able to pan to the right and looked at the school hall kitchen hatch, it was full of chocolate cakes and muffins - honest :D

From the discussions already ongoing on FB, this event is a certainty for next year and may even have a second event added to the calendar but maybe with a different format (possibly team relays!)

Plummy
60 yrs old, 76kg, 5' 10"
43Mm metres rowed. Re-setting the bar much lower now. Getting too old for this malarky
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Paul Victory
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Re: Devon Indoor Rowing Comp. 5k and 500m.

Post by Paul Victory »

I was sorry to miss it. I had originally planned to enter, but the cost of flights to Dublin on a Sunday from either Exeter or Bristol was prohibitive. I think the flights would work out a lot more reasonable if it's held on a Saturday and I will be suggesting this to Sam when he's looking for feedback for next year's event.

Would be nice if we could get a good turnout from Free Spirits and Sam seems like a top bloke and deserving of everyone's support.

Paul V
M 68 6'1" 124kg (May05), 92kg (Feb06), 122kg (Aug10), 95kg (Sep11), 117kg (Jun13), now 98kg
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Grobi
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Re: Devon Indoor Rowing Comp. 5k and 500m.

Post by Grobi »

Well done Dave on the new SB! And a great write up, too! If only Exeter was easier accessible from Germany (and I in a better form ...)!
Athletes row, others just play games

Peter

55y, 1,89m, 85kg

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