Spectrum Striders Running Club
Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire
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Mat Burnett - GB International
April
2001
Congratulations to Mathew Burnett who
recently represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland in an
international biathle event in South Africa.
The biathle is a continuous run-swim-run event, the main championship distances being 1500m-200m-1500m. Mat became junior UK Men's champion last September at an international meeting on the south coast of England.
Mat is competing at Millfields School in July in the trials for the GB team for the World Championships in Bonn, Germany in September. Seven will be selected in each age category and as Mat ranks 2 at the moment he is very hopeful of making the team.
Mat ran in 2 categories in South Africa, competing both for the GB Senior team and one of the junior categories. His report appears below:
Mat's Report
On the Monday before Easter I stepped off the plane in Port Elizabeth to what the pilot described as ''a chilly 16ºC". Upon hearing this news I promptly removed my sweatshirt and stored my club class truffle packet into my pocket as evidence of our lucky upgrade. After ambling across the blisteringly hot tarmac of a chilly 16ºC, my coach (who had come purely for the benefit of others) and I caught the least dangerous looking taxi to our hotel the Caboose.
The Caboose is an odd building, designed to resemble a train station (which in all fairness, does) with on one side rooms resembling a train and on the other a wood cabin looking building we were later to learn contained the sports suites.
The rest of the week consisted of a gruelling combination of the following: Running, running in and out of the sea, swimming, transition training, lying on the beach and working on the tan.
Now before I mention how the competition went, let me take a moment to describe the course, hopefully in a way that makes you drool with envy but still has you conned into believing its not all fun. The run course was a 1500m loop through Happy Valley, (which is a beautiful little park in, as the name suggests, a valley) the first part is a shallow uphill followed by a difficult undulating section over sand followed by a sloping downhill containing part of the original 400m. From here you jog into transition, discard your shoes in exchange for goggles and set out across the sand (towards India). Upon reaching the sea some 50m later you find yourself confronted by what the locals described as "a calm sea" containing waves only as high as Tony McCarthy. The course is out, across and back to the beach where the entry point was. After exchanging your now Sand-filled goggles for some soon to be sand-filled shoes the second run follows the same path as the first.
Friday was race day and was slightly colder than the other days, but the atmosphere was great with a large excited crowd of GB and SA track suited athletes in all age categories, coaches, spectators and officials. It was quite cool to hear the national anthem played and to hear your name as you are introduced over the PA.
The first run set out quite quickly and I came to transition trailing two South Africans (one of them named Johan whose kit I now own). After a mediocre swim with no luck in catching the waves on the way back to the shore, I was lying in 5th place. As the second run was drawing to a close I wound in 4th and had 3rd and 2nd in my sights as the finish line rather suddenly appeared. 4th was my final placing (second Brit).
The presentation evening was equally spectacular with a formal meal in the local casino, but it was some consolation to pick up a team silver medal.
On the Monday was an aquathon event on the same course, but with a 2.5km run a two lap 500m swim and 2.5km run organised by the local triathlon club as part of a spectacular water sports festival. Despite a sore hamstring and yet more bad luck at catching the surf I managed a creditable 8th place in the open age field. The experience of swimming a race surrounded by some twenty-five dolphins was an experience I will not easily forget.
The climate and low cost of living in SA makes it easy to understand why this is a popular training camp destination for athletes and triathletes alike and the Bath elite tri squad recently spent some six weeks out there. The country is beautiful and the people friendly and very hospitable, but it is a society of great social contrasts that is struggling to change. We managed a tour of Johannesburg and Soweto on the way back, an experience as rewarding as the competition itself.
SA was a great trip all round and if you train with Brian ''dad" Burnett and haven't heard this yet you will soon.
"Did I tell you about the time I went to South Africa...? "
Your Athlete in the Sun Mat Burnett
This page was last updated on 27/12/02