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Helen Russell - News 2009 |
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2009 |
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December |
Helen heads of for the sun
Helen headed of to Club La Santa in Lanzarote for a week of warm weather training over the Christmas holiday. The week saw her focus on clocking up the miles on the bike and she reached the milestone of completing her first ever 100 mile ride, following the famous Iron Man triathlon course. Christmas Day saw Helen up early for a short run followed by a low heart rate bike ride and finally a swim in the open air Olympic size pool. Whilst there, she won the La Santa mini triathlon in convincing style.
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September |
 Helen wins bronze at World Duathlon Championships
Helen is celebrating after returning home from the World Duathlon Championships with a bronze medal.
Helen was representing Great Britain at the race in North Carolina, USA at the end of September (26th September).
The race was a short distance duathlon which is made up of a 10k run, 40k bike and ends with a 5k run. The competition took place at the Lowe‘s Motor Speedway, a NASCAR race track and the oval banked race track meant that the competitors had a taste of racing in an Indy 500 or NASCAR Series.
Athletes began the 10k run on the motor track‘s start/finish line then cycled around the streets surrounding the stadium. Parts of the 40k bike circled the sloped track and cut through the infield, with the final 5k run finishing along the pit row.
The opening ceremony took place in the blazing sun with temperatures over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the conditions couldn‘t have been more different on race day as the athletes had to battle through torrential rain.
Helen had an excellent start to the race covering the first 10k in 39.55, which put her in 5th position. Helen battled the wet conditions on the technical bike leg and moved into 2nd place. Unfortunately she was overtaken by a fellow GB competitor and finished the 40k bike leg in 1.04.18, lying in third place. Helen tried hard to regain her 2nd position in the final 5k run but missed 2nd place by less than 20seconds. Helen covered the final 5k in 20.15, which meant that her overall finish time was 2hrs6mins.
This result is a great end to a good season, which also saw Russell finish 10th in the European Triathlon Championships in Holland and qualify for next year‘s European competition.
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August |
Helen gets third Team GB call up
Following her recent success at this year‘s European Triathlon Championships in Holland, Helen has already secured her place at next year‘s competition.
Helen was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2010 European Triathlon Championships in Athlone, Ireland after competing at the prestigious Bedford Triathlon on 19th July.
The race was an Olympic distance triathlon covering a 1500 meters swim in the river Ouse, a 40km bike ride and a 10km run.
Despite having never swum in a river before Helen battled against the weeds and other competitors to exit the water in 25.44. She then tried to maintain an average speed of 20mph on the mainly flat cycle leg covering the course in 1.14.29. The run was a flat 3 lap course along the river Ouse on the edge of the town and Helen, who is regaining her running fitness after a number of injuries, recorded a time of 41.40. Helen finished in an overall time of 2.24.18 which saw her take the fourth qualifying place in the 35-39 age category.
Helen will now travel to Athlone, County Westmeath in Ireland to compete in the European Triathlon Championships on 4th July 2010.
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July |
 European success for Helen
Helen is celebrating after successfully racing at the European Triathlon Championships in Holland. Bromsgrove and Redditch Athletics Club member, Helen Russell represented Great Britain at the championships in Holten on 4th July.
The race saw athletes from across Europe take part in the Olympic distance triathlon which covered a 1500 open water swim, a 40km bike ride and a 10km run. There were 800 triathletes competing at the Championship in different age categories.
With temperatures on land reaching over 30 degrees Celsius the water temperature was so hot that the athletes were not permitted to wear wetsuits in the lake swim, which was a new experience for Helen. This change of plan did not deter Helen who completed the swim section in 27.27. The cycle course was more undulating than expected of a route in Holland and included a 10% gradient climb known by locals as ‘Deep Hell‘. Despite this Helen had a solid bike leg covering the 40km in 1.14.04. She then had a decent 10km run around Holten town centre overtaking a large number of athletes who were suffering in the heat to finish in 43.00. This meant that her final time was a respectable 2.27.28 which saw her finish in a credible 10th position in the 30-35 age category. This was a good result in only her first international competition.
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