It’s March 23, 2020, and I’ve woken up to a crisp, cloudy morning in Newton Aycliffe. All my senses tingling in anticipation of an announcement from our Prime Minister that would shake our very way of life. At 5pm (...or maybe 7pm, it is Boris after all!) he’s going to  trigger the first stay at home order and we’re all going into LOCKDOWN for the first time in our generation. EPIC!

“Boris Johnson will order police to enforce a strict coronavirus lockdown, with gatherings of more than two people banned” (The Guardian, 24 March 2020).

“Only allowed out once a day & £30 fine for breaking emergency rules” (The Mirror, 24 March 2020)

“This edition of the Newton News will be our last printed version for a few weeks to keep our staff, deliverers and you safe” (Newton News, 27 March 2020)

Like the rest of the UK, ATC went into the first lockdown thinking that this would all be over in a few weeks and life would quickly get back to normal. How naive we were! Immediately, all club activity ceased. All sporting events were postponed. All that hardtraining throughout winter - cancelled!

To keep spirits up, the committee and coaches had to put their thinking caps on and came up with a plan. Under the new covid restrictions we were still able to run or cycle once per day, so we took a big step, and launched our virtual events.

One of our first virtual events was launched on 8th May; a “VE Day 75th Anniversary Duathlon”, taking place over the full celebration weekend. Nearly two thirds of our members took part in a duathlon (run-bike-run) race, across a distance of their choosing. On each day they completed a run or bike session of that distance and posted their results online with a photo sporting some union jack colours!!. The “race” was a resounding success with some cracking times recorded. Ian Readman completed the Middle Distance race (21km Run - 90km Bike - 10km Run) in a fantastic time of 5:05:11 (beat that Brown-Lee’s! Oh wait - you’re not in the right age category). Other successes from the weekend include Dave Askew and Tracey Rimmer who took the top spots for the Standard Distance (Male and Female Category) and we also saw Chris Burtenshaw and Michelle Dixon taking the lead spots for the Sprint Distance. 

Next on the race agenda was a 100km Team Time Trial (Bike or Run), those who entered were split into teams of 5 with varied ability to make it fair. There were some cheeky in-race add ons to gain extra points such, “Most interesting route picture on Strava” and “Best photograph on route”, always guaranteed to bring out the competitive banter on our Social Media Group. 

On 23rd June it was announced that lockdown and restrictions would begin to lift and there were a couple of “real” events that were going to go ahead! This was exciting news for the club and members couldn't wait to get booked up! A September weekend of Epic Events in 2020 included a Swim race on the Saturday and Triathlon on  the Sunday. Our very own resident fish, Sarah Addison entered her very first open water race. A fantastic pool swimmer already, she was set to race a distance of 1 mile around lake Windermere in the Lake District. Conditions on the day took a turn for the worse when high winds sent waves around the lake and it became more of a choppy sea swim than a lake swim! On the Sunday ATC entered a team for the Windemere Standard Relay. Team members Dan Halladay, Trevor Dixon and Chris Burtenshaw placed 2nd overall with a time of 2:19:49 (which would have been faster if poor Trevor hadn’t had to stop for cows crossing the road on the bike leg - the joys of racing in the Lakes!). Tarryn Mann also entered her very first Standard distance triathlon with a fantastic time of 3:48:51. The Sprint Distance Race saw Charlotte Howell complete with a time of 2:50:34, Tony Williams in 2:08:57 and Zoe Savage in 2:00:13. Micky Mann completed his very first Open Water race and although did not complete the swim, he went on to complete the rest of the race in true ATC spirit and determination.

Not long after this event Charlotte Howell travelled to Warwickshire for a second time to complete in the Warwickshire Triathlon, an event very close to her heart, and managed to improve her overall time by 7 minutes, which was absolutely fantastic to see!!

Fast forward to April 2021, and as restrictions are starting to ease the first big event that the ATC attended was the Stockton Duathlon on the 17 April 21. 7 members travelled to Croft and did not disappoint! A brilliant effort from all with the following times in the Standard Race: Trevor Dixon (2:06:12), Ian Readman (2:10:45), Graham Atkins (2:12:38) and Megan Walsh (2:59:00), Trevor placed 7th overall, qualifying for the 2022 European Standard Distance Duathlon Championships in Bilbao! Ian and Graham also placed 12th and 13th respectively! Amazing Results! The Sprint Distance saw Anne and Alan Kellet competing with smiles all around and great times again (1:40:11 and 1:22:36). Kevin Greenhall also competed in the Sprint event with a time of 1:26:35. 

A special mention has to be made to Kerry Barnett who on the 4 April completed her 50th Marathon! An incredible achievement, Well Done! 

I cannot even begin to explain the amount of effort that has gone into the Club behind the scenes by the committee and coaching team dealing with the covid situation and ensuring that all members' needs were supported and plenty of training, advice and events were made available by the coaches. ATC members have shown great resilience to the challenges and have all trained extremely hard and raced incredibly well when able to! 

All we can do now is focus on the season ahead (of ”real” racing!). We have plenty of events in the diary for the very near future, including The Northumberland Triathlon (23 May) and Leeds Triathlon (5 June)!

And finally remember, Train Hard, Race Hard but most importantly have FUN!