Ethan Woodhead cut a classy figure with a figurative gun-to-tape victory in the gruelling 100km triathlon based at the Peninsula Hotel, while Katie Birch stayed out of trouble in a turbulent women’s race to add another awe-inspiring achievement to her multi-sporting CV.
The Guernsey Triathlon Club’s biennial event remained a spectacle even with organisers forced by unanticipated Ronez work into dropping the iconic Les Vardes quarry section, retaining the adventure element through the surrounding nature trail and mountain bike paths populated by Wind in the Willows sculptures.
That gave a scenic distraction to the rigours of the full distance, which consisted of a 2km swim, 80km bike and 18km off-road run.
Woodhead made light work of it all to win in 3hrs 46min. 48sec., marking a huge improvement on his effort for third in 2024.
‘I’m really happy,’ Woodhead said.
‘I really wanted to win it, and I thought I had a good chance but I didn’t know who was going to be doing it.’
Although the event had attracted a significant Jersey entry, not all of them lined up, and the absence of several significant inter-insular threats helped ensure Dave Mosley and Phil Touzeau completed an all-Guernsey podium.
In uninspiring and rough swim conditions, Woodhead charged into the waters of Port Grat at a breakneck pace and barely let up, completing the first of two laps 1-10 clear of second place.
He scrambled off the beach with an advantage exceeding 3min. on a chase pack containing Mosley, with the sun beginning to peep through the clouds by this point.
He then avoided the advances of Island Games cyclist Touzeau to maintain his lead throughout the bike, which consisted of two laps, mostly utilising the windswept west coast but also climbing into the upper parishes via L’Eree hill.
Woodhead hit final transition just over 2-30 clear of Touzeau, at which point the Orkney 2025 half-marathoner’s victory was sealed – disasters aside.
‘I was out the water first and I led the whole bike,’ he reflected.
‘I knew Phil would catch me, but I didn’t know how far behind he was, and then I obviously led the run.
‘Going down the coast towards L’Eree was headwind and it was quite brutal, but equally when you then turn around and come back, you have a nice push all the way home.
‘The running conditions were fine. I got a little hot but that’s to be expected – this is probably the perfect temperature you’re going to get in a race.’
Woodhead has Ironman 70.3 Weymouth lined up this coming Sunday, and though he had planned to ease off with that in mind, he admitted he ‘kind of got carried away’.
Experienced triathlete Mosley followed in 4-04-34, only in the closing stages of the run coming back past Touzeau, who took third and top veteran in 4-05-29.
Jersey’s Paul Butt ran well to finish fourth in 4-07-02, with veteran Jon Osborn (4-10-59) and improving Jack Domaille (4-13-25) completing a mainly Guernsey top six.
The women’s race had always looked to be an inter-island battle of two Katies – Guernsey’s Birch and Jersey’s Tanguy.
Birch set herself up nicely with a superb swim, climbing off the beach with over 3min. on her veteran rival.
Jade Packham, fresh from a close call with Hannah Brehaut’s Guernsey record in the 10-mile time-trial, looked set to make serious inroads on the bike. But her race came to an early end when she picked up an untimely puncture – likely due to broken glass on the road at Cobo.
Tanguy caught Birch around half-way into the cycle, which prompted the Guernsey rider to put her head down and keep her in her sights.
She ultimately did not need to.
Tanguy arrived at the final transition first but had learned she was to be disqualified following a failure to put her foot down at an enforced junction during the bike.
She let Birch go while exchanging words with officials in the transition zone and, though she did embark on the run – effectively competing under protest – she pulled out early and in an apologetic mood.
Birch ultimately came home a dominant winner in 4-46-00 for her longest race ever.
‘I’m really over the moon,’ she said.
‘I came into this not really knowing what to expect, and I knew it was going to be long, and tough, but we had the adventure side of things with the run being on trails and I didn’t know who was going to come over and be the competition.
‘I just wanted to come here and give it my all. Enjoy it as much as possible, but also give it my best shot.
‘Getting first place, I’m blown away, and emotional.’
She had been welcomed in by a sizeable support crew of family and friends, crediting how they had ‘kept her going’ on the run.
Jersey’s Lisa Mansell took second woman in 5-15-21, with Guernsey veteran Jo Taylor third in 5-26-53.
On top of the full assignment, which featured a 50-finisher field, a Granite Sprint of less than half its distance provided an alternative focus and showed off some up-and-coming talent.
Former Swansea Harriers 400m hurdler Nathan Phillips, a newer arrival to the island, took top spot at the expense of Games triathlete Ove Svejstrup.
Phillips was ‘really ecstatic’ to do so after making the most of a relatively small amount of focused triathlon training.
He produced an impressive swim to lead Svejstrup out of the water and though passed again on the cycle, he used his running capabilities to claim the win in 1-36-18, beating his rival by 42sec.
Young Ellis Lockwood took third in 1-49-15.
Enya Rabey built on a swift swim to win the women’s honours more convincingly in 1-53-51.
V50 Ellie Otty took second spot in 1-59-58, using her quicker transitions and strong cycling to overcome V40 Katy Hodgetts, who took third in 2-02-10.
