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I'll update the news here throughout the season so please keep coming back.

Sport the best of times and the worst of times. -- Friday, June 6 2008

The last few weeks have been the toughest of my career. It has been an emotional rollercoaster as I have watch my girl friend (Emma Davis -IRELAND) who I coach achieve a stunning set of results to haul herself into contention for a place in the Olympic Games this summer, which has made me incredibly proud. While I have achieved an equally good set of results culminating in a Bronze and Silver Medal in the same race at last weekend’s Corus Race Series and National Sprint Championship in Reading, I had the misfortune of puncturing in the European Championships and crashing in New Plymouth World Cup, which has been followed with the news that I would not be included in the athletes to race for Olympic slots in the ITU Madrid World Cup.

Life in sport has incredible highs and terrible lows, but it I would not change it for anything. Everyday brings a new challenge and training and racing lets you know you are alive. It was very satisfying to lead out the swim at both the European Championships a fortnight ago and in the Corus race last weekend against a lot of very talented up and coming athletes.

With this summer seeing the New British Grand Prix of Triathlon a six race series around the UK’s biggest and best triathlons. All the events will be televised on Channel 4 throughout the summer and I aim to be at all the events. I am currently third in the series as a result of the Reading Race and look forward to Blenheim this weekend.

18 May, Reading Corus Elite Series, Sprint distance
07/8 June, Mazda Blenheim Triathlon, Sprint distance
15 June, Nokia Windsor Triathlon, Standard distance
26 July, Parc Bryn Bach Corus Elite Series, Olympic distance
10 Aug, Mazda London Triathlon, Olympic Distance
07 Sept, Strathclyde Park Corus Elite Series, Super Sprint Eliminator

Richard's Bay -- Monday, May 12 2008
It always seems odd to tell your friends you are off to Africa on a Thursday and will be back on Monday, but such is the pace of the triathlon circuit you hardly have time to unpack your bike before moving on. This time however, I have arrived back form Africa with out a bike and have to leave to race the European Championships one day later. As you can imagine this has caused all sorts of fun and games with a trip to Sigma Sport who support me with everything bike related coming up trumps with spares of all the bits and pieces lost in the middle of Africa. I am assured my bike and several others Emma Davis and Kerry Lang both racing Europeans in Portugal as well will turn up in the next few days, but in London not Lisbon!

Travelling with all our race kit is a difficult business but something you get used to the more you race abroad, but some trips do present more challenges than others. The Richard’s Bay race however, has been interesting from start to finish. At least the race went smoothly unlike New Zealand where the bike timing chip put on my bike by a mechanic without my knowledge before the start caused my front wheel skewer to fall out! I continued the race with nothing holding in my front wheel but eventually this caught up with me as I crashed coming into the second transition. Going out virtually last onto the run I ran through the field of 60 to finish 32nd not the result I was looking for, but a finish none the less. Richard’s Bay was thankfully with out incident in the race and after a rough start I exited the water up the front and was in the lead pack for the start of the bike. Attacks came thick and fast on the bike and as we came around for the end of the second lap I seized my opportunity and jumped off the front to claim the first bike prime. The lead pack of thirty athletes remained twitchy for the rest of the bike with three of us managing to just get a few seconds lead into the second transition. I went out onto the run 3 seconds clear of the large chasing pack and seconds off the leader. As the run progressed I lead the second small group just behind the front group with the rest of the field strung out behind us. On the final lap the leader was caught by the first small group and the second small group was strung out a few seconds back. In the end it was a line of athletes crossing the finish one every few seconds I managed to hang on to 12th spot with a 31 minute 10km and my best finish of the year so far.

With the European Championships on Saturday 10th May this leaves only five days recovery between the races much short than usual. I hope the legs recovery and my bike finds its way home.

Urgent News from Open Water Swim @ Liquid Leisure -- Thursday, April 17 2008
Open Water Swim was due to open this weekend Saturday April 19th, but due to the unseasonably cold weather the OWS team Richard Stannard and Mike Trees have decided to postpone a week until the lake temperature increases. The current lake temperature is 10 degrees and below the recommended race temperature standard of 12 degrees. While they both appreciate the need for open water swim training safety of the athletes has to be paramount.

Mike and Richard will still be down at the lake on Saturday to take a free run session (start 7am) around the (Get Ready For) Aquathlon Race Series run course for anyone interested and anyone who happens turn up for a swim.

Keep an eye on the website http://www.openwaterswim.co.uk for the lake temperature, and any more information regarding Open Water Swimming @ Liquid Leisure.

For information on the Aquathlon Race Series go to http://www.openwaterswim.co.uk and click on events.

GREAT BRITAIN ATHLETE GETS SUPPORT FOR OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN -- Friday, April 4 2008
Great Britain Olympic hopeful, Richard Stannard, is on track to fulfil his lifetime ambition and compete in the 2008 Beijing games with help from new sponsor, Esendex. World and British Champion athlete Stannard has signed a 12-month sponsorship deal with business communications specialist, Esendex, to provide essential support to Richard’s Olympic triathlon campaign.

Sponsorship is vital for athletes in minor sports to enable them to operate as professionals and reach the highest levels in competition. As well as the associated travel and living costs to reach Olympic standard, support is also required in the form of training partners and sports therapists. Stannard relies on his support network including his training partner, physiotherapist and massage therapist, who have helped him make the top eight competing for the final three places on the Olympic GB triathlon team. Currently competing in the World Cup series, Richard is focusing on the Olympic Trials in Spain on 25 May to qualify for Olympic Games Triathlon in August.

“Sponsorship gives me a chance to give back to the companies that help me,” explains Richard Stannard. “Whether it’s giving motivational talks to employees or taking them on an Open Water Swim session, there are short and long term ways in which I can make a difference to company life. Esendex is a great match for me, as they truly believe in and support the sport of triathlon.”

Julian Hucker, managing director at Esendex, comments, “Richard is a true inspiration and sponsoring him is fantastic for the company. We encourage staff participation in the sport of triathlon at Esendex and Richard will be helping our own triathlon team improve this year. It’s also great exposure for us, with triathlon being covered on the television as well as interactive media.”

Esendex is also providing Stannard with its Business Services, including the distribution of SMS communications to stakeholders and mobile blogging services. BlogIt from Esendex enables Richard to post entries to his blog from his mobile phone, wherever he is in the world.

“We are essentially full time athletes, 24/7/365, it never stops,” enthuses Stannard. “We train for approximately 30-35 hours per week, 4-6 hours per day, with one rest day a week. I live, eat and breathe triathlon and everything I do affects my performance. I’m living the dream. Triathlon is my passion and, with the help of Esendex and my other sponsors, I’m committed to bringing home an Olympic result.”

To keep up with the latest on Richard’s progress, log on to the Esendex blog at http://www.esendex.com/en/Esendex-Blogs/Esendex-Blog.

About Esendex

Esendex offers a simple, intuitive solution to a recurring business problem: how to rapidly and reliably communicate to customers or employees, wherever they are.

At Esendex, every message matters. Our intuitive internet-based services are used by thousands of organisations around the world to deliver SMS and voice messages quickly and effectively. Around the clock monitoring by our own in-house technology team ensures that your message is a priority, every time you press ‘send’.

Our tools enable businesses to be nimble with their communications. In seconds, you can reach your entire customer base or workforce. You’ll be sure that the message has got through. Like we say, every message matters.

Esendex’s head office is in Nottingham, England, with offices in Spain, France, Ireland and Australia. For more information about Esendex, please visit www.esendex.com or read our blog at http://www.esendex.com/en/Esendex-Blogs/Esendex-Blog

ENDS

Mooloolaba World Cup -- Friday, April 4 2008
It is always a tough way to start the season. Mooloolaba is one of the hardest courses on the World Cup circuit with its infamous hill on the bike and the run, 22 climbs in total. The swim is also a little different too, with the lottery of a beach start and only a single lap instead of the normal two.

This year’s installment of round one of the World Cup did not disappoint, it was as tough as ever. I had my usual good swim and ran up on to the sand with the lead group out on to the bike it was clear after a lap that the major part of the field was together in one large group. The course has a very narrow twisty section through transition and out onto the start of each lap. With the whole of the group trying to push to the front through this section a crash or two was inevitable. At the end of the first lap Shane Reed and Javier Gomez came together and behind them another athlete’s gears failed and a pile up followed. I managed to weave around these accidents and chase back up to the leaders fairly quickly. From then on it was a case of staying as close to the front of the pack as possible to avoid any more incidents.

The rest of the bike ride passed without any more accidents but there were a few frantic near misses. As the group of sixty athletes arrived at T2 together position was everything. I managed to get near the front but was not right up there where I needed to be. I had a fairly fast T2 and went out onto the run with hopes of solid performance and the aim of running considerably quicker than I had done the previous year. Everyone flew out of transition and as we all approached the hill for the first of eight ascents one spectator described it as looking like a cavalry charge into battle! With the standard of World Cup racing improving each year and the athlete’s all running at very similar speeds this scene will be repeated in many races through out this Olympic year.

I had run a 34.28 in 2007 for 17th place and knew I was in much better shape, I could feel I had good form running up and down the first hill and aimed to hold this for the remainder of the run. As I went out onto the second lap I stared to pick off a few athletes and found that my speed on the down hills was really helping my rhythm.
As the run progressed I found I could not catch the two small groups ahead and it was only over the last hill that I managed to pass a few more athletes and close in on the top twenty. In a surge for the line I ended up seconds of the back of these groups of athletes and in 23rd place. My run split was a 32.23 over two minutes faster than last year, a time with which I would have placed 3rd in 2007! However, with this being an Olympic Year and selections at stake it seems that I may need to find another minute on the run to reach the podium in 2008.

Autoglass Continue Sponsorship -- Tuesday, March 25 2008
It is my pleasure to announce that Autoglass are continuing their support for the coming season. Autoglass has been my main sponsor for the last three seasons and they have agreed to continue the sponsorship throughout my Olympic campaign and beyond.

Autoglass has very strong links with triathlon. In fact they have their own wave at the London triathlon, ‘The Autoglass Wave’. Via this venture they raise hundreds of thousands of pounds each year for the MaAfrika Tikkun Charity see http://www.belrontri.com/ for more details.

It is my privilege to help as many of those involved as I can, with training advice and guidance and several hard swim, bike and run sessions. I look forward to seeing all those involved again this season for some more triathlon training. However, I cannot be sure that they will all be pleased to see me! Keep fit guys and see you in the summer.

Just under a fortnight to go. -- Tuesday, March 18 2008
With just under a fortnight to go to the start of the ITU World Cup season the Gold Coast is filling up with triathletes. The rest of the British Team arrived a couple of days ago and are staying about 20 minutes drive down the coast. Emma, Stu, Michelle and I may or may not see the guys before we all head up to Mooloolaba next week.

The last few weeks training has been extremely tough. We have all coped well and are looking forward to a taper into the first two races. Mooloolaba is one of the tougher courses on the World Cup circuit with a hard sea swim followed by a windy and hilly 8 lap bike, and finally a four lap hilly run. Each bike and run lap goes up and over the same hill so you end up doing sixteen reps on the bike and eight on the run! This will be a perfect race to see how the training has gone.

The following week we all head over to New Zealand and New Plymouth. I have fond memories of New Zealand as it was in Queenstown in 2003 that I won my first World Title in the Aquathlon. The temperature there will be significantly cooler than the Gold Coast and both Emma and I have packed arm warmers, leg warmers and jackets as we venture back to cooler weather. From New Zealand we travel back to Australia as the season gets well and truly under way.

I will aim to keep everyone posted on events in Mooloolaba and New Plymouth. Whilst in Australia I have taken the time away from training to learn and understand a bit more about my website (www.richardstannard.com) built by Henry Budget. I have started updating it myself and adding a few cool new tricks. Check out my Gold Coast photos which I have animated into a short movie on my multimedia page. I hope to keep these montages running for each event and training camp throughout the season.

Training and Racing on the Gold Coast -- Saturday, March 1 2008
With only a few months to go to Olympic Trials and only a few weeks till the World Cup season opener it was with excitement and a sense of déjà vu that I boarded the British Airways flight to Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

This time round, I have been five or may be six times before, it felt a little different I had company in the form of Irish International Triathlete and Olympic hopeful Emma Davis my training partner. She is one very dedicated athlete and a real inspiration. Despite her nerves about going to a triathlon crazy country like Australia where even the local barber can talk shop with any pro, I tried to calm her nerves with endless stories of Saturday morning crit rides that may as well be a World Cup with the number of ranked athletes showing for a burn up around the Luke Harrop memorial track. I continued with tails of lightning fast transitions and Australia’s east coast being the proving ground of many of today’s top athletes at all distances. I think I made things worse!

I had a trick up my sleeve though, I told her to pack a spare set of underwear in her travel on bag and not to ask any questions thinking I was being a little kinky she obliged but with an odd look on her face. My plan was simple the flight to Brisbane stops over in Singapore for a couple of hours and I have learned on previous trips that for £3 you can have a shower and cold drink in the rain forest lounge. So courteous of www.nameonkit.com (the company paid) we both had a relaxing shower and cold drink which made the second flight into Brisbane that much easier to bear.

The jet lag to Aus can be a nightmare but we both seemed to cope well despite falling asleep at 16.30 on the first afternoon. We both made the 5.30am swim set the next morning and did a full days training.

On day three we met up with Stu Hayes and Michelle Dillon who have both been out here since November. They are both in great shape and should prove excellent training partners. Add into the mix Natalie Barnard, Loughborough student, out here for a month of intense training and Neil Brooks (aka Brooksie) Olympic Gold Medalists swimmer and serious age group triathletes and you have the makings of a focused squad.

By the end of the first week both Emma and I decided to throw ourselves in at the deep end and race the Saturday morning crit followed up with kilometer reps on the treadmill. Stu informed me that the days race would be a tough race since a lot of Europeans had just arrived on the Gold Coast as we were one week away from the ITU Points Race part of the Luke Harrop memorial triathlon weekend held each March. He was right from the gun the race exploded with guys missing packs some getting punctures and other just not ready straight out of a European winter. Michelle and Emma were fantastic they both were able to mix it up with the men and Michelle even pulled a turn in the A grade race! With the race over and Courtney Atkinson dropping his bike on the finish line one super quick transition later he was straight into a 5km off the bike, we cycled straight off to the Gym at the Sports Super Centre, Runawaybay just next door (where both Emma and I are staying) and hit the treadmills. Stu cranked the gauge up to 20km/hour and jumped on for the first rep. Emma and Natalie were swapping turns and I had a treadmill of my own. Not only had the crit been the hardest of the year so far according to Stu, but it was also the hottest day of the Australian Summer as well. In the end we had cleared all the treadmills of the regular users who were giving us some very strange looks as we almost fell off the back after each rep. There was a row of World Cup triathletes hammering out a very hard brick.

To end the first week we hit the mountains inland from the coast for a long Sunday ride. With the first week over the focus turned to the following weekend and the first race of 2008 for the Squad.

Keep a look for out for a race report and more from the Gold Coast.

For more information see:

http://www.emmadavistri.com
http://www.stuarthayes.co.uk
http://www.michelledillon.co.uk
http://www.sportssupercentre.com.au

Up and Down start to the season -- Wednesday, May 23 2007
It has been an interesting start to the season. I have just finished my third World Cup of the year. I started in Australia in Mooloolaba during March and have raced in Portugal and South Africa since. My opener in Australia was amongst a lot of Southern Hemisphere athletes fresh off their racing season and raring to go. I had a creditable performance their finishing 17th and top British athlete. My second race in Lisbon Portugal was amongst a stacked field of Europeans, Australians and Americans all trying to gain valuable Olympic qualifying points in order to gain places for their respective countries in Beijing.

Qualification as with most Olympic sports is a complicated process. In triathlon, World Cup races allow you to attain Olympic points for your country which count towards gaining places for your team. (i.e. if Great Britain can maintain enough athletes inside the top 40 athletes we will comfortably secure the maximum three places in Beijing. These points can be accumulated up to June of 2008 in the Madrid World Cup.) In the mean time National Teams will in addition have selection races for all athletes eligible to race the Olympics (i.e. those ranked in the World’s top 125). For Great Britain this will be the World Championships in Hamburg in September this year, the Beijing World Cup two weeks later and the last selection race will be the Madrid World Cup in June 2008.

Lisbon was a good race despite finishing 18th (2nd British Athlete).I had hoped for a top ten but had to pleased as I beat many quality athletes and the race was very close with the top twenty athletes all inside two minutes of the winner. My winter’s training has been my best ever with personal best times in training and races. I have been racing regularly at the Saturday morning Bushy Park 5km time trail and run a life time best twice. So it was unfortunate to catch a cold on plane flight home form Lisbon two days before flying long haul to South Africa. With the races only a week apart it was a very quick turn around, getting ill in between the two definitely affected my performance in Richard’s Bay where I finished a lowly 32nd. I was very disappointed but have tried to reason that you cannot expect to perform if you have traveled and been ill.

The season now continues with the domestic calendar. My next race on the 27th May is the first race of three in new Corus Triathlon Series for Channel 4, it will be held in Glasgow and raced over the sprint distance of 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run so it will be fast and furious. However, my main aim will be for a week later in the Madrid World Cup where I must go for a top ten finish and continue on the road to qualifying for Beijing.

Re: New Tuesday Morning Competition -- Friday, May 4 2007
Tuesday mornings have gone give away crazy with Open Water Swim UK at Liquid Leisure. Every Tuesday morning OWS will give one lucky swimmer an unbelieveable prize. This Tuesday's (8th May) prize is a Tshirt and Rucksack from The ITU BG World Cup in Lisbon signed by the current World Cup leader and Commonwealth Games Champion Brad Kahlefeldt. All you have to do to win this amazing piece of Sporting Memorabilia is come for a swim. On entry you will automatically be entered into the draw which will be made during the morning's session. Good Luck, fingers crossed and see you Tuesday!

Jet Lag, Time Zones and Summer Heat -- Thursday, March 22 2007
I write this from a very hot Gold Coast in Australia, my home for a fortnight. I have flown down for my first race of the season in Mooloolaba, the BG ITU World Cup.
The day I flew in, a 24 hr flight from London, I walked off the plane to a wall of heat, coming to an Australian summer form a British winter is always a bit of a shock it was 35 degrees!

Loretta Harrop has kindly put me up for the duration of my stay. She has a new baby boy Hayden Luke who has taken over the house! Loretta has managed one race since giving birth and is in training for some of the World Cups later in the year. Since her first race back the Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon Hayden has taken priority over training and she is fitting in sessions when she can, although she’s not along way off fitness as she was keeping up in yesterday morning’s swim set rather too easily!

Training for myself is going well. It is always nice to get the sun on your back and not have to take half an hour putting on kit just to go out for ride. I am looking forward to racing,, although it is always very difficult to know exactly how winter training has gone until you test yourself, I do feel I am ahead of last year at this time.

I am training at the Runaway Bay training centre with Siri Lindley’s squad who have been out here for a month or so. The pool is a fantastic open air 50m level deck and beats swimming indoors, I train all summer at home in my lake and when you have been cooped up in a leisure centre all winter swimming the sun on your back reminds you why you love this great sport.


With several Brits racing in Mooloolaba it should be an interesting season opener. However, this season is an especially long one with the final World Cup of the year on 7th December! Ten Months is a long season by anyone’s standards and it will be fascinating to see if those going well now can keep up the momentum all year. In addition to the World Cups it is good to see the appearance of the Corus Elite series which finishes in Hyde Park in July. The series should provide some very fast and competitive racing on our own shores and prove good television coverage for triathlon. Backed up by Salford World Cup and London the domestic racing calendar is looking very health and quite lucrative, bring on the summer and those 35 degree days…..

Re: Just Found this on YouTube. -- Tuesday, February 27 2007
I recently attended TCR07 at Sandown Park it was extremely successful this year with a hugh attendance on both days. I was their with a few of my sponsors and supporters and had agreed to race a time trial on the Compu Trainer for Simon Ward. I raced on both the Saturday and the Sunday, just managing to get the lead on the Saturday only to have it beaten on the Sunday morning. So it was left until the last race of the day on Sunday to try and get back the lead. In what was a very close run thing between myself and James Parker I manged to just pip James and beat the leader from earlier in the day by a second! I think James did a fantastic job as he was riding with toe clips!
To view the footage from Sandown and this exciting time trial go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzMPR4QhyOI for part 1 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w9xLxCTBR0 for part 2. I only just found this footage but thank you to whom ever put this on the net!

It has been a while! -- Thursday, February 22 2007
Phew! It has been a while since I last added news to the site but I have had a complete overhaul on the computer front, everything should be back to normal now. Training on the otherhand has been going very well. 2006 was a great season with my best World Cup performance to date coming in Salford and winning the Aquathlon World Title again in Lausanne. I did have a bit of bad luck though with flat tires in both the World Triathlon Championships and my final World Cup in Cancun.

2007 has started really well I attend a training camp in Spain with the British Team. We did a fare bit of cycling which I certainly needed, I have continued in this vain with cycles from Bath to London, several Surrey Hills Marathons and tomorrow I am riding The Downs Link form the South Coast to home. I have been backing up the long rides with intense sessions on the new Computrainer I have been sponsored from Simon Ward. It is an excellent piece of kit giving a power readout plus a spinscan to help improve strength and technique. I hope this work will transfer into improved race performance allowing me to finish the bike in better shape to produce a faster run split.

My running has been moving along well with regular outings for Belgrave and my regular visits to the Bushy Park 5km. Watch out for more regular up dates as the season fast approaches and the racing proper begins.

Re: Liquid Leisure Lake a Success -- Monday, May 8 2006
I started with Open Water Swim UK last week down at Liquid Leisure in Datchet. It has been a great success and I hope it will continue to provide a great open water swim experience for all standards of triathlete. There is no denying that it was freezing at the start of last week, but the good weather of later in the week has certainly warmed things up... I look forward to meeting you all for a swim.

Triathlon, Cycling & Running Show 2006 Sandown Park Racecourse -- Friday, March 24 2006
This weekend is the annual TCR Show at Sandown Park racecourse in Esher Surrey. The event is a multi sport athletes’ Aladdin’s cave of equipment, advice and even competition. I have been asked to host a question and answer session on both Saturday and Sunday at 1.45pm and will also be involved as the subject of another seminar on sports injury prevention by my physiotherapist Sabreen Qureshi from Active Physio Clinics.

The weekend has increased in size and popularity over the last few years and plays host to 130 exhibitors ranging from go faster triathlon equipment to training aids and even a swimming pool that measures not much longer than 8ft yet you can never finish a length of it!

On Saturday evening Sandown also plays host to the 220 Triathlon awards held in the Gold Cup Suite and with a speech by guest speaker Henry Cooper the evening should be as entertaining as the day.

If shopping is not on your agenda then there is the possibility to compete in the Taut Netfit Challenge. The event will include indoor triathlon competitions (row-bike-run) and cross training challenges involving strength and stamina.

TCR06 looks like being bigger and more popular than ever I look forward to seeing you there.

News from (2005) has been archived off to this page.