Team Parnaby Shine at the Cleveland Sprint Tri

Team Parnaby were out in force on Sunday at the Cleveland Sprint Tri in Stokesley, and both delivered outstanding personal performances — especially in the water, where they exceeded their own expectations.

Mark Parnaby had a brilliant race, finishing 6th in his age group with an overall time of 1:15:06, agonisingly close to that sub‑1:15 milestone. His splits were:

• Swim: 8:18
• Bike: 36:28
• Run: 24:37 (corrected — not 15 minutes as listed in the results)

Vicki Parnaby also had a superb day, placing 13th in a very competitive age group and finishing in 1:22:53. Her splits were:

• Swim: 11:08
• Bike: 39:36
• Run: 26:49 — a 5k PB, even after the swim and bike!

Mark and Vicki are a brilliant example of how hard work, consistency and perseverance pay off. They’ll be the first to admit they weren’t the strongest swimmers when they joined the club, but their progress has been huge — and days like this show exactly why.

Mark’s reflections from the day

“We had a great time at Cleveland Sprint. It had a very welcoming local club feel to it. There were lots of newcomers to tri there, who were recognised and applauded — lovely to see.

I like to come away from every event having learnt one thing. Today I have three:

• Check your swim time — turns out I can swim 400m faster when I don’t have to do another 1,600.
• Check which shoe is which before putting it on — I’ve not put my shoes on the wrong feet in 40 years before today.
• When dismounting, unclip BOTH shoes.

I messed up my timing a little, so I’m not sure if I got under 1:15:00, but it was really close — and I’m happy with that. Vicki smashed it — she was waiting for me at the end after putting in the run of her life.”

Well done both!