2023 Race Report

There’s something very special about Sandman that’s hard to describe. It’s that feeling that you get when you stand on top of the sand dune and catch your first glimpse of the beach, framed by the mountains on one side and the huge forest on the other. It’s beautiful, exciting, mysterious and it’s impossible not to lose a bit of your heart.

Enter Sandman 2023, and what a Sandman it was.

SATURDAY

The previous day's scorching temperatures had cooled slightly for race day, and combined with a cooling breeze and calm seas, racing conditions were good for the Superfeet Sandman. Due to the moving sandbar beneath the waves, the swim was 750m along the beach from transition, towards Llanddwyn Island. This added a section of beach run in to the mix, returning to the event village over the new beach access walk, made necessary by the ever-changing nature of the sand dunes around the beach & forest.

In the Sprint, the top three spots on the Open category was an exciting and closely fought battle. Joe Banns was out of the water first, followed closely by Huw Jack Brassington and Seamus Sheard. After chasing each other in transition, Seamus' bike lap was enough to bring him back to transition in second. Huw clawed back a minute on the leader over the run, but it wasn't quite enough to change the order, with just 32 seconds between 1st and 3rd place!

In the ladies race, Alex Aldous lead out of the water, followed by Anwen Nesham and Jessca Denman, with a minute separating the three. A fast bike section and solid run brought Jessica over the line first, followed by Rebecca Waterfield, who had delivered an equally strong bike and run to bring her up the ramps. The surprise in the results though was that Lucy Marland, starting in wave 2 of the swim, put in a tremendous run over this sandy course to take first place overall, creating a 3 minute lead in the final results. Anwen missed out on the podium today, but still claimed first place in the Adventure Championship series, which reached it's final here at the Sandman.

In the Duathlon, Rodger Wilkins took first place in the Open category, 45 seconds ahead of Caron Rees Jones, with James Hards taking 3rd, securing his 1st place in the Adventure Championship series. In the female race, Eleanor Perkins took the top spot, 42 seconds ahead of Melanie Davies, with Cat Eassom in 3rd.

Black Diamond Torchlight Trail

Following on from the morning races, as the sun began to set on a beautiful evening in the Forest, runners began to congregate for our night-time trail runs, through the woodland trails and beach-line routes. As a dark skies area, Newborough is a perfect place to see the Milky Way in it's full glory, and race night was perfect. Black Diamond were on hand with a full range of demo headtorches for runners to trial, perfect for the dark woodland running ahead.

The Canicross runners left the start line first, off on the 5K and 10k races, before the dogless runners followed ten minutes later, on the same looped course.

Some fantastic racing saw Stephen Gregory cross the line first, winning the 5k Canicross race. Next was George Staples, taking the top spot in the 5k Trail Race. Bryony North came in over the line with her dog Tan, winning the 10k Canicross outright, before Kira L came in to take the win in the female 5k trail race. Our 10k Trail winners were Alex Mason in the open category, and Lizzie Irvine in the female category.

SUNDAY

On Sunday it was the turn of the Standard and Legend athletes.

The swim courses were as flat as can be imagined, with the Yr Eifl mountain rage of the Llyn Peninsula reflecting on the water; we were joined by a pod of Dolphin, welcoming the Legend athletes to the water for their race start.

Completing the Adventure Championship series for 2023 in 1st place, Tom Williams left the Legend swim in first position, and didn't see another athlete for the rest of the race. Finishing in 4 hours 33 minutes, he was 25 minutes ahead of James Platt in second place, and Stewart Jones in third.

In the female Legend category, Steph Banns lead a closer race throughout, with Jane Halliday's fast bike section earning her 2nd place. Caitlin Brown put in the fastest run of the race, eating into the leaders gap, but bringing her in 3rd.

The Standard distances were next to go out, with the Duathlon Open category won by James Brayford, crossing the line 11 minutes 43 seconds ahead of Dave Jones and 16 minutes before Andy Cumino who took third place.

Miriam Haf Parry took the top spot on the podium in the ladies' race. 2nd place went to Louise Toach, who completed her Adventure Championship series win. Jennie Bringloe completed her race in third place, securing her 2nd overall in the Adventure Championships.

In the triathlon, Michelle Holmes and Ashia Reeder were battling for first position out of the water. Michelle prevailed crossing the line in first place, winning time on both the bike and run sections. Lucy Cartwright put in the strongest run of the race to claim third place just a minute behind Ashia, who's second place today secures her the Adventure Championship series win in the Standard distance for 2023.

The open category the order out of the water reflected the final result. Ross Hosking lead out along the beach, back to T1. Seamus Sheard's fast transitions and strong run section ate into Ross' lead, enough to secure 2nd place on the podium. Adam Harper did enough to fend off competition for 3rd place, crossing the line and claiming the final podium spot.

The Open category Savage winner was Angus Sheard, rewarding his two strong performances over the weekend. Matthew Waterfield took 2nd place, with Scott Mackenzie finishing his Adventure Championship series in third place, but claiming first place in the series overall.

In the female category Rebecca Waterfield took 1st place in the closest of battles. Jessica Denman's combined time for the Savage races was just 49 seconds more, putting her in 2nd place. 3rd place was taken by Hannah Lambert to complete the podium.

The Sandman was also the finale of the 2023 Adventure Championships series, the combination of Slateman, Snowman & Sandman event results for those registered for the Championships. It has been a brilliant series with some impressive racing and there was a great crowd at prize giving celebrating the achievement of all those who had taken part and some amazing prizes awarded to our winners.

Always Aim High Director Nigel Kendrick said: “The Superfeet Sandman is always a special race. For me it’s particularly special because Newborough is the place myself and my family call home.

It’s challenging but always inclusive with plenty of first timers and also some incredibly talented athletes taking part. People just keep coming back and you don’t need to ask why – there’s no where in the world like Traeth Llanddwyn and a race like the Superfeet Sandman is as much a feeling as it is a race.

It was also great to see the return of the Adventure Championship series in 2023. Completing this series is a huge achievement.

We’d like to extend a massive thank you to every one of our athletes for joining us in addition to their families and friends. We’d also like to thank our title partners Superfeet for sponsoring the Adventure Championships and our other race sponsors for their continued support as well as the local community of Newborough and Natural Resource Wales for being such amazing hosts.

Lastly, we’d like to thank our amazing team, marshals and volunteers, without whom we the race just wouldn’t be possible”

Full Superfeet Sandman race results & Adventure Championship Series race results by TDL Event Services.Race photography courtesy of Sport Pictures Cymru.

Selected 2023 Superfeet Sandman Triathlon & Duathlon results:

Sprint Triathlon

Open

🥇Joe Banns

🥈Seamus Sheard

🥉Huw Jack Brassington

Female

🥇Lucy Marland

🥈Jessica Denman

🥉Rebecca Waterford

Sprint Duathlon

Open

🥇Rodger Wilkins

🥈Caron Rees Jones

🥉James Hards

Female

🥇Eleanor Perkins

🥈Melanie Davies

🥉Cat Eassom

Standard Triathlon

Female
🥇 Michelle Holmes

🥈 Ashia Reeder

🥉 Lucy Cartwright

Open
🥇 Ross Hosking

🥈 Seamus Sheard

🥉 Adam Harper

Standard Duathlon

Female
🥇 Miriam Haf Parry

🥈 Louise Toach

Open
🥇 James Brayford

🥈 Dave Jones

🥉 Andy Cumino

Legend Triathlon

Female
🥇 Steph Banns

🥈 Jane Halliday

🥉 Caitlin Brown

Open
🥇 Tom Williams

🥈 James Plant

🥉 Stewart Jones

Savage Triathlon

Female
🥇 Rebecca Waterfield

🥈 Jessica Denman

🥉 Hannah Lambert

Open
🥇 Seamus Sheard

🥈 Matthew Waterfield

🥉 Scott Mackenzie

Selected 2023 Black Diamond Torchlight Trail results:

5k Trail Race

Open

🥇 George Staples

🥈 James Harper

🥉 David Stephens

Female

🥇Kira L

🥈Aisha Amos Howell

🥇Susan Ridings

10k Trail Race

Open

🥇Alex Mason

🥈 Tom Smith

🥉 Ian Mugglestone

Female

🥇Lizzie Irvine

🥈Helen Evans

🥉 Jane Wood

5k Canicross

Open

🥇Steven Gregory

Female

🥇Mabli Baines

10k Canicross

Open

🥇William Evans

Female

🥇Bryony North