After a week of wet and windy weather everyone heading to Eton Dorney Lake for the HSBC Triathlon and Duathlon was praying for a douse of sunshine and on arrival early Sunday morning the calm and bright conditions were a welcome sight for all!

The event was packed full of race options with distances from Fun to Olympic, relays, a Scootathlon and popular Duathlon too! And not only was the race schedule packed for this event, but so were the numbers with nearly 2,000 competitors taking part, including 350 HSBC staff that were raising money for their company charity, Build a School. Transition was packed and the event village was buzzing; there’s truly no better sight!

There was plenty going on in the Village with Wiggle retailing their latest ranges, Team Carbon Bikesshowcasing their range of adult bikes, Frog Bikes showcasing their light weight and colourful range of kids’ bikes and Chobani yogurts helping to fill the breakfast gap, for participants and spectators alike, with samples of the delicious Greek yogurts! Alongside this, children (and some adults) were able to enjoy the bouncy castle and face painting activities!

As is becoming tradition at Human Race triathlons, the day began with the Kids’ Scootathlon event, which saw children aged 4 – 8, scoot, bike and run a total distance of 1003m against the backdrop of cheering parents, friends and family to earn a precious medal and t-shirt to be proud of! A record number of 200 children took part.

First off for the triathlon waves were the Olympic Distance competitors taking on a 1500m Swim, 42.4km Bike and 10km Run. Christopher Symonds(2:03:10) of the Enfield and Haringey Triathlon club took the honours in the men’s race followed closely by Nick Burdett (2:06:04). The female race was won by Victoria Plummer who clocked an impressive 2:35:34 to beat Esther Rousay Wiley (2:39:11) in to second place. In the relay competition at this distance it was Team One-2-Tri who claimed the victory.

Whilst the Olympic Distance triathletes were battling away, the Duathlon race, featuring close to 150 competitors got underway. Athletes in the Duathlon completed a 5km Run, 21.2km Bike, 2.5km with Paul Underwood (1:03:49) first across the line ahead of closest rival Stephen Duddridge (1:04:03). The first female finisher was Nicola Kent (1:12:14).

The next Triathlon to get under away was the Sprint event, which set-off as the clouds thickened overhead and an ominous wind began to blow. When asked for a show of hands for “first timers” before this event it was clear there were a large number of Triathlon debutants in the field, which is always a delight to see. Tim George (1:08:14) emerged on top in the men’s race and Helen Read (1:16:34) in the women’s race across the course made up of a 750m Swim, 21.2km Bike and 5km Run.

Following shortly after were the SuperSprint athletes who took on a 400m Swim, 10.6km Bike and 2.5km Run. The fastest male finisher was Gary Kemish(37:39) and fastest female competitor Ellie Moss (40:09).

A specially created Fun Wave rounded of the day featuring a 200m Swim, 5.3km Bike and 2.5km Run. This distance saw a lot of first time triathletes joining the triathlon family and also included a Kids’ wave for children ages 11 and up. Ben Scott (27:04) was the fastest over this distance with Hannah Batesclocking an impressive 28:47 to finish as the fastest female and third overall!

All the competitors at the event were glad to be supported with an energy boost from Official Energy ProductPowerBar and to receive some natural hydration at the finish line from Vita Coco coconut water!

As we bring the Human Race Triathlon season to a close there are plenty of memorable days to reflect on, it really has been an amazing year! But we can’t ponder for too long as there are plenty of other events on offer over the coming months. In particular we are moving into the start of the running season and are excited to kick of the new Human Race Pace Series with the Garmin Kingston Run Challenge on13th October.

For all you Triathletes aiming to keep up the fitness over the winter and looking for a new challenge, be sure to check out the Human Race Off-Road Series with a mix of Trail Runs and Off-Road Duathlons to keep you busy and entertained from November to February!